A critical component of Darth Sidious’ plans for galactic domination in the Star Wars prequels was the Clone Army, so what was it about Jango Fett that made him the perfect template for clone troopers? Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones doesn’t explain what it is about Jango Fett that made him the ideal genetic base, but, like so many questions that the Star Wars movies raise, the answers can be found in the non-movie material from both canon and Legends (originally known as the Expanded Universe). Jango Fett’s background is different in each of the two versions, but no matter what context, it’s clear that Sidious and Tyranus made the right choice for the Clone Army.

The Republic clones needed to be some of the best non-Force sensitive soldiers in the galaxy to not only support the Jedi in combat but to also serve their ultimate purpose: Killing the Jedi spread out across the galaxy. The ideal clone template would need to be an excellent soldier and be compatible with the Kaminoan cloning process. In both continuities, Jango Fett fit this description perfectly, but the way he was contacted by Darth Tyranus and the priorities the Sith Lord had for choosing Jango differed.

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The Star Wars saga’s original timeline, the Expanded Universe, told an epic and comprehensive story of how Jango Fett became the character seen in Attack of the Clones and why he was chosen to be the clone template. This was the basis of the 2002 video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and the Jango Fett: Open Seasons comic series. Darth Tyranus placed a five million credit bounty on his former apprentice, Komari Vosa (now an insane dark side-using cult leader), knowing that the rewards and Vosa’s fearsome reputation would attract the galaxy’s most dangerous mercenaries to hunt her down. Even before the hunt for Vosa was finished Tyranus knew that the victor of his contest would be Jango Fett.

Star-Wars-Bounty-Hunter-Jango-Fett

The Legends version of Jango Fett is a Mandalorian and a veteran of their civil war with the splinter group known as the Death Watch. He’s also part of the Mandalorian Clan Fett, whose warrior bloodline goes as far back as the Mandalorian Wars, which took place nearly four thousand years before the Star Wars saga. Mandalorians are already among the greatest non-Force using warriors in the galaxy, and Clan Fett is renowned for its soldiers and leaders. This alone made Jango Fett ideal for the clone army, but Tyranus had one more reason for believing Jango to be the perfect template. Jango Fett is astoundingly skilled at killing Jedi.

The Mandalorian Civil War ended on Galidraan, with Jango’s warriors nearly wiped out by a Jedi task force led by Tyranus, who was, at the time, the Jedi Master Dooku. It was there that Dooku witnessed Jango Fett kill numerous Jedi, five with his bare hands. When Jango inevitably defeated Vosa, Tyranus offered him the opportunity to be cloned to both continue his Mandalorian legacy and to exact revenge against the Jedi. With assistance from other surviving Mandalorians, Jango personally oversaw the training of his Clone Troopers (and tutored every Alpha-class ARC Trooper one-on-one), ensuring that every clone was a potential Jedi killer, steeped in Mandalorian culture.

The canon version of Jango Fett is quite different from his Legends counterpart. Now, Jango is not a Mandalorian, but a superlatively skilled bounty hunter who somehow acquired Mandalorian weapons and armor. As shown in Age of Republic - Jango Fett, Tyranus sought out Fett for his skills and discretion, and Jango implied that being human was another deciding factor. Though the Clone Troopers were among the galaxy’s most formidable soldiers, Jango was largely uninvolved in their training. He was more concerned with his additional demand: his cloned son, Boba. The Star Wars prequels proved that Jango Fett was the perfect template for the Clone Army. Jango and the Sith ultimately got exactly what they wanted. The Clone Troopers were instrumental to the Great Jedi Purge when the time came. The legacy of Jango Fett was continued by his son Boba Fett.

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