# Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (Open spoilers after release) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 20, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236 "2026-05-20T07:03:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/61 "2026-06-10T20:09:36Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > In other media he was called Jaster Mereel but that’s not canon. Exactly. There was a lot of “Expanded Universe” stuff about the Fetts, particularly in the 1990s, which postulated various stories about who Boba Fett really was, including that his real name was Jaster Mereel, and that he was not a Mandalorian at all. However, later continuity about the Fetts (particularly stemming from the Prequel Trilogy and the _Clone Wars_ animated series) changed that, and the Mereel name was instead used for Jango’s mentor. Current canon is that Jango was a foundling who was adopted into the Mandalorians, but it does not look like Boba (Jango’s clone, who was raised by Jango as his son) ever formally joined the Mandalorians. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/62 "2026-06-10T20:19:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Current canon is that Jango was a foundling who was adopted into the Mandalorians, but it does not look like Boba (Jango’s clone, who was raised by Jango as his son) ever formally joined the Mandalorians. That’s a good point. Jango was definitely a Mandalorian, but I’m not sure Boba Fett ever really was. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/63 "2026-06-10T20:22:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Jango was definitely a Mandalorian, but I’m not sure Boba Fett ever really was. I just spent some time reading though [Boba’s extensive article on Wikipedia](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Boba_Fett) (focusing on the “Canon” tab), and unless I missed something, I see no mention that he was ever actually a Mandalorian. He inherited his father’s armor, and later worked with Din Djarin, but no formal mention of him _being_ Mandalorian. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/64 "2026-06-10T21:20:58Z")
When we first see Boba as a child, he’s living in a fancy apartment on Kamino with his dad. Then Jango dies, and he becomes an orphaned teenager with a revenge complex against Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/65 "2026-06-10T21:34:38Z")
OK, when it came up in the TV show, what I picked up was that Boba wasn’t a Mandalorian, so Din initially wanted to take the armor, but that Boba inherited the armor from Jango, and that Jango had received it honorably from a Mandalorian, so Din eventually decided to let him keep it. I missed the part about how Jango received it honorably by virtue of being Mandalorian himself. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/66 "2026-06-10T21:40:37Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > an orphaned teenager with a revenge complex against Jedi. Cradling your father’s severed head in your hands leads to that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/67 "2026-06-10T21:46:02Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > > [@Atamasama](#): > > > > an orphaned teenager with a revenge complex against Jedi. > > Cradling your father’s severed head in your hands leads to that kind of thing.   Light sabers don’t decapitate people, Jedi do. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/68 "2026-06-10T21:50:30Z")
Well he is a genetic clone of his dad. I guess technically he would have been “born” in Kamino, where the clones were created, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t count as a Mandalorian. It would be weird not to consider him a Mandalorian unless Jango also wasn’t one. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/69 "2026-06-10T22:05:04Z")
Yeah, he never really got a chance to become a Mandalorian. I don’t know if Jango ever intended to try to get Boba brought in as one. He’d left that life behind after the Civil War. Boba probably grew up with stories about Mandalorians, so decided to dress himself up as one because he thought it was cool, and it probably helped his reputation for people to think he was one, but it was pretty much stolen valor. > [@DigitalC](#): > > I guess technically he would have been “born” in Kamino, where the clones were created, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t count as a Mandalorian. Mandalore is a planet, and there were people (humans) born on that planet called Mandalorians, so it was an ethnicity. But it was also a way of life, and people not born on Mandalore (and in Grogu’s case, someone not even human) can be adopted and raised into that culture and raised as one. Jango was not one ethnically, and Boba was not raised in a Mandalorian tribe or clan or whatever. So Boba could not legitimately claim it by blood or by being brought up in the culture. It was appropriation. None of the clone troopers (also clones of Jango) were Mandalorian either because of that. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/70 "2026-06-10T22:06:58Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I guess technically he would have been “born” in Kamino, where the clones were created, but I don’t see why he wouldn’t count as a Mandalorian. It appears that it’s not entirely clear-cut. Generally, there’s been no real depiction that Boba considers _himself_ to be Mandalorian: he wasn’t raised in the culture (he had no contact with Mandalorians other than his father), and he follows his own code, rather than any version of the Mandalorian Code. But, one could argue both sides of it, depending on how one defines what makes someone Mandalorian. As some of the people in [this Reddit thread, which asks that specific question](https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/120tmez/is_boba_fett_a_mandalorian/), said: > [@](#): > > He says he doesn’t claim he’s a Mandalorian. He doesn’t seem to belong to any clan as we don’t know what happened to Jaster Mereel or his clan in canon. > > But he inherited his father’s armor, he speaks the language, he understands a bit of their culture. > > I think the bare minimum qualification for his status as a Mandalorian would be identifying as one. But beyond that, who is to say? The Mandalorian people are divided and fight amongst themselves as to who is legitimate. Absent a new Mandalore who unites the clans and dictates the new rules, he could probably just be considered a Mandalorian by calling himself one. Maybe a group like the protectors could accept him and reinforce his claim. > > Right now he’s definitely in a gray area. > [@](#): > > Mandalorians isnt a race you can be born into, its a shared culture that unites a people. No one is genetically Mandalorian. > > Boba, in my opinion, doesn’t have this culture. He may have been taught parts of it by Jango but this education was abruptly cut short when Boba was only 10. And since then, he hasn’t seemed to care about it. He doesn’t wear Mandalorian armour, he wears his Fathers armour. Without this culture, Mandalorians are just normal people. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Boba probably grew up with stories about Mandalorians, so decided to dress himself up as one because he thought it was cool More than that: he wears a suit of Mandalorian armor which was his father’s, and which he wears in honor of his father. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2026, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/71 "2026-06-10T22:10:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > More than that: he wears a suit of Mandalorian armor which was his father’s, and which he wears in honor of his father. Yeah; it’s like wearing your dad’s military service uniform and going off to join a paramilitary group without ever having served in the real military. (That’s the best analogy I can think of.) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/72 "2026-06-11T13:43:58Z")
I kind of love that George Lucas made up a word in 1979 or so that never even appeared on screen (the first place I remember seeing what Boba Fett was wearing referred to as Mandalorian Armor was on one of the ESB trading cards) and here we are having discussions about their history and culture. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/73 "2026-06-11T13:57:49Z")
I would say based on what we’ve seen in the show, there’s no purely hereditary component to being a Mandalorian: Either you’re brought up in the Way, or you’re not (even allowing for the fact that different sects of Mandalorians follow different Ways). Jango might have been brought up in the Way, but he doesn’t seem to have brought up Boba in it for whatever reason (for instance, the Way might require some level of contact with other Mandalorians, which Boba didn’t have), so Boba is not a Mandalorian. > [@Atamasama](#): > > Yeah; it’s like wearing your dad’s military service uniform and going off to join a paramilitary group without ever having served in the real military. (That’s the best analogy I can think of.) It’s kind of a weak analogy, though, because while armor can be considered a uniform, it’s also, well, armor. If you’re in a violent profession like bounty hunting, there are completely practical reasons to want to wear armor, even aside from any symbolism it might have in belonging to a specific group. I note that Din’s armor is mostly kept in its natural bare-metal color, with what symbolic decorations it has all being in bare-metal shapes on top of it, while the Fetts’ armor has a distinctive paint job. Was the Fett paint job something shared by the whole group that trained Jango (like the blue worn by Bo Katan’s group), or was it custom work just by Jango? Depending on which way that went, it could be either a deliberate effort to stay in “uniform”, or a deliberate effort to not be in “uniform”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/74 "2026-06-11T14:21:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I note that Din’s armor is mostly kept in its natural bare-metal color, with what symbolic decorations it has all being in bare-metal shapes on top of it, while the Fetts’ armor has a distinctive paint job. He also had the Mythosaur logo prominently displayed on it. Even his dad didn’t do that. If Boba was just wearing good armor and wasn’t trying to make people think he was a Mandalorian, he wouldn’t be wearing a symbol that literally declared his identity as one. If you want a better analogy, it’s like taking your dad’s police body armor, wearing it, choosing to put “POLICE” on the front of it (that your dad didn’t do as an ex-cop), and then running around as a bounty hunter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/75 "2026-06-11T14:25:58Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > He also had the Mythosaur logo prominently displayed on it. OK, I hadn’t noticed that. Yeah, that would definitely be a “uniform” sort of adornment, and one to which he probably wasn’t entitled. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/76 "2026-06-11T19:28:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I note that Din’s armor is mostly kept in its natural bare-metal color, with what symbolic decorations it has all being in bare-metal shapes on top of it, while the Fetts’ armor has a distinctive paint job. Was the Fett paint job something shared by the whole group that trained Jango (like the blue worn by Bo Katan’s group), or was it custom work just by Jango? Jango’s armor was bare metal. Boba painted it green. And Din’s original armor was painted or corroded in various colors. Only the Beskar armor was bare metal. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/77 "2026-06-11T19:42:47Z")
Was Jango/Boba’s armor even Beskar? Besides the helmet, of course. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/78 "2026-06-11T19:51:44Z")
Used to be “durasteel” before that stopped being cannon, I think its a beskar alloy now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/79 "2026-06-11T19:56:17Z")
Oh, right, I’d forgotten that Din had other armor in the first episode. So it’s canon that Mandalorians also use armors of more mundane metals, when needed, and so Boba’s armor might not have been all beskar. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2026, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236/80 "2026-06-11T20:07:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Was Jango/Boba’s armor even Beskar? Besides the helmet, of course. Apparently, though as noted, this is probably something which has been retconned over time. According to the canon sections of their Wikipedia articles: > [@](#): > > Jango Fett wore a set of energized beskar Mandalorian armor > [@](#): > > During his early bounty hunting career, Boba had his own unique red and grey armor, including a helmet and twin blaster pistols. As his career continued, Boba donned [Jango’s Mandalorian armor](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Boba_Fett%27s_armor "Boba Fett's armor"). [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jango\_Fett#Equipment](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jango_Fett#Equipment) [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Boba\_Fett#Mandalorian\_armor](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Boba_Fett#Mandalorian_armor) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-open-spoilers-after-release/1030236.md?page=3)