Mandalorian
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A Mandalorian is a member of a mercenary group known as the mandalorians in the Star Wars universe. Mandalorians are not a species but a culture. The leader of the Mandalorians typically takes on the title of "Mandalore". The Mandalorians rarely allied with a Jedi or Sith, respecting only valor in battle. Mandalore stays on the Onderon's jungle moon Dxun in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2. It is also revealed that there are Mandalorian clans spread out across other planets, such as Dantooine or Nar Shaddaa.
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[edit] History
[edit] Ancient Times/The Mandalorian Wars
Originally, the Mandalorian clans were led by the warlord "Mandalore the First" and were ranked amongst the best fighters in the galaxy, thriving on battle. They were known for their use of cutting-edge weaponry and held to a strict code of honor. They were a warrior race. These Mandalorians wore crusader armor that differed from one soldier to the next.
Mandalore itself is a temperate, albeit desolate, world located in a rather overlooked and inconspicuous area at the edge of the Inner Rim. Making a living upon its surface took on a battle of survival, and thus, the Mandalorians know no other way of succession. Most importantly, however, is the rare metal that is only found on this planet to date. It is called Mandalorian Iron (or more commonly known as Manda-metal) and is one of the few known substances that can resist the focused energy output of a weapon such as a lightsaber (the others being cortosis ore and phrik alloy). Indeed, it takes an enormous amount of power and a proper strike with a lightsaber, not to mention a skilled Jedi who is strong in the Force, to penetrate a hole or opening through it, soon every Mandalorian began wearing armor made of Mandalorian Iron. For their own single combat engagements, blasters and other firearms were forbidden; they were useless anyway. It came down to either finding a seam or soft spot in the armor and stabbing, or bludgeoning the opponent to submission or death. In addition, the metal is so dense that it actually can blunt a Force impression through it.
The Mandalorians played a large role in the Great Sith War. During the war between the Sith and the Republic, Mandalore and his forces attacked and raided the Empress Teta system, drawing the attention of Ulic Qel-Droma. After being defeated in single combat by Ulic, the Mandalore pledged complete loyalty to the Sith apprentice. He and his warriors participated in many devastating raids and attacks on the Republic, including an attempted invasion of Coruscant. However, Mandalore was finally defeated at Onderon by a combined force of local military forces and Republic reinforcements. With his mighty army defeated and shattered, Mandalore fled to Dxun but was killed by one of the many monsters that inhabited Onderon's moon. A Mandalorian warrior comes across his fallen mask and inherits the position of Mandalore.
After their defeat in the Mandalorian Wars at the hands of the Jedi Revan and Malak, Mandalorian society was slowly reformed, gradually evolving and changing into a culture of mercenaries, rather than conquerors. Revan later told his friend Canderous Ordo to unite the Mandalorians after he left for the Unknown Regions. Ordo then took the mantle of "Mandalore" and gathered a new Mandalorian army on Dxun. Recruiting and training Mandalorians across the Galaxy, he eventually encountered the Jedi Exile, whom he continued traveling with. During this time, the Jedi Exile's group finally visited Malachor V, a planet bearing scars of the most atrocious battle of the Mandalorian Wars; Malachor V was the site of the single largest loss of life during the Mandalorian Wars, killing the majority of Mandalorian and Republic soldiers, due to an Iridonian technician who created and deployed a weapon called the Mass Shadow Generator. While attempting to enter the Malachor V, the party's ship, the Ebon Hawk, was downed due to Malachor's unusual gravity and vicious storms, it is thought that all of the members survived, including Canderous. It is unknown where Ordo travelled after escaping Malachor V, but as a precognition made by Kreia, "he has many battles left in him." If Mandalore ever dies one of his men will take his armour and become the new Mandalore.
[edit] Late Republic / Early Imperial Times
Over the next few centuries the Mandalorians slowly transformed into a less clan-based, more mercenary-oriented culture. It was around this time that a schism occurred in their ranks. A violent splinter group, known as the Mandalorian Death Watch, revolted against the leadership of Jaster Mereel, who led the True Mandalorian loyalist faction.
Eventually the civil war between these groups spilled on to the pastoral world of Concord Dawn. Here the Death Watch leader Vizsla attempted to murder Jaster. However, thanks to the assistance of a young orphan named Jango Fett, Jaster and his followers escaped the trap.
Eventually, Viszla caught up to Jaster and the Mandalorians on a distant world and, thanks to the treachery of fellow Mandalorian Montross, Jaster Mereel was killed in battle.
Jaster's protege, Jango, took over the reins of leadership, despite Montross' protests that it would mean a "child leading them."
Jango's tenure as Mandalorian leader ended at the Battle of Galidraan, where a Jedi taskforce under the leadership of Master Dooku led to the death of every remaining Mandalorian, except for Jango.
After this disaster, the Mandalorians were effectively ended as a force in the galaxy. Individuals survived both on Mandalore and in other isolated pockets of known space, but they played little influence on galactic affairs until the Clone Wars, when Jango Fett became the genetic template for a Grand Army of the Republic. One clone trooper, an elite ARC trooper named Alpha-Ø2, ended up going rogue and changing the Mandalorians forever.
During the Clone Wars, the Mandalorians were employed as assassins by the Sith in their action to eradicate the Jedi, since the Mandalorians, inside their personal body armor, were impervious and uncorruptable. Jedi were subdued and placed aboard barges lined with Mandametal, to be towed out into empty space and dispatched - their true fates are not recorded.
As Jango often assisted in training the ARCs, Alpha-2 had memories of Jango Fett. He went to Mandalore and started rebuilding the Mandalorian supercommandos from Mandalorian Protectors, police, and even Death Watchmen. Alpha-2 became Mandalore the Resurrector and his forces fought for Confederacy of Independent Systems. Among his troopers were Tobbi Dala and future Mandalore Fenn Shysa.
The words of several EU characters imply that the Mandalorian legacy will fade into nothingness in time, but also that their culture of strength and tenacity will not let it happen quickly or easily.
[edit] Post-Imperial Times
Twenty-six years after the Battle of Yavin, the Mandalorians got a new leader, Boba Fett, who became Mandalore after Shysa's death on the planet Shogun and continued the tradition of leading the Mandalorian Protectors. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Fett led the Mandalorians in the defense of Mandalore and liberated numerous planets like Tholatin and Gyndine.
But in all, the fates of the Mandalorians themselves are not recorded either. All that is known among the galactic populace is that the Mandalorians did exist, but that no known individuals walk among them any more. All of their technology was erased, and records are incomplete as to the exact location of Mandalore at the present time. During the peak of Mandalorian culture, one of their production factories, Mandalmotors, spawned branch plants on a few other planets, and this corporation continues to operate in limited capacity. Only two known examples of the Mandalorian battle armor exist as well, worn by the bounty hunters Boba Fett and Jodo Kast. Fett killed Kast for imitating him and soiling his name. Fett is thought to have received his armor off the battlefield of Geonosis, taking it from his father's, Jango Fett, corpse. Jodo Kast procured his armor when he killed the Mandallian Giant bounty hunter, Feskitt Bobb, whose suit of Mandalorian armor made Kast initially mistake him for Fett. Mandalorians look almost exactly like normal humans without their armor, so its very possible the race is not entirely wiped out.
However, as revealed in the Legacy of the Force series, the Mandalorians still exist and maintain a presence in the galaxy. There are numerous small communities and clans scattered around the galaxy, with the majority centered around Mandalore. Also, the ending of the second book in the series, Bloodlines, implies that Boba Fett will use his position as Mandalore to restore the power and glory of the Mandalorians.
