5 Ways Star Wars Canon’s Jango Fett Is Inspired By Legends (& 5 Ways He’s Brand New)

The Star Wars prequel trilogy’s Jango Fett has a rich history in the Legends continuity, with some elements carrying over into the modern canon. Before the Star Wars franchise’s partial reboot in 2014, what is now called Legends was previously the official Star Wars continuity. Even as a discontinued side of the franchise, however, Legends-era works serve as wellsprings of inspiration for modern canon characters and properties, and Jango Fett exemplifies this.

Jango Fett only appears in one live-action property – Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones – yet he has a significant impact on the entire saga. As the Prime Clone for the Clone Army, Jango Fett was invaluable to providing the Galactic Republic with an elite fighting force and the Sith with the ideal assassins to initiate the Jedi Purge. Jango Fett’s Mandalorian origin, brutal past, and even sentiment towards his own clones differ in the two Star Wars continuities, with five notable similarities between the two and five significant differences.

10

Jango Fett Is A True Mandalorian Once Again

After A Clone Wars Retcon Removed His Mandalorian Background

Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered years before the Star Wars franchise’s partial reboot, yet it knowingly contradicted most established Clone Wars-era lore from Legends. This, combined with the fact that it fully carried over into the modern canon, means it ought to be considered exclusive to modern canon and not part of the Legends timeline. One major change The Clone Wars made was seemingly removing Jango Fett’s Mandalorian background, an essential element of his history and characterization in Legends. For years, modern canon properties would assume that Jango simply used Mandalorian armor.

Despite this, The Mandalorian season 2 reintroduced Boba Fett to the realm of live-action, having him reacquire his father’s armor. Boba Fett explained to Din Djarin that while he does not identify as a Mandalorian, his father was, making the armor Boba’s by inheritance. While Boba Fett is, unfortunately, not a Mandalorian like his original Legends iteration, Jango Fett is part of the Creed in both continuities.

9

Jango Fett Seemingly Never Competed With A Bitter Rival To Become The Prime Clone

Star Wars Canon No Longer Includes Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

A key portion of Jango Fett’s Legends-era backstory is shown in the 2002 video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. Taking place shortly after the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the game shows Jango Fett’s first contact with Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus). This leads to his intense competition with the rival bounty hunter Montross, a formal Mandalorian who was dishonorably discharged from Jango Fett’s own unit.

While some parts of Bounty Hunter’s grim story have carried over into the modern Star Wars canon, there is no indication that Jango’s galaxy-spanning hunt for Komari Vosa took place in the modern canon. Age of Republic – Jango Fett, by Jody Houser and Luek Ross, depicts a new version of Jango Fett’s meeting with Dooku. Rather than earn Dooku’s favor by proving himself as a superlative soldier (and Jedi-killer), Jango is simply contacted by the Sith Lord and chosen based on his skill, reputation, and the fact that humans are apparently easy to clone.

8

Like Din Djarin, Jango Fett Is A Foundling

Jango’s Mentor, Jaster Mereel, Also Appears To Be Canon Again

When revealing his father’s Mandalorian cultural heritage to Din Djarin (and undoing The Clone Wars’ retcon), Boba Fett notes that Jango Fett was a Mandalorian foundling. While the term foundling was not used in Legends, Jango was adopted in Mandalorian tradition, as shown in the four-issue comic series Jango Fett: Open Seasons, by Haden Blackman and Ramón F. Bachs. Shortly after losing his family to a Mandalorian terrorist group, Jango encounters Jaster Mereel, who leads a contingent of true Mandalorians against the extremists.

Jango Fett is not only adopted by Mereel, but he also willingly joins their cause, eventually succeeding Mereel as the unit’s leader. Little is known about Jaster Mereel in the modern Star Wars canon, but he is seemingly acknowledged in Boba Fett’s chain code when it is displayed for Din Djarin. An incomplete reference to Jango’s mentor almost spells the name “Jaster.”

7

Jango’s Motivation For Having A Son Is Now Different

In Legends, Jango Honors The Last Wish Of A Close Friend

In the Legends continuity, Jango Fett was, for the most part, a bitter loner upon becoming a bounty hunter. He had few close relationships, having a brief romantic relationship with the human pilot Sheeka Tull and a strong friendship with the Toydarian Rozatta, who owned the Outland Transit Station. Rozatta often encouraged Jango Fett to retire from bounty hunting and start a family, and Jango honored this wish after Montross murdered her. When finalizing his agreement with Count Dooku, Jango demanded an unaltered clone for himself to raise as a son.

Jango Fett’s motivation for commissioning an unaltered clone in the modern canon is less clear. Age of Republic – Jango Fett suggests that, like his original Legends iteration, Jango wanted to leave a legacy behind in the form of Boba Fett. There is no indication, however, that Rozatta exists in the modern canon, therefore removing her as a motivating factor for Boba Fett’s creation.

6

Jango Fett Is A Mandalorian Civil War Veteran

Parts Of Open Seasons Might Have Carried Over From Legends

In the Legends continuity, Jango Fett was a veteran of the Mandalorian Civil War, fought between the true Mandalorians – led by Jaster Mereel – who strictly adhered to the Supercommando Codex and the extremist Death Watch terrorists, who rejected the modern notions of morality. Jango joined Mereel’s contingent and killed Death Watch members at only ten years old. Following Jaster Mereel’s death (the result of Montross’s betrayal), Jango took his place as the leader of the true Mandalorians. Tragically, the Death Watch would fool the Jedi into fighting against the true Mandalorians, leading to their massacre.

Little is known about the Mandalorian Civil Wars in the modern Star Wars canon, however. Boba Fett acknowledges the conflict when discussing his father’s past with Din Djarin, but there is no indication that Jango was a child soldier who lost his unit to the Jedi. A future Star Wars property might bring more elements of Jango’s military service to the modern canon.

5

Unlike His Legends Iteration, Jango Fett Was Seemingly Never The Mand’alor

Jango Fett Probably Never Wielded The Darksaber

While both iterations of Jango Fett are Mandalorians, only the original Legends iteration was the Mand’alor. Jango’s mentor and adopted father figure, Jaster Mereel, was not only the leader of the true Mandalorians and the author of the Supercommando Codex, but he was also the Mand’alor, and thus the ruler of all Mandalorian clans. When Jango Fett succeeded Mereel as the leader of the true Mandalorians, he became the next Mand’alor. After Jango Fett’s death, the Mand’alor title would be passed down to the rogue ARC Trooper Spar and Fenn Shysa before Boba Fett took the coveted position.

There is no indication, however, that the modern canon’s Jango Fett was once the Mand’alor. If Jango had been, he would have wielded the Darksaber against his enemies in Attack of the Clones. Moreover, based on the rules established in The Mandalorian, Mace Windu would have become the next Mand’alor, not Pre Vizsla.

4

The Death Watch Exist In Star Wars Canon & Legends

They May Still Be Jango’s Bitter Enemies, Too

The Death Watch, a Mandalorian fundamentalist terrorist group, was introduced in Open Seasons as the enemies of Jaster Mereel’s true Mandalorians. Seeking to return the Mandalorians to their conquering ways and rejecting the moral guidelines imposed by the Supercommando Codex, the Death Watch brutally murdered Mandalorians, including Jango Fett’s parents and later Jaster Mereel. The Death Watch also manipulated the Jedi, leading to the massacre on Galidraan. Jango Fett would have his revenge, however, as he would hunt down and kill the Death Watch’s leader, Vizsla, and the remaining Death Watch members came to fear Fett.

The Death Watch exists in the modern Star Wars canon as well, but their relation to Jango Fett is unknown. The Clone Wars depicts the Death Watch and its leaders, Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan Kryze, as murderous terrorists. Jango Fett may have fought against the Death Watch in the modern canon’s Mandalorian Civil Wars, perhaps earning their fear like his Legends incarnation. In any case, Jango’s clone troopers proved to be superior warriors to the Death Watch’s finest members during the Siege of Mandalore.

3

Jango Fett Does Not Care About His Clone Troopers In Canon

They Were His Legacy In Legends

A major difference between the canon and Legends iterations of Jango Fett concerns his attitude towards his clone troopers. In the original Legends iteration, Jango Fett took great pride in the Clone Army. Not only did Jango help design clone trooper armor – with Phase 1 helmets resembling those of Mandalorians – he also was keenly aware of the Clone Army’s role in destroying the Jedi. While Fett was likely not involved in the brainwashing that clones underwent to ensure Order 66’s execution, he saw them as a means to enact revenge on the Jedi for their role in the Battle of Galidraan.

In the modern canon, however, Jango Fett thinks little of the clone troopers. Age of Republic – Jango Fett has Fett dismiss them as little more than cannon fodder, viewing only Boba Fett as his legacy. It is also not clear how much Jango Fett knew about the Clone Army’s secret true purpose of destroying the Jedi in the modern canon.

2

Jango Fett Acquired The Slave I On Oovo IV

This Makes At Least One Part Of Bounty Hunter Part Of Modern Canon

Jango Fett and Boba Fett famously fly the heavily-modified Firespray Pursuit Special known as the Slave I in both timelines. Legends shows how Jango Fett acquired the vessel, however, via Bounty Hunter. On a mission to the Republic maximum security prison Oovo IV, Jango loses his original ship, Jaster’s Legacy, to the prison’s security force, leading him to steal one of their prototype Firespray vessels and destroy the rest. Jango appears to have named the ship the Slave I after a mission to Malastare reminded him of his brief enslavement following the Battle of Galidraan.

Jango Fett’s acquisition of the Slave I has not been shown in the modern Star Wars canon, but elements of its Legends-era story appear to have been absorbed into the newer timeline. As revealed in several sourcebooks, Fett still stole the Slave I from Oovo IV, though details beyond that are scarce. While much of Bounty Hunter remains exclusive to the Legends continuity, part of Jango Fett’s mission to Oovo IV is part of the modern canon.

1

Jango Is Not Involved In Clone Trooper Training In Modern Canon

Though He Was Heavily Involved In Clone Trooper Training In Legends

Unsurprisingly, the modern Star Wars canon’s Jango Fett – who thought little of his clone troopers – was not involved in their training. Fett left this task to the Kaminoans, the Jedi, and the Republic writ large. They hired elite bounty hunters to ensure that the clone troopers were a superlative fighting force capable of keeping up with the Jedi (and eventually murdering them).

In his original Legends incarnation, however, Jango Fett was heavily involved in clone trooper training, due to both his investment in making the army part of his legacy and to ensure that they would destroy the Jedi. Jango Fett oversaw the training regimen of all clone troopers and personally trained every Alpha-class ARC Trooper. As a result, all clones, from the basic troopers and pilots to the most elite ARC Troopers, were Mandalorians by culture. Jango Fett also used his position as the Mand’alor to enlist the assistance of other Mandalorians, such as Kal Skirata, to train clones.

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