who deserves the mandalorian tag

@Nihion

This is just the most hysterical bit of writing ever:

He (Jango) certainly doesn’t act like a Mandalorian, as he seems like more of a loner, in a different way than Mando. Almec also noted that Jango is not likely a Mandalorian. Jango’s armor is even made up of a different material, not Beskar. These facts make it seem to me that he is in fact not a Mandalorian.

So we have here:
1. Jango is a loner and the character named "The Mandalorian" is also a loner.
2. Jango being a loner happens in a bit of different way than one single other Mandalorian, and if there's anything we know about a planet full of people it's that all the loners from the same planet are loners in exactly the same way.
3. Jango's armor is not made of Beskar, but he is seeking high-paying jobs and we don't know what he's going to use the money for
4. The Mandalorian's armor is not made of Beskar, but he is seeking high-paying jobs and using the money to slowly replace the other materials in his armor with Beskar.

You sum up by saying these 4 facts tell you that Jango "is in fact not a Mandalorian".

Okay, but I don't think I'd rest an argument on "They're both loners, but they're a little different from each other in how they approach being a loner," or even on, "Neither one started out with Beskar armor, they both went seeking high paying jobs, then one of them used his professional success to gain some Beskar and add some of that sweet Beskar to a few places in his armor, like one shoulder and a chest plate, while the other died before we ever got to see what he was going to spend his money on, therefore they can't be from the same planetary system."

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Separately, and for everyone, it's quite clear from the source material that characters in-universe use "Mandalorian" in two separate ways, one meaning "born on Mandalore or in the Mandalorian system" and the other meaning "part of the Mandalorian warrior culture". Even in the Mandalorian warrior culture you had people like most of Death Watch that were not loners, who operated as an integrated army, and The Mandalorian from the show, who was adopted into the warrior culture, indeed his only claim to being a Mandalorian is that he is part of the warrior culture, and he's a Bounty Hunter who is such a loner he's actually kind of surprised that all the other local Mandalorians would show up to help him renege on a contract. It's like his version of being a mandalorian doesn't have anything to do with being part of a larger, coordinated army.

Given that we haven't even established what definition of "Mandalorian" would be used for the tag (1. Born in the system, 2. Part of a Mandalorian army, or 3. Part of the Mandalorian warrior culture in the broadest sense) no one is going to be able to agree on who is in and who is out.

If #1, then Boba is out: He was born on Camino. You know who else is out? The Mandalorian.
If #2, then Sabine, the Armorer, Boba, Jango, and even "The Mandalorian" are out.
If #3, then everyone is in, because "being a loner in a slightly different way" isn't enough to make you not part of the warrior culture as a whole when that culture ranges from lone bounty hunters to army drill sergeants. Unless, of course, I'm forgetting someone born in the Mandalorian system who is also a pacifist or something.

Since the Mandalorian is excluded on both definition #1 and definition #2, I humbly suggest that the only reasonable definition to use as the basis for a faction tag in SWGOH is definition #3, and everyone is in.

...Finally, I also suggest that they don't add a Mandalorian tag until they add the character of The Armorer, and make her a support with some similarities to Wat Tambor, but who can actually fight on her own and who can't give out her equipment to anyone who doesn't have the Mandalorian tag.

Oh, I should also mention that The Mandalorian seems to think he would never again be a Mandalorian if he took off his helmet in front of someone else, while Sabine took off her helmet in front of others all the time, as did members of the Mandalorian royal houses.

So, are all the leaders of the Mandalorian royal houses not Mandalorians? Or is the character literally titled "The Mandalorian" an unreliable source about Mandalorian lore?

Again, I think that the answer is that there are many ways to be a Mandalorian, and so there's no point to nit-picking this stuff.

@MightyWizard was also quite perspicacious when they noted:

Just because a Mandalorian politician denied that Jango was a Mandalorian, which is a completely natural thing to do considering the fact that Jango was actively working for the Separatists while Mandalore wanted to stay neutral in the conflict, doesn't mean that Jango wasn't a Mandalorian

If you want to fight about this stuff because that's fun to you, go for it. We're not going to ever be able to come to an agreement because

1) there are different definitions of "Mandalorian" and we haven't yet even selected which one to use.
and
2) The source material itself is contradictory, and there are both reasons for the characters in the fictional universe to lie and reasons why they might say something honestly which would be misunderstood by others not immersed in the proper context. This is how you get The Mandalorian saying "This is the way," as if no Mandalorian could ever remove their helmet in front of others because there is only ONE way, while undisputed Mandalorians took off their helmets all the time.

But Jango never did update his armor. He seemed content with the durasteel alloy. Also, he takes off his helmet frequently. Now, that doesn’t disprove that he’s a Mandalorian, but it makes it pretty clear that he’s not on the same wavelength as Mando.

Also everyone here is using the words “to me”, so really the only evidence I’m relying on is from Wookiepedia. And if Darth Devito is right, then also Hidalgo. So to those that think the Fett’s are the OG Mandalorians... I don’t know man, it doesn’t really seem like that at all.

"Nihion;c-2094302" wrote:
But Jango never did update his armor. He seemed content with the durasteel alloy. Also, he takes off his helmet frequently. Now, that doesn’t disprove that he’s a Mandalorian, but it makes it pretty clear that he’s not on the same wavelength as Mando.

Also everyone here is using the words “to me”, so really the only evidence I’m relying on is from Wookiepedia. And if Darth Devito is right, then also Hidalgo. So to those that think the Fett’s are the OG Mandalorians... I don’t know man, it doesn’t really seem like that at all.

By that logic, pretty much none of the mandalorians on Mandalore during the clone wars were, well, mandalorians either, as they took off their helmets all the time. The mandalorians from The Mandalorian have quite obviously taken up the older ways of mandalore, presumably as a means to survive after the empire killed most of them off and turned everything to poop. That doesn't mean that other mandalorians from before that time weren't actually mandalorians. It just means that they followed a different ideology.

"MightyWizard;c-2094306" wrote:

"Nihion;c-2094302" wrote:
But Jango never did update his armor. He seemed content with the durasteel alloy. Also, he takes off his helmet frequently. Now, that doesn’t disprove that he’s a Mandalorian, but it makes it pretty clear that he’s not on the same wavelength as Mando.

Also everyone here is using the words “to me”, so really the only evidence I’m relying on is from Wookiepedia. And if Darth Devito is right, then also Hidalgo. So to those that think the Fett’s are the OG Mandalorians... I don’t know man, it doesn’t really seem like that at all.

By that logic, pretty much none of the mandalorians on Mandalore during the clone wars were, well, mandalorians either, as they took off their helmets all the time. The mandalorians from The Mandalorian have quite obviously taken up the older ways of mandalore, presumably as a means to survive after the empire killed most of them off and turned everything to poop. That doesn't mean that other mandalorians from before that time weren't actually mandalorians. It just means that they followed a different ideology.

Reread what I said. That’s why Jango isn’t similar to Mando, and why he’s probably not trying to upgrade his armor. They are not similar. I also added right in the middle of that that it doesn’t prove that Jango is not a Mandalorian. But there are other ways to prove that.

The great wide internet says that as of 2020, Boba is not a Mandalorian. No idea if that applies to Jango.

Also, apparently in 2010 Filoni testified that Lucas never intended Jango to actually be a Mandalorian, just that he wears the armor. I would say that the Wookiee page mixed with that would send mixed signals at best, but if there is proof that Hidalgo said something then that would seal the deal. For now, I don’t think we can know.

Current toons: Gar Saxon, Imperial Super Commando, Sabine Wren, Jango Fett*, Boba Fett*

Plenty of room to add a few toons to make a faction out of it




*pending resolution of the "are they though?" debate

The mandalorian tag litmus test:

If the character shows his/her face, no tags for them

Now, that doesn’t disprove that he’s a Mandalorian, but it makes it pretty clear that he’s not on the same wavelength as Mando.

And The Mandalorian was not on the same page as Death Watch or the Nite Owls or Pre Vizsla or Duchess Satine Kryze or Bo-Katan Kryze or Sabine Wren or Ursa Wren or countless other Mandalorian characters who were NOT loners and who DID remove their helmets.

"Being on the same page as Mando" is simply not in any way a qualifier (or disqualifier).

Again, I think you have to decide what definition of "Mandalorian" you're using before the conversation has any meaning at all.

As for your feeling that Jango didn't want to upgrade his armor, congratulations on having the unique power of telepathy with fictional characters. Never seen that one before. We see Jango for a very, very limited period of time. Most of what Jango did, much less what Jango thought or wanted, is entirely mysterious to us.

And, again, feel free to have whatever opinion you want, but it's not even pseudo-rigorous, it barely rises to the level of opinion, if you don't say at the beginning what your definition of "Mandalorian" is.

Because I got to tell you, my cat is kind of a loner and I've never seen my cat take off a helmet. Not even once. She can also be quite violent with those she perceives to be her enemies. So unless you actually define "Mandalorian", then my cat qualifies.

What about arguing over a definition of "Mandalorian" first, and then using the agreed upon definition (whatever it is we come up with) as the standard against which to judge individual characters?

Until then, I'm going to go snuggle MoMo the Mandalorian on the couch.

So what about Canderous? He doesn't wear the helmet so it's safe to say that if he did he took it off, hell he doesn't even wear the armor, yet he was as Mandalorian as any of them and even ended up with the title "Mandalore" the something at some point after the events of KOTOR.

I think the safest way to resolve this would be to give EVERYONE the mandalorian tag. Or maybe just scrap the whole Mandalorian tag idea. Idk. If they add it I hope Jango gets it.