Best Known As: The Star Wars bad guy in the T-shaped visor
Bounty hunter Boba Fett is a popular villain in the long-running Star Wars movie saga created by George Lucas. Fett's first film appearance was in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), where he helped nefarious Darth Vader capture Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and then claimed Solo's frozen body for transport to the lair of Jabba the Hutt. Fett wears a jet backpack and a battered green helmet with a distinctive T-shaped visor. Though his movie screen time is rather small, Boba Fett has played a larger role in the novels and comics spawned by the Star Wars films.
Boba Fett was originally played by actor Jeremy Bulloch... Young Boba Fett is played by actor Daniel Logan in Attack of the Clones (2002)... The same movie introduces Jango Fett (played by Temuera Morrison), from whom Boba Fett was cloned... Fett made a brief apperance in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978).
Though he has only four lines throughout the entire original Star Wars trilogy, Boba Fett is one of the movies' most popular characters. Often seen holding his blaster rifle as though he is prepared to fire at any moment and always equipped in his signature Mandalorian armor, Fett is known as one of the most feared bounty hunters in the galaxy.
Fett's origin is one of great mystery. Though numerous sources (most notably novels and comics) have attempted to shed light on it, they are always very different. Tales ranging from "Journeyman Protector" gone bad to Imperial Stormtrooper gone worse have been told. Whatever the truth might be, it is widely reported that his true origins will be disclosed through the events of 2002's Star Wars: Episode Two. It is also presumed that he has some sort of history with Han Solo, and an early attempted bounty (this one for fellow mercenary Kyle Katarn) is depicted in Star Wars: Dark Forces.
We do know that Fett is a bounty hunter who made his movie debut in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. In pursuit of Han Solo, he stood to get very rich if he caught the space pirate turned Rebel. Offering one bounty was Darth Vader, who made sure to point out to the bounty hunter that he wanted "no disintegrations." Meanwhile, Jabba the Hutt sought revenge on Solo for dumping thousands of credits worth of illegal spice when Imperials boarded his ship shortly before he joined the Rebellion.
Though he faced a great deal of competition from other infamous bounty hunters like Bossk, Dengar, 4-LOM and IG-88, Fett managed to locate Solo and follow him to Bespin's Cloud City. He informed Vader, who set up a trap and arranged for Solo to be encased in carbonite and put into a state of hibernation.
After receiving his first reward, Fett still had to transport Solo to Jabba. As told in the comic-book version of Shadows of the Empire, however, in his way were other bounty hunters attempting to claim Solo as their own, most notably Bossk and IG-88. But Fett's reputation as the best there is at what he does was not to be hampered, and he delivered Solo to Jabba successfully.
Fett would stay at Jabba's Palace until an impending rescue attempt by Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian. After Solo had been freed from the carbonite by Leia, he and Skywalker were sent to be thrown into the Sarlacc pit, where they would be digested for 1,000 years. Once Skywalker used the Force to gain access to his lightsaber, a fight began on the sail barge.
Doing as his employer expected, Fett quickly jet-packed his way to help out in the fight. Seeing Skywalker as the greatest threat (Solo was temporarily blind from his state in hibernation), Fett focused his attack on the Jedi in training. Though he did manage some success, he would soon be knocked (accidentally) from behind by Solo. The blow took the bounty hunter off guard and knocked him into the Sarlacc, where he presumably died.
Since this "death" scene in Return of the Jedi, Boba Fett has been revived in novels and comics, his Mandalorian armor supposedly indigestible. He continues to collect bounties and disrupt the activities of the New Republic via these media, though videogames have yet to delve into this "expanded universe."
BEHIND-THE-SCENES CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: Originally, Darth Vader was supposed to be some sort of bounty hunter. When George Lucas decided to go another way with him, he kept the same idea for Boba Fett. Contrary to what many believe, Fett's first appearance was not in The Empire Strikes Back. He actually appeared in cartoon form during 1978's infamous Star Wars Christmas Special. (If you haven't heard of it, there's a reason for that.) His action figure was also released well before The Empire Strikes Back's release, making him a very highly anticipated character.
FAVORITE TRANSPORT: The Slave I, his spaceship
AMBITIONS: To make as much money as possible by collecting bounties.
QUOTE: "As you wish." (stated with some regret in response to Vader's "no disintegrations")
OTHER MEDIA: As one of the Star Wars universe's most popular characters, it's almost impossible to find any sort of merchandise that Boba Fett's likeness has yet to attach itself to. Also, his adventures are chronicled in Star Wars novels and comic books.
Boba Fett makes his first film appearance in the revised re-release "Special Edition" version of A New Hope, where he appears briefly outside the Millenium Falcon with Jabba the Hutt. He is then shown more extensively in The Empire Strikes Back, where, Hired by Darth Vader (James Earl Jones/David Prowse), he tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captures its passengers and tortures its captain, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). Fett, who wants to collect a bounty on Solo from Jabba the Hutt, confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive. Vader's decision not to elevate the confrontation marks the only time a character other than Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) makes Vader "quail".[7]
Fett is at Jabba's palace in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983) when Solo's rescuers are captured, and he travels on Jabba's sail barge to the Sarlacc pit where they are to be executed. He attempts to intervene when the prisoners mount an escape, but Solo accidentally activates Fett's rocket pack, sending the bounty hunter crashing head-first into Jabba's ship, after which he tumbles into the sarlacc's mouth, in which he supposedly dies [6].
Boba Fett appears extensively in the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games. The young adult Boba Fett book series released after Episode II depicts Fett taking his father's ship and armor to begin his own career bounty hunting. Some Expanded Universe stories released before Attack of the Clones depict other accounts of Fett's origins. These stories include him being a stormtrooper who killed his commanding officer; a leader of the fabled Mandalorian warriors; and Jaster Mereel, a "Journeyman Protector" convicted of treason.[6]Karen Traviss' novel Bloodlines (2006), published four years after Attack of the Clones' release, states that Fett seeded some of these "false" backstories himself.
Expanded Universe works such as Dark Horse Comics' Dark Empire series (1991–1992) describe Fett escaping from the sarlacc,[6] as do K. W. Jeter's The Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy (1998–1999) and Kevin J. Anderson's Tales From Jabba's Palace anthology (1995). Video games and books depict Fett's work as a bounty hunter, for which he charges "famously expensive" fees and that he undertakes only when the mission meets "his harsh sense of justice".[8] Fett plays a prominent role in the Legacy of the Force series, with Jaina Solo appealing for his training to help her defeat her corrupted brother Jacen.
Concept and development
Boba Fett stems from initial concepts for Darth Vader, who was originally conceived as a rogue bounty hunter.[6] While Vader became less a mercenary and more of a dark knight, the bounty hunter concept remained, and Fett became "an equally villainous" but "less conspicuous" character.[1]Concept artistRalph McQuarrie influenced Fett's design, which was finalized by and is credited to Joe Johnston.[9] Screentested in all-white armor, Fett eventually garnered a subdued color scheme intended to visually place him between white-armored "rank-and-file" Imperial stormtroopers and Vader, who wears black.[1] The character's armor was designed to appear to have been scavenged from multiple sources, and it is adorned with trophies.[1] A description of the character's armor in the summer 1979 Bantha Tracks newsletter catalyzed "rampant speculation" about the character's mysterious origins.[2]
After his image and identity were revealed in The Star Wars Holiday Special, costumed Fett characters appeared in shopping malls and special events, putting up "Wanted" posters of the character to identify him as distinct from the franchise's Imperial characters.[2] Despite two years of widespread publicity about Fett's appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, script rewrites significantly reduced the character's presence in the film.[2] However, this may have made the character seem more intriguing.[2] Fett has a "distinctive" theme, composed by John Williams, that is "not music, exactly" ... but "more of a gurgly, viola-and-bassoon thing aurally cross-pollinated with some obscure static sounds".[7]Star Wars creator George Lucas considered adding a shot of Fett escaping the Sarlaac in Return of the Jedi, but decided against it because it would have detracted from the story's focus.[10] Lucas also said that, had he known Fett would be so popular, he would have made the character's supposed death "more exciting".[10] Lucas at one point considered having Vader and Fett be brothers in the prequel films, but discounted it as too "hokey".[3]
Portrayals
Fett is played by Jeremy Bulloch in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, although Jason Wingreen provided his voice in The Empire Strikes Back. George Buza voiced Fett in the Star Wars: Droids episode "Race to the Finish" (1985). His brief appearance in the special edition of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1997) was performed by Industrial Light & Magic creature animator Mark Austin; Fett's appearance in the special edition footage of Return of the Jedi was performed by Don Bies and Nelson Hall. Daniel Logan portrayed Fett as a child in Attack of the Clones. For the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back, Wingreen's voice was replaced by Temuera Morrison's. Morrison and other actors have also voiced Fett for several Star Wars video games.
Critical reaction
Susan Mayse calls Fett "the unknowable Star Wars character" who "delivers mythic presence."[11] Although Tom Bissell asserts that no one knows why Boba Fett has become so popular, nor cares why,[7] both Lucas and Bulloch cite Fett's mysterious nature as reasons for his popularity.[3] Bissell adds that Boba Fett, along with other minor characters like Darth Maul and Kyle Katarn, appeals to adolescent boys' "images of themselves: essentially bad-ass but ... honorable about it".[7] This tension and the absence of a clear "evil nature" (distinct from evil actions) offer Fett dramatic appeal.[7] Furthermore, Fett "is cool because he was designed to be cool", presenting a "wicked ambiguity" akin to Iago and John Milton's portrayal of Satan in Paradise Lost.[7] Bissell compares Fett to Beowulf, Ahab, and Huckleberry Finn: characters "too big" for their original presentation, and apt for "addition, subtraction, clarification" in other stories.[7] In developing the character, Lucas "closed down" some of these avenues while opening others.[12] Bissell credits Bulloch for giving Fett "effortless authority" in his first scene in The Empire Strikes Back, using such nuances as "cradling" — rather than "holding" — his blaster and slightly cocking his head.[7]
The San Francisco Chronicle described Boba Fett fans as "among the most passionate".[9] In his text exploring Star Wars fandom, Will Brooker calls "superb" a fan's campaign to have Boba Fett unmasked as a woman.[13]
Merchandising
Fett was the first new, mail-away action figure created for The Empire Strikes Back;[6][7] although advertised as having a rocket-firing backpack, safety concerns led to the figure being sold with his rocket attached.[6] Fett is one of the top five best-selling Star Wars action figures, and Hallmark has created a Boba Fett Christmas tree ornament.[3] Boba Fett-related products are "among the most expensive" Star Wars merchandise .[9]
^Reynolds, David West; James Luceno (2006-09-25). Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary - The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga. Ryder Windham. DK Children. ISBN978-0756622381.
