How Jango Fett's Motivation Evolved from George Lucas to "Legends" to Present

There was once a time where Boba Fett’s father, Jango Fett, was known as “the last of the Mandalorians.”

Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus): “Our search for the Prime Clone is nearly complete. The galaxy’s most dangerous mercenaries have been pitted against one another and I sense the victor will be a bounty hunter named… Jango Fett! The last of the Mandalorians, the sole survivor of the Jedi Raid on Galidran; He’s the perfect soldier in every way. I have interrogated a number of his former associated, yes, in fact, I’ve just returned from the planet Concord Dawn, where Fett was born… and his family died.”

Darth Sidious: “Excellent. The most dangerous men are always Orphans…”

— Star Wars: Open Seasons “legends” comic, written by Haden Blackman

At this point in time, making him the last of the Mandalorians was a good way of explaining why it was that Jango Fett was chosen as the Prime Clone, aka the Clone Template. Whereas in the “Canon” film “Attack of the Clones,” he left his origins. Why he was recruited by Count Dooku remained a mystery. This left it to one’s imagination, as George Lucas’ focus was more on showing off what Fett could do in a fight, leaving only a glimpse of background information on the character. The film reveals a lot — that Jango Fett 1) had encountered Jedi in the past, 2) had known Count Dooku for about a decade, 3) had been living on Kamino (but not native to the planet), 4) had a reputation as a bounty hunter (who associated with at least one other hunter), 5) had some oversight of sorts with the training of clones, assuring Kenobi that they will do their job well, and 6) had a clone son named Boba Fett.

“Attack of the Clones” primarily portrays Jango Fett in two distinct ways. First, as a mercenary with combat and piloting skills with a reputation as a bounty hunter who is ruthless and professional enough to silence his own partner when it came down to it (Zam Wesell) while also capable enough to fight Jedi (RIP Coleman Trebor), and wild beasts (like the Reek). Second, as a caring, protective father plus a tragic figure, who despite the profit from being the Prime Clone and having his own clone son (the alpha clone Boba Fett), has put himself and his son in a dangerous position in pursuit of a simple life. He’s the simple man “trying” to make his way in the universe (or galaxy), right? But that’s easier said than done.

It makes sense for a person who has overcome trauma to want to escape painful past memories and start a new life. Jango Fett’s scars are not just on the surface, but also inside. In “Legends,” he loses his family (both parents and sister) to the Death Watch faction of Mandalorians. Then, years later, he loses his Mandalorian father Jaster Mereel. Eventually that entire faction of “True Mandalorians” were wiped out by a group of Jedi Knights (misled by Death Watch misinformation) in a battle where Jango, after witnessing one his own Mandos cut in half by a lightsaber — ferociously killed several Jedi using his own justified might — before surrendering.

Many years later, Jango Fett would suffer anther great loss with his Toydarian friend Rozatta who assisted him in the bounty hunting business. She was murdered by his main rival, the Mandalorian Montross, in Count Dooku’s bounty hunter contest that determined who would be the clone template for the Grand Army of the Republic. That army would then be modified to obey Palpatine’s Order 66 when the time came — an event which saw the murder of thousands of Jedi and the end of the Jedi High Council. As Jango Fett’s second family (the Mandalorians) had been murdered by Jedi, it was only fitting Count Dooku would reward Jango Fett with the ultimate revenge opportunity. And yet Jango wanted something more… as Rozatta planted the idea of seeking more to life than just bounty hunting. Jango finally listened and made himself a son, Boba Fett, or “Jaster’s Legacy” (as Jango was a man of Mandalorian culture).

Sadly in “Canon,” some of the tragedy element is lost with Jango Fett (for now), although not entirely. For example, in Marvel’s Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #37 written by Ethan Sacks, we see a flashback of Jango Fett attempting to save his bounty hunter friend Kligson after he is injured in a heist that didn’t go as planned. Eventually he had to abandon his friend to a community of droids and say his farewell to him in a bittersweet moment.

In the limited Jango Fett miniseries by Ethan Sacks, we also learned that Jango Fett and Aurra Sing had an on-and-off type of relationship, both professional and not. At the end of the story arc, Aurra Sing asks Jango Fett if he ever considered having kids to pass down the Fett legacy to. She knows he was good with handling the young Nakano Lash, a young thief who — like Jango — got caught in the middle of an orchestrated conspiracy meant to destabilize the Republic. (That would make Supreme Chancellor Valorum look bad, to make it easier for Palpatine to replace him, as he did in “The Phantom Menace.”) Jango Fett at that point is not ready for a child, but considers it.

Meanwhile, Count Dooku learns of Jango’s professionalism, competence, and discretion from a corrupt Governor who had hired Jango Fett to re-acquire an item of political and cultural significance. This is what piques Dooku’s interest in Fett, which is what leads him to Jango to meet on one of the moons of Bogden. (This was mentioned in “Attack of the Clones” and seen in both the “Star Wars: Bounty Hunter” video game from 2002 written by Jon Knoles and the comic book “Age of Republic: Jango Fett” from 2019 written by Jody Houser).

Boba Fett was not part of Dooku’s plans however, and yet Palpatine, being the evil mastermind he was, was able to incorporate and factor Boba Fett into his grand scheme. “Everything is going as planned,” said Sidious. Then again, maybe Boba wasn’t part of the plan. The Empire eventually got frustrated with the clones, not having realized their hidden paternal trait — something that especially irritated the imperial Dr. Royce Hemlock on “The Bad Batch” series. While Palpatine realized orphans made for dangerous men, he may have unwisely dismissed the innate need for family that even “the last of the Mandalorians” would feel.

With all that being said, “Canon” has left some mystery to why Jango Fett decided to have a clone son named Boba. Was it his friend Aurra Sing’s casual suggestion that implanted the idea? Maybe it’s because he was a Mandalorian Foundling, looking to start a “Clan of Two” — like Clan Mudhorn, aka The Mandalorian and Grogu? In a way Jango and Boba are the original clan of two, except it ended prematurely for them. The direction George Lucas gave was simple enough – the father/son dynamic, the bounty hunter angle, and the clone angle. The clone angle is really the most unique aspect here because it begs the question of why have a clone son, rather than a non-clone son/daughter — like Boba had in “Legends?” And then on top of that, why raise him up in such a dangerous setting, living on a planet of water and storms? Was that part of the training, to get Boba used to a harsh environment? Or was it just because there was no other choice? This is where the contradiction lies: the “simple man” is awfully complicated. It’s hard to be simple in a complex universe, in a dangerous galaxy. The lives of Jango and Boba were anything but simple.

Perhaps Jango Fett had so much faith in his genes and abilities that a clone of himself was the logical ideal choice for a son. It was a guarantee that his Fett legacy would live on, beyond the clone army that shared his face. Had Boba Fett been more fortunate enough to have a mother, it would have been much harder for Jango to get away with pushing Boba towards the bounty hunter life. As an orphan and Mandalorian foundling who had to struggle to survive at a young age, he would have felt comfortable leaning Boba towards dangerous situations because his confidence and faith in Boba would be as high as his own self-confidence and pride in ability.

Let’s say, hypothetically speaking, Jango had a son or daughter with someone in his line of work like Aurra Sing or Zam Wesell. There is no guarantee that the offspring lives up to Jango Fett’s reputation, even with the appropriate training – or had he adopted a foundling. Through Cloner Technology of the Kaminoans, Jango Fett was able to achieve something special that he only otherwise could have been done through some convergence of Force Magic/Magick — and dark sorcery, to reference “The Acolyte,” which of course isn’t his thing. It’s understandable why he would take an opportunity of a lifetime, making what he saw as the perfect son. Jango Fett was an honorable man, even to pirates. While pirates tend to put money above all, Jango deep down under the hard armored exterior was a caring person. I think we can conclusively say that Jango cared more about Boba than he did about wealth or revenge on the Jedi.

But wealth was part of it too. Boba Fett does not exist as a clone without his father’s love of money. Boba similarly inherited that love of credits as well, working for the top gangsters of his time, including Darth Vader, the right hand man of the Emperor. After obtaining much wealth he eventually reached an epiphany, just like his father: there is more to life. When Jango turned his life around, he soon thereafter lost his life in the war orchestrated by the very Sith that chose to copy him to make perfect soldiers. Had Jango known the future would be “Clone Wars” — that led to an end of the democratic Republic and the rise of an Empire that dissolved the Senate and threaten whole planets with destruction — would Jango have killed Dooku when he had the chance? Boba Fett similarly was blinded by his own personal feelings and ambitions that he overlooked the bigger picture at times, which one could argue is his one real character flaw. Will it cost Boba Fett his life eventually, as it did his father? And on the opposite side of the fence will we see a similar dynamic with Din Djarin and Grogu where perhaps Din’s fate is not too different than that of Jango and Grogu ends up dealing with the same kind of trauma young Boba felt? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about Jango’s Legacy in Star Wars too. Hopefully the near future will provide even more insight into the life of Jango Fett, the complicated yet simple man from Concord Dawn.