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{{Star Wars/Banner}}
{| cellpadding="6" style="max-width: 300px; width: 100%; background: #000; border: 2px solid #FFE81F; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-size: 0.9em; color: #cccccc;"
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| colspan="2" style="background: #FFE81F; color: #000; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; padding: 8px; font-family: 'Arial Black', Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 1px;" darkstyle="background-color: color-mix(in srgb, #FFE81F 25%, #161617); color: var(--wiki-color);" | MANDALORIANS
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F; width: 40%;" | Homeworld
| [[Mandalore]]
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Capital
| [[Sundari]] (domed city)
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Signature armor
| [[Beskar]] armor
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Symbol
| The [[Mythosaur]]
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Symbol of rule
| The [[Darksaber]]
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Notable factions
| [[Death Watch]] · [[Children of the Watch]]
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! scope="row" style="text-align: right; color: #FFE81F;" | Feature film
| ''[[Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu|The Mandalorian and Grogu]]'' (2026)
|}
The '''Mandalorians''' are a warrior people from the [[Outer Rim]] world of [[Mandalore]] in the [[Star Wars]] franchise. Not a single species but a creed-bound warrior society divided into Houses and Clans, the Mandalorians are united by a shared code, heritage, and iconic armor forged from [[beskar]].<ref name="whoare">"Who Are the Mandalorians?" ''StarWars.com'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/news/who-are-the-mandalorians starwars.com/news/who-are-the-mandalorians]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Their armor entered the saga with the bounty hunter [[Boba Fett]] in the original trilogy; the culture behind it was developed in the animated series ''[[The Clone Wars]]'' and ''[[Rebels]]'', and brought to the center of the franchise by the live-action series ''[[Star Wars: The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]]''.<ref name="history">"The History of the Mandalorians." ''StarWars.com'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/news/mandalorian-history starwars.com/news/mandalorian-history]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
== History ==
=== Ancient era ===
Mandalorian history is defined by war. The Mandalorians and the [[Jedi]] long considered themselves enemies, and near-constant battles left the surface of [[Mandalore]] ravaged and barely hospitable, forcing its capital, [[Sundari]], under a protective dome.<ref name="history" /> The songs of eons past tell of battles between [[Mandalore the Great]] and the Jedi Order.<ref name="ch8">''The Mandalorian'', "Chapter 8: Redemption" (Lucasfilm, 2019). The Armorer recounts the ancient wars between Mandalore the Great and "an order of sorcerers called Jedi."</ref> Legend holds that the [[Darksaber]] — a black-bladed lightsaber that became the enduring symbol of Mandalorian leadership — was created over a thousand years ago by [[Tarre Vizsla]], the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi Order; House Vizsla later used the saber to unify the people.<ref name="darksaber">"What Is the Darksaber?" ''StarWars.com'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/news/what-is-the-darksaber starwars.com/news/what-is-the-darksaber]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
=== Civil war and the Clone Wars ===
By the era of ''[[The Clone Wars]]'', Duchess [[Satine Kryze]] and the New Mandalorians had renounced the planet's violent history, declaring Mandalore neutral in the war. Her pacifist rule was opposed by [[Death Watch]], an underground movement of armored warriors that celebrated Mandalore's martial past and sought to overthrow her.<ref name="databank-mandalore">"Mandalore." ''Star Wars Databank'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/databank/mandalore starwars.com/databank/mandalore]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> Death Watch's leader [[Pre Vizsla]] allied with the former Sith Lord [[Maul]] — who then betrayed and killed Vizsla to take the Darksaber and the throne, and had Satine assassinated.<ref name="history" /> At the very end of the war, Republic forces under [[Ahsoka Tano]] and [[Bo-Katan Kryze]] besieged Mandalore to drive Maul out.<ref name="siege">''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', Season 7, "The Siege of Mandalore" arc (Lucasfilm, 2020).</ref>
=== The Great Purge and after ===
Under the [[Galactic Empire]], the once-proud world was occupied, and [[Moff Gideon]]'s forces devastated it in the purge remembered as the '''Night of a Thousand Tears''': fusion weapons crystallized the surface of the planet, turning its sand into glass and scattering the survivors across the galaxy.<ref name="history" /> During the occupation, [[Sabine Wren]] worked to unite the clans against Imperial rule, acquiring the Darksaber and gifting it to [[Bo-Katan Kryze]], under whom the clans aligned.<ref name="databank-mandalore" /> Exile groups such as the [[Children of the Watch]] preserved Mandalorian tradition in hiding, and in the [[New Republic]] era [[Din Djarin]] defeated Moff Gideon; through Bo-Katan's leadership — and the discovery of a living [[Mythosaur]] — Mandalore was reclaimed and restored.<ref name="history" />
== Culture and creed ==
Mandalorian identity is cultural rather than biological: the society is divided into Houses and Clans with a history rife with violence and conflict, and its members are defined by the creed they keep rather than the species they belong to.<ref name="whoare" /> Central to the culture is the raising of '''foundlings''', orphans adopted into the clans and counted as fully Mandalorian — as the [[The Armorer|Armorer]] teaches, "Foundlings are the future. This is the Way."<ref name="ch3">''The Mandalorian'', "Chapter 3: The Sin" (Lucasfilm, 2019).</ref>
Interpretations of the creed vary by sect. The orthodox [[Children of the Watch]] hold that a Mandalorian may never remove their helmet before another living being, while other Mandalorians — such as [[Bo-Katan Kryze]] and her Nite Owls, who unmask freely — dismiss that doctrine as a fringe revival of "the ancient way."<ref name="ch11">''The Mandalorian'', "Chapter 11: The Heiress" (Lucasfilm, 2020). Bo-Katan Kryze identifies Din Djarin's sect as the Children of the Watch and removes her own helmet.</ref> Armor itself carries the culture's memory — "The armor I wear is 500 years old... the battles, the history, the blood, all lives within it."<ref name="whoare" />
== Armor and weaponry ==
Mandalorian armor is generally forged from [[beskar]], a durable, nearly indestructible alloy capable of deflecting blaster bolts and withstanding lightsabers; at the height of their power this made the warrior class extraordinarily difficult to defeat.<ref name="armor">"Star Wars Inside Intel: Mandalorian Armor." ''StarWars.com'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-inside-intel-mandalorian-armor starwars.com/news/star-wars-inside-intel-mandalorian-armor]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref><ref name="beskar">"Beskar." ''Star Wars Databank'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/databank/beskar starwars.com/databank/beskar]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref> After the fall of the Empire the steel became far harder to come by, sometimes traded as payment in the underworld.<ref name="beskar" /> Mandalorians are recognizable by the T-visor helmet and hexagonal chest-plate design, and their equipment includes jetpacks and beskar-forged '''whistling bird''' projectiles, crafted by clan armorers alongside the armor itself.<ref name="armor" />
== Notable Mandalorians ==
* '''[[Din Djarin]]''' — a foundling of the Children of the Watch, bounty hunter, and one-time bearer of the Darksaber; protagonist of ''[[Star Wars: The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]]''.<ref name="history" />
* '''[[Bo-Katan Kryze]]''' — Death Watch lieutenant turned leader of the Nite Owls, who accepted the Darksaber and united the clans.<ref name="databank-mandalore" />
* '''[[Satine Kryze]]''' — pacifist Duchess of Mandalore during the Clone Wars.<ref name="databank-mandalore" />
* '''[[Sabine Wren]]''' — warrior of Clan Wren who rallied the clans against the Empire; hero of ''[[Rebels]]'' and ''[[Ahsoka]]''.<ref name="databank-mandalore" />
* '''[[The Armorer]]''' — spiritual leader of Din Djarin's covert.<ref name="ch3" />
* '''[[Jango Fett]]''' and '''[[Boba Fett]]''' — bounty hunters in customized Mandalorian armor, whose status as "true" Mandalorians is debated within the galaxy itself.<ref name="fett">''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'', "The Mandalore Plot" (Lucasfilm, 2010), in which Prime Minister Almec calls Jango Fett "a common bounty hunter"; cf. "Boba Fett." ''Star Wars Databank'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/databank/boba-fett starwars.com/databank/boba-fett]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
* '''[[Tarre Vizsla]]''' — the first Mandalorian Jedi and, by legend, creator of the Darksaber.<ref name="darksaber" />
== Appearances ==
Mandalorians and their armor appear throughout the franchise — in the original trilogy and ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' through the Fetts, in the animated series ''[[The Clone Wars]]'' and ''[[Rebels]]'', and in the live-action series ''[[Star Wars: The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]]'', ''[[The Book of Boba Fett]]'', and ''[[Ahsoka]]''.<ref name="fett" /><ref name="history" /> The feature film ''[[Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu|The Mandalorian and Grogu]]'', directed by [[Jon Favreau]] and released on '''May 22, 2026''', follows Din Djarin and [[Grogu]] as the New Republic enlists them against scattered Imperial warlords while the Mandalorian people unite against the Imperial remnant.<ref name="film">"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu." ''StarWars.com — Films'' (official). [https://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu starwars.com/films/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu]. Retrieved July 2026.</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Star Wars]]
* [[Mandalore]]
* [[Star Wars: The Mandalorian|The Mandalorian]]
* [[Din Djarin]]
* [[Bo-Katan Kryze]]
* [[Darksaber]]