oba Fett is one of the most recognizable characters in the franchise. In fact, he defines the look and feel of Star Wars, right alongside Darth Vader and R2-D2. A popular, though controversial, opinion is that he looks cool but gets precious little screen time! What, other than his armor, defines the character? We’ve carefully curated a thorough list of his standout moments from the books, comics, and short stories in the Expanded Universe of yesteryear, now referred to as Star Wars Legends. From repeatedly cheating death, outsmarting rival bounty hunters, outrunning fearsome beasts, and upholding a stringent honor code, Boba Fett is truly a character to behold in these larger-than-life tales.
Boba Fett’s Return
1991’s groundbreaking comic series from creators Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy, Dark Empire, was an absolute swing-for-the-fences: Luke Skywalker ventures to the dark side in order to bring down a resurgent Emperor Palpatine (who has a secret room full of young, slimy clones, by the way), Leia ignites a lightsaber of her own, taking up her brother’s mantle when he goes MIA, the Empire ransacks the galaxy with World Devastators (aka giant ship-making vacuum cleaners). And Palpatine isn’t the only Original Trilogy character to make his grand return to the galactic stage in Dark Empire — Boba Fett reemerges as well.
Somehow less slimy than Palpatine, even though his journey back onto the page came by crawling out of the belly of the Sarlacc pit, Boba Fett delivers one of the great one-liners in the Legends universe: “The Sarlacc found me somewhat indigestible.” With that, Han’s perpetual frienemy was hot on his heels once again, enriching the story in numerous ways for years to come. It’s hard to keep a good fett down.
Escaping the Balrog
Another standout Boba Fett comic is one that explores his family heritage, Blood Ties. The first volume focuses primarily on his father, Jango Fett, while the second explores Boba’s relationship with his estranged wife and daughter! We find his bounty hunter origin story in the opening pages, where an adolescent Boba Fett is encouraged by his father to be brave, whereupon he wins Father of the Year, blasting Boba into the lair of a dangerous dragon-like creature with a jetpack strapped to his back. What a dad, Jango Fett.
It gives context to the unflinching fearlessness that characterizes Boba Fett in adulthood. Plus, it’s just plain cool.
Training Jaina Solo
While Boba and Han Solo might be bitter rivals, irony inserts itself when Han’s daughter and Jedi Knight, Jaina Solo, finds herself in need of a new strategy in preparation for challenging the Sith Lord, Darth Caedus. After all, sometimes, the universe can be a strange place. Realizing that only one category of warriors in the galaxy had experience in dueling (and defeating) Jedi, Jaina turns to the one and only Mandalore, Boba Fett. Boba takes on the mantle of her new mentor, this time teaching her not how to fight like a Jedi but how to defeat one. He even hooks her up with a sweet power-up: Mandalorian wrist gauntlets, indestructible even by the blade of a lightsaber. These events take place in Legacy of the Force: Revelation by Karen Traviss.
Turning the Tide in the Yuuzhan Vong War
If nineteen full-length novels weren’t enough for you in the New Jedi Order, one more important story in the galaxy’s invasion by the Yuuzhan Vong is often overlooked, Boba Fett: A Practical Man, by Karen Traviss. (Can you tell that Karen Traviss likes Mandalorians?) This super-sized short story was originally published as an e-novella but was eventually included in the paperback edition ofLegacy of the Force: Sacrifice. After having been absent from Expanded Universe storytelling for several years and conspicuously missing from galactic affairs in-universe for a decade or more, Fett makes a triumphant return by taking up the helm of Mandalore, mustering disparate Mando forces from the far reaches of the galaxy, and betraying the invading Yuuzhan Vong in a pivotal battle as the war drew to a close.
Upholding Traditional Family Values
Some of the entries on Boba Fett’s Legends Highlight Reel are of him conquering armies or kicking bounty hunter butt, but we’ll admit, perhaps this one is more facetious. Let’s just say the 90s were a more civilized age. In Boba’s short story, “The Last One Standing,” by Daniel Keys Moran from Tales of the Bounty Hunters, Boba staunchly stands firm against premarital sex. For context, Jabba “gifts” Leia to Boba, his favorite bounty hunter. Refusing to take advantage of bikini-clad Leia, he says, “sex between those not married is immoral.” It’s truly the stuff of Legends.
Dueling His Impersonator
Let’s face it: sometimes contradictions crept up on the architects of the Expanded Universe. After all, it was an age in which many creators stored their material on floppy disks, mailed their editors manuscripts in massive envelopes, and collaborated over landlines! It’s honestly remarkable how cohesive the universe is, all things considered. Nevertheless, a significant retcon was needed regarding the whereabouts of Boba Fett. Therefore the impersonating bounty hunter, Jodo Kast, was invented. In the comic, Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction, Boba Fett reclaimed his identity after having emerged from the belly of the Sarlacc. He isn’t one to be trifled with, after all.
Teaming Up With Han Solo
Karen Traviss is no stranger to this list. She wrote three compelling entries in Boba Fett’s later years in Legends in the Legacy of the Force series. The first of these three, Bloodlines, is especially revelatory in getting under the helmet of a traditionally austere character. Finding himself ill in the years after his bounty hunting career had ended and his people had successfully fended off the Yuuzhan Vong, Boba finally settles down on the devastated homeworld of his people, Mandalore. Challenged with the burden of leadership, the failures of marriage and parenthood, and the existential crisis of his own mortality, Boba must bury the hatchet with a rival of a bygone era: Han Solo.
Boba Fett Trojan Horses a Hutt
This is one of many “Boba Fett One-Shots,” single-issue comics with a self-contained Boba Fett story in the style of a Western, with Boba in the lone gunman role of finding himself in a heap of trouble of some sort or another. Many of these are drawn by Dark Empire’s Cam Kennedy. There’s even an action figure of this particular style of Boba.
The story is almost too outlandish to describe in a paragraph. The basic gist is that Fett finds himself in the middle of a lover’s quarrel between two Hutts. What could go wrong? A magician is involved, whose act Boba uses Trojan-Horse-style to infiltrate the inner circle of one of the pair. Yada yada yada, someone gets eaten… Like we said, it’s a little out there.
Escaping a Ship Full of Zombies
From Dark Horse’s Star Wars Adventures line of younger reader comics comes Boba Fett and the Ship of Fear. It’s a wonderful fusion of several great tropes—a treasure hunt, a bounty hunter-on-bounty hunter grudge story, a little horror, and an exploration of what, if anything, can scare the fearless Boba Fett. From Star Wars comics veteran writer Jeremy Barlow, Ship of Fear is an under-the-radar Boba Fett tale definitely worth seeking out if you’re looking to get off the beaten path.
Getting His Butt Kicked by Lando
One of the most beloved Legends trilogies for many of us at Youtini is A. C. Crispin’s Han Solo Trilogy. In the penultimate entry, The Hutt Gambit, Boba Fett is enlisted by the Yvethian cultist rhinos with a contract out on Han Solo (after all, he pretty much ruined their slave-labor drug ring in The Paradise Snare, how dare he). Lando Calrissian, in search of a pilot, also begins searching for Solo. Finally finding him, Lando arrives just in time to catch Fett in the act of subduing Solo! Lando sneaks up on Boba, knocks him out, and thus the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Maybe it’s not at the top of the acclaimed bounty hunter’s resume, but it’s a significant moment nonetheless.
Conclusion
That covers our top ten Boba Fett moments in Star Wars Legends, spanning novels and comics, though we even threw in an e-novella for good measure! Looking for more? How about a few honorable mentions?
While not at the top of our recommendations list, The Bounty Hunter Wars Trilogy is certainly worth mentioning. A classic 90s trilogy, the Bounty Hunter Wars sees Boba Fett face off against his contemporaries (you know the lot: IG-88, Dengar, Bossk, etc.), while legalistically tip-toeing around the bounty hunter honor code and forming alliances with their spider-like crimelord as well as the sleazy Black Sun. The series may have been better served as a single novel, feeling a bit tedious at times, but there’s definitely some diamonds in the rough. It’s full of flashbacks, including a detailed account of Boba Fett’s escape from the Sarlacc pit.
Another honorable mention is when Fett gets impersonated by none other than Grand Admiral Thrawn! It’s found in “Side Trip,” a short story by the dynamite duo of Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, collected in Tales from the Empire. Adding to the Legends-goodness, Thrawn went on a mission with Corran and Hal Horn in an effort to take out Black Sun boss Zekka Thyne for Vader to placate Prince Xizor! It’s the story in which Vader gives Thrawn control of the Noghri, and sets up Zekka Thyne as a villain for the Rogue Squadron books.
We didn’t even mention other great Boba Fett moments, like when he dueled Darth Vader, or the time he spanked a dinosaur in the Holiday Special! That goes without mentioning though, right?
Looking for more Legends lore to love alongside likeminded fans? Be sure to check out our podcast, Legends Lookback, covering all things Expanded Universe and beyond.
