Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has revealed the long-anticipated title as well as the first trailer for Episode IX, much to the delight of fans everywhere. However, that is not the only Star Wars property that has fans buzzing. The first footage for the television series The Mandalorian has been shown and it sounds awesome!
The Mandalorian is a perfect smaller Star Wars story as it gets away from the Skywalker saga while also giving fans another badass character wearing that iconic Mandalorian armor. Of course, Boba Fett was the first character to don the armor and the distinct look made him an instant fan-favorite. But apart from looking cool, there are a lot of interesting facts about Mandalorian armor you should know before the show hits the air.
10 10. History
The culture of the Mandalorian goes back long before the time explored in any of the Star Wars films. And the Mandalorian armor has long been a significant part of that history. They originated on the planet Mandalore in the Outer Rim of the galaxy. After building a reputation as mercenaries and bounty hunters, the Mandalorians developed a desire to conquer more of the galaxy.
A group of Mandalorian warriors called The Crusaders was formed and they set out to war against other planets and take them over. These warriors wore what would become the iconic helmet of the Mandalorian over cloaks and wielded long swords into battle.
9 9. Weapons Against Jedi
The Mandalorian's ambitions to become conquerors soon caught the attention of the Jedi who came to put a stop to the violence. With their rather primitive armor, the Mandalorian Crusaders proved to be no match for the Jedi knights. They decided a new armor would be needed to fight against these very skilled opponents.
This lead to the birth of the classic Mandalorian armor which was designed as a weapon to fight against the Jedi. Not only could the highly durable armor defend against blasters, but it could also withstand lightsaber slashes.
8 8. Beskar Metal
The ability to stand up against lightsabers is something not all armor can boast. It takes a very special kind of metal to produce armor so durable. Indeed, the Beskar metal is the strongest in the galaxy and one that is not easily accessible. The armor was first used by the Mandalorians in their fight against the Jedi and has remained an important part of their culture since then, leading to it sometimes being called "Mandalorian iron". It sounds like the importance of the metal will be highlighted in the television series as well.
7 7. The New Mandalorians
After years of living as bounty hunter and mercenaries, and waging war against the Jedi, there was a shift in the Mandalorian culture. A group of leaders began moving their culture away from their past ways and into a new age of pacifism. This birthed what was called the New Mandalorians, committed to a non-violent existence.
Due to their more peaceful ways, the tradition Mandalorian armor was altered for the New Mandalorians. Of course, such a dramatic shift led to differences among the Mandalorians and it wasn’t too long before that armor was needed once again.
6 6. Death Watch
As the new pacifist leadership of Mandalore took over, the Mandalorian warriors who resisted the change were exiled. Though many of them died off, those who remained formed into what they called the Death Watch. Keeping their traditional armor and modifying it over the years, the Death Watch plotted to overthrow the current government and return the Mandalorian culture to its conquering ways.
After several unsuccessful coups, the Death Watch joined forces with former Sith Lord Darth Maul and took back their home planet. Under Maul's rule, the Death Watch adopted new armor inspired by his distinct look.
5 5. Clones Inspired
It's quite easy to see there are some distinct similarities between the look of the Mandalorian armor and that of the Empire's own soldiers and Empirical guards. That is no accident and the Mandalorians came up with the cool look first. As seen in Attack of the Clones, Jango Fett was used as the basis for creating the clone army. They went one step further and used his Mandalorian armor as the inspiration for the clone army's armor. You can see how that look remained through the years with even later versions of various Imperial soldiers keeping that distinct look.
4 4. The Protectors
The Mandalorians have operated in a relative grey area in the Star Wars universe. While the battle between the Jedi and the Empire has been a pretty clear "good versus evil" struggle, Mandalorians have always operated somewhere in the middle and seem only concerned with which side is paying more.
However, in their history, even the Mandalorians haven't been able to stay out of the fray entirely. The Empire took control of their homeworld and the Protectors, a group of Mandalorian guards, formed an alliance with the Empire, doing some of their dirty work. It was this era that gave way to the more militaristic look of the armor.
3 3. Features
As popular as Boba Fett was as a character, the movies didn't really ever show him in action. We see brief glimpses of this in Return of the Jedi, but he is quickly knocked into the Sarlaac pit and never seen again. The Mandalorian will no doubt give us a much better look at the armor and its various features in battle.
Aside from the jetpack and wrist rockets we've seen, the armor has a whole slew of cool features we'd love to see in the show. There are shield emitters, projectile buzzsaws, paralyzing darts and flamethrowers just to name a few.
2 2. Characters Who Wore The Armor
The Mandalorian will introduce a new character into the Star Wars universe, played by Pedro Pascal, who wears the iconic armor. To date, the movies have only shown two characters wear it; Boba Fett and his father Jango Fett. Yet the extended Star Wars universe has introduced several other prominent characters to have also worn the armor.
In the Legends universe, Jaster Mareel was the Mandalorian responsible for moving their culture away from plain soldiers and towards becoming soldiers of fortune (i.e. mercenaries and bounty hunters). He is also the one who trained Jango Fett. Other prominent figures include Pre Viszla, leader of the Death Watch, and Sabine Wren, a rebel Mandalorian.
1 1. Variations
As we have seen with Boba Fett, Jango Fett and now the new character from The Mandalorian, while the armor was the same design for the most part, each wearer seems to customize it in their own particular way. Unlike the stormtrooper armor each Mandalorian is unique, be it in the color or slight tweaks to the design.
Boba Fett's military-esque camouflage looks very different from Jango Fett's blue and silver look, which is different from the Pedro Pascal character's brown, Western-themed look. Hopefully, we'll continue to see more variations of the armor in future Star Wars stories.