Din Djarin: The greatest gift to Star Wars

We’re celebrating the holiday season with the greatest gifts Star Wars can ever give us: its characters! Here’s why Din Djarin is one of the best.

When The Mandalorian premiered in November 2019, it gave us a whole new world of Star Wars to become hooked into and fall in love with. Series creator Jon Favreau managed to do something that arguably hadn’t been done since the original trilogy: creating a story that everyone loves without controversy. There’s no denying that the prequels and the sequels have their lovers and haters, but the Mandalorian managed to unite all Star Wars fans like it hadn’t been done in decades.

There’s no doubt that one of the biggest reasons that Favreau managed to create such a successful story is because of the series lead, Mando aka Din Djarin, played by Pedro Pascal. If someone had said to me a few years ago that a masked character whose face you rarely see would become one of my favorite characters in all of the Star Wars universe, I probably would have laughed.

But from the very first episode, I was instantly drawn to the mysterious blaster-slinging character. Pascal’s portrayal of Mando is extraordinary, as he can show us how the character is feeling all through a slight movement of his head or body.

Favreau strayed far from most other main Star Wars characters and created a person that doesn’t rely on the force or lightsabers but on his own blaster abilities and fighting skills. Normally, in most Star Wars movies, people wielding blasters are just easy targets for the Jedi to swiftly take out. But Mando proved all of this otherwise.

He is a warrior, tough as nails, determined and different than what most typical heroes are in Star Wars. Din is what Pedro Pascal described as a “dark hero” as he isn’t the all-good stereotypical hero like Luke Skywalker or Leia. He seems more human, bound by duty to his fellow Mandalorians and bounty hunting. Mando isn’t perfect, and he doesn’t try to be. He makes mistakes but feels just as deeply as everyone else to right his wrongs.

I fully believe that no person is truly all good or evil, and Darth Vader and Kylo Ren are perfect examples of that. With Mando, he is the perfect display of a hero who is struggling to do the right thing just like the rest of us. He is someone real to look up to, with the potential for darkness, but ultimately does what he thinks is best and right. Din shows us and all the children looking up to him that it’s natural to struggle with right and wrong and that being perfect all the time is not realistic.

The main thought that came to my mind as to why I love the character is his relationship with Grogu. This is the only successful father-son relationship to have graced our screens in all of Star Wars. It’s so refreshing to see such a love between parent and child after seeing years of strife between Vader and Luke, and Kylo and Han.

At the beginning of the series, Mando is a lone wolf, determined to do whatever it takes to get his bounty. He’s distant from everyone else until he meets little Baby Yoda. Grogu opens him up in a way he hadn’t been since he was with his own parents when he was a boy. Not only does Mando protect the youngling, but Grogu also looks out for his adoptive father.

No matter the species, age difference, or power ability, these two are always there for each other. Din and Grogu together also produce some of the greatest moments in both seasons of the show, and their adventures with each other will always melt my heart. Mando is truly a great father and provides the home and parent that he himself was denied when his parents were killed years prior.

Din Djarin gives fans a character we can all root for, one who could surely win in almost any fight and who proves that we all can still be a hero and make mistakes. He is one of the main reasons why the show is so successful and will continue to be for many seasons. I personally cannot wait to see where this character will go in the future, and I’m sure that my love and admiration for him will only continue to grow.