The Mandalorian Changes Everything We Know About Boba Fett

4. Boba Fett - Mandalorian, Or Mercenary?

Boba Fett needs no introduction. Despite an understated role in the original trilogy, fans quickly flocked behind this striking, masked Bounty Hunter and quickly made a name for himself within the community.

While being first introduced in The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, his first canonical appearance was in The Empire Strikes Back before his premature demise at the hands of Han Solo and the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi.

But at the time, the legacy of Boba Fett and the Mandalorians was very much in its infancy. For the purposes of the story, Boba Fett was nothing more than a bounty hunter or mercenary in cool looking armour. The armour itself was in fact originally designed to be worn by a new Imperial 'super commando', but when they realised that they couldn’t afford to make many versions of the costume, they recycled it to be used by a single bounty hunter. And the rest, as they say is history.

The original concepts drawn up by Ralph McQuarrie for the Imperial super trooper did eventually come to fruition through the introduction of Imperial Supercommandos in the animated series Star Wars Rebels - Mandalorian warriors who served the Empire.

Due to the incredible fan response that Boba Fett received in his two canonical appearances, the legend of the Mandalorian began to grow and is the reason that George Lucas went on to reveal the origins of Boba Fett in the prequel trilogy, through his father, Jango Fett.