Boba Fett
Encyclopedia
Boba Fett is a character
in Star Wars
. A bounty hunter
hired by Darth Vader
to find the Millennium Falcon
, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
establishes Boba Fett's back story as a child clone of Jango Fett
, who raises him as a son. The Star Wars Expanded Universe
expands on Fett's origins and career as a bounty hunter. Fett's air of danger and mystery have created a cult following
for the character, who has been merchandised across multiple media. Fett might be part of the live-action Star Wars series
under development.
Country Fair parade. The character appeared on television several weeks later, animated by Nelvana
Studios for The Star Wars Holiday Special
(1978) as a mysterious figure who betrays Luke Skywalker
(voiced by Mark Hamill
) after saving him, Chewbacca
, C-3PO
(voiced by Anthony Daniels
), and R2-D2
from a giant monster, only to be revealed as a bounty hunter working for Darth Vader
. 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 distinguish him from the franchise's Imperial
characters. The character also appears in Marvel Comics
' Star Wars newspaper strip.
/David Prowse
) in The Empire Strikes Back. Fett tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captures its passengers and torture
s its captain, Han Solo
(Harrison Ford
). Wanting to collect a bounty on Solo from Jabba the Hutt
, Fett confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive. Vader promises to "compensate" the bounty hunter should Solo die, but relinquishes the fugitive to Fett's custody after he lives.
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 the prisoners 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 tumbling to his supposed death into the Sarlacc's mouth.
Fett is in a scene added to the Special Edition version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
(1997), appearing briefly outside the Millennium Falcon with Jabba the Hutt. Fett was added to several scenes altered for Return of the Jedi Special Edition (1997).
In Attack of the Clones, Boba Fett (Daniel Logan
) is a child clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett
(Temuera Morrison
), who is raising Boba as a son. Boba helps the bounty hunter escape from Obi-Wan Kenobi
(Ewan McGregor
), but later witnesses Jango's decapitation by Mace Windu
(Samuel L. Jackson
).
and armor to begin his own bounty-hunting career. 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
. Karen Traviss
' novel Bloodlines
(2006), published four years after Attack of the Clones release, states that Fett seeded some of these "false" backstories himself.
Fett appears as a child in the CGI
/animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars
. He appears in a three episode arc that is part of the season 2 finale, Death Trap, R2 Come Home, and Lethal Trackdown. 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." K. W. Jeter
's Bounty Hunter Wars
trilogy (1998–1999) depicts Fett as more communicative than in the films because the books' plots require Fett to show "an ability to convince people as well as kill them." Works such as Dark Horse Comics
' Dark Empire
series (1991–1992) describe Fett escaping from the sarlacc. In the Legacy of the Force
series (2006–2008), Jaina Solo asks Boba Fett to train her to help her defeat her corrupted brother
and ends up helping fight against Jacen Solo's troops.
and more of a dark knight
, the bounty hunter concept remained, and Fett became "an equally villainous" but "less conspicuous" character. Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie
influenced Fett's design, which was finalized by and is credited to Joe Johnston
. Fett's armor was originally designed for "super troopers", and was adapted for Fett as the script developed. Screen-tested in all-white, Fett's armor eventually garnered a subdued color scheme intended to visually place him between white-armored "rank-and-file" Imperial stormtrooper
s and Vader, who wears black. This color scheme had the added bonus of conveying the "gray morality" of his character. The character's armor was designed to appear to have been scavenged from multiple sources, and it is adorned with trophies. A description of the character's armor in the summer 1979 Bantha Tracks newsletter catalyzed "rampant speculation" about the character's mysterious origins.
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. Fett's "distinctive" theme, composed by John Williams
, is "not music, exactly" ... but "more of a gurgly, viola
-and-bassoon
thing aurally cross-pollinated with some obscure static sounds." Sound editor Ben Burtt
added the sound of jangling spur
s, created and performed by the Foley artist team of Robert Rutledge and Edward Steidele, to Fett's appearance in Cloud City, intending to make the character menacing and the scene reminiscent of similar gunfighter appearances in Western
films.
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, instead leaving the task of "reviving" Fett to Expanded Universe canon. Lucas also said that, had he known Fett would be so popular, he would have made the character's death "more exciting." Lucas at one point considered depicting Vader and Fett as brothers in the prequel films, but discounted it as too "hokey." In continuing to develop the character in the prequel films, Lucas closed some avenues for expanding the character's story while opening others.
Daniel Keys Moran
, who published several Fett-related stories, cited Westerns as an influence on his development of the character. Moran said
in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Bulloch's half-brother alerted him to the role. He was cast as Fett because the costume happened to fit "as if a Savile Row
tailor had come out and made it"; he did not have to do a reading or a screen test, and Bulloch never worked from a script for either film.
Filming the role for The Empire Strikes Back lasted three weeks. The actor was pleased with the costume and used it to convey the character's menace. Bulloch based his performance on Clint Eastwood
's portrayal of the Man with No Name
in A Fistful of Dollars
; similar to the Western character, Bulloch cradled the gun prop, made the character seem ready to shoot, slightly tilted his head, and stood a particular way. Bulloch did not try to construct a backstory for the character, and said later that "the less you do with Boba Fett, the stronger he becomes". Playing Fett in The Empire Strikes Back was both the smallest and most physically uncomfortable role Bulloch has played; Bulloch said donning the heavy jetpack was the worst aspect of the role.
Bulloch spent four weeks working on Return of the Jedi. He was unaware of Fett's demise before filming began and was "very upset" by the development; he would like to have done more with Fett. Still, Bulloch believed killing Fett made the character stronger, and that his "weak" death makes fans want the character to return. Bulloch thinks a scene created for Return of the Jedi Special Edition in which Fett flirts with a woman is not in keeping with the character's nature.
Daniel Logan
had not seen the Star Wars films prior to being cast as Fett, but he watched the original trilogy at Lucas' request. The actor had to rely on his imagination for the bluescreen
filming.
, played by Don Francks
; Francks reprised the role in an episode of Star Wars: Droids
. Although Bulloch wore Fett's costume in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, John Fass Morton filled in for Bulloch during one scene in The Empire Strikes Back and Jason Wingreen
voiced the character in that film. His brief appearance in the Special Edition of A New Hope 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. Temuera Morrison
replaced Fett's voice in the Special Edition films. Daniel Logan
played Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
.
Boba Fett's voice in National Public Radio's Star Wars radio dramas
was provided by Alan Rosenberg
in The Empire Strikes Back and Ed Begley, Jr.
in Return of the Jedi. Tim Glovatsky and Joe Hacker voiced the character in audio adaptations of Dark Forces: Rebel Agent and the Dark Empire
comics, respectively. Morrison voiced Fett in the Star Wars: Empire at War
, Star Wars Battlefront II, and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
games. Fett was played by Dee Bradley Baker
in a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
expansion and its sequel: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
, by Chris Cox
in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, and by Tom Kane
in three other Star Wars video games. Logan returned to his role as Boba Fett for Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars
television series.
figure" and one of the most popular Star Wars characters. He personifies "danger and mystery", and Susan Mayse calls Fett "the unknowable Star Wars character" who "delivers mythic presence." Although Tom Bissell
asserts that no one knows why Boba Fett has become so popular, nor cares why, both Lucas and Bulloch cite Fett's mysterious nature as reasons for his popularity. Bulloch, who has never fully understood the character's popularity, nevertheless also attributes it to the costume and the respect Fett garners from Vader and Jabba the Hutt. The initial Boba Fett toy, more than Fett's actual film appearance, might be responsible for the character's popularity; Henry Jenkins
suggests children's play helped the character "take on a life of its own." Moran said Vader's admonition specifically to Fett in The Empire Strikes Back — "No disintegrations" — gives Fett credibility; he was interested in Fett because the character is "strong, silent, [and] brutal." Jeter says that even when Fett appears passive, he conveys "capability and ruthlessness." Bissell credits Bulloch for giving Fett "effortless authority" in his first scene in The Empire Strikes Back, using such nuances as "cradling" his blaster and slightly cocking his head. Fett's small role in The Empire Strikes Back may actually have made the character seem more intriguing. Logan compares Fett to "that boy in school who never talks" and who attracts others' curiosity.
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." This tension and the absence of a clear "evil nature" (distinct from evil actions) offer Fett dramatic appeal. Furthermore, Fett "is cool because he was designed to be cool", presenting a "wicked ambiguity" akin to John Milton
's portrayal of Satan
in Paradise Lost
and Iago
in William Shakespeare
's Othello
. Bissell compares Fett to Beowulf
, Ahab, and Huckleberry Finn: characters "too big" for their original presentation, and apt for continued development in other stories. Moran finds Fett reminiscent of the Man with No Name
. Logan was a Young Artist Award
nominee for his portrayal of Fett. In 2008, Boba Fett was selected by Empire magazine as the 79th greatest movie character of all time. He was also included on Fandomanias list of The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters.
The San Francisco Chronicle describes Boba Fett fans as "among the most passionate", and the character is important to Star Wars fan culture. Boba Fett's popular following before the character even appeared in The Empire Strikes Back influenced Damon Lindelof
's interest in developing Lost
across multiple media. Will Brooker calls "superb" a fan's campaign to have Boba Fett unmasked as a woman. Fan parodies
include Boba Phat, a cosplay
"intergalactic booty hunter" created by David James.
to sell his rocket attached. Gray called the early toy "a rare and precious commodity", and one of the rocket-firing prototypes sold at auction
for $16,000 in 2003. In August 2009, Hasbro
released a Fett action figure based on McQuarrie's white-armored concept, and Boba Fett as both a child and bounty hunter have been made into Lego minifigure
s. Wizards of the Coast
's Star Wars Trading Card Game
includes several Boba Fett cards. Hallmark Cards
created a Boba Fett Christmas tree
ornament.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
. A bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
hired by Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
to find the Millennium Falcon
Millennium Falcon
The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca...
, he is a minor villain in both Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
establishes Boba Fett's back story as a child clone of Jango Fett
Jango Fett
Jango Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared as one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and later served as the protagonist of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, played by Temuera Morrison.Jango Fett serves as...
, who raises him as a son. The Star Wars Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
expands on Fett's origins and career as a bounty hunter. Fett's air of danger and mystery have created a cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
for the character, who has been merchandised across multiple media. Fett might be part of the live-action Star Wars series
Star Wars live-action TV series
The untitled Star Wars live-action TV series is a planned space opera television series, set between the events seen in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope....
under development.
Promotions and early depictions
Boba Fett first appeared at the September 20, 1978, San AnselmoSan Anselmo, California
San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, in the western United States. San Anselmo is located west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet . It is located about north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the...
Country Fair parade. The character appeared on television several weeks later, animated by Nelvana
Nelvana
Nelvana Limited is a Canadian entertainment company founded in 1971 known for its work in children's animation. It was named by founders Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith after a Canadian comic book superheroine created by Adrian Dingle in the 1940s...
Studios for The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star Wars spin-offs, and was directed by Steve Binder. The show was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, November 17, 1978, on the U.S...
(1978) as a mysterious figure who betrays Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
(voiced by Mark Hamill
Mark Hamill
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice artist, producer, director, and writer, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy of Star Wars. More recently, he has received acclaim for his voice work, in such roles as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Firelord...
) after saving him, Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
, C-3PO
C-3PO
C-3PO is a robot character from the Star Wars universe who appears in both the original Star Wars films and the prequel trilogy. He is also a major character in the television show Droids, and appears frequently in the series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games...
(voiced by Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels
Anthony Daniels is an English actor. He is best known for his role as the droid C-3PO in the Star Wars series of films made between 1977 and 2005.-Early life:...
), and R2-D2
R2-D2
R2-D2 , is a character in the Star Wars universe. An astromech droid, R2-D2 is a major character throughout all six Star Wars films. Along with his droid companion C-3PO, he joins or supports Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Obi-Wan Kenobi in various points in the saga...
from a giant monster, only to be revealed as a bounty hunter working for Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
. 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
Wanted poster
A wanted poster is a poster distributed to let the public know of an alleged criminal whom authorities wish to apprehend. They will generally include either a picture of the alleged criminal when a photograph is available, or of a facial composite image produced by a police artist...
of the character to distinguish him from the franchise's Imperial
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
The Galactic Empire is one of the main factions in the fictional universe of Star Wars. It is a galaxy-spanning regime established by the series' lead villain, Palpatine, to replace the Galactic Republic in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Galactic Empire is introduced in Star Wars...
characters. The character also appears in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Star Wars newspaper strip.
Films
Fett is the "next major villain" after Darth Vader (James Earl JonesJames Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
/David Prowse
David Prowse
David Prowse, MBE is an English former bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, most widely known for playing the role of Darth Vader in physical form. In Britain, he is also remembered as having played the Green Cross Code man...
) in The Empire Strikes Back. Fett tracks the Millennium Falcon to Cloud City, where Vader captures its passengers and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
s its captain, Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
(Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
). Wanting to collect a bounty on Solo from Jabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt
Jabba the Hutt is a fictional character in George Lucas's space opera film saga Star Wars. Designed as a large, slug-like alien, his appearance has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as "Dickensian," a cross between a toad and the Cheshire Cat....
, Fett confronts Vader about whether Solo will survive. Vader promises to "compensate" the bounty hunter should Solo die, but relinquishes the fugitive to Fett's custody after he lives.
Fett is at Jabba's palace in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
(1983) when Solo's rescuers are captured, and he travels on Jabba's sail barge to the sarlacc
Sarlacc
The sarlacc is a fictional creature in George Lucas's science fiction saga Star Wars. It first appeared in the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as a multi-tentacled alien beast whose immense, gaping mouth is lined with several rows of sharp teeth...
pit, where the prisoners 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 tumbling to his supposed death into the Sarlacc's mouth.
Fett is in a scene added to the Special Edition version of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
(1997), appearing briefly outside the Millennium Falcon with Jabba the Hutt. Fett was added to several scenes altered for Return of the Jedi Special Edition (1997).
In Attack of the Clones, Boba Fett (Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan is an actor from New Zealand known to Star Wars fans as the young Boba Fett from the film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.-Early life and career:Logan was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 6 June 1987...
) is a child clone of bounty hunter Jango Fett
Jango Fett
Jango Fett is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He first appeared as one of the main antagonists in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, and later served as the protagonist of the LucasArts video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, played by Temuera Morrison.Jango Fett serves as...
(Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
), who is raising Boba as a son. Boba helps the bounty hunter escape from Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of several primary characters in the Star Wars series. Along with Darth Vader, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear in all six Star Wars films...
(Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
), but later witnesses Jango's decapitation by Mace Windu
Mace Windu
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, most famously portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films. However, Windu has also been voiced by other actors in assorted video game and animated projects....
(Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
).
Expanded Universe and television
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 Attack of the Clones depicts Fett taking his father's shipSlave I
Slave I is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe. It first appears in the film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back under the command of bounty hunter Boba Fett , and then in the prequel film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones commanded by Jango Fett...
and armor to begin his own bounty-hunting career. Some Expanded Universe stories released before Attack of the Clones depict other accounts of Fett's origins. These stories include him being a stormtrooper
Imperial stormtrooper
The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers are the soldiers of the imperial army under the leadership of the evil Sith Lord and Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin.They are shown in...
who killed his commanding officer; a leader of the fabled Mandalorian
Mandalorian
Mandalorians are a fictional group of warriors from several races in the Star Wars universe. They commonly act as mercenaries or bounty hunters. According to Star Wars Expanded Universe material, they are the cultural descendants of an extinct race called the Taung...
warriors; and Jaster Mereel, a "Journeyman Protector" convicted of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. Karen Traviss
Karen Traviss
Karen Traviss is a science fiction author, and full-time novelist from Wiltshire, England. Originally from the Portsmouth area, Traviss worked as both a journalist and defence correspondent before turning her attention to writing fiction. She also served in both the Territorial Army and the Royal...
' novel Bloodlines
Bloodlines (novel)
Bloodlines is the second book in the Legacy of the Force series. The book is written by Karen Traviss and was released August 29, 2006. The book takes place in the fictional Star Wars Expanded Universe, about 35 years after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
(2006), published four years after Attack of the Clones release, states that Fett seeded some of these "false" backstories himself.
Fett appears as a child in the CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
/animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
. He appears in a three episode arc that is part of the season 2 finale, Death Trap, R2 Come Home, and Lethal Trackdown. 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." K. W. Jeter
K. W. Jeter
Kevin Wayne Jeter is an American science fiction and horror author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and paranoid, unsympathetic characters...
's Bounty Hunter Wars
The Bounty Hunter Wars
The Bounty Hunter Wars is a trilogy of science fiction novels set in the Star Wars galaxy 4 years ABY. The series serves as a sequel of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The trilogy follows Boba Fett after he escapes the sarlacc's stomach. The trilogy also contains flashbacks of Boba...
trilogy (1998–1999) depicts Fett as more communicative than in the films because the books' plots require Fett to show "an ability to convince people as well as kill them." Works such as Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
' Dark Empire
Dark Empire
Dark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy , followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy and a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn...
series (1991–1992) describe Fett escaping from the sarlacc. In the Legacy of the Force
Legacy of the Force
The Legacy of the Force is a series of nine science fiction novels set in the Star Wars fictional universe, taking place approximately 40 years after the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope...
series (2006–2008), Jaina Solo asks Boba Fett to train her to help her defeat her corrupted brother
Jacen Solo
Jacen Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo and the nephew of Luke Skywalker, he is a major character in several Star Wars novels, particularly the Legacy of the Force series. He replaced Lumiya as the main antagonist of the...
and ends up helping fight against Jacen Solo's troops.
Concept and development
Boba Fett stems from initial concepts for Darth Vader, who was originally conceived as a rogue bounty hunter. While Vader became less a mercenaryMercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
and more of a dark knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
, the bounty hunter concept remained, and Fett became "an equally villainous" but "less conspicuous" character. Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie
Ralph McQuarrie is a conceptual designer and illustrator who designed Star Wars , the original Battlestar Galactica , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Cocoon, for which he won an Academy Award....
influenced Fett's design, which was finalized by and is credited to Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston
Joseph Eggleston "Joe" Johnston II is an American film director and former effects artist best known for such effects-driven movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, the period drama October Sky, The Wolfman, and Captain America: The First Avenger.- Life and...
. Fett's armor was originally designed for "super troopers", and was adapted for Fett as the script developed. Screen-tested in all-white, Fett's armor eventually garnered a subdued color scheme intended to visually place him between white-armored "rank-and-file" Imperial stormtrooper
Imperial stormtrooper
The Imperial Stormtroopers are fictional soldiers from George Lucas' Star Wars universe. Stormtroopers are the soldiers of the imperial army under the leadership of the evil Sith Lord and Emperor Palpatine and his commanders, most notably Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin.They are shown in...
s and Vader, who wears black. This color scheme had the added bonus of conveying the "gray morality" of his character. The character's armor was designed to appear to have been scavenged from multiple sources, and it is adorned with trophies. A description of the character's armor in the summer 1979 Bantha Tracks newsletter catalyzed "rampant speculation" about the character's mysterious origins.
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. Fett's "distinctive" theme, composed by John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
, is "not music, exactly" ... but "more of a gurgly, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
-and-bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
thing aurally cross-pollinated with some obscure static sounds." Sound editor Ben Burtt
Ben Burtt
Benjamin "Ben" Burtt, Jr. is an American sound designer who has worked on various films including: the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , and WALL-E...
added the sound of jangling spur
Spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...
s, created and performed by the Foley artist team of Robert Rutledge and Edward Steidele, to Fett's appearance in Cloud City, intending to make the character menacing and the scene reminiscent of similar gunfighter appearances in Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
films.
Star Wars creator George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
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, instead leaving the task of "reviving" Fett to Expanded Universe canon. Lucas also said that, had he known Fett would be so popular, he would have made the character's death "more exciting." Lucas at one point considered depicting Vader and Fett as brothers in the prequel films, but discounted it as too "hokey." In continuing to develop the character in the prequel films, Lucas closed some avenues for expanding the character's story while opening others.
Daniel Keys Moran
Daniel Keys Moran
Daniel Keys Moran , also known by his initials DKM, is an American computer programmer and a science fiction writer.-Biography:Moran was born to Richard Joseph Moran and Marilynn Joyce Moran...
, who published several Fett-related stories, cited Westerns as an influence on his development of the character. Moran said
Film casting and production
Fett is primarily played by Jeremy BullochJeremy Bulloch
Jeremy Bulloch is an English actor. He is best known for the role inside the costume of the bounty hunter Boba Fett in the original Star Wars trilogy, though he did not voice the character...
in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Bulloch's half-brother alerted him to the role. He was cast as Fett because the costume happened to fit "as if a Savile Row
Savile Row
Savile Row is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's bespoke tailoring. The term "bespoke" is understood to have originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers...
tailor had come out and made it"; he did not have to do a reading or a screen test, and Bulloch never worked from a script for either film.
Filming the role for The Empire Strikes Back lasted three weeks. The actor was pleased with the costume and used it to convey the character's menace. Bulloch based his performance on Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's portrayal of the Man with No Name
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
in A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars
A Fistful of Dollars is a 1964 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood alongside Gian Maria Volonté, Marianne Koch, Wolfgang Lukschy, Sieghardt Rupp, José Calvo, Antonio Prieto, and Joseph Egger. Released in Italy in 1964 then in the United States in...
; similar to the Western character, Bulloch cradled the gun prop, made the character seem ready to shoot, slightly tilted his head, and stood a particular way. Bulloch did not try to construct a backstory for the character, and said later that "the less you do with Boba Fett, the stronger he becomes". Playing Fett in The Empire Strikes Back was both the smallest and most physically uncomfortable role Bulloch has played; Bulloch said donning the heavy jetpack was the worst aspect of the role.
Bulloch spent four weeks working on Return of the Jedi. He was unaware of Fett's demise before filming began and was "very upset" by the development; he would like to have done more with Fett. Still, Bulloch believed killing Fett made the character stronger, and that his "weak" death makes fans want the character to return. Bulloch thinks a scene created for Return of the Jedi Special Edition in which Fett flirts with a woman is not in keeping with the character's nature.
Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan is an actor from New Zealand known to Star Wars fans as the young Boba Fett from the film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.-Early life and career:Logan was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 6 June 1987...
had not seen the Star Wars films prior to being cast as Fett, but he watched the original trilogy at Lucas' request. The actor had to rely on his imagination for the bluescreen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
filming.
Other portrayals
Boba Fett first appeared in The Star Wars Holiday SpecialThe Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star Wars spin-offs, and was directed by Steve Binder. The show was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, November 17, 1978, on the U.S...
, played by Don Francks
Don Francks
Donald Harvey Francks or Iron Buffalo is a Canadian actor, vocalist and jazz musician.- Life and work :Francks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist...
; Francks reprised the role in an episode of Star Wars: Droids
Star Wars: Droids
Star Wars: Droids, also known as Droids: The Adventures of R2-D2 and C-3PO, was an animated television series that featured the exploits of R2-D2 and C-3PO, the droids who have appeared in all six Star Wars films...
. Although Bulloch wore Fett's costume in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, John Fass Morton filled in for Bulloch during one scene in The Empire Strikes Back and Jason Wingreen
Jason Wingreen
Jason Wingreen is an American actor.-Biography:Born in 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up in Howard Beach, Queens, attended John Adams High School, and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1941. Wingreen lent his voice to Boba Fett in the original and 1997 theatrical versions of The Empire...
voiced the character in that film. His brief appearance in the Special Edition of A New Hope 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
Don Bies
Don Bies is an American professional golfer who has won tournaments on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour ....
and Nelson Hall. Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
replaced Fett's voice in the Special Edition films. Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan
Daniel Logan is an actor from New Zealand known to Star Wars fans as the young Boba Fett from the film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.-Early life and career:Logan was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 6 June 1987...
played Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
.
Boba Fett's voice in National Public Radio's Star Wars radio dramas
Star Wars (radio)
An expanded radio dramatization of the original Star Wars trilogy was produced in 1981, 1983, and 1996. The first two radio series, based on A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, were produced and broadcast by National Public Radio as part of NPR Playhouse...
was provided by Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg is an American actor of both stage and screen. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, the principal motion picture industry on-screen performers' union.-Early life:...
in The Empire Strikes Back and Ed Begley, Jr.
Ed Begley, Jr.
Edward James "Ed" Begley, Jr. is an American actor and environmentalist. Begley has appeared in hundreds of films, television shows, and stage performances. He is best known for his role as Dr. Victor Ehrlich, on the television series St...
in Return of the Jedi. Tim Glovatsky and Joe Hacker voiced the character in audio adaptations of Dark Forces: Rebel Agent and the Dark Empire
Dark Empire
Dark Empire is a Star Wars comic book metaseries produced by Dark Horse Comics. It consists of a six-issue limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy , followed by a second six-issue limited series by Veitch and Kennedy and a two-issue limited series written by Veitch and drawn...
comics, respectively. Morrison voiced Fett in the Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War
Star Wars: Empire at War is a 2006 real-time strategy game developed by Petroglyph Games and published by LucasArts. Set between Episode III and Episode IV, it focuses on the fledgling struggle between the Empire and the Rebels. It uses Petroglyph's game engine Alamo. The most recent patch was...
, Star Wars Battlefront II, and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is a spin-off from the Star Wars Battlefront series released November 3, 2009 on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. It has been called the sequel to Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.-Plot:...
games. Fett was played by Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...
in a Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a multimedia project developed by LucasArts along with Dark Horse Comics, Lego, Hasbro, and Del Rey Books...
expansion and its sequel: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is LucasArts' sequel to 2008's Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game. A trailer announcing the game was shown December 12, 2009, at the Spike Video Game Awards. The game was released across multiple platforms in October 2010, along with a collectors edition of...
, by Chris Cox
Chris Cox (actor)
Chris Cox is a filmmaker and voice actor. He is best known, as himself, for the 2001 Small Shots TV series for Spike TV.Cox replaced George Eads in the role of Captain Atom for the popular animated series Justice League Unlimited. Eads was unwilling to reprise his voice role after an appearance in...
in Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, and by Tom Kane
Tom Kane
Tom Kane is a prominent American voice actor with over 25 years of experience. He is most widely known for his animation work...
in three other Star Wars video games. Logan returned to his role as Boba Fett for Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game is a video game based on the Star Wars themed toy line by the Lego Group and the first game in TT Games' Lego videogame franchise. It takes place during the prequel trilogy , with a bonus segment from A New Hope...
, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue is an attraction located at Disneyland Park and at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is also set to open at Tokyo Disneyland in Spring 2013. Set in the fictional Star Wars universe, The Adventures Continue updates the two parks' original Star Tours attractions...
, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
television series.
Reception
Fett is a "cultCult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
figure" and one of the most popular Star Wars characters. He personifies "danger and mystery", and Susan Mayse calls Fett "the unknowable Star Wars character" who "delivers mythic presence." Although Tom Bissell
Tom Bissell
Tom Bissell is a journalist, critic, and fiction writer, originally from Escanaba, Michigan and currently based in Portland, Oregon.-Life:...
asserts that no one knows why Boba Fett has become so popular, nor cares why, both Lucas and Bulloch cite Fett's mysterious nature as reasons for his popularity. Bulloch, who has never fully understood the character's popularity, nevertheless also attributes it to the costume and the respect Fett garners from Vader and Jabba the Hutt. The initial Boba Fett toy, more than Fett's actual film appearance, might be responsible for the character's popularity; Henry Jenkins
Henry Jenkins
Henry Jenkins III is an American media scholar and currently a Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts, a joint professorship at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC School of Cinematic Arts...
suggests children's play helped the character "take on a life of its own." Moran said Vader's admonition specifically to Fett in The Empire Strikes Back — "No disintegrations" — gives Fett credibility; he was interested in Fett because the character is "strong, silent, [and] brutal." Jeter says that even when Fett appears passive, he conveys "capability and ruthlessness." Bissell credits Bulloch for giving Fett "effortless authority" in his first scene in The Empire Strikes Back, using such nuances as "cradling" his blaster and slightly cocking his head. Fett's small role in The Empire Strikes Back may actually have made the character seem more intriguing. Logan compares Fett to "that boy in school who never talks" and who attracts others' curiosity.
Bissell adds that Boba Fett, along with other minor characters like Darth Maul
Darth Maul
Darth Maul is a fictional character in the science fiction saga Star Wars. He is one of the main antagonists of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, portrayed by martial artist Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz....
and Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, the protagonist of the video game Star Wars: Dark Forces and its sequels....
, appeals to adolescent boys' "images of themselves: essentially bad-ass but ... honorable about it." This tension and the absence of a clear "evil nature" (distinct from evil actions) offer Fett dramatic appeal. Furthermore, Fett "is cool because he was designed to be cool", presenting a "wicked ambiguity" akin to John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's portrayal of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
in Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
and Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
. Bissell compares Fett to Beowulf
Beowulf (hero)
Beowulf is a legendary Geatish hero and later turned king in the epic poem named after him, one of the oldest surviving pieces of literature in the English language.-Etymology and origins of the character:...
, Ahab, and Huckleberry Finn: characters "too big" for their original presentation, and apt for continued development in other stories. Moran finds Fett reminiscent of the Man with No Name
Man with No Name
The man with no name is a stock character in Western films, but the term usually applies specifically to the character played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's "Dollars Trilogy."...
. Logan was a Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
nominee for his portrayal of Fett. In 2008, Boba Fett was selected by Empire magazine as the 79th greatest movie character of all time. He was also included on Fandomanias list of The 100 Greatest Fictional Characters.
The San Francisco Chronicle describes Boba Fett fans as "among the most passionate", and the character is important to Star Wars fan culture. Boba Fett's popular following before the character even appeared in The Empire Strikes Back influenced Damon Lindelof
Damon Lindelof
Damon Laurence Lindelof is an American television writer and executive, most recently noted as the co-creator and executive producer for the television series Lost. He has written for and produced Crossing Jordan, and wrote for Nash Bridges, Wasteland, and the MTV anthology series Undressed...
's interest in developing Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
across multiple media. Will Brooker calls "superb" a fan's campaign to have Boba Fett unmasked as a woman. Fan parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
include Boba Phat, a cosplay
Cosplay
, short for "costume play", is a type of performance art in which participants don costumes and accessories to represent a specific character or idea. Characters are often drawn from popular fiction in Japan, but recent trends have included American cartoons and science fiction...
"intergalactic booty hunter" created by David James.
Merchandising
Fett is one of the top five best-selling Star Wars action figures, and Boba Fett-related products are "among the most expensive" Star Wars merchandise. Fett was the first new mail-away action figure created for The Empire Strikes Back; although advertised as having a rocket-firing backpack, safety concerns led KennerKenner
Kenner Products was a toy company founded in 1947 by three brothers, Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, and was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, which is just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal.Kenner introduced its...
to sell his rocket attached. Gray called the early toy "a rare and precious commodity", and one of the rocket-firing prototypes sold at auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
for $16,000 in 2003. In August 2009, Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
released a Fett action figure based on McQuarrie's white-armored concept, and Boba Fett as both a child and bounty hunter have been made into Lego minifigure
Lego minifigure
A Lego minifigure is a small plastic articulated figurine available as part of the construction toy Lego, produced by Danish toy manufacturer the Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978, and have become hugely successful, with over 3.7 billion produced, and the figure appearing in a variety...
s. Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
's Star Wars Trading Card Game
Star Wars Trading Card Game
Star Wars: The Trading Card Game was a collectible card game produced by Wizards of the Coast . The original game was created by game designer Richard Garfield, the creator of the first modern trading card game, Magic: The Gathering...
includes several Boba Fett cards. Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards
Hallmark Cards is a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce C. Hall, Hallmark is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts....
created a Boba Fett Christmas tree
Christmas tree
The Christmas tree is a decorated evergreen coniferous tree, real or artificial, and a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas started in Livonia and Germany in the 16th century...
ornament.
External links
- Meet Boba Fett – screen-test footage of the prototype Boba Fett costume