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The Animated Legacy of Boba Fett – Part 1
Despite his initially limited screen time, many know that Boba Fett is a film icon — and many also know of his legacy in video games and “Legends” lore from comics and novels. Boba Fett is a well-respected character in those media fields. However, when it comes to animation, one has to think: is Boba Fett as great a character in animation and what is his legacy there?
Even though it may seem so, it’s not a simple “yes,” especially if you only think about the non-canon, playful parody Star Wars animated content by LEGO and Robot Chicken. So, why would a great character like Boba Fett not be excellent in animation? What could have gone wrong? Or are things happening the way they should? We have to look back at history to really answer that.
In 1978, Boba Fett had an animated debut in the short cartoon — later known as “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee” — in the Star Wars Holiday Special that aired between the first two Star Wars movies. Along with Darth Vader, Boba were the first Star Wars cartoon villains ever. Boba was also the first Star Wars character to debut in animation before showing up theatrically in live-action. However, Fett was originally conceived for film, not animation. Not that many people saw the one airing of the “Holiday Special” until it had circulated among the fan communities on bootleg VHS and YouTube, much to the dislike of creator George Lucas, who generally disliked the larger television special.
In 1985, animated Boba would return in the “Droids” cartoon starring C-3PO and R2-D2, working for a gangster named Fromm (who also had a bounty on himself from Jabba). In a different episode, the “Droids” series also saw the animated debut of Boba’s bounty hunter rival IG-88, showing that Star Wars animation was willing to explore the lesser-known bounty hunters too.
Sadly, that was the end of classic Boba Fett in animation — just two episodes, both entertaining and teasing at the possibility of more Boba Fett cartoon appearances that never came back. The focus for animated Star Wars content shifted to Ewoks in the mid-1980s, before drying up in the 1990s. Work went towards updating the Original Trilogy for the “Special Editions” and working on the Prequel Trilogy instead, leaving no room for any cartoons during the decade.
It wasn’t until “Attack of the Clones” in 2002 with The Clone Wars era that Star Wars animation had an opportunity to return. It started with the 2D micro-series by Genndy Tartakovsky that ran in between the releases of Episode II and III (2003-2005) on Cartoon Network. There are a couple notable Fett-related aspects in the original Clone Wars cartoons. The most obvious is the character Durge, a fierce Gen’Dai who is a Separatist Commander on the show with Mandalorian symbols on his armor similar to that of Boba Fett. Durge’s mentor was a Mandalorian, so he wears the symbol in his mentor’s honor. But he also hates Mandalorians, as Durge was tortured by a group of them long before The Clone Wars (in retaliation for their slain Mandalore), so the symbol is misleading, as Durge truly despised Mandalorians. Durge’s hatred of Mandalorians was so great it extended to all clones, all who genetically came from a Mandalorian — Jango Fett — and thus why Durge was so willing to participate in a war against clones.
Like Boba Fett, Durge himself was also a bounty hunter. In the novel “Boba Fett: Hunted” by Elizabeth Hand (2003) the two hunters crossed paths as enemies, both doing a job for Jabba the Hutt. It was only natural that they cross paths, as the whole point of Durge as a character was to give the Jedi a bounty hunter type of animated “Clone Wars” villain that was formidable, much like Jango Fett was portrayed in “Attack of the Clones” against Obi-Wan Kenobi. Before Jango versus Kenobi on Kamino, there were no on-screen fights between an experienced Jedi and a non-Jedi character, so that sequence alone opened up many possibilities going forward.
The 2nd most Fett-ish thing about the initial “Clone Wars” animated series was the clone trooper named Fordo, a unique Clone Trooper with a red-framed Phase I clone trooper helmet visor reminiscent of Boba Fett’s T-visor. Fordo’s Phase II helmet had painted “Jaig eyes,” which is a symbol that comes from Mandalorian culture. (The word Jaig itself is Mando’a, the language of Mandalorians, meaning “Shriek-Hawk,” the name of a creature that only the skilled could hunt, and thus as a symbol was reserved for brave warriors.) How Fordo acquired the Jaig eyes was a story no longer available on the official StarWars.com website, but he did achieve the Jaig eyes legitimately even if no explanation is given on the cartoon itself.
Behind the scenes, the symbol originated from early production concept art by Joe Johnston and paint explorations for Boba Fett’s helmet. As a result, Fordo had a lot of presence and his frenetic action scenes were cool, showcasing his heroism. That was something that the clone troopers of the prequel films did as well but in a more collective level without too much individuality beyond Commander Cody in Episode III, who interacted with Kenobi multiple times prior to Order 66. Filmgoers got their first glimpse of a named clone trooper that the audience could care about, but it wasn’t until animation that we really got to see clone troopers stand out as individuals. Among faceless clone soldiers, Fordo was one that stood out clearly much like how Boba Fett and his armor stood out more than standard Stormtrooper armor did in the Original Trilogy. What was unique about the clones in the original Clone Wars cartoon was they were a unique variant type of elite clone trooper known as ARC Troopers (Advanced Recon Commando). In the “Republic” comic books during that era the stories of the Alpha-generation ARC Troopers were expanded on, showing they were under Jango Fett’s personal tutelage, passing Mandalorian customs down to clones. They were considered “Jango’s Legacy” almost as much as Boba Fett was.
Another clone would go on to get Jaig eyes on his helmet, but in canon, and that is Captain Rex. Captain Rex, much like Fordo, stood out even more because he went on to have many interactions with main characters like Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka, and Kenobi. He became a fan favorite who would go on to appear in several series beyond The Clone Wars like “Rebels” and “Ahsoka” despite not having been introduced in either “Attack of the Clones” or “Revenge of the Sith.” The Jaig eyes detail not only symbolized heroism, but showed a clear distinction between the depersonalized Imperial culture and the individuality-infused culture of Mandalorians — and even the individuality of Fett himself, a man who didn’t see him as a tool for the Empire, who believed in the power of choice. While Boba Fett’s final helmet design did not include Jaig eyes, there are plenty of design choices that gave his look personality, like the Jaster Mereel sigil symbol on his chest armor.
While “Clone Wars” was great and a well respected micro-series and companion to the Prequel Trilogy, another animated iteration of that era of events between Episode II and III was born afterwards. With an updated, more modern 3D animation look “The Clone Wars” (2008) was sure to impress visually. But before Boba Fett could appear the Fett storyline continued indirectly through the clone troopers of Jango Fett. One notable example of this was in the Season 1 episode “The Hidden Enemy.” It featuring a clone named Slick who seemingly betrays his brothers for money in a deal with a Sith Acolyte (Ventress) where he provided the enemy with information on the Jedi as a spy/saboteur. When his brothers catch him, Slick states clearly that he doesn’t have a problem with his brothers though. He said his act of rebellion was against the Jedi that he deemed as incompetent, seeing them as slave masters using the clones as slave soldiers in war.
This was an early example in canon of a clone trooper having “gone Jango,” as Dave Filoni described it behind-the-scenes. It’s where an (altered) clone unexpectedly shows personality traits of their genetic father. In this case it would be the love of money and the love of freedom, as it was freedom that Slick truly desired. On the other hand, with Boba being unaltered as a clone, he was expected to be like his father. Jango had to struggle through many hardships and knew what it was like to be a slave, as seen in the comic “Jango Fett: Open Seasons.” There is a tragic irony to how part of his legacy is an army that serves as slave soldiers and cannon fodder to the Jedi — at least before they became the mind controlled slayers of Jedi when Order 66 was activated. Despite clones being made to be more obedient the need for freedom was still there, although hidden. Despite being experts in their field, Kaminoans struggled to eliminate that need for freedom from a cloning process that involved a degree of mind control, which shows the strength of Jango Fett’s character.
Boba Fett grew up with a need for freedom as well, which was good, of course. However, he did not get freedom easily. He had to fight for it, overcoming his burning desire for revenge, which held him back from more professional life goals. After seeing his father die from a vicious lightsaber attack at the onset of the Clone Wars on Geonosis, all he could feel was anger and hatred for the Jedi Knight who killed his father. He also felt sadness for the loss of his father, while also feeling no connection towards anyone else, so he turned to who he thought he could trust: his father’s associates like Aurra Sing.
Aurra first appeared in “The Phantom Menace” as a background character — conceived from a sketch referred to as “Babe Fett” by Doug Chiang — but she transitioned to a more notable character in Star Wars animation years later, first appearing in cartoon form at the end of Season 1 where she worked with Cad Bane in the episode called “Hostage Crisis.” She returned in Boba Fett’s Season 2 story arc, in a story that actually took place prior to Sing’s Season 1 appearance.
“Death Trap” was the 20th episode of “The Clone Wars” where we see Boba Fett in his quest for revenge. He infiltrates the clone youth brigade and acts as one of the clone cadets named “Lucky,” making an impression and finding his way around a Jedi cruiser where he attempts to plant an explosive to kill Mace Windu, the Jedi who killed Jango Fett. Boba’s bomb ends up accidentally killing a trooper instead and Fett resorts to sabotaging the Jedi Cruiser ship, killing more clone troopers in the process by causing the cruiser to crash towards the nearby planet.
Before the crash, Boba escapes with some cadets who did not realize he was a spy. Their escape pod is caught by Jango Fett’s ship Slave I, being flown by Aurra Sing and Bossk the bounty hunter. As part of the plan, they come to retrieve Boba, but Boba expresses some concern for the young clone cadets before abandoning them to an uncertain fate. Jax, the young clone cadet, believed that Boba Fett being a clone would eventually come to realize he was wrong for leaving them behind. Unfortunately it was Aurra Sing, Boba Fett’s mentor at the time, calling the shots at the time, guiding Boba through his personal darkness by having him embrace the darkness. Aurra wanted Boba to get his revenge, but she wanted him to be ruthless towards 6 year-old clones too, showing no regard for their lives. Perhaps young Boba Fett did not realize how ruthless his father had to be in business.
Perhaps Boba should have known better to trust Aurra Sing, as a few episodes later in a 3-episode “The Clone Wars” arc she shows her true colors when she’d rather save herself than save Boba Fett. It goes down in a violent encounter with Jedis Plo Koon and Ahsoka Tano that ends with the Slave I, badly in need of a repair. Much like with other mentors Boba Fett had, it was short-lived and bittersweet. Aurra was one of the few mother-like figures to Fett, even if their time together was short and chaotic. But it provides a fascinating example of a character that is better off with no mother at all than a mother like Aurra Sing. Aurra Sing is a very dangerous woman after all.
In the episode “Lethal Trackdown”, the pirate Hondo Ohnaka at least reminded young Boba Fett that his father Jango was an honorable man, which was important for Boba to hear. He was so clouded in his quest for revenge against the Jedi that he forgot to think that maybe Jango did not want Boba ruining his life to get payback. And the consequence was jail. After all, he crashed a Jedi cruiser ship, killed multiple clone troopers, and attempted to kill several Jedi generals, and would have been successful were it not for the Jedi being luckier than “Lucky.” But Boba understood what he did was wrong, and expressed sorrow for the harm he’d had caused. Hondo was kind to reach out when nobody else would. It’s like what a social worker can do for troubled youth without a proper family, lead them in the right path when everybody else has given up on the kid.
Boba Fett expressed his anger to Mace Windu, yelling out that he would never forgive him for murdering his father. Windu, in a disappointed tone, replies that Boba is going to have to. Most would reasonably say that Windu sounded cold and unsympathetic to Fett, and understandably so. However, there is wisdom in the simplicity of Windu’s statement. Boba Fett gains nothing by not forgiving Windu, nor does Windu lose anything by being unforgiven, so it’s wasted hate, which is both unproductive and tragic. But Boba truly meant it, and he really did not forgive the Jedi.
Once Windu died at the end of “Attack of the Clones,” there was nothing Boba Fett could really do about the revenge anyway. Perhaps by that point in the war Boba had moved on from revenge. He did not feel bad for what happened to the Jedi when their own clone army betrayed them. Boba’s revenge came in indirect form, as the clone army had ruined the Jedi. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, whose deceptions led to Boba Fett’s existence, had killed Mace Windu. Anakin Skywalker, who was present at Jango Fett’s death, lost his soul to Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who discovered the Fetts and clones at Kamino, causing them to leave their home, became a tragic figure, losing his apprentice to the dark side and losing his friend Padme to premature death right as she gave birth to twins. Just about everyone who was there that day Jango Fett died was cursed to a tragic fate.
The Jedi Council had only themselves to blame in the end of the war. In the Season 6 episode of “The Clone Wars” entitled “The Lost One,” the Jedi come to realize something they could not puzzle together. In “Attack of the Clones”, it’s the mystery around Sifo-Dyas’ death, the clone army, and the identity of Tyranus, a man that Jango Fett mentioned to Obi-Wan Kenobi as being the man that recruited Fett. It turns out that Sifo-Dyas was killed on a trip to the planet Oba Diah by the criminal Pykes who were native to that planet, under orders from Count Dooku. One of the Pykes who knew that the man named Tyranus was also the man named Dooku reveals that truth to Kenobi and Anakin when Sifo-Dyas’ death is investigated. Despite realizing that Dooku had hijacked the clone army project from Sifo-Dyas and also realizing he had employed Jango Fett to attempt an assassination on Senator Padme, the Jedi Council still went forward in their war using clones that had been provided to them by their enemy — and clones of a man who wore Mandalorian armor too.
Mandalorians were the enemies of the Jedi and yet the Jedi trusted what was essentially an army of Mandalorian clones that Count Dooku designed in a project he stole from a Jedi he murdered while parading around with a Sith-like name — Tyranus. In all their wisdom the Jedi could not see the obvious, or rather, they chose to ignore the truth, because it was more convenient to do so. Coincidentally Boba Fett would eventually war with the Pyke Syndicate many years later, with absolutely no knowledge of the Pykes having helped Dooku hijack the clone project which led to Boba’s birth. Things kind of went full circle in that regard, unbeknownst to Fett.
From just a few select episodes we can see that Boba Fett has made an impact in Star Wars animation, both directly and indirectly, as his presence is felt even in episodes that do not include him. Perhaps you’re not that convinced yet, so we can continue this analysis of Star Wars animation from the perspective of a Boba Fett fan another time, but for now we can go and revisit vintage Star Wars like “The Clone Wars” to see that original generation of Jango Alpha-ARC Clones, or we can watch modern Star Wars like “The Clone Wars” that continued and expanded on the Fett storyline from “Attack of the Clones.”
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