We’re continuing the history of the Mandalorians by taking a closer look at Star Wars first bounty hunter to wear the iconic armor:n Boba Fett.
Long before the introduction of the titular character of the Disney + Star Wars show The Mandalorian, there was another more famous bounty hunter that wore the iconic armor of the Mandalorians. That man was Boba Fett.
Who is Boba Fett? What is his importance to the Star Wars galaxy? Why should we care? Read on to learn the history and significance of this legendary bounty hunter.
The Legend begins
Before Boba, there was another Fett that brought fear into the hearts of bounties throughout the Star Wars galaxy. Jango Fett was a legend in his own time who, like Din Djarin, was a foundling. Jango fought alongside a group called the True Mandalorians— a rival faction of the Death Watch— during the Mandalorian Civil War, also known as The Great Clan Wars (42 BBY). This may explain why he was so unceremoniously dismissed by Duchess Satine’s right-hand, Prime Minister Almec, during an investigation by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Jango left the Mandalore system and used his warrior skills as a bounty hunter. His track record eventually caught the attention of Darth Tyranus, a.k.a., Count Dooku, who wanted to solicit the bounty hunter for a special project. Specifically, he was chosen to be the template for a clone army of the Grand Republic. Jango accepted the offer in exchange for a kingly fee and a special request.
As it turned out, that request would be for the Kaminoans to make an unaltered clone. Jango named this clone child Boba and raised him as his son. The question of whether Boba was considered a Mandalorian was a bit complicated, even though being Mandalorian wasn’t based on a specific race or species but rather a creed. Boba was raised under the super commando codex that its founder Jaster Mereel had passed onto Jango and the other foundlings/Mandos of the True Mandalorians.
As The Mandalorian series has revealed, there wasn’t any specific way of being a Mandalorian, as long as it incorporated the Resol’nare. So, even though Boba Fett would be considered an aruetiise (outsider) by some Mandalorians, he still belonged to the Mando’ade through his Chain Code or the lineage of his armor.
Boba Fett became an orphan during the opening battle of the Clone Wars on Geonosis after Jango was struck down by the legendary Jedi Master Mace Windu. This traumatic event would instill a hatred for the Jedi that Boba held well into adulthood. Although unconfirmed, it’s possible that the braids he wore as a trophy around his shoulder may have once belonged to Jedi he hunted down following Order 66, although others believe they were Wookie scalps. What is known was that his first foray into hunting a target came during an assassination mission against the same Jedi who killed his father.
The early years
Following his failed attempt to avenge his father, Boba entered into a bounty hunting apprenticeship under the guidance of Aura Sing. The irony was that Sing herself was a Force-sensitive who had once trained under the Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi before circumstances led to her separation from the Jedi Order.
Boba’s early years as a bounty hunter-in-training were marked with as many losses as they were with successes. Besides his early failure with assassinating Mace Windu, his most humiliating defeat came when he and a cadre of other bounty hunters were hired to deliver a mysterious package to the corrupt ruler of the heavily pressurized planet, Quarzite. On the way to the Otua Blank’s stronghold, Boba and his convoy were attacked by a group of masked rebels called the Kage Warriors that sought to take the package. The package was later revealed to be Pluma Sodi, a princess who had been kidnapped and was to be delivered to the tyrant who wanted to make her his young bride.
The Sith apprentice-turned-bounty hunter Asajj Ventress betrayed Boba after her code of honor led her to side with the rebels and free the princess. Boba fought Ventress over the princess but was defeated and bound inside the chest that was delivered to the dumbstricken dictator.
Boba eventually grew into his own and began to wear his father’s armor which he repainted in colors that honored the former Fett’s memory. His rise to the top of the Bounty Hunters Guild led to a conflict with Cad Bane, who was the predominant bounty hunter during the Clone Wars era. Even though Boba emerged the victor in this fateful showdown, he was left with a souvenir from this encounter — the dent that embedded his nigh-impenetrable beskar helmet.
Vader’s right-hand man
During the time of the Galactic Civil War between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, Boba Fett was in high-demand as one of the greatest bounty hunters in the known galaxy. His most frequent employers during this time period were Jabba the Hutt of Tatooine and the Emperor’s fist, Darth Vader.
As a matter of fact, Boba became such a frequent contractee of the Empire that he earned the moniker of Vader’s right-hand. He also earned a reputation for disintegrating his bounties.
One of the earliest contracts that Boba Fett had in service to the Dark Lord was an undercover mission on the Panna moon, Panna Prime. It was here that he had his first encounter with the rebel heroes Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo and Chewbacca. Although he posed as an ally, Fett’s true nature was revealed thanks to the help of R2-D2 and C-3PO.
A second encounter with Luke Skywalker occurred later on after Darth Vader hired Boba to uncover the identity of the rebel hero who destroyed the first Death Star. Luke barely survived this ambush at Obi-Wan’s home on Tatooine except for some help from R2-D2. Even though Boba failed to capture Luke he did succeed in gaining the information his employer sought to know, the name of Vader’s young nemesis: Skywalker.
Boba’s greatest victory during his service to Jabba the Hutt was the capture of the smuggler-turned-rebel ally, Han Solo. Jabba had held a bounty on the former smuggler’s head since the latter dumped a load of spice that belonged to the Hutt. Fett wasn’t too thrilled with Darth Vader’s decision to use Solo as a proxy to test the carbonite freezing process he intended to use later on Luke Skywalker. His fearless statement: “He’s no good to me dead” was a brazenness afforded to virtually no one outside of the Emperor and Grand Moff Tarkin. The fact that he wasn’t force-choked for saying this was a testament to the respect that Fett had earned for his prowess.
A bitter end…or is it?
Boba’s greatest victory preceded what would later become his worst defeat. After bringing back the carbonite-frozen Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt, Fett decided to remain at the crime lord’s palace on Tatooine. Fett’s cushy day job of protecting the gangster slug while enjoying the palace entertainment was cut short following the arrival of Luke Skywalker.
Skywalker enraged the Hutt after he defied all odds and not only survived being cast into the deadly Rancor pit but slew the crime lord’s pet, as well. Jabba decided to exact the most excruciating punishment he could think of upon Luke, Han, and Chewbacca by having them escorted to the infamous Great Pit of Carkoon where they would be fed to the insatiable Sarlacc.
Fortunately, Luke had prepared for such an event thanks to some inside help from his trustworthy astromech, Artoo-Deetoo, and Lando Calrissian who had been posing as one of Jabba’s guards. During the ensuing chaos onboard the executioner’s barge Boba Fett was struck from behind by a blind Han Solo. Fett’s jetpack malfunctioned and the bounty hunter flew wildly out of control where he then bounced off of Jabba the Hutt’s yacht, The Khetanna, before tumbling down into the belly of the beast below.
For most, being swallowed by the Sarlacc would be have been a bitter, slow and torturous end. But Boba Fett wasn’t just anyone. He was a Mando’ade (Child of Mandalore). And Mandalorians were defiantly resistant.
The man who wore Boba Fett’s armor
While Boba lay inside the Sarlacc being slowly digested, the galaxy went on. The Rebel’s, through some help from a primitive species of cuddly-but-dangerous Ewoks along with the unexpected redemption of Darth Vader, gained victory over the tyrannical Empire that had long oppressed them. Five years after the destruction of the second Death Star another bounty hunter wearing Mandalorian armor emerged on the scene.
This hunter, Din Djarin, wasn’t directly related to the Fetts. However — like Jango Fett — he was a foundling, tracing his Chain Code back to the Watch, an offshoot of the notorious Deathwatch. Djarin found himself honor-bound to reunite a mysterious Force-sensitive alien toddler to its people, the Jedi. In order to complete his mission, though, the Mandalorian bounty hunter required the help of one of his own.
Djarin’s search took him back to the planet Tatooine where word of mouth led him to a small remote outpost called Mos Pelgo. It was here that the bounty hunter was introduced to the town’s marshal, Cobb Vanth — who wore the distinct armor of Boba Fett. Vanth had himself acquired the armor through a trade with some Jawas that had saved him out in the Dune Sea.
The two men’s first encounter almost ended fatally after it was discovered by Djarin that the other wasn’t a Mandalorian. The reason so was because it was considered highly offensive for anyone that didn’t follow the Mandalorian creed to wear their armor. Djarin and Vanth’s standoff was cut short by the arrival of a Krayt Dragon that had been terrorizing the town and surrounding area. A deal was struck between the two men, wherein the sheriff would return the armor, in exchange for help in eradicating the leviathan.
Djarin convinced the Sand People to ally with him, Vanth, and the people of Mos Pelgo as they all shared a common adversary. Together, with combined forces and an unconventional tactic by Djarin, they were triumphant over the near-unstoppable sand dragon. In the aftermath, Vanth made good on his promise and returned the armor to the bounty hunter. But, unbeknownst to the Mandalorian, a mysterious figure observed him from afar as he traveled by with his reward.
He’s back!
This unknown stranger — who bore an uncanny resemblance to the clones of the Grand Republic — followed Djarin to the Jedi homeworld of Tython. While Grogu — Djarin’s Jedi foundling — was using the Seeing Stone to make a connection with one of his people, a suspicious ship appeared. Although unknown to Djarin, this ship was the same one that once belonged to Jango Fett and later his son, Boba. As he observed closer, a black-robed figure with the hood pulled up emerged.
Djarin approached the stranger but was stopped by a sudden burst of blaster fire from above. Djarin eyed the stranger and asked him if he was a Jedi, on account of his similar attire. The man pulled down his hood revealing a scarred visage. Fennec Shand, the bounty hunter that Djarin had previously crossed paths with on Tatooine, revealed the stranger’s name. He was Boba Fett.
Boba had survived the Sarlacc. Sometime following the Battle of Endor, the bounty hunter had escaped from the belly of the beast, a feat that had never been recorded before in galactic history. His victory came at a heavy cost though. First, his face and presumably his entire body, were covered in scars. Next, he had been stripped of his iconic armor.
The first of these costs came logically from the digestive acids of the Sarlacc penetrating the unprotected areas of his body. Then again, perhaps these were old war wounds accumulated through years of tracking down bounties. As for the loss of his armor, one possible theory for this was that Jawa’s had found his unconscious body, and being the scavenging buzzards that they are, stripped his body of its valuable beskar’gam. To his fortune, Boba was then discovered by one of the Sand People clans and nursed back to health.
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While Boba and Djarin are discussing the true owner of the former’s armor, another ship arrives on the scene carrying a squadron of stormtroopers. It is during this initial fray that Boba Fett shows that although he might not have his armor, it hadn’t robbed him of his lethality. His reputation is well-earned after he brutally smashes through several stormtroopers using only his gaderffii stick.
As impressive as Boba is with this weapon, he becomes even deadlier once he is reunited with his armor, which he spots onboard the Razor Crest during the battle. Djarin and Shand fight on in his absence but are surrounded by a group of advancing stormtroopers. Fortunately, the tide of the battle shifts back into their favor following the explosion of a detonator that was dropped from above.
Boba emerges fully clad in his beskar’gam and begins to unleash a barrage of attacks utilizing a lethal combination of his blaster and his armors arsenal, including the rocket darts housed within his kneepads. Boba decimates the stormtroopers in short order, forcing the remaining survivors to skedaddle for their transports. This proves futile for them after Fett targets one of the escaping ships with his helmet’s viewfinder and fires his jetpack’s missile, resulting in a two-for-one trick shot.
The trio’s victory is short-lived though as the Imperial starship commanded by Moff Gideon fires its own devastating shot from above, obliterating the Razor Crest. Discombobulated by the sudden loss of his ship, Din Djarin scampers to where Grogu is but is too late to save the child from Moff Gideon’s Dark Troopers.
In a rare moment, Boba Fett shows his code of honor by vowing to help Djarin save the Jedi foundling. He also reveals to the Mando his armor’s Chain Code, thus proving his earlier claim to the armor. Boba Fett’s alliance with the younger Mandalorian also reveals another layer of depth to his character few knew of. Where will this newfound partnership lead, and will it remain a friendly one? Only future episodes/seasons will show what happens next.
Speaking of… Boba Fett’s return to the Star Wars galaxy is the answer to many fans’ wishes — including this one. So, what happens next? One possibility for the future of Boba Fett lies in a proposed prequel series with Disney + that is said to reveal how the bounty hunter escaped from the Sarlacc, where he was, and/or perhaps what he was up to during these missing years.
What would you all like to see? A Boba Fett rematch with Luke Skywalker or Han Solo? Do you think he would want revenge, or, is he perhaps a changed man from his experience inside the Sarlacc? Feel free to share your opinions and thoughts on the return of Boba Fett in the comments section below.