Predators of the Empire
by Brian Daley, from Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #6 (p. 32-37)

     They're the grimmest reapers.

     They're beings who stalk the twilight free-fire zone between the law and the jungle and the retribution of governments. They're red of fang and claw, answerable to no one. Ruthless-- respecting authority only when it's backed by naked force. Many are as criminals as their quarry. Their license to kill comes from the mint and their own dark drives. A name on a wanted notice empowers them to seek out prey, run it to the ground...capture or slay it.

     Of all the frequently cited parallels between George Lucas' universe and the American wild West, none's more dramatic or ominous than that of the bounty hunters.

     Sound like a career opportunity you'd like to know more about? Fine. Let's talk about job specs and other factors you'll want to consider. But first, a look at your competitors.

     A good many Star Wars viewers sensed that the bounty hunters were lurking nearby as that festering nest of lethal rascality, Mos Eisley, came into view in A New Hope. How could it be otherwise, with manhunts, gunfights, stoolies and desperadoes figuring so prominently in the plot?

     Late, unlamented Greedo had a technical claim to being the first bounty hunter to make an appearance in the mythos. Yet, despite his Rodian heritage, he seemed more of a petty gangster trying to make his bones. It wasn't until the rogue's gallery lineup on the bridge of Vader's Star Destroyer, the Executor, in The Empire Strikes Back that we got to see the real item and hear Admiral Piett's comment: "Bounty hunters! We don't need that scum."

     Piett was whistling past the graveyard; the Empire likely couldn't get along without its independent contractors. The subject came up in a conversation I had with Jon Knoles, an animator for LucasArts Entertainment, Lucas' gaming division, whose work includes X-Wing, Dark Forces and the upcoming Shadows of the Empire. Jon points out the fact that the Emperor wasn't all powerful, despite his dark side mental powers and the ability to shoot electrical bolts from his fingertips. Thus he had Mara Jade, Vader and other lieutenants to run errands, oversee details and troubleshoot.

     In the same way, Vader didn't hesitate to do some out-sourcing of his own. Then, too, mustering the bloodhounds on the bridge was likely the Dark Lord's way of letting it be known he wasn't happy with the lack of results from his starfleet assets. That served as a strong incentive to the military types; when Vader wasn't happy, underlings were liable to suffer the kind of choking episode no amount of Heimlich Maneuver could relieve.

     As was the case in stories from the American frontier, the Star Wars bounty hunters had taken on an interest and a stature out of all proportion to their numbers. Who are they, and how do they come to be working their deadly trade? How do they fit into greater scheme of things, and what will be their place in upcoming Star Wars projects?

     George Lucas' bounty hunters were based, of course, on similar characters in our own history. Yet, even there, facts and imagination have intertwined.

     The popular image of the Western bounty hunter is of the freelance, for-profit outlaw tracker: Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" in A Fistful of Dollars and its two "spaghetti Western" sequels, or Steve McQueen as Josh Randall in the 1960s TV series Wanted, Dead or Alive. But the real-life practitioners of the trade mostly brought in wild animal pelts or Native Americans' scalps. (At that, authorities weren't very particular about the age, gender or even the tribe of human victims.)

     There were unquestionably those professionals who hunted wanted men--and women--for the rewards on their heads. But experts on the frontier says that our concept of the job is more a product of 20th century than the 19th.

     For that matter, bounty hunters may well be more numerous today then ever. Bail-jumpers are the source of revenue. The "skip-tracers" who hunt them down are integral to our criminal justice system.

     It's not skip-tracers we're talking about in Star Wars, however, nor repo men nor summons servers. Boba Fett, Dengar, IG-88 and their ilk are cold-blooded predators, with no apologies.

     Surely the Empire has greater need of then than did the Old Republic. That was an age of comparative order. Evildoers had pursuers more fearsome than the most savage bounty hunter: the Jedi Knights.

     The Empire, however, devoted most of its efforts to suppressing rebellion and shoring up its own power. Criminal justice took a backseat, and Imperials had scant time for seeking more felons.

     In fact, one of George Lucas' original concepts for A New Hope involved automated executioners. The spherical Jedi training remote on which Luke practices his lightsaber moved aboard the Millennium Falcon was the prototype of innumerable such airborne weapons. The concept was that they would wander population centers scanning for targets identifiable via their memory banks, terminating them of the spot.

     The remotes weren't used that way, but something else filled the bill. Where local jurisdictions' authority ceased and the Emperor's minions were elsewhere engaged, the bounty hunters prospered.

     In terms of bang for the buck, the mere announcement of a bounty would be almost as useful to the Empire as the bounty itself. At no cost beyond that of putting out the word. the Imperials enlisted billions of potential informers--a living sensor network that at the very least hampered the wanted individual's freedom of movement. No matter where the fugitive fled, someone (like Grea the Orfite from West End Games' Elrood Sector book) would be on the lookout for them.

     So, why not an Empire's Most Wanted weekly TV series?

     There surely were criminal justice and military intelligence data networks, as well as public information systems. And word gets around the underworld faster than any starship. But the sheer size of a galactic government means there's too much information for any individual hunter or fugitive-spotting citizen to absorb. You could watch 500 channels of wants-and-warrants around the clock every day (if that was how your sensorium happened to be wired) and still not catch more than a fraction of all the bounty postings.

     Then, too, you can't make a living by waiting for prime quarry to simply wander by. The pros have their own grapevines and data systems. Those winnow out the small-time mopes who aren't worth the trouble and the perps known to have gone to ground in far-off regions. That leaves a much more manageable roster of viable targets.

     So, considering all this information, let's assume you've decided to seek your fortune in the exciting occupational specialty of bounty hunting. What career considerations should you be mulling?

     First and foremost, there's the background skills you'll need to insure that you're the pursuer and not the quarry. (Given the checkered past of the hunters we know about, it's probably not uncommon for bounty chasers to be gunning at each other.)

     Individuals drawn to the trade are as varied as to the origin as they are dangerous. Zuckuss the Gand, for instance, had been a "findsman," hunting runaway slaves on his misty home world. Dengar was a former swoop rider and gladiator. IG-88 started out as an assassin droid.

     Previous experiences in law enforcement or the military would be a major plus for you. So would proficiency as a big-game hunter, surveillance expert or bodyguard. If you come from a culture with a strong warrior tradition or a species that devotes much time to predation and combat, so much the better. Lacking those advantages, you should consider apprenticing yourself to a successful bounty collector.

     Choose carefully, though. Many a long-lived veteran has survived by letting native assistants take the risks. You can learn a lot by being shoved into a darkened room full of trigger- happy psychopaths, but the knowledge isn't likely to do you much good.

     There are a number of schools, both aboveboard and covert, where you can acquire the necessary basic know-how--but there again wisdom counsels discretion. If you want to receive a useless diploma in hyperdrive repair, you're merely out some money; if you get inferior training as an outlaw-tracker, it will put a severe crimp in your life expectancy.

     Beyond your basic talents and proficiencies, you'll need to consider the question: Am I adaptable? Your prey may come from any one of a huge number of species, and what works against one could spell disaster against another.

     Your electrified smart-harpoon worked fine against that Squid Head pirate, but it's hardly the weapon of choice for going up against a Chiggnash extortion ring. After all, the Control Mind of the scorpion-like Chiggnash breeds warrior drones the way a termite queen lays eggs. That harpoon will short-circuit before you work your way through the first dozen, and a conventional blaster won't do much better. Pop quiz: Then what d'you do?

     Similarly, it's one thing to go up against a screaming, slavering foe whose style is to charge head-on. But if you're after one that can blend in with its surroundings like a chameleon and pass for a patch of wall stucco, you'd better have sharpened your senses of hearing and smell.

     You may also want to think twice before you try to cash in on a contract put out by the Hutts or similar underworld figures. The line from Prissi's Honor, "They'd rather eat their children than part with money," applies quite literally to some of these folk. They might well decide to add you to the menu, thus economizing on your payoff.

     Whatever your modus operandus and weaponry, do not buy into the snake oil if you'll hear about honor among bounty hunters. So-called rules of engagement, prerogatives of the first sighting... they're all smoke screen and hype. As events in Shadows of the Empire will prove, bounty hunters won't hesitate to attack their own, betray allies or whack a former companion.

     No overview of this cruel breed would be complete without a more detailed mention of Boba Fett, the most successful, capable and charismatic bounty hunter alive (at least, as of this writing.) Bits of the puzzle that is Fett have appeared over the years.

     We know that his origins as Journeyman Protector Jaster Mereel, who's been described by several sources as "ugly." There are credible reports of his disgrace and dishonorable discharge from his law enforcement agency. How he got his new alias or acquired the rare Mandalorian battle armor he wears are secrets no one has yet penetrated with any degree of certainty.

     To be sure, no other individual in his dire trade cuts as striking a figure as Fett. First and foremost there's that Mandalorian helmet. Its blacked-out, T-shaped visor slit, reminiscent of the Greek helms of Corinth and Boetia, gives him the look of both machine-like soldier and merciless executioner. The sight of it alone is enough to unnerve many opponents.

     The rest of Fett's suit is just as impressive, making him a walking arsenal. His wide range of weapon options and a host of sensory and battle-management systems give him the capability of an entire hunter-killer squad.

     Last, but not least, there is his backpack jet pack. That feature has most of the advantages of a small personal transport vehicle and almost none of the drawbacks. Its mobility gives him a tremendous edge and adds to the romantic figure Fett cuts in the eyes of some. It provides him with the nearest thing most humans can know to the airborne freedom of birds.

     Many rivals would avail themselves to such a jet pack if they could, but such systems are both difficult to procure and tricky to master. They require the combined virtues of ace fighter pilot, master technician and interstellar-class athlete.

     Fett has purposely left his attire battle-scarred and showing its long, hard use. To heighten the intimidation factor, he wears a clutch of Wookiee scalps at his right shoulder. They are proof that he has overcome some of the galaxy's best fighters and hunters, and that he's not a man who relents on a vendetta.

     As to spacecraft, Fett has always, shrewdly, been at pains to provide himself with maximum speed and firepower. While Slave I and its little-used backup, Slave II, were very different vessels, both fit the bill for pursuit (or escape), as well as combat.

     In sum, Boba Fett comes equipped with all the prerequisites of the bounty hunter: training, experience, motivation, equipment, versatility and a moral code that makes virtues his flaws. He has scored startling triumphs and survived devastating defeats. It seems certain that the Force has spared him to play out some defining role in the great pattern of the Star Wars epic.

     There remains the question of how the institution of bounty hunting will fare as galactic history moves forward. The hunters' frequent patron, the Empire, in only a shadow of its former self. The re-emergent Republican government shows less enthusiasm for the profit-motive killers. More to the point, new Jedi have begun to take up the lightsaber in the service of galactic law and justice; each one greatly reduces the need for slayers-for-pay.

     Yet, just as the Empire has higher priorities, the Jedi and other forces of order will be kept busy guarding the fragile new freedom and stability. Competing, balkanized local government have their own agendas and ethics. The underworld will still put out contracts on those it wishes to see eliminated. Will the bounty hunters fade away? The answer is a resounding no.

     In anything short of Utopia, there'll always be those who want others brought to accounts or eliminated. Lacking the wherewithal to do it themselves, they'll hire others to get it done. Inevitably, there'll be those ready, willing and able to oblige.

     So long as money moves from hand to hand (to tentacle); so long as some have and others covet; as long as group hates group and an eye is demanded for an eyestalk... the grimmest reapers will have a cash crop to harvest.

Science fiction and fantasy writer Brian Daley is the author of The Han Solo Adventures trilogy and the scripts for the National Public Radio adaptations of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. He is currently at work on a similar script for Return of the Jedi.

Ralph McQuarrie's Bounty Hunter Visions

     Anyone familar with the background of the Star Wars universe and its imagery knows the work of artist Ralph McQuarrie.

     From the outset, Ralph's sketches and paintings have provided guiding visions and blueprints for the Lucasfilm cosmos. His experience at Boeign, Kaiser Industries and CBS News -- particularly his work depicting Apollo space missions -- made him a natural to give form, color and texture to George Lucas' vision.

     Asked about his contribution to the bestiary of the bounty hnters, Ralph recalls a time at Elstree Studios in England, during the filming of The Empire Strikes Back. While Lucasfilm was in the midst of building sets and so forth, Empire Director Irvin Kershner rushed in, needing conceptual art. Someone mentioned the idea of bounty hunters.

     Ralph made a few quick sketches that were whisked away to the prop crew. The guys there got to work, and three or four days later the rogues' lineup was on the soundstage. "[They just] turned up in the film... voila," the artist remembers.

     Exact details are difficult to nail down after the passage of so much time. A sketch Ralph remembers as being the work of Costume Designer John Mollo most likely provide the basis of Zuckuss.

     While the artists were working on the snowtrooper designs for the Battle of Hoth, Ralph did a helmet drawing that was adapted to the Boba Fett costume -- which was, he says, essentially the creation of Visual Effects Art Director Joe Johnston.