Jon Knoles

Most Enduring

"Although he had such a short life in the movies, Boba Fett is one of the most enduring Star Wars characters. He's mysterious; he has all these neat weapons--why'd he have to die so quickly? It just wasn't fair!"

SOURCE: Secrets of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire re: involvement in Shadows video game

Blue-Collar Spin for Fanboys

"From the beginning, we thought of Jango as a "blue-collar" galactic badass. He's the guy that does the dirty work and makes his living the hard way. He's not necessarily evil, but he's not a "nice" guy either. He's a mercenary who hunts people for money, dead or alive. This is not a heroic trait, but as our protagonist, he must serve the role of hero. Every hero (or anti-hero) needs a difficult quest to test his mettle, so we came up with one for him. We also wanted to show Jango more or less "slumming" at the start, just getting by from job to job, like it's a hard living out there for a bounty hunter, even for the best. The "BIG JOB" has still eluded him.

"Lucas Licensing gave us great degree of freedom in further developing Jango's character and backstory. Early on, I submitted a list of 10 yes-or-no questions to Lucas Licensing, which only George Lucas himself could answer -- and he did. One of the early ideas had Jango on a revenge quest. The word from George Lucas was that Jango shouldn't be driven by revenge, but rather purely by money. A mercenary doesn't need revenge to motivate him. Taking that advice, I went with the story idea that Jango goes after the ultimate bounty, a crazed rogue ex-Jedi.

"I was also very interested in taking many of Boba Fett's now-defunct legends (the origin of the Slave I , history of the Mandalorians -- all that fan-boy stuff) and re-invent them for Jango Fett's own backstory. Lucas Licensing was very agreeable to this approach. What we came up with for the game has and been folded into Star Wars expanded universe canon, and is seen now in comics, novels, and so on."

Source: Gamespy Interview, 11/2002

Favorite

"Jango Fett is my personal favorite. He's an interesting guy. Even though he was a villain in Episode II, he's not necessarily evil. He's a mercenary. He'll work for whoever pays. It just so happens that the bad guys usually pay more. This makes him morally ambiguous, more of an anti-hero than the always do-right Jedi. He doesn't talk much (the coolest tough guys never do), but he's got things on his mind. Why would Jango want the first clone for himself? Why does he want a son? Where did he come from? What the heck is a Mandalore Warrior? What kind of mission might make the fearless Jango Fett think twice about undertaking? This is all interesting stuff."

Source: Nintendojo Interview

Jango vs. Mace

"Well, in the original cut of Episode II, the fight between Jango and Mace Windu lasted a bit longer. But in the interests of keeping the movie going, it was reduced considerably. I think Jango got short-changed in the movie. But Jedi are indeed a formidable opponent, and Mace Windu is one of the most powerful Jedi, so it seems appropriate that Mace would come out on top. But as you saw in the film, Jango, with all his gadgets and quick reflexes, could more than hold his own against Obi-Wan Kenobi, who's no slouch either."

Source: Nintendojo Interview

2002 Interview on LucasArts.com

LucasArts.com: What are you working on now?

Jon Knoles: Right now I am the Director for Star Wars Bounty Hunter. I got started on this project after Simon Jeffery, the President of LucasArts, asked me to lead the development of a Star Wars Episode II game. We all knew it was time to do a game featuring Jango Fett.

Jango is a perfect game character because he looks cool, he has a questionable moral center, and he is a one-man army equipped with gadgets and weapons like a missile-firing jetpack and dual blaster pistols. Jango is going to help infuse some new attitude into Star Wars games.

Star Wars Bounty Hunter isn't going to just be a game where you play the movie; the player will get to explore and find the answers to the unanswered questions from Star Wars Episode II like why Jango was chosen to be the template for a Clone army, where the Slave 1 came from, and why Jango wanted a son. There also will be new characters introduced in the game that are not in the movie. A twisted, deranged Jedi who is Jango's prey, a female Toydarian named Rozatta who helps to guide Jango, and Montross, Jango's archrival will all help to drive the game's storyline.

LucasArts.com: If you could be any character from a LucasArts game which would you be and why?

Jon Knoles: I would be Jango Fett because he won't take crap from anybody.