Rising from relatively undignified beginnings, this mysterious bounty hunter has become one of
the most iconic characters in the Star Wars galaxy -- but that hasn't made him immune from a series
of misconceptions. Here's a look at some things you may incorrectly believe about Boba Fett.
Although Boba Fett wears the same type of armor as the titular protagonist of The Mandalorian,
he isn't part of the Mandalorian creed — at least not always.
Donald F. Glut's Empire Strikes Back novelization states that Boba was part of
"a group of evil warriors defeated by the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars."
Moreover, Daniel Keys Moran's novella The Last One Standing: A Tale of Boba Fett,
which was published in Kevin J. Anderson's 1996 anthology novel Tales of the Bounty Hunters, gave
Boba a real name, Jaster Mereel, and claimed that he was exiled from his home world of Mandalore.
This story was canon until George Lucas changed Boba's origin for Episode Two:
Attack of the Clones to make him the unaltered clone and son
of bounty hunter Jango Fett. Lucas has never explained the reasoning behind this change,
but Moran was ultimately not upset about it. In a 2018 interview the author noted
that Lucas had already changed plenty of his own previous ideas about Star Wars,
so he wasn't surprised when the legendary creator decided to alter those of another writer.
Chewbacca spent years in Boba Fett's crosshairs due to his longtime friendship with Han Solo, but
that doesn't mean that Fett hates all Wookiees. In fact, the Darth Vader comics reveal Boba worked
alongside a Wookiee named Black Krrsantan when the two were both employed by Jabba the Hutt,
and Boba even vouched for the wookie when Vader brought up the possibility of failure. Before
Vader assigned Krrsantan to capture an agent of the Emperor, he ended up going toe-to-toe with
Obi-Wan Kenobi in the comic Star Wars #20 because Jabba tasked Krrsantan with capturing the man who
kept interfering with the collection of his water tax. Later in the series, Krrsantan would also go
on to fight Chewbacca in Darth Vader #14 while trying to capture Han Solo. So, while Boba
definitely has beef with at least one Wookiee, he's capable of getting along with others.
Opening a previously unknown chapter in their shared past, Marvel Comics revealed that Boba
Fett and Luke Skywalker met long before they crossed paths in The Empire Strikes Back.
After the events of A New Hope, Darth Vader travelled to Tatooine and assigned Boba to
hunt down a Rebel pilot associated with a man named Obi-Wan Kenobi and a smuggling
vessel called the Millennium Falcon. Vader also specified to bring this pilot back in one piece.
Boba tracked this bounty down to Ben Kenobi's home in the Jundland Wastes and temporarily blinded him
with a flash grenade, but the mysterious rebel held his own against Boba and narrowly escaped
his clutches. After all that, Boba must've been happy to take a shot at Luke in Empire.
Even though Boba failed to capture his Rebel quarry, he did give Vader a name: Skywalker. For
Boba, that name wasn't familiar, but for Vader, it made him rethink everything Emperor Palpatine had
told him about the fates of his children. This information may explain why Vader appeared to
remain so calm when the Emperor first mentioned the name "Skywalker" in Empire Strikes Back.
Boba Fett was a killer even before Mace Windu decapitated his father
in Attack of the Clones. In fact, when Boba was growing up, Jango taught his
boy the same skills he learned as a bounty hunter, including survival and martial arts.
In the 2019 Marvel comic Age of Republic: Jango Fett #1, Jango takes Boba on a mission with three
other bounty hunters as part of his training. The mission is to capture a Twi'lek girl and
return her to her father, but after they find this bounty, the other hunters threaten to kill Boba if
he doesn't hand over the Twi'lek girl. Of course, these two bounty hunters underestimate the boy,
and Boba kills them both without his father's help. The comic ends with Boba asking his father
if he did all right, to which Jango responds, "You shot well. You trusted your judgement.
And you've started building your reputation. A father couldn't ask for a better start for his
son's legacy." We don't get a ton of insight into Jango's parenting, but at least he cared about
his son enough to prepare him for a galaxy that might not welcome him with open arms.
The current Star Wars canon portrays young Boba as someone in pursuit of his father's killer
after the events of Attack of the Clones. One story arc from the popular animated series
Star Wars: The Clone Wars sees Boba team up with bounty hunters Aurra Sing,
Bossk, and Castas and impersonate a clone cadet in order to infiltrate a Republic vessel called
the Endurance and kill Mace Windu in order to gain vengeance for Windu's murder of Jango Fett.
When his crew ends up taking hostages, however, Boba begins to become conflicted about the job
even if it means avenging his father. One of the arc's strengths is that it shows a
post-Attack of the Clones Boba as sympathetic and not just a ruthless killing machine.
This arc sets up the code of honor that Boba would continue
to establish and refine as he grew into adulthood.
Boba Fett's first movie appearance came in The Empire Strikes Back,
but it wasn't his screen debut.
"What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me."
Boba's first appearance in the Star Wars universe actually came during an
animated segment from the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special,
which was aired in part to further stoke anticipation for The Empire Strikes Back.
The short sees Luke, C-3P0, and R2-D2 crash land on the water moon of Panna
to save Han Solo and Chewbacca, who have also crash landed. Luke, Threepio,
and Artoo run into Boba Fett, who saves them from a giant monster with a weapon similar to
the sniper rifle we now see in The Mandalorian, and they decide to team up. Unfortunately,
Artoo later finds out that Boba is Darth Vader's right-hand man. Despite all its numerous flaws,
the Holiday Special will always have the honor of giving us Boba Fett's first media appearance.
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