An ancient warrior people from the outer rim planet of Mandalore, much of Mandalorian culture
revolved around battle, living by a strict code of honor encouraging them to settle disputes
and choose leaders through single combat.
For much of their history, stemming back before even the formation of the Old Republic, mandalorian
warriors sought battle primarily for experience and glory, with reward and conquest as secondary
concerns.
Earning an elite reputation, they rode beasts like the great mythasaur and earned individual
fame as bounty hunters and mercenaries.
Unfortunately, due to the very nature of their aggressive society, disputes and rivalries
were often settled through war, leaving their people divided with only the greatest of warriors
able to claim the mantle of Mandalore and unite the clans.
During the Age of the Old Republic, a faction of Mandalorian Crusaders launched a war of
conquest, capturing worlds like Krownest and Concord Dawn, while devastating planets like
Ubduria.
At some point during this period, Mandalorian Rally Masters led warriors into battle wearing
distinctive red armor.
Expanding beyond their homeworld, they grew their ranks by accepting anyone of any background
as one of their own, on the condition they lived by the Mandalorian Creed.
Eventually, their wars led them into conflict with the Old Republic who were protected by
Jedi Order, an organization of force sensitive, lightsaber wielding warrior-monks possessing
numerous natural advantages like enhanced reflexes, strength, speed, and foresight.
Though Mandalorians fought bravely they were soundly defeated which in turn only made them
more determined to seek victory.
Adapting to this new threat, they changed everything from their fighting style to weapons
and armor, leading to an age of technological advancement.
This resulted in Mandalorian warriors using specialized weapons, jetpacks, magnetized
boots, tactical displays in their helmets and armor forged of Beskar, a unique type
of metal strong enough to withstand the burning blade of a lightsaber.
With these tools at their disposal, Mandalorians at last started to emerge victrious in some
of their confrontations with the Jedi, greatly increasing their already legendary reputation
throughout the galaxy.
Following leaders like Mandalore the great, they engaged in the Mandalorian-jedi wars,
but in the end, could not stand against the might of the Order and Republic, retreating
back into their own space.
Despite their defeat, the wars they fought over thousands of years earned them a permanent
reputation as some of the greatest warriors in the galaxy, with even the High Council
respecting their skills and accepting Tarre Vizsla into the order as the first Mandalorian
child to be trained as a jedi.
Following his own unique path, Tarre Vizsla created his own unique lightsaber called the
Darksaber and took it with him when he returned to Mandalore and became their ruler.
Yet upon his death, the weapon was recovered by the Jedi Order.
As relationship between the Republic and Mandalore once again turned hostile, clan Viszla sought
to recover the Darksaber of their ancestor and so stole it from the jedi temple, after
which it became an inspirational symbol used to conquer the other clans and unite their
people.
Ever eager for glory, they once again went to war with the Jedi in the final centuries
of the Old Republic, and were once again defeat, leaving their home planet a ruined a desert.
Utterly devastated, many Mandalorians laid down their arms and dedicated themselves to
the reconstruction of their world, while others left to populate colony planets.
Over the next thousand years, most Mandalorians turned away from their ancient traditions,
remaining in relative isolation from the rest of the galaxy as they recovered from the damage
inflicted upon their civilization.
Yet in time, this pacification of a once mighty warrior people, created a counterculture led
by the Children of the Watch who glorified their past and refused to abandon the Mandalorian
Creed.
Breaking away from the rest of society, The Children of the Watch became a radical warrior
faction dedicated to following the Way of the Mandalore, a strict honor code based on
the ancient traditions of their people.
Among the many rules they followed, they settled disputes through single combat yet were loyal
to the clan above all else and never removed their masks in front of others.
Known to many as a religious cult, the rest of mandalorian society became inwardly focused,
remaining on the worlds within their space, and as a result came to be seen by many as
a race of people from a certain region of the galaxy.
Yet the Children of the Watch took the opposite approach, looking beyond their space to embrace
the idea anyone could become a Mandalorian so long as they followed the creed, known
to rescue and adopt children, called foundlings, to train in the way of the mandalore.
Although few were as radical and adherent to ancient tradition as the Children of the
Watch, a thousand years of isolation and relative peace left many Mandalorians eager for change
and a return to their glorious past.
In 42 BBY, tension at last erupted into a civil war, ending in the further devastation
to their planet, and the fracturing of their people into three factions.
The winners of this conflict were the New Mandalorians, led by Dutches Satine Kryze,
a brilliant and effective leader who established a ruling council, administered reconstruction
efforts, and returning them to relative prosperity by joining the Galactic Republic.
A far cry from their ancient past, their new leader was also a pacifist, turning away from
violence after witnessing the horrors of their civil war.
Suffering defeat, the warrior class broke into two groups, with some exiled to the moon
Concordia where they plotted revenge, and others becoming the Old Mandalorians by leaving
their space to become bounty hunters and mercenaries, with no desire to continue the war.
Serving as Governor of Concordia, Pre Vizsla turned against the Satine and took leadership
of the exiles to form Death Watch, a faction dedicated to reviving their warrior past and
deposing the pacifist government.
Aiding him in this mission was Bo-Katan Kryze, leader of the Night Owls and sister to Satine,
who unlike her sibling sided with the warrior class in the conflict.
Though Death Watch adhered to the Mandalorian Creed, the rules they followed were not as
strict as the Children of the Watch.
Upon the outbreak of the Clone Wars in 21 BBY, Dutchess Satine formed the Council of
Neutral Systems, a faction of 1500 star system within the Galactic senate who sought to stay
out of the fighting.
Yet soon the war came to them, as Pre Vizsla made his move, allying with the Seperatist
government to launch terrorist attacks against the homeworld and republic presence within
their space, in the hopes of provoking the galactic senate to send troops to Mandalore.
Using the occupation of their planet as a propaganda tool, Pre Vizsla would declare
it an invasion and lead Death watch into repelling their forces, thereby becoming heroes to the
people and winning the support necessary to depose Dutchess Satine.
Although the plan almost worked, and the Senate authorized sending troops to occupy Mandalore,
the order was rescinded thanks to the efforts of Dutchess Satine, Obi Wan Kenobi and Padme
Amidala, who uncovered that the Senate was swayed by false evidence and exposed the truth
of the situation.
With their plan in shambles, the Seperatists withdrew their support from Death Watch, leaving
Pre Vizsla no choice but to withdraw and flee into exile, creating a base on the planet
Carlac where they once again plotted revenge.