Topic: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

**Spoilers for Season 2 of The Mandalorian**

What do you all make of some of the perceived discrepancies in Boba Fett's personality or behavior over the years in the new canon?

I know many of us Fett fans appreciate that "The Tragedy" (re)-introduced Boba Fett as a man of his word, who has a code of honor (of some kind) that he follows despite being a denizen of the Star Wars underworld (many of us were first introduced to this in Boba's chapter in "Tales of The Bounty Hunters" back in the day).

What do you all think of the more recent stories that potentially diminish his code of honor and create discrepancies in his character? How do you as a fan bridge those gaps?

Reason I ask this question? Now that we've seen more of Boba's personality in the The Mandalorian, I think back to some of the new canon source material and am trying to figure out what makes him tick. There's bound to be discrepancies when multiple authors are involved (e.g., comic writers vs. the writers for The Mandalorian), but I'm also interested in trying to make sense of some of these discrepancies from a story-telling perspective.

Something that comes to mind is Boba's singular quote in Boba Fett #1: Age of Rebellion. When a man pleading for Boba's help to take out a criminal group called the Xan Sisters, he points out that Boba hunts down "bad men, criminals, murders."  Boba coldly responses, "No... I hunt bounties." the comic ends with Boba's blaster trained on the man seeking his help, revealing that this man himself has a bounty on his head.

My issues is, I'm not sure this action aligns with how we've come to know Boba on The Mandalorian? Boba had many opportunities to act dishonorably or selfishly for personal gain in the retrieval of his armor, after all - he could have killed Cobb Vanth in cold blood, and had many opportunities to likewise take out Din in a cowardly or cold-hearted fashion. Yet, he chose not to.

I'm wondering if his survival post-Sarlaacc shifted his worldview somewhat. Almost like he wants to give others a fair chance and not take advantage of others for personal gain (something he might've easily done in the past, given an opportunity, as with the man in BF: Age of Rebellion). I like to view it that maybe Boba Fett has evolved and with age, gained a sense of honor he may not have previously had.

Now that I've reflected on this using one too many words, I'm curious -- What do you all make of it? big_smile

-BFFC Manji aka Jess

Twitter

Re: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

I loved that moment from Age Of Rebellion. I agree with you too. I think the near-death Sarlacc experience might’ve changed him.

Re: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

BFFC Manji wrote:

My issues is, I'm not sure this action aligns with how we've come to know Boba on The Mandalorian? Boba had many opportunities to act dishonorably or selfishly for personal gain in the retrieval of his armor, after all - he could have killed Cobb Vanth in cold blood, and had many opportunities to likewise take out Din in a cowardly or cold-hearted fashion. Yet, he chose not to.

I'm wondering if his survival post-Sarlaacc shifted his worldview somewhat. Almost like he wants to give others a fair chance and not take advantage of others for personal gain (something he might've easily done in the past, given an opportunity, as with the man in BF: Age of Rebellion). I like to view it that maybe Boba Fett has evolved and with age, gained a sense of honor he may not have previously had.

Now that I've reflected on this using one too many words, I'm curious -- What do you all make of it? big_smile

I definitely feel that the Fett we're seeing in 9 ABY is a reborn man. The values we're seeing enacted by him this season are in line with traits he showed in The Clone Wars but which appear, and I feel that this isn't as far fetched as it seems at face value, to have been eroded between then and the (canon) events of Original Trilogy. Likely at some point previous to the OT, Fett fell from grace and lost sight of the sense of honor and duty that his father had instilled in him. In almost dying in the sarlacc, as well as eking out a survival in the unforgiving deserts of Tatooine, its my opinion Fett had a moral and spiritual readjustment.

Re: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

CorrellianJoe_92 wrote:

I definitely feel that the Fett we're seeing in 9 ABY is a reborn man. The values we're seeing enacted by him this season are in line with traits he showed in The Clone Wars but which appear, and I feel that this isn't as far fetched as it seems at face value, to have been eroded between then and the (canon) events of Original Trilogy. Likely at some point previous to the OT, Fett fell from grace and lost sight of the sense of honor and duty that his father had instilled in him. In almost dying in the sarlacc, as well as eking out a survival in the unforgiving deserts of Tatooine, its my opinion Fett had a moral and spiritual readjustment.

I love this perspective CorrellianJoe_92! OMG, now I can't help but think Boba was forced by near death experience into a new age "spiritual retreat" on Tattooine. xD

Boba Fett is basically now a shaman / life coach. It's canon, ya'll.

-BFFC Manji aka Jess

Twitter

Re: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

I always saw Boba as a "Man with No Name" silent-but-deadly type but someone who has a heavy code of honor. I also always saw him as someone who would never remove his helmet, not because he's a mandalorian, but because that green mask IS his face (like my favorite quote in all of comics!). However, this newer Boba is definitely not as "Man with No Name" as I would like, but that's okay because what they did with him in Mando S2 was spectacular! He has a heavy code of honor, and that's all I can really ask for. I wanted Boba to be more than silent bad-ass, like in the Legends comics, and Mando S2 definitely delivered!

"This IS my face" -Boba Fett, Twin Engines of Destruction (Page 15)

Re: Discrepancies in Boba Fett's character/personality?

HunterOfTheWeb064 wrote:

I always saw Boba as a "Man with No Name" silent-but-deadly type but someone who has a heavy code of honor. I also always saw him as someone who would never remove his helmet, not because he's a mandalorian, but because that green mask IS his face (like my favorite quote in all of comics!).

I used to think that, too. Of course, the Mandalorian showrunners wrote Din very intentionally to live by a code where he can't remove his helmet. I feel like from the perspective of the show, they didn't want to portray both Din and Boba adhering to a similar code, for different reasons. It would probably confuse more casual fans, who might also think Boba lives by the same code as Din.

As for Boba showing his face in the show: My head canon is that younger (like in his 20s - 30s) Boba Fett is very much in the mindset that his helmet IS his face. The way that quote always made sense to me in the context of Boba being a clone is that he prefers to identify with the helmet rather than his own face, because his actual face is literally his dad.

Would you want to look at yourself if your reflection was identical to your dead father's? :'( That's why I can see him leaning heavily into wearing the helmet pre-Sarlacc. (I think Karen Traviss' novel "Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines" also hinted at this, but it's no longer canon).

Now, post-Sarlacc, which is when The Mandalorian takes place, my head canon is that he's more comfortable now being without the helmet. For one, he was pretty much forced to be without it for several years. But also, the Sarlacc damaged his face, leaving permanent scars. Suddenly he looks less like Jango, and more like his own man. He starts seeing his father less in his reflection, and starts seeing himself more clearly. For this reason, he's more comfortable now going helmetless.

Just to be clear -- this is my head canon (especially the last bit) and is not grounded in anything confirmed in the show. smile

-BFFC Manji aka Jess

Twitter