logo Sign In

"Bounty Hunter"?

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Thinking about bounty hunters in the Star Wars world. Guys who hunt peope for bounties placed by some kind of governing body (Hutts serving as a de facto government on Tatooine in some regard, according to TPM)

Theres:

Greedo in "Star Wars."
Boba Fett in "ESB."

As near as I can tell, that's it.

Boba in ROTJ is a retainer/bodyguard/goon of some sort, no longer hunting bounties.

The "bounty hunter" Jango Fett arranges political assassinations by sending another "bounty hunter" (although she's actually working as an assassin).

I've heard Durge from the Clone Wars flash-cartoon called a bounty hunter, but he appears to serve as a mere battlefield soldier.

Cad Bane in the new cartoon is called a bounty hunter, but he's apparently a terrorist for hire.

None of these guys are doing anything remotely like hunting people for bounties.

Is the predominance of 'bounty hunter' as a term because 'terrorist' 'soldier' or 'assassin' are too scary? I honestly don't know.

Author
Time

TheBoost said:


Is the predominance of 'bounty hunter' as a term because 'terrorist' 'soldier' or 'assassin' are too scary? I honestly don't know.

Sounds about right to me. Notice how its everything post-2001 that calls all of these obvious assassins "bounty hunters."

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress

Author
Time

A bounty hunter is, and I quote: "A guy who looks for a guy for money.  My sister is dating one!"

And a minor technicality, Boost... but you don't consider the other Bounty Hunters on the Executor to be real Bounty Hunters?  I understand Zuckuss and 4-Lom were there by case of a mistaken identity, and that IG-88 wishes he was out on the court dunking...  Dengar is mostly worthless, but Bossk, man... he's for real.  He's got quippy one-liners, a white tuxedo jacket, a mean left hook and everything!

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time

And he's courteous enough to take off his shoes when he comes onboard!

Every 27th customer will get a ball-peen hammer, free!

Author
Time

Has there ever been an "official" explanation as to why Boba was hanging around Jabba's palace? You'd think he would be off somewhere spending the dough long before the events in the film.

If a specific price is put on Anakin's or any other Jedi's head in season II, then it's safe to say a bounty is involved.

I can't see any reason a bounty hunter in the SW universe couldn't moonlight doing the odd hitman job or two.

Greedo wasn't a bounty hunter. He was just a clumsy henchman, with incredible eyesight problems added in the special edition. ;)

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time

I have to think that there are a lot of "Mercenaries" in the galaxy that might generically get called Bounty Hunters.  They might hunt bounty when it's convenient, or run drugs or guns, or run security for shady (or not so shady) outfits, or take assassination contracts.  Probably even janitorial work, if it pays.

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time

http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/boba-fett/

This thread reminds me of this essay by Noah Antwiler where he'd argue that Boba Fett is scarcely considered a bounty hunter.  Cracks me up every time I read it.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

Author
Time
 (Edited)

I had always figured Boba Fett and Han Solo had some past not mentioned in the films, as to why fett hates solo.

Fett hating Jedi was explained in the prequels since jango was beheaded by mace windu.

 

I always kind of saw Fett as doing this job for the money more like a mercenary, in fact the mandalorians are almost exclusively portrayed as a warrior race with an honor code, and many  are mercenaries.

I also always thought he sided with the empire for some reason other than the fact that it pays more.

 

I always figured it would have made sense for Fett to capture Luke Skywalker, since both the empire wanted him dead or alive, and vader wanted him alive.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time

skyjedi2005 said:

I had always figured Boba Fett and Han Solo had some past not mentioned in the films, as to why fett hates solo.

Unrequited love?  Wait, is Robot Chicken in canon or not?

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time
 (Edited)

If i remember correctly there was supposed to be an Army of mando supersoldiers at one point in during the pre production phase on empire strikes back, and then because it was deemed too expensive they made the general design into Just boba fett and made him a bounty hunter.

It was not mentioned at this point that they were clones but it would not surprise me if that was an old idea of lucas  re-used in the prequels.

I think though i might be wrong that the mando supersoldier was just supposed to be the new stormtrooper in episode V.

It makes sense for the rebels to have lots of goons, imperial henchmen, etc. for cannon fodder for the rebels,lol.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

Author
Time

Akwat Kbrana said:

And he's courteous enough to take off his shoes when he comes onboard!

Manners are their own reward, gentlemen!

You don't get it, boy.  This isn't a mudhole.  It's an operating table, and I'm the surgeon.

Vader vs. Luke

Author
Time

Yeah, except that he's immediately called "scum" by an admiral.  Some reward indeed!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

Author
Time

i would have ripped his head off if i were bossk

Author
Time

I've long forgotten the source, but circa 1980 Boba's outfit was referred to as "old shocktrooper armor" and I probably wasn't the only fan who decided that this was something worn during the Clone Wars.

Isn't there an early costume test photo where Boba's armor is pristine and white?

One of the early fake trailers for Episode II had a shot of a whole squad of guys in Fett armor. The maker must have remembered the same stuff I read.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time

SilverWook said:

I've long forgotten the source, but circa 1980 Boba's outfit was referred to as "old shocktrooper armor" and I probably wasn't the only fan who decided that this was something worn during the Clone Wars.

Isn't there an early costume test photo where Boba's armor is pristine and white?

One of the early fake trailers for Episode II had a shot of a whole squad of guys in Fett armor. The maker must have remembered the same stuff I read.

The ESB novelization said Fett's armor was from a group of evil warriors defeated by the jedi during the clone wars. The ESB sketchbook said that the armor was originally intended to be worn by Mandalorian supercommandos but that they changed it to be for Boba Fett. Changing it involved aging and denting it.

Author
Time

skyjedi2005 said:

I had always figured Boba Fett and Han Solo had some past not mentioned in the films....

I imagined them not having a past so much as just a mutual knowledge & general dislike of each other. Two less-than-honest fellows who made a point of staying out of each other's way.

I always kind of saw Fett as doing this job for the money more like a mercenary,

That's how it felt to me also. Boba Fett was just a hired gun with no real loyalties or connections to anyone. Same with the others we see briefly.

I think bounty hunter is a fitting term and not being used to avoid any other designation.

Forum Moderator
Author
Time

xhonzi said:

And a minor technicality, Boost... but you don't consider the other Bounty Hunters on the Executor to be real Bounty Hunters?  I understand Zuckuss and 4-Lom were there by case of a mistaken identity, and that IG-88 wishes he was out on the court dunking...  Dengar is mostly worthless, but Bossk, man... he's for real.  He's got quippy one-liners, a white tuxedo jacket, a mean left hook and everything!

 I guess I forgot them. Let's take Piett's word that they're bounty hunters, but for all we see of them  (sans EU) they might be lost circus performers or a real ugly maintanence crew.

Author
Time

RE: Circus performers.

I'm just curious what other assumptions would lead you to think that they might be lost circus performers.  Did Vader order a clown and some jugglers to lighten the mood after he choked their previous Admiral to death?  A highwire act to improve morale?

IT'S MY TRILOGY, AND I WANT IT NOW!

"[George Lucas] rebooted the franchise in 1997 without telling anyone." -skyjedi2005

"Yeah, well, George says a lot of things..." a young 1997 xhonzi on RASSM

"They're my movies." -George Lucas. 19 people won oscars for their work on Star Wars (1977) and George Lucas wasn't one of them.

Rewrite the Prequels!

 

Author
Time

xhonzi said:

RE: Circus performers.

I'm just curious what other assumptions would lead you to think that they might be lost circus performers.  Did Vader order a clown and some jugglers to lighten the mood after he choked their previous Admiral to death?  A highwire act to improve morale?

 I just had this image of the guys in "The Princess Bride" claiming to Princess Buttercup that they were 'poor lost circus performers' just before they kidnapped her... albeit to kill her, so they aren't bounty hunters either.

Author
Time

SilverWook said:

Greedo wasn't a bounty hunter. He was just a clumsy henchman, with incredible eyesight problems added in the special edition. ;)

 Greedo went to kill Solo to collect on the bounty. That makes him a bounty hunter in my book. It's not a question of cool armor or mystique, it's all in the hunting for bounties.

Author
Time

TheBoost said:

 Greedo went to kill Solo to collect on the bounty. That makes him a bounty hunter in my book. It's not a question of cool armor or mystique, it's all in the hunting for bounties.

I agree.  Greedo was every bit a bounty hunter.  He tracked Solo down and had every intention of killing him and bringing his body back for payment. 

Forum Moderator
Author
Time

Han refers to Jabba as Greedo's boss. (As in Greedo is a regular employee of the Hutt.) Jabba even expresses a little regret that he's dead in the docking bay scene restored to the SE. (Crappy CGI and gratuitous Boba cameo aside, it's still the original dialog.) You'd think he'd be relieved he didn't have to pay him!

Greedo offers to forget seeing Solo if he coughs up the money on the spot. The line about "looking forward to this for a long time" implies a personal dislike or grudge against Solo. It may be splitting hairs, but Greedo does not come off as a professional bounty hunter, more of an opportunist who happened to spot Han in the cantina that day, and didn't live long enough to regret it.

Forum Moderator

Where were you in '77?

Author
Time

Greedo may have loosely been a bounty hunter, but he wasn't a Bounty Hunter the way the ESB guys were. He clearly didn't have their status. He seemed to function primarily as Jabba's thug. 

Author
Time
 (Edited)

Vaderisnothayden said:

Greedo may have loosely been a bounty hunter, but he wasn't a Bounty Hunter the way the ESB guys were.

But those guys were the finest bounty hunters the galaxy had to offer. With names like, Boba, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, and Dengar*, you know these guys are HARDCORE. Poor ol' Greedo was just small time. 

 

 

*Wow, if I hadn't been an SW geek all my life and watched these movies for the first time in adulthood, I'd be expecting those guys to whip out a banjo and start playing blue grass for Vader and his crew. I can almost imagine barefoot Bossk in overalls chewing on a piece of straw.

"Every time Warb sighs, an angel falls into a vat of mapel syrup." - Gaffer Tape

Author
Time

C3PX said:

But those guys were the finest bounty hunters the galaxy had to offer. With names like, Boba, 4-LOM Zuckuss, Zuckuss 4-LOM, and Dengar*, you know these guys are HARDCORE. Poor ol' Greedo was just small time. 

Kenner correction department here.

Star Wars Revisited Wordpress

Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress