Is Boba Fett really that cool?

[ewlyn]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately... everyone is so darn Boba Fett obsessed. Every other SW fan I ask seems to select him as their favorite character. He's not really in the movies that much and when he is, IMO, he comes off as kinda a wuss... so who can convince me otherwise? Anyone?

I'm open... give me what you've got. :evil:

[Aing-Tii]

Hi ewlyn!
I don't get it either! I was never much impressed with Boba Fett (after all it's because of him Han got encased in carbonite!) either. He wasn't on that much and I thought he got eaten in the pit of Carkoon (sp?).
I think it's just a subset of fans that are so into his character. They are several books that just deal with him and some folks are into them.
I think it's just like the rest of the Star Wars universe, people get drawn to certain characters or aspects that others don't get. I'm not really into the X-wing books, haven't read them.
For me it's Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie and now Mara Jade and Leia and Han's kids. That's who I am interested in. As well as some of the characters that have been intro'd through the books, like Mara, and Talon Karrde and Shada D'ukal. I think they are far more interesting and compelling characters.
I'd be interested in hearing what draws people to Boba Fett and the X-wing books, etc.


Aing-Tii:star:

[markpud]

okay i cant even think who he is, but please bear in mind i've only seen each film once, although i did tape them so i guess i could go back and figure it out

[ewlyn]

Boba Fett is the bounty hunter who came to get Han and put him in Carbon Freeze at the end of Empire Strikes Back.

[markpud]

ah, thats what i thought, but i still cant picture what he looks like....

[Dave]

Lucas Films Limited have said "Forget everything you know about Boba Fett. Forget everything you THINK you know about Boba Fett. Every story, every legend of Fett's origins (and there have been quite a few of them)...are all either lies or half truths. Lies that sometimes sprang up on their own, and lies that sometimes Fett himself spread to hide his true past. In Episode II, you WILL learn the truth."

"Little is known of Fett's past. His style of armor has gone unseen since the days of the Clone Wars, but whether Fett participated in that terrible scourge is unknown. Fett's armor is a battered weapon-covered spacesuit equipped with a rocketpack. His gauntlets contain a flamethrower, and a whipcord lanyard launcher. His kneepads conceal rocket dart launchers. Several ominous braids hang from his shoulder -- trophies from fallen prey -- which underscore this hunter's lethality."

[Analise]

There's a story in Tales from the New Republic (i think that's the right one) about Boba that just makes him seem so rockin' cool.

But honestly, he's not my favorite character by a long shot, but I can see why some would see him like that.

~ana

[Yoda]

A faceless enforcer, Boba Fett's distinctive armor strikes fear in the hearts of fugitives. He is a legendary bounty hunter, accepting warrants from both the Empire and the criminal underworld. He is all business, laconic, and deadly.
Fett has carefully guarded his past, cultivating a curtain of mystery around his origins. He is in truth a clone, an exact genetic replica of his highly skilled "father," Jango Fett. From Jango, Boba learned valuable survival and martial skills, and even as a child he was proficient with a blaster or laser cannon.

Fett was raised in isolation in the hermetic cities of Kamino, where he was protected not only from the ceaseless storms, but also the harsher elements of his father's career. Young Boba's life changed when a tenacious Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, came looking for his father. Sent to apprehend the bounty hunter for the attempted assassination of a Naboo Senator, Kenobi brawled with Jango as the Fetts sought to escape from Kamino. Young Boba helped his father by pinning the Jedi down with explosive laser fire from the Fett starship, Slave I.

Fleeing from Kamino, the Fetts journeyed to Geonosis, where Jango's benefactor resided. Boba watched as his father's enemies were sentenced to death, but Jedi prove very hard to kill. A huge battle erupted as Jedi reinforcements stormed Geonosis to free their fellow Jedi. Jango entered the fray, only to be killed by Jedi Master Mace Windu. Boba was shocked to witness his father's swift death, and he quietly cradled Jango's empty helmet as Geonosis erupted into all-out war.

During the time of the Empire, Boba Fett emerged as the preeminent bounty hunter of the galaxy. Boba Fett's armor, like his father's, is a battered weapon-covered spacesuit equipped with a rocketpack. His gauntlets contain a flamethrower, and a whipcord lanyard launcher. His kneepads conceal rocket dart launchers. Several ominous braids hang from his shoulder -- trophies from fallen prey -- that underscore this hunter's lethality.


Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Darth Vader desperately wanted to capture the fugitive Rebel craft, the Millennium Falcon. To that end, he hired a motley assortment of bounty hunters, including the legendary Fett. Vader specifically pointed out to Fett that the Falcon's passengers were to be taken alive. "No disintegrations," rumbled the Dark Lord, obviously familiar with Fett's reputation.

It was Fett who successfully tracked the Falcon from Hoth to Bespin. Arriving at the gas giant before the Falcon, Fett and Vader sprung a trap on the ship's hapless crew. Fett, a shrewd negotiator, received his bounty for capturing the crew, but also was given custody of Han Solo. The bounty hunter was set to collect the reward on Solo's head placed there by the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt.

Whisking the carbonite-frozen form of Han Solo away from Bespin, Fett eventually arrived on Tatooine aboard his starship, the Slave I. Fett delivered Solo to Jabba, his some-time employer, and was many thousands of credits richer. Fett stayed at Jabba's palace, and was present when Solo's friends attempted to rescue the carbon-frozen smuggler.

Jabba, enraged at the attempted prison break, brought his captives out to the Tatooine desert, to execute them in the Great Pit of Carkoon. In the sandpit lay the immense Sarlacc, a vile creature that would digest its prey over thousands of years. Rather than let themselves be thrown in the Sarlacc's maw, Solo's friends, led by Luke Skywalker, fought against their captors. In the chaos that followed, Fett entered the fray.

Solo, free of the carbonite and suffering blindness from hibernation sickness, wildly swung a vibro-ax into an inattentive Fett's rocketpack. The pack activated, and the bounty hunter soared into the air, out of control. The airborne Fett slammed into the side of Jabba's sail barge before tumbling into the Sarlacc's mouth. With a sickly belch from the desert creature, it seemed as if Fett's career as the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunter was brought to an end.

Star Wars Data Bank

[Darth Infinitus]

I'm not obsessed with Boba Fett, nor do I consider him to be my favorite character. But I have to admit he's one of the more cooler characters from the original movies. I liked Jango Fett too. They are both two of the few non force characters that are actually skilled enough to fight a Jedi. Besides, the suit and it's gadgets are just awesome.

[Null_Zone]

He's a chump that gets taken out by a blind petty criminal who can barely stand up straight. The hero worship isn't something I've ever really got.

[RoninJedi84]

I've never understood the worship of Boba Fett, either. He gets, what? Maybe ten minutes of screen time (give or take) in the original trilogy? Granted, the armor looks awesome, and a great look always helps when you're talking about villians, but he never actually did anything on screen that translates to me as, "This guy is awesome!"

For such a supposedly notorious bounty hunter, I find it amusing that he couldn't even collect on a smuggler until Vader did the job for him.

I haven't read any books outside of those by Timothy Zhan which take place after RotJ (Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, Spectre of the Past, and Vision of the Future; for those who haven't read them. Check them out!), so I haven't been exposed to any of Fett's exploits aside from the films. But I'm a little bit of a purist that way, in that IMO the most important aspect of a franchise like this is the movies or (in the case of Star Trek) the television series that started it all. I'm not very big on Expanded Universe in any franchise, so maybe I'm a little jaded that way.

I just don't get it, though.

[Rodders]

I always thought that boba Fett was very cool. I don't like the way that he's been sort of demystified by the novels. (Especially by Karen Traviss.)

[C Of K]

In all fairness, Vader couldn't apprehend Solo until Fett got involved. He'd sought Luke and friends almost as long as Fett had Solo. Boba led Vader to Cloud City, while the Imperial Fleet kept coming up empty handed.

Fett didn't bow down for anybody, including Vader and Jabba. Considering the limited screen time he had in TESB, he made a sizable impact on the plot.

[Star Girl]

It's the enigmatic outfit... just makes him look cool. I think as Star Wars costumes go he's pretty cool looking.
I never really got it myself, but I can see why people might think that he's kind of interesting.

[C Of K]

The cool voice, too. Not the new "Jango voice" that George Lucas tacked on there. The original one was very fitting for the character.