Star Wars: 16 Things You Didn’t Know About Boba Fett’s Armor
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Even the biggest Star Wars fans don’t know everything there is to know about Boba Fett’s armor. Most would be surprised about what it can do!
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Boba Fett is one of the most infamous and most beloved Star Wars characters ever. This is interesting, because the character only has about fifteen minutes of screen time and around six lines throughout the entire original trilogy.
This presence makes him enigmatic, though, and its easy to understand why he’s become so popular over time.
The entire allure of Boba Fett is the mystery. This was the first character to really be known by the die-hard fans before making his way into the movies themselves.
First, Fett appeared in the notorious holiday special, then, he became a highly sought-after action figure to tie into the then-upcoming Empire Strikes Back.
It was the design of the character that made him so popular in the first place. While Boba Fett’s enigmatic nature and reputation as a bounty hunter made him enduring, the armor is what fans have responded to for so long. It’s the key to his success.
The Mandalorian Armor that Fett wears also has a rich history of its own. Even though Boba’s mysterious nature has been stripped away over time with appearances in the prequels and the Clone Wars animated series, everything that was fascinating about the armor in the first place remains fascinating to this day.
Because of this, we’re going over all of the things that you probably did not know about the armor Boba Fett wears.
This will not simply cover facts about Mandalorian Armor in general, but Fett’s own suit in particular, where it comes from, what it can do, and how it became the iconic and immediately recognizable image that fans now know it to be.
Here are the 16 Things You Didn’t Know About Boba Fett’s Armor.
16 The Armor Was Originally Red
While Boba Fett’s armor was mostly white when he first appeared in the holiday special, that has been widely discredited as canon overtime.
The actual armor that Boba Fett wears in-universe is immediately recognizable for its green and gray color scheme, but that green was originally red when Fett first put the armor on during his early days as a bounty hunter.
After the loss of his father, feeling nothing but hatred— especially toward the Jedi, as he blamed them for the loss— he elected to follow in his footsteps and become a bounty hunter.
In his early missions in his new costume, the armor had a brownish-red color scheme. At some unknown point in time, Boba repainted the armor, landing on the iconic green that fans now know so well.
It’s not entirely known when the change took place or what sparked it.
However, fans are undoubtedly grateful for Boba Fett for coming to the decision to change the color scheme. Not only has it become a classic look, but it also distinguishes itself from the many other armored characters of the Star Wars universe.
Had the outfit remained red, Boba would have wound up looking a little too similar to the members of the Imperial Royal Guard, whereas the green helps him to recognizably stand out as his own character.
15 The Shoulder Braids Depict Trophies of Fett’s Victims
Some of the more puzzling pieces of the outfit, at least at first glance, are the braids hanging from Fett’s shoulder. In fact, they might actually be the most intimidating.
They don’t serve a functional purpose unlike everything else on the armor, but instead denote trophies taken from Fett’s many victims over time.
They’re a reminder to enemies that he is not to be taken lightly, but also a reminder to himself of what he is truly capable of and the many things that he has done in his life.
This is not to say that Fett is remotely remorseful. If anything, these braids are worn with incredible pride and satisfaction.
It makes sense for the character, too. Fett grew up around violence, with a father who was the most notorious bounty hunter in the galaxy.
As a child, he developed a taste for vengeance after Jango’s loss and was already shown to be cold and violent, helping his father with anything that he needed. He became a bounty hunter when he was still a teenager. He grew up in the business.
By the time Boba Fett became an adult, he’d already exterminated many people. There’s clearly a reason why he eventually went on to outdo his own dad’s reputation as the most notorious, ruthless bounty hunter in the entire galaxy.
The shoulder braids serve as a perfect representation of that calculated ruthlessness that Fett represents.
14 The Armor Is Meant to Keep the Mandalorians’ Reputation Alive
The Mandalore Warriors were some of the fiercest beings that ever lived in the Star Wars universe.
They were, in the beginning, sort of a race of warrior monks. They became sworn enemies of the Jedi. The traditional Mandalorian armor was even designed to fight Jedi, specifically.
Their anger and power represented the polar opposite of the Jedi’s own belief system, so the two forces were naturally drawn into conflict over and over again. The weapons, rockets, and other devices that are now considered to be classical elements of the armor were all added with the specific intention of exterminating Jedi.
However, after a time, the Mandalore were wiped out. Their planet was gone, and the people became almost entirely extinct.
A few factions have popped up here and there over time, however. A group of Mandalore assassins were taken in under Darth Maul during his resurgence in Clone Wars.
Most of the remaining Mandalore beings took to the stars to begin a new Order known as The Protectors. All in all, the result is a same. The Mandalorian race is almost entirely extinct in the Star Wars universe and their reputation is all-but shattered.
Because of this, Boba Fett’s decision to continue wearing the armor is seen as a decision to keep the ruthless reputation of the Mandalore alive.
It’s a reputation that he maintained well, taking out anyone who he was paid to eliminate throughout the galaxy.
13 The Color Scheme Changes Throughout the Movies
This element of the suit can be chalked up to a continuity error more than anything else. It’s an error that’s due entirely to the constant re-working of the Star Wars movies on home video, beginning in this instance with the 1997 Special Editions.
Knowing that the prequel trilogy was right around the corner, George Lucas wanted to bring audiences up to speed by updating his original trilogy with then-modern special effects.
Abrasive CGI was added throughout each movie, certain shots were changed, and characters were even added to the movies that hadn’t been there initially.
In the case of New Hope, an entire conversation between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt was added. Boba Fett also made an appearance during this scene.
He was shown front-and-center for a moment, even looking into the camera. This was entirely due to the fact that, by that time, the character had become such a huge standout in the eyes of the fans.
In this scene, Fett’s wrist gauntlets are a reddish-brown color. When the character appears in Empire Strikes Back (his actual first live-action appearance), the gauntlets are green in order to match the helmet and chest plate.
When he appears again in Return of the Jedi, the gauntlets are brown again. It would have made much more sense for New Hope to give him green gauntlets, allowing fans to assume he changed between movies, rather than making Empire Strikes Back look like a continuity error.
12 It is the Only Armor of Its Kind in the Galaxy
While variations of the Mandalorian armor have appeared over time, with one group having modified their own armor to emulate the appearance of Darth Maul and the remaining Mandalore survivors having taken on a yellow variation of the armor, Boba Fett truly has the only armor of his kind in the galaxy.
The Mandalore are mostly an extinct race and their weapons are incredibly uncommon.
Boba Fett possesses the only pure “classic” armor, akin to what his father wore, and wears the only green variation of the outfit.
It’s possible that this is the entire reason why Fett made the decision to repaint the armor that color. White and red would have made the armor look like a dozen others, especially during the Clone Wars.
However, the green paint job makes it the only armor of its kind.
Boba Fett has built his entire career— both inside the canon and in the eyes of the fans— on being instantly recognizable. He has a very specific look, so it’s important that he be the only one with said look.
While Fett might be stealthy and silent, he’s still an assassin at heart. He might be a man of few words, but is still by all accounts the kind of person who wants his enemies to see him coming and to know exactly who they’re dealing with the moment they lay eyes on him.
11 It Was Created to Battle the Jedi
Boba Fett’s specific outfit might not have been created for the purpose of exterminating Jedi, but that is the purpose that the Mandalorian armor in general was designed to fulfill.
Everything from the weight, to the visor, to the numerous weapons, all created with the intention of battling Jedi Knights.
This intent stems from the earliest designs of the character, when the armor was initially going to be used for a horde of Super Troopers during Empire Strikes Back. Even after this idea was scrapped in favor of a single bounty hunter, Boba Fett, the idea remained.
The Mandalorian warriors’ war with the Jedi came at tremendous cost, as it desolated the entire planet, leaving a barren desert.
After their early run-ins with the Jedi, the Mandalore warriors created new weapons to fight them, updating their arsenal and their armor to make themselves the perfect people to combat the Jedi Knights. They even harnessed a rare form of iron that proved to be resistant to lightsabers.
This hatred of the Jedi ultimately proved to be the undoing of the Mandalore people, but the weaponry and armor design remained even as the Mandalorians moved on to different corners of the galaxy.
As a bounty hunter, Jango Fett wore the Mandalorian armor proudly and passed that trait on to his son as well.
10 Boba’s Armor Was Designed After His Fathers
Jango Fett is responsible for a great deal of the person who Boba would grow up to become as an adult. Like Boba, Jango was the most notorious bounty hunter of his day.
His armor was completely different in color but otherwise it was virtually identical to what Boba would eventually wear.
Jango himself wore the armor to keep the Mandalorian traditions that he had grown up with alive. He imparted some of that wisdom on his son. Even though Boba is a clone of Jango, that Mandalorian lineage is in his blood all the same.
Although Boba rarely got the chance to use them in the movie, his armor has all of the same bells and whistles that Jango’s armor does.
For fans, this was part of the excitement of seeing Jango in Attack of the Clones.
It had become a running joke by that point Boba Fett had never really done anything to sell his cool reputation in the original trilogy, so George Lucas introduced his father as a virtually identical bounty hunter who could do all the things that people wished they’d gotten to see Boba do on screen.
For Boba, this was simply another way to carry on his father’s legacy, finding nearly identical armor and wearing it for himself.
9 No Bounty Hunters Wore Mandalorian Armor Before the Fetts
Because of Jango and Boba Fett, Mandalorian armor is almost always thought of as armor befitting bounty hunters. However, in actuality, they are the exceptions to the rule.
The armor was designed for warriors– for people of a certain systematic belief. For all of their toughness and strength, neither Jango nor Boba ever really fit that particular category.
By the time of Clone Wars, very few Mandalore people were left. Some became Protectors, while others scattered. Jango Fett used the arsenal that had been designed to eliminate the Jedi and his warrior’s spirit to go into business for himself.
He used the armor for personal gain, and became extremely succesful. However, his hatred of the Jedi never left him, even as a bounty hunter, and was even more deeply instilled in his son after Jango was exterminated at the hands of Jedi Master Mace Windu.
It’s because of this lingering hatred for the Jedi that Boba elected to continue wearing the costume, a historic reminder of a war against the Jedi that was fought well, even if they lost.
In his own, rarely worded way, Boba would always stand for some of the ideals of the Mandalore warriors who came before him, even if the only other survivors would go on to become pacifists and distance themselves from those archaic ideals.
8 The Armor Emits Its Own Frequency
While Boba Fett might be an extremely stealthy hunter, there are a few weaknesses in the armor.
It actually turns out that the suit emits a frequency from all of the various pieces of tech and makes many minor sounds that would normally go unnoticed and that most people wouldn’t even be able to hear.
This is best explored in the canonical comic series from Marvel. Set between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, this arc saw Fett act under the employ of Darth Vader to bring down the pilot who destroyed the Death Star.
At that time, while Vader felt the presence of the Force in the pilot, he knew nothing about this person or who he was.
It was Fett who tracked Luke Skywalker, eventually fighting him when he caught up with Luke at Obi-Wan’s old desert home on Tattooine.
Luke was temporarily blinded, so he did not know that it was Boba Fett who he was actually fighting. He still won the battle, though, using sound to track Fett’s movement by the hum of his armor.
Even though Fett lost the battle, he was able to return to Vader with the pilot’s name, revealing to Vader that his thought-deceased children had actually survived.
This set up Vader’s motivations for Empire Strikes Back and gave Fett a stronger, monumental role in the overall Star Wars legacy.
7 The Antenna Helps Fett Enhance His Vision
One of the more noticeable elements of Boba Fett’s armor is the antenna stemming from the helmet. This is definitely a relic of the time during which it was created, as almost all radio/TV broadcast equipment would naturally have some kind of antenna attached.
It was a design element that made extreme sense for the time, allowing Boba Fett to functionally communicate in a manner similar to a built-in walkie talkie.
However, the function of the antenna is actually two-fold.
The antenna on Fett’s helmet can actually lower to enhance the bounty hunter’s targeting system. This allows him for more accurate fire, which is perfect for sniper situations or even tracking targets across long distances.
For an already eagle-eyed, well trained character, this targeting system is actually one of the most underrated and important pieces of equipment of the armor as a whole.
Unfortunately, because of its placement, it is also one of the easiest elements of the suit to take out of commission.
A single shot to the antenna would take that entire system out, leaving Boba firing blind, although it’s not as bad as an accidental knock to the jetpack sending him flying into the Sarlacc pit.
6 The Jetpack Cannot Fly Over Long Distances
Boba Fett’s jetpack is one of the coolest accessories that the bounty hunter has, and definitely seems to be the most convenient.
It seems like an easy mode of transportation– he can just leap into the air and take off wherever he wants to do. However, it might not actually be that easy.
The jetpack is not built for long distance travel, which means that it’s not best used as a mode of transportation.
Instead, it’s something that Fett can use if he gets in over his head and needs to make a fast exit, or if he just needs to disappear before he gets noticed.
For transportation, Fett’s primary mode is of course his ship, Slave I. This is the vehicle that he inherited from his father, as revealed in Attack of the Clones.
This means that Boba has been driving Slave I since he was a child. This now iconic ship has just become another beloved accessory of Fett’s over time.
It made its first movie appearance in Empire Strikes Back, and even though it was barely seen, fans responded to it positively, as it helped them understand and grow to love Boba Fett.
If Fett were to try to fly the jetpack over any kind of notable distance, he would find himself running out of fuel in a very short amount of time. The jetpack is designed to be used in short bursts, which was seen in Return of the Jedi.
5 Boba Hasn’t Been the Only Person to Wear It
Boba Fett was easily one of the characters who suffered the most from the erasure of the Star Wars extended universe as canon, when Marvel took over from Dark Horse and the older books were rebranded under the Legends banner.
Many of Boba Fett’s adventures in those novels and comics depicted his escape from the Sarlacc Pit and his life thereafter. While George Lucas has said that Fett still survived the Sarlacc in the new canon, it has yet to be shown in any of the new comics.
Instead, Boba’s armor appeared post-Return of the Jedi, where it was taken by a man named Adwin Charu.
At that time, Charu was posing as a member of a mining community, though he was actually working for a crime syndicate on Tatooine. He found the surviving Boba Fett armor and retrieved it for his boss, crime lord Logan Movellan.
The armor was then stolen by Cobb Vanth, a former slave who took it from the Jawas on their sandcrawler and elected to wear it for himself.
Cobb used the armor to establish himself as sheriff of Freetown and attempted to keep it free from the criminal elements that otherwise ruled over Tatooine.
4 His Armor Was Very Different In His Original Appearance
Canonically, Boba Fett’s armor may have been brown before being repainted, but even before that, it looked very different.
While it is certainly not canon, Boba Fett made his first appearance in the Star Wars holiday special. Having never received an official home video release, the special was notoriously panned after premiering on television.
It centered around the Wookie celebration of Life Day and featured all of the primary cast of the original movie, including Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford.
However, even though this might be the biggest black mark on the Star Wars legacy overall, it’s also the thing that introduced Boba Fett to the world in its own small way.
In this original appearance, though, the character looked very different.
Appearing in an animated short, Boba Fett was dressed in all white, similar to the design of the Stormtroopers and also appeared in blue and olive green. To differentiate from them, aside from the different markings and T-shaped visor, Boba wore a large brown sash.
Eventually, the character made a more dynamic debut in The Empire Strikes Back. There, his costume was changed to be much more colorful, primarily green and gray instead of largely white.
This helped distinguish him from the Stormtroopers and allowed him to stand out as his own character. It clearly worked because Boba Fett became an immediate fan-favorite.
3 It Is Severely Damaged by Weapon Fire
Boba Fett’s armor has seen some wear and tear. This is clear just from looking at it. This is also one of the most intriguing things about it.
The fact that the armor is so banged-up adds so much to the mystery of this character, especially when fans saw him for the first time in The Empire Strikes Back.
The gray specks all over the costume, which represented chipped away green paint, are not simply a stylistic choice. Instead, this is the result of weapon fire that Boba Fett has sustained throughout his various exploits.
Fett could easily have repainted the armor at any time, but it seems as though he has always chosen to display any damage to the outfit proudly, as an example of just how much he has been through and survived.
This decision was especially impressive in the Legacy stories during which Fett had survived the Sarlacc to become even more notoriously feared than he had been before.
That same sense of awe could be restored if Fett were to make a proper return in the new continuity.
Even if he never does, the armor continues to live on and serve as a reminder of a long, hard life that had clearly belonged to a fierce and dangerous man.
2 Boba Wears the Armor to Honor His Father
While Jango wore the outfit for several reasons, mostly due to his Mandalorian heritage, Boba’s reasons are a little more personal.
For some fans, this might be surprising, as Boba is anything but a sentimental person.
The prequel Attack of the Clones sees Boba at his father’s side, helping him out in his missions, even attempting to exterminate Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jango is a fierce and formidable bounty hunter, hence the decision to clone him. However, he ultimately perishes at the hands of Mace Windu.
Fett blames the Jedi for the loss of his father, rekindling a Mandalorian hatred that goes back to the early days of their people.
However, Boba wears the armor out of respect rather than due to vengeance.
Boba Fett does not launch a crusade against the Jedi, partially because Order 66 would eventually make that mission virtually impossible. Instead, he simply takes up Jango’s mantle. Boba elects to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He wears the outfit to elicit that same sense of dread and mystery that his father had captured so well. However, he added a few details of his own to the suit, so that he could still go on to build his own unique reputation, eventually surpassing his father as the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy.
1 The Armor Was Strong Enough To Survive The Sarlacc Pit
While the exact fate of Boba Fett is still tough to determine at this point in time, it is definitely clear that no matter what became of him, the armor has proven to be virtually indestructible.
Whether he managed to escape or not, the armor survived the Sarlacc. Even if it has taken on its share of wear and tear over time, it has still perservered. With as many fights as Boba has gotten himself into over the years, the fact that it only looked a little banged up is a testament to its raw strength and durability.
Of course, Boba has had to make repairs to various pieces of equipment over the years, but he has worn the armor for the bulk of his life.
Up until his disappearance within the Sarlacc, it was still almost entirely intact. The armor also continues to appear to be intact later on when discovered by Adwin Charu and Cobb Vanth.
It’s impossible to determine if Boba Fett will ever make an official return after the events of Return of the Jedi. However, even now, fans can rest easy knowing that the armor has survived.
The armor, at least, still endures to remind the galaxy of its most notorious bounty hunter, whose reputation might prove to live on well beyond him.
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Can you think of any other interesting facts about Boba Fett’s armor in Star Wars? Sound off in the comments!
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-boba-fett-armor-secrets-facts-trivia/