Lets take a look beneath the mask of the leading man from the hit show, the Mandalorian.
Known to many as Mando, the lone bounty hunter, Din Djarin has made a name for himself and for Mandalorians throughout the galaxy. But who exactly is ‘the Mandalorian?’ And where does he come from? Let’s find out.
It all starts during the fall of the Republic. As the Clone Wars are winding down, on the world of Aq Vetina, separatist battle droids launch an attack that would forever alter the life of a young boy named Din Djarin. As droids slaughtered everyone in Din’s settlement, a Mandalorian, wearing Death Watch armor arrived to save the young boy, taking him in as a Mandalorian foundling. Foundlings would be an important part of Mandalorian culture, as the Great Purge–an Imperial operation that sought to wipe the Mandalorians from the galaxy, which sees the Darksaber change hands–was not far off.
But for now, young Din Djarin was taken into the Mandalorian Fighting Corpsm a subgroup of the Children of the Watch. The Children of the Watch help illustrate the religious aspect of Mandalorian culture, as they were a group, regarded as zealots by mainstream Mandalorians, who followed the Way of the Mandalore. Inside the Fighting Corps, Din Djarin’s tribe grew strong.
The Way of the Mandalore is a discussion all its own, but suffice it to say these are warrior practices that imbue great significance into things like finding Beskar, crafting armor, and dictate that a member may never remove their helmet in the presence of other living beings.
These tenets would ensure The Tribe’s survival, and though the Great Purge would drive them into hiding, the Fighting Corps, and the Tribe–whom Din Djarin believed to be an example of all Mandalorians–gave Djarin the skills he needed to excel as a bounty hunter. At some point after the second Battle of Yavin, during the fall of the Galactic Empire, Din acquired the Razor Crest, an old beaten up patrol starship from the pre-Imperial Republicm and made a name for himself across the galaxy.
Din’s exploits as a bounty hunter are legendary. He fought alongside criminals, arrested gangsters, and proved to be one of the best bounty hunters in the Outer Rim. If life had gone another way, Din Djarin might still be a bounty hunter, seeking to test his limits, but a fateful assignment took him to the world of Arvala-7, where, among a company of Nikto mercenaries, he found a lone Child.
This was the moment that set the Mandalorian on a path away from being a lone wanderer in an ever-more-dangerous galaxy. After deciding to care for this Child, the Mandalorian found himself following a new path. One that is, as most things in his life, followed according to the Way.
Since then his adventures have taken him into conflict with Imperial Remnants, Gamorreans, and no small amount of droids. Where will his adventures take him next? We’ll have to wait and find out.
But now you know the Mando behind the Mask.
