Boba Fett

Boba Fett (born 31.5 BBY) is a popular fictional character in the Star Wars universe, despite having relatively little screen time in the films. Boba Fett is a bounty hunter hired by the Empire to track down and capture Han Solo.

A clone of Jango Fett, Boba was created on Kamino and raised as Jango's natural son. Jango trained the boy in the ways of the Mandalorians. Boba grew up to be a bounty hunter feared and dreaded throughout the galaxy, known for his subtle and cunning moves tracking down his prey. Fett commonly worked for the gangster Jabba the Hutt, and held associations with Darth Vader.

Characteristics

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Fett prepares to fire on Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.

Boba Fett is garbed in traditional Mandalorian armor with a string of Wookiee scalps at his shoulder, and owns a variety of specially-modified starcraft bearing the names Slave I through Slave V. Despite his weapon-laden suit of armor, Fett is a subtle hunter and relies more on his cunning and intelligence than on pure muscle and combat skill.

Speaking with a raspy, gravelly voice, Fett allows few to see his face and even fewer to know his origins, giving the hunter a mysterious aura and a psychological edge over his prey. Though Boba is a perfect genetic clone of Jango Fett, a different lifestyle has produced some changes from his father's appearance: while Jango was focused on combat skill, Boba's emphasis on wit over muscle has given him a thinner build.

Even with the thinner build, Boba is usually operating at peak human strength (Boba has enough strength to hold his own against massively strong foes such as Bossk), as seen in the Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy. Boba's face remains hidden; it is a given that he looks more or less like his father did, but beyond his actual features, Boba's face may have more or fewer scars, tattoos, or less facial hair.

Appearances

Attack of the Clones

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Young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones

Boba Fett's origins are revealed in Attack of the Clones. Boba is revealed to be the son of legendary bounty hunter Jango Fett, one of the last of the Mandalorians; more specifically, Boba is a clone of his "father". Jango Fett is hired by Count Dooku to be the template for an entire army of clones, all of which are altered to be docile, obedient, and grow at twice the rate of normal men. Boba is the only unmodified clone and is raised by Jango to learn the Mandalorian ways on the stormy planet Kamino, home of the master cloners.

However, books predating Attack of the Clones imply that Boba Fett was not a clone. According to these sources, Fett was once known as Jaster Mereel and served as a Journeyman Protector on the planet of Concord Dawn, from which he was ultimately exiled for killing a fellow Protector. After his exile, he adopted the name Boba Fett and decided that he would "bow to no one." These aspects of his past have been extensively retconned since the release of Attack of the Clones. It is now known that Fett took the name of his father's mentor, Mandalore Jaster Mereel, and became a Journeyman Protector on his father's homeworld of Concord Dawn shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith.

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Fett mourning the loss of his father, following the Battle of Geonosis.

When Boba was only ten, Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived on Kamino to investigate an assassination linked to Jango, and the Fetts fled to Geonosis to join Count Dooku and the Separatists forming the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Kenobi, along with Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, were to be executed in the Geonosian arena. Boba watched with interest, but the ceremonies were interrupted by the arrival of several Jedi led by Mace Windu. In the ensuing battle, Jango Fett was beheaded by Windu. Boba buried his father on Geonosis and took his armor and ship to start his own life as a Mandalorian bounty hunter.

Live-action TV series

George Lucas has hinted around that he is interested in bringing actor Daniel Logan, the man (then boy) who played the young Boba Fett in Attack of the Clones, to reprise his role as Fett in the upcoming Star Wars: Live-Action TV Series, scheduled for release in 2008.

Droids

Fett appeared in the fourth episode of the 1985 Star Wars animated series, Star Wars: Droids. In the episode, entitled A Race to the Finish, Fett is hired by Mungo Baobab to track down the then-masters of C-3PO and R2-D2.

A New Hope

When the special edition of A New Hope was released in 1997, a scene with Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt was added to the film. Boba Fett is shown in Jabba's retinue before the Millennium Falcon takes off from Mos Eisley. This was presumably added to improve the trilogy's continuity.

Originally, the scene with Jabba was shot with Declan Mulholland as a stand-in for a stop-motion creature to be superimposed on the film. However, due to budget constraints, Lucas was not able to finish the scene properly, and have it in the original version of the film. However, using digital technology, he was able to create Jabba as a digital model for the 1997 and 2004 special editions. He restored the footage claiming it was part of his original vision for the film. Fett was inserted presumably to give greater continuity in the trilogy, and the saga as a whole. It also served as a form of fan service. The new footage of Fett was shot with an ILM employee in the Fett costume, and the footage was digitally inserted into the Jabba scenes.

The Star Wars Holiday Special

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Fett tames the animal he is riding on, as he meets Luke Skywalker for the first time.

Boba Fett's first appearance on-screen was in a popular animated segment, which was a part of The Star Wars Holiday Special when it aired in 1978. This animated segment spawned the initial popularity and interest in Fett. His popularity and mystique are also contributed to by the fact that Kenner released a Boba Fett action figure not long after the special's airing, which was before The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980.

The Empire Strikes Back

His first live appearance in a Star Wars movie is in The Empire Strikes Back, in which his name is not actually heard in the dialogue. He is first seen as one of a group of bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader to track down Han Solo and the crew of the Millennium Falcon. Familiar with Fett's ways, the Dark Lord growls "I want them alive. No disintegrations!" To which Fett responds, "As you wish." implying that Darth Vader has prior knowledge of Fett's methods. He is the only hunter to deduce how the Falcon eluded the Imperials by hiding on the hull of a Star Destroyer. He then requests his ship to be placed in the Star Destroyer's garbage, in order to be hidden in it when the warship jettisoned the mass before departing, anticipating that the Falcon would use the waste as cover when itself detached from its hiding place. Fett's hunch is correct and he tracks the ship and surmises that Han Solo is likely headed for Cloud City on Bespin. He presumably reports the Falcon's destination to the Empire, allowing Vader to arrange a "deal" with Lando Calrissian to secure the capture of Solo and the crew. (Attack of the Clones reveals a possible reason for this, as Obi-Wan Kenobi in that film pulls a similar trick on his father, Jango Fett, in the asteroid belt rings surrounding Geonosis.) Fett stays at Vader's side as the Dark Lord tortures Han Solo in an attempt to draw Luke Skywalker into a trap. In addition to the reward for Solo's capture from the Empire, Vader allows Boba Fett to take Han Solo, frozen in carbonite, back to Jabba to receive an additional reward, claiming two bounties on the same man. Fett's dialogue in The Empire Strikes Back, indeed in the entire original trilogy, consists of the four lines "As you wish", "He's no good to me dead", "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me" and "Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold", in that order. In later Expanded Universe material it is revealed that Fett charged Jabba a larger amount than the original bounty price. He was able to do this by explaining that the frozen Solo was a unique work of art created by Darth Vader.

Return of the Jedi

In Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett is at Jabba the Hutt's palace when Luke, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca rescue Han from his carbonite prison. Fett remains on guard but entertains himself, flirting with dancers and even laughing along with Jabba as Luke battles the vicious rancor. When Luke kills the monster, an outraged Jabba sentences Luke, Han and Chewbacca to be cast into the Pit of Carkoon where the ghastly Sarlacc lives. Luke stages his own rescue and Fett attempts to stop them along with several of Jabba's hapless guards. While the bounty hunter is focused on Skywalker, Han accidentally strikes and activates Fett's jet pack, rocketing him against the sail barge. The jet pack deactivates on impact, and Fett falls into the waiting maw of the Sarlacc. He escapes (off-camera, however (as confirmed by several later novels and comics), and returned to his life as a bounty hunter.

Two years after the Battle of Endor, Boba infiltrated the speedy and powerful Rebel cruiser Trandoshan Rifle and his legion joined him in taking over the ship and killing the Rebels on board. Trandoshan Rifle was later seen twice in deep space by the Rebel Alliance, and the Rebels pursued the ship but both times it entered hyperspace. It was never seen by the Rebellion again.

For the 2004 DVD version of Return of the Jedi, George Lucas reveals in the commentary for the DVD that he considered adding a shot where Boba escapes the Sarlacc, as the Expanded Universe has shown. The scene was meant as a form of fan service, despite the fact that he originally intended Fett to die, even though the Expanded Universe had made it canon. Eventually, though, he explains that he decided against it because at that point in the movie, the main point of focus is the death of Jabba the Hutt, and he felt that the scene with Fett would draw away from that.

It is of interest to note that, though Fett's Sarlacc escape is official and did "happen" in the Star Wars canon, had Lucas inserted that particular scene into the movie, it would have made Fett's escape part of the highest level of canon, which is G-canon. Arguably, this is still the case, as Lucas's comments imply it happened in the film, simply off-screen.

Expanded Universe

Based on Expanded Universe sources, Boba Fett escapes the Sarlacc with the help of Dengar. While the Sarlacc left extensive damage physically and mentally, Fett manages to summon the will to recover and resumes his career.

Some of Boba Fett's character in the Expanded Universe is sometimes thought to have been compromised by revelations in Attack of the Clones, but the literature still manages to entertain and reveal aspects of Fett's life not discussed in the films. When Boba's clone origins were first revealed in 2002, they appeared to contradict a few Expanded Universe stories that had preceded them. Following the stunning revelation of Attack of the Clones, however, new Expanded Universe stories retconned the apparent discrepancies in Fett's past, smoothing out the minor contradictions that had arisen as a result of the film. For the most part, official sources claim that his past was made intentionally ambiguous by himself and others. All the stories that contradict his origins as seen in Attack of the Clones have either been retconned or revealed as untruths spread by Fett and others to hide his true origins and past.

Young adult Boba Fett series

In a young adult novel series set shortly after Attack of the Clones, Boba seeks out Darth Tyranus to claim the rest of his father's payment. He spends a short amount of time in the custody of the Sith Lord before venturing on his own to begin his career at an early age, already making modifications to both the Slave I and the Mandalorian armor inherited from his father and his father's mentor, Jaster Mereel.

He meets his future employer, Jabba the Hutt, fights the Separatist supreme commander, General Grievous (and loses), and has several minor bounties under his belt before the age of thirteen.

It should be noted that although Boba had lost his father, he had not lost his father's guidance. His father had left a holobook with a series of videos explaining what to do and where to go. This would eventually lead him to Jabba the Hutt.

Amazingly, Boba was one of the only beings in the galaxy to know the major secret of the Clone Wars. His father had advised him never to mention this to anyone, but on a Separatist banking clan planet Fett revealed that the clone army had been built by Count Dooku. This bought him time as he was being chased by Aurra Sing.

The clone rebellion (Battlefront II)

In the early days of the Empire, the clones being developed on Kamino were spiked so that they rebelled against the Empire, so the Empire sent the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers, led by the young Boba Fett, onto Kamino, where their mission was to capture the data needed to create Jango Fett clones and eliminate the rebellious clones. When the data was captured, the clones sent two Republic LAAT Gunships for backup but were shot down by the Imperial troopers. After the battle was won, Boba Fett left for Tatooine in search of a smuggler (who we now know is Han Solo).

The Last of the Jedi

In the young adult series The Last of the Jedi, Boba Fett, at the early age of fourteen, is hired by Imperial Inquisitor Malorum to investigate Padmé Amidala's death at the request of Lord Darth Vader. Fett traveled to Polis Massa and Naboo to gather this information. Polis Massa is the asteroid field where Padmé gives birth to Luke and Leia Skywalker shortly before her own death. We can only assume that Vader was not satisfied with the Emperor's explanation of Padmé's demise. In addition to this investigation, Fett is also commissioned to find and capture a former Jedi by the name of Ferus Olin. Ferus, recovering from a leg injury, is being protected by an old friend, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fett and Kenobi battle from afar, but Fett doesn't get a good look at Kenobi and can never report to Malorum with any certainty the identity of this powerful Jedi survivor. These events take place a year or two after Revenge of the Sith.

At some point between 19 BBY and 12 BBY, Boba fell in love with Kiffar bounty hunter Sintas Vel, most likely during Fett's stint as a Journeyman Protector on his father's homeworld of Concord Dawn, where Fett was known as Jaster Mereel. They married and had one daughter, Ailyn Vel. Eventually, Boba left his family. On Ailyn's sixteenth birthday, her mother died in pursuit of a bounty. Ailyn later became a bounty hunter herself, developing a strict adherence to the Bounty Hunters' Creed and nurturing an intense loathing of the father she had never known.

The Marvel Comic series

As revealed in the Star Wars Marvel Comics series, Boba Fett is believed to have served with a group of Supercommandos from the planet Mandalore towards the end of the Clone Wars. According to reports, only three Mandalorians survive: Boba Fett, Tobbi Dala, and Fenn Shysa. However, it is later revealed that this "Boba Fett" is not Boba Fett at all, but a rogue ARC trooper, Alpha-Ø2, nicknamed Spar, who has become obsessed with returning the Mandalorians to their former glory. Spar becomes Mandalore, the traditional title given to the leader of the Mandalorians, and later becomes known as "Mandalore the Ressurector."

Shadows of the Empire

Boba Fett also plays a prominent role in the comic book version of Shadows of the Empire, and has had several comic book miniseries.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Boba Fett returns to the galactic scene as Mandalore, leading a new group of Mandalorian Crusaders and restoring their legacy to the galaxy.

For a brief period, a young man named Jodo Kast poses as Boba Fett, by wearing a Mandalorian armor similar to Fett's. His motives are clear: gain the reputation of an infamous bounty hunter, and profit from this new profile. Kast's life is cut short, however, by the hands of Fett himself. During an attempt to collect a bounty, Kast is ambushed by Fett and his fellow bounty hunter Dengar.

A scuffle ensues and Kast collapses from the power of a poisonous dart.

Fett rigs Kast's jet pack to explode and places the antidote for the poison just beyond his reach. However, Kast does not capture the antidote in time and is buried in the rubble from the explosion. Kast appears in a series of comics titled Bounty Hunters, published by Dark Horse comics, and the Sony Playstation game, Star Wars: Masters of the Teräs Käsi. Grand Admiral Thrawn, who first appeared in the Timothy Zahn novel Heir to the Empire, disguises himself as Jodo Kast in the Timothy Zahn and Michael A. Stackpole novel Tales From The Empire.

Dark Empire comics

Boba Fett plays a prominent role in the miniseries Dark Empire, where it is revealed that he has survived the Sarlacc and continues his hunt for Han Solo. The story of Boba's first escape and recovery (there are three of them) is documented mainly in the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy and the anthology book Tales From Jabba's Palace. Interestingly enough, Fett is found lying outside the Sarlacc pit by a fellow bounty hunter named Dengar, whom Boba had previously left to die earlier on in the novel Tales of the Bounty Hunters.

Jedi Academy

During one of the missions on this game, Fett makes a brief cameo, as he steals a Rebel weapons cache, and Jedi Knight Jaden Korr is sent to eliminate them. Obviously disturbing his plans, Boba Fett threatens Jaden to leave or die. When Jaden refuses, he is forced to run throughout the ruins to destroy the caches while fending off Boba Fett and his array of weapons, which included the standard blaster rifle, a high-powered sniping rifle, a flamethrower, and deadly portable missile launcher. Once the caches were all destroyed, Jaden Korr ran to his ship and confronted Boba Fett one last time. Now without any distractions, Jaden Korr and Boba Fett battled head-on. Being among the greatest and most powerful Jedi in the Order, Boba Fett was unable to overwhelm the young Jedi Knight. His only reply to his loss was: "No bounty on you. A shame." At that, he activates his jet pack, and flies away as Jaden escapes.

The New Jedi Order

Boba Fett also makes a cameo appearance in The Unifying Force, the conclusion of the New Jedi Order series, in which, unmasked, he briefly meets Han Solo and aids in a fight against Yuuzhong Vong attackers. Later, he tells Solo (over ship-to-ship communications) that his bounty hunting of him was not personal, but just a job, and that his feud was always with the Jedi (a clear reference to his feelings about the fate of his father).

Other Expanded Universe appearances

In addition to those mentioned, Boba Fett is a prominent figure in many other Star Wars novels, comics, games, and fan-made films. Initially, the novels revealed false tidbits of Boba's past.

Ties

There is a long-standing belief that Darth Vader and Boba Fett have an unspoken mutual respect for each other (ironically, Boba had been eager to see Anakin die in the arena in Attack of the Clones). The bounty hunter is sometimes considered to be the closest thing Vader has to a right-hand man, even though Fett and Vader are at odds (with Fett questioning Vader over the carbonized Han Solo). In the Enemy of the Empire storyline (taking place a few years before A New Hope) Vader and Fett come to blows with a cask containing the decapitated-but-still-living head of an lcarii soothsayer. On Maryx Minor, Fett and Vader fight one-on-one for the cask, with Vader besting Fett. Vader spares Fett out of respect. Others have speculated that he did this because Darth Vader knew that he would need Fett later on.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Fett is seen questioning Vader in an informal manner, a deed which would probably get an Imperial officer strangled.

Likewise, Fett has a long-standing professional rivalry against Han Solo (though Fett claims it was never personal when he meets Solo in later years). Few details are known, but Solo, along with Kyle Katarn and his apprentice, Jaden Korr, are among the only people to elude capture by Fett on multiple occasions. And that is a good reason, for Fett is notorious for completely disintegrating those whom he has been hired to track down and kill.

Fett is revealed to have had a lifelong anger at the Jedi, no doubt because his father, whom he admired greatly, was slain by Mace Windu at the Battle of Geonosis and Boba never forgot. He ultimately blamed the Jedi Order for his father's death.

Notable quotes

• "Get him dad, Get him! Fire!" – in response to his dad chasing and firing on Obi-Wan Kenobi in an asteroid field in Attack of the Clones.
• "I take it you have no love for the Empire." – in response to finding Luke Skywalker on the planet Panna, in The Star Wars Holiday Special.
• "As you wish." – in response to Darth Vader's order not to disintegrate the crew of the Millenium Falcon, in The Empire Strikes Back.
• "He's no good to me dead." – in reference to the tortured Han Solo, in The Empire Strikes Back.
• "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me." – in response to Darth Vader's decision to freeze Solo, in The Empire Strikes Back.
• "Put Captain Solo in the cargo hold." – said to the Imperial officers handling the frozen Han Solo, in The Empire Strikes Back.
• "The Sarlacc found me somewhat indigestable, Solo." – to Han Solo, after Fett had survived falling in the Sarlacc pit, in the Dark Empire comic series.
• "No bounty on you. A shame." – to Jaden, after being defeated in Jedi Academy.
• "Just wanted to remind you, Solo, that my personal fight was always with the Jedi. You were nothing more than cargo." – to Han Solo in The Unifying Force.
• "To better days, Captain." – to Han Solo in The Unifying Force.

Portrayers

Boba Fett has been portrayed by a total of six actors throughout all the Star Wars productions. In his first chronological appearance, which was in Attack of the Clones, he was played by actor Daniel Logan. Fett is believed to be one of the characters featured in the upcoming Star Wars live-action series, and would likely be played by Logan. Fett appeared in an episode of the Droids animated series, where he is portrayed by ILM modelmaker, Don Bies. In the special edition of A New Hope, he is portrayed by another Lucasfilm employee, Mark Austin, who was an ILM creature animator. He was uncredited for the role, however, in the film's credits. In both The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett is played by Jeremy Bulloch. In the original and special edition versions of both movies, he was voiced by Jason Wingreen (but his only line in Return of the Jedi was a scream), however, in the 2004 DVD versions of the two films, he was voiced by actor Temuera Morrison, who had portrayed Boba's father in Attack of the Clones, and the voices of all the clones in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. In Return of the Jedi, however, he only did the laugh of Boba, which was added in to match that made by the young Boba in Attack of the Clones.

Morrison did not, however, redo the scream Boba made when he fell into the Sarlacc pit, and Jason Wingreen's scream remained. The reasoning behind the controversial move of replacing the voice of Wingreen is that as a clone of Jango, Boba should sound like him as well. In the special edition of Return of the Jedi, new shots of Boba were filmed. In these scenes he was portrayed by Don Bies, who had also voiced him in the Droids animated series and the animated portion of The Star Wars Holiday Special. Note that the Stormtroopers in Episodes IV-VI, are not all clones of Boba's father, Jango, as revealed in Battlefront II. Though this has been established in Star Wars continuity, it must be noted that, if he wishes, Lucas still has the ability to change this fact in a newer release of his films. He still may dub Morrison's voice over the stormtroopers in the original films.

Tom Kane voiced Boba Fett in the game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.

Boba Fett in pop culture

• Capcom's Mega Man X-series videogame character Vile (also known as Vava) is a rogue fighter with little tendency for formal alliance; some fans believe his appearance is patterned on that of Boba Fett, although he also could merely be an evolution of earlier character designs from similar enemies found in the classic Mega Man series.
• In the animated show Welcome to Eltingville, the primary characters challenge each other to a trivia contest, so that the winner earns the right to purchase a rare Boba Fett figure. The contest ends when two of the characters, during an argument, accidentally break the toy.
• The bounty hunter Jubal Early in the Firefly episode "Objects in Space" was inspired by Boba Fett, as revealed by Joss Whedon in his DVD commentary for that episode.
• In Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Smashed", geek villain trio Warren, Andrew, and Jonathan get upset when Spike threatens their 1979 Boba Fett action figure.
• A Boba Fett action figure is also featured in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Interestingly enough, his name is mentioned in that movie before it is mentioned for the first time in a Star Wars movie, Return of the Jedi, released a year after E.T.
• The Audience Choice winner of the 2003 Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards was the Boba Fett/Crocodile Hunter crossover spoof The Jedi Hunter. This popular short film also features the song "Boba Fett" by the Dublin, Ireland band Renko.
• Nerdcore rapper mc chris recorded a song called Fett's 'Vette, in which he revealed that the masked bounty hunter's true motive for his career is outstanding car payments. The song is available for free download at mcchris.com. The song is also featured in Adult Swim's cartoon parody Sealab 2021 in Episode 9 - "All That Jazz." It's the song being performed at the mc chris concert, as well as the song the boardroom is dancing to at the end during the credits.
• Family Guy makes two allusions: first, Peter ventures to wager all his Star Wars action figures in a bet against Lois, with exception to Boba Fett, saying "No matter how sure I am I never bet the Fett man", and secondly, while trying to recall the faces of his three children he replaces Meg with Boba Fett, remarking "Sweeet."
• In the DC Comics miniseries Kingdom Come, the character of Peacekeeper has an outfit similar to Boba Fett's.
• The NASA Robonaut's head bears a striking resemblance to Boba Fett.
• In Palladium Books' Rifts Mercenaries (an RPG sourcebook) by C.J. Carella, one of the Chipwell armours is designed like Boba Fett's armor. In Rifts Dimension Book 2: Phase World, also by Carella, the class of Intergalactic tracer is likely also designed after Boba Fett, also with a similar armor. Mainly in the case of the Chipwell suit in Merceneraries, it may be possible to view it live in the future in the Rifts Movie produced by the famed Jerry Bruckheimer.
• In George Lucas' 1973 film American Graffiti, Harrison Ford plays a semi-mysterious character named Bob Falfa. This name may be a precursor to Fett's name; possibly an inspiration for it.
• Rapper Blackthought of Hip Hop group The Roots has twice included his name in rhymes, rhyming "I'll fuckin bounty hunt your body like Boba Fett," in "Rollin With Heat" from "Phrenology" and "I'm a big bounty hunter like Boba Fett" on 2003's "The Tipping Point."
• Boba Fett is referenced numerous times on the classic comedy show 'Newsradio', most notably in a scene in which a Boba Fett action figure is used as a hidden camera to cheat in a high-stakes poker game. During the end credits, thanks are given to a J.T. Hutt for use of the figure.

External links

• Databank entry on Boba Fett at the official Star Wars site.
• The primary Boba Fett fan site.
• Fan site with downloadable videos, images, and other media of Fett.
• Another fan site