Is ‘Boba Fett’ a clone?

One of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe, Boba Fett was introduced theatrically in Star Wars: Episode V – Empire Strikes Back. Not much was known about the masked character after the film was released, with fans becoming attached to the mysterious nature of the bounty hunter, and his glorious Mandarloian armor. The character has been a fan favorite throughout the years, but some fans waver on the character’s popularity. Recently the character starred in his own Disney + series, The Book of Boba Fett which was met with mixed reviews.

It wouldn’t be until Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones that Star Wars fans would learn the truth about Boba Fett‘s origin with the controversial decision to make him a clone. Star Wars fans were outraged upon learning that Boba Fett had really been a clone the entire time, someone with the same origin as the stormtroopers who couldn’t shoot straight, claiming that the origin ruined the character. But was Boba Fett really a clone like those who fought in the clone wars?

In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan Kenobi uncovered a secret, that a Jedi named Sifo-Dyas had employed a cloning facility on Planet Kamino, to create a clone army for the Republic. Kenobi was under the impression that Sifo-Dyas had been dead for years prior, and it was discovered later that he was killed by Count Dooku, so seemingly Darth Sidious had ordered the clone army. It was later revealed that all of these clones were made from a single specimen, a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Jango Fett.

The cloning facility had compensated Jango Fett quite well, paying him twenty million credits but he also requested one clone for himself, Boba Fett, in addition to his payment. The ordinary clones would be aged up to adulthood and also had their behavior modified which made them better soldiers by making them easier to control. Boba Fett, however, was not aged up and was only a child when Obi-Wan Kenobi met Jango Fett. 

Boba Fett was a child when Jango was killed in the Battle of Geonosis by Mace Windu, so Jango had some time to teach the character his bounty hunting ways before he died. Because Jango requested that Boba be untampered with, Jango had made him entirely unique compared to any other clone made. Let’s take a look at the few different types of clones we have seen throughout Star Wars and how Boba Fett differs from them. 

The Clone Wars Clone Troopers

As mentioned previously, all the Clone Troopers were conditioned to be soldiers and were easier to control. In addition to that, Boba Fett was not changed when Order 66 was launched. A large majority of the clones had a chip implanted in their head which, when activated by launching Order 66, the clones would suddenly turn on the Jedi, which they did in Star Wars: Episode III – The Revenge of the Sith when Darth Sidious launched the order, which resulted in the Jedi Purge. Boba Fett did not have the chip implanted in him because of Jango’s wish to raise him by himself, unaltered by the Kaminoans. Because he was unaltered, Boba Fett also aged naturally and would be older than the original Clone Troopers.

This first batch of clones were trained to be soldiers, whereas Boba Fett had to learn to be as good as Jango, even though he still had the same genetics. Boba was also more determined than the Clone Troopers throughout The Clone Wars as shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, as Boba Fett started his journey fueled by revenge. Boba attempted to assassinate Mace Windu for killing Jango Fett. He also ended up in prison and encountered many criminals which he would have learned from, such as Cad Bane and Asajj Ventress. The Clone Troopers rarely learned from one another, taking orders from the Jedi at first, then taking their orders from the Empire after Order 66. The Clone Troopers were also seen by some Jedi and the Empire as disposable, whereas there was only one Boba Fett. 

The Clones from ‘The Bad Batch’

Debuting in the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, The Bad Batch was a group of clones who were deemed to be genetically altered. These clones all had some mutations which caused them to be proficient in different areas, therefore furthering their genetic differences from Boba Fett. These troopers were spun off into their own animated series on Disney + named Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Although Boba Fett is different from these clones, they are not regular clones either so this doesn’t necessarily mean that Boba Fett is different from all clones, just that he is unique.

Introduced in Star Wars: The Bad Batch was the character called Omega, who surprisingly is quite similar to Boba Fett. Seemingly without Jango Fett’s permission, the Kaminoans created a perfect genetic clone of Jango Fett who was female. Another thing that sets her apart from the other members of The Bad Batch and other clones is that she was not aged like the other clones, aging naturally like Boba Fett. She might be the one clone that is most like Boba Fett, genetically at least. 

The Stormtroopers

The main difference between Boba Fett and the clones who served in the Empire as stormtroopers is that they are different from the Clone Troopers who fought in The Clone Wars, especially those who appeared sooner in the original Star Wars trilogy. There was a percentage of stormtroopers who were not clones but the comparison between Boba Fett and the stormtroopers is only for those who were clones. The clones would either be quite old, having already been grown adults in The Clone Wars, or they would not be of the same genetic material as the Clone Troopers.

Either the stormtroopers were a copy of the Clone Troopers, therefore a clone of a clone and would be a worse soldier than the Clone Troopers and Boba Fett. Or they were mixed with other genetic material, lessening the impact of Jango Fett’s. And as Jango Fett was considered one of the galaxy’s best bounty hunters this would be a disservice to the stormtroopers and would prove that Boba Fett was the superior specimen. 

So there you have it, Boba Fett is technically a clone, but because of Jango Fett and his insistence that he have an unaltered, true copy of himself, he stands apart from the rest of the clone army. Many clones were created on Kamino but not all of them were the same, with Boba Fett and Omega being the outliers. Hopefully, the origins of the character do not sour your love for the character, as Boba Fett is still one of the coolest designed characters in the Star Wars universe.