Bounty Hunter Lore The 'Star Wars' Movies Don't Tell You

When the Rebels succeeded in defeating Emperor Palpatine and destroying the second Death Star, the conflict wasn't exactly over. Following that event, the Empire bombarded numerous populated worlds, and the conflict stretched on for quite some time. During this period, the burgeoning New Republic had to follow in the Empire's footsteps and use the Bounty Hunters' Guild to help solve its problems.

With various high-profile Imperial officers running about the galaxy, the New Republic hired bounty hunters to track them down and take them out. Bounties were issued for Admiral Rae Sloane and General Jylia Shale, and the bounty hunters who previously worked for them were more than happy to turn against them to score some New Republic credits. They proved themselves instrumental in the Battle of Jakku, but eventually, the New Republic would turn its back on bounty hunters. Still, they were crucial in the days following the Empire's defeat.

On the surface, a Jedi's lightsaber appears to be an unstoppable weapon. It deflects blaster fire without any problem, and it can cut through almost anything. This has been clearly demonstrated in the films. Lightsabers were shown to remove arms off people (and Wampa); they were used to cut through bulkheads, destroy weapons, and take out pretty much everything they came into contact with that wasn't another lightsaber.

Only a few rare materials can stop a lightsaber blade, including Cortosis armor, the armor of the Elite Praetorian Guard, energy shields, and the hide of the Zillo Beast. When it comes to the galaxy's most notorious bounty hunters, the Mandalorians, there's a unique material that will always stop a lightsaber: Beskar. The unique metal alloy is found only on Mandalore and its moon Concordia, and it will stop a lightsaber blade without any problem. 

Most Mandalorian armor is made from Beskar, as are some of their weapons. This was demonstrated throughout the various animated series that remain canon in the Star Wars franchise, but the best depiction came in The Mandalorian. In the second season, Din Djarin used a Beskar spear and his armor to block lightsaber strikes by Ahsoka Tano and Moff Gideon.

Jango Fett showed off his flamethrower in the prequels, while Din Djarin did the same many years later. You might wonder why a bounty hunter might place a flamethrower in their arsenal, but the answer is simple: A lightsaber can't deflect fire. Long ago, Mandalorians began integrating flamethrowers into their vambraces so they could fight against the Jedi.

Shooting off fire at a Jedi won't usually defeat them in a fight, but it will force them to retreat. This opens up several tactical options the Mandalorian can undertake in either combating or retreating from their enemy. Some Jedi could shield themselves from the flames using the Force, but not every Jedi has that level of discipline. In most encounters, a Mandalorian will force a retreat so they can fire off a cable to try and bind or incapacitate their enemy.

Bounty hunters were nothing new when the Galactic Empire rose from the ashes of the Republic, but they did evolve via that governing body. Before the Empire, bounty hunters were largely found within the fringes of the Republic, working through special permits on high-profile cases, but were mostly limited to taking contracts targeting smugglers and other wrongdoers throughout the galaxy.

The Empire changed that significantly and largely legitimized their profession. By working with the Bounty Hunters' Guild, the Empire ensured bounty hunters were used to suit its own purposes. They were often used as "peacekeepers" to do anything but keep the peace. Often, they became the tyrannical forefront of the Empire's more vicious actions against its people. This made bounty hunters a danger to everyone in the galaxy while simultaneously legitimizing their profession among the officials of the Empire.

Bounty hunting is, at its core, a profession that revolves around someone's own self-interest. Most people don't think of them as members of a team since this results in splitting their profits, but they don't always work alone. In some situations, they might find that a team works better to get a difficult job done, so they will come together to achieve their goal, and then go their separate ways.

Sometimes, they do more than that and will form their own packs. They tend to work together for numerous jobs, splitting their profits throughout their joint venture. This was shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars when a young Boba Fett was shown to cut his teeth as a young bounty hunter while working with Bossk, Asajj Ventress, and Dengar. Their hunter syndicate worked together on a number of jobs.

Several bounty hunters were introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, though many were only seen and not heard. One such character was IG-88B, who didn't make much of an impact in the films, but did sell well as an action figure. The toys produced for the franchise always had much more information than was displayed onscreen, leaving many fans to collect them to find out whatever they could, and IG-88B was definitely of interest to many.

Fortunately, the character has been further expanded upon in books and video games. IG-88B is a rare example of an independent-minded droid that took up a job as a bounty hunter. Organic bounty hunters like Din Djarin don't like them and especially don't like working with them as he did in the first season of The Mandalorian. Regardless, he teamed up with IG-11 (who looked almost identical to IG-88B). Of course, he ended that partnership with a blaster to the droid's head.

The "IG" designation refers to the class of droid, which is Eyegee-Series Assassin Droid. They were initially programmed to be assassin droids, but they aren't the only independent droids to take up the bounty hunting profession. The Haxion Brood criminal organization reprogrammed their loadlifter droids to function as bounty hunters. Most were assembled from pilfered parts, and all of them were severe in executing their bounty collection.