Din Djarin, known simply as The Mandalorian, is an enigmatic figure in Star Wars who hides many secrets. In-universe, he seldom reveals much about himself, and even for viewers watching the show, there’s a lot that’s left unspoken or hinted at. Underneath the shining beskar armor, there are a lot of things that you might not know about the mysterious bounty hunter and his tragic past.
The Mandalorian does an excellent job of taking Star Wars back to its original inspirations of American westerns and Japanese samurai movies. The influences of classic movies are on full display in the show’s style and aesthetics. It’s also there in the acting – in preparation for the role, Pedro Pascal famously watched a host of Akira Kurosawa and Clint Eastwood movies. Building on this, his character Din Djarin hides a lot of complexity which shapes the way he interacts with the world around him.
Din Djarin outlived The Empire
The man who would later become known as The Mandalorian was born during the final years of the Galactic Republic. While Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi were fighting in the Clone Wars, Din Djarin was just a child growing up on the planet of Aq Vetina, an unremarkable world of human settlements. When his story, The Mandalorian, begins, Palpatine’s Galactic Empire has only recently fallen and its remnants are still grappling to retain the power they once held. Din watched both the rise and fall of The Empire during his lifetime.
The Mandalorian is an orphan
Din Djarin’s childhood on Aq Vetina didn’t remain unremarkable for long. His homeworld soon fell into the sights of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, better known as the Separatist Alliance. In a brutal attack, the Separatists massacred the population of Aq Vetina, leaving Din as an orphan. This fact went on to shape a lot of the decisions he makes later in his life. This is the reason why, years later, he makes a point of donating precious beskar to sponsor foundlings – the children adopted to become future Mandalorian warriors. It’s also most certainly why he comes to care so deeply for the orphaned baby Grogu.
Din Djarin’s parents were killed by Separatist droids
The Separatist armies during the Clone Wars famously used droids as their foot soldiers. In the attack on Aq Vetina, it was a platoon of Separatist battle droids who attacked the village where Din lived. The droids killed everyone he’d ever known, including his parents. As a result, Din Djarin would spend most of the rest of his life hating droids. It wouldn’t be until his slow and troubled friendship with IG-11 that he’d learn to change his mind about droids. Later on, at Luke Skywalker’s temple, it’s a show of how far he’s come when he addresses R2-D2 as a friend.
Mando likes vintage spaceships
Just as some people here on Earth are fond of vintage cars, Din Djarin clearly has a soft spot for old spacecraft. When his story begins, he owns the Razor Crest, an old gunship from the days before The Empire. These old ST-70 class assault vehicles were originally used by local militaries, carrying one pilot and a handful of passengers. After the Razor Crest is destroyed, Din’s replacement vehicle was another vintage spacecraft, this time an old N-1 starfighter. This ship would originally have been used by the royal security forces on Padme Amidala’s homeworld of Naboo, and a similar ship was once flown by young Anakin Skywalker during Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Din Djarin collects Mandalorian weapons
To quote Din himself, “I’m a Mandalorian, weapons are part of my religion.” Like most Mandalorian warriors, he’s a walking arsenal, carrying a range of deadly weaponry. Among other things, his personal armaments have included a flamethrower, explosive grav charges, a set of lethal whistling birds, and a vibro knife kept in his boot. But he also holds a reverence for any Mandalorian weaponry he finds in his travels, like a jetpack with a one-shot missile launcher (similar to one once used by Jango Fett), a beskar spear, and the infamous Darksaber. Most of these, he never uses himself.
The Mandalorian carries an unusual blaster
Many of the most famous characters in Star Wars carry a signature weapon, and Din Djarin is no exception. He wields an IB-94 blaster pistol as his default weapon, but what isn’t obvious is that this is no everyday gun. Manufactured by a company called BlasTech Industries, this is a rare model of blaster pistol with notably better range and power than most others.
Din Djarin was rescued by the Death Watch
During the days of the Clone Wars, the Death Watch were a thorn in the side of both the Jedi and the government of Mandalore. A group of exiles, obsessed with the old warrior ways of the Mandalorians, they became known as terrorists intent on overthrowing the government of Mandalore and returning the society to its earlier traditions — including a plot that may have succeeded if Obi-Wan Kenobi hadn’t intervened. It was a member of the Death Watch who rescued young Din Djarin from the attack on Aq Vetina, delivering him to planet Concordia where he grew up among the Children of the Watch.
Din Djarin isn’t Mandalorian by birth
The Mandalorian people are bound by a shared culture, but not by blood. While most Mandalorians are humans, anyone can join their ranks by taking an oath and following their creed. Many people, regardless of their species, are adopted as children into the Mandalorian way. They’re known as foundlings, and Din Djarin was just such a child. After being orphaned, he grew up as a foundling on the world of Concordia, the old home of the Death Watch exiles. Din, like many others, was not born to Mandalorian parents, and was not from the planet Mandalore. Nonetheless, Din follows the creed of his adoptive people, often uttering the phrase that The Mandalorian is famous for: “this is the way.”
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