The latest episode of the Mandalorian didn’t introduce too many new ideas or characters to the fold, but there are some people who may not fully understand Boba and his father Jango’s backstories. Today we we give an overview of Boba, Jango, and Mandalorian foundlings to ensure everyone knows how all of these characters and ideas are tied into The Mandalorian.
Jango Fett
Jango Fett was a Mandalorian foundling that was born on Concord Dawn, a planet in the Mandalore sector of the Outer Rim territories. Jango was raised and trained by Mandalorians on Concord Dawn and fought in the Mandalorian Civil War in the years before the Clone Wars started.
There isn’t much information about the Mandalorian Civil Wars in the current canon, but if old stories were brought into the current canon, it could mean that Jango Fett would have become the leader of the then-named ‘True Mandalorians’ who were fighting to maintain the Mandalorian way of being honorable Mercenaries.
After the Mandalorian Civil Wars, Jango Fett was recruited by Darth Tyranus, aka Count Dooku, to be the genetic father to the Grand Army of the Republic. One of Jango’s stipulations to the deal was that he was to be given an unaltered clone for his own to raise as his son.
Jango’s son, Boba Fett, witnessed his father’s death on Geonosis during a battle between the Jedi and the Confederacy of Independent Systems.
Boba Fett
After witnessing his father’s death at the hands of Jedi Grand Master Mace Windu, Boba Fett became obsessed with avenging his loss. During the Clone Wars animated series, a young Boba Fett with the help of Bounty Hunter’s Aura Sing, Bossk, and Castas tried to assassinate Mace Windu by having Boba pose as a Clone Trooper cadet, but the plot ultimately failed, and Boba was imprisoned on Courscant for a number of years.
After his release from prison, Boba Fett set out to become the greatest Bounty Hunter in the galaxy. He formed the Krayt’s Claw, a bounty hunter syndicate run from Tatooine. Over the years he earned the reputation as one of the most skilled hunters in the galaxy which led to his employment by Jabba the Hutt and eventually Darth Vader.
In Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett was tasked his finding the Millennium Falcon by Vader, and while he didn’t capture Solo himself, he did lead the Empire and Vader to Bespin where Vader did the deed. Fett then brought carbonite encased Solo to Jabba the Hutt’s compound on Tatooine.
Boba Fett’s run as the best Bounty Hunter in the galaxy ended at the hands of Luke Skywalker and the rest of his band of Rebels on Jabba’s Sail Barge. Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewy devised a plan to free Han Solo from Jabba, and during that plan, Boba Fett was thrown into the Sarlaac Pit and left for dead.
His return in The Mandalorian marks the first time that he had been seen since his escape from the Sarlaac.
Foundlings
Foundlings are children that were adopted by Mandalorian warriors. Mandalorian tradition states that foundlings were to either be raised by the Mandalorian that found them or reunited with their own people. If they were raised by the Mandalorians, a foundling would be trained and raised as true Mandalorians, then when the foundling was of age, they could choose to remain a Mandalorian or to leave and go out on their own.
Jango Fett and Din Djarin, aka The Mandalorian, are notable foundlings.
