Jaster Mereel Jaster Mereel was a male Human born on the Outer Rim world of Concord Dawn . Mereel served as a Journeyman Protector , one of the planet ' s respected lawkeepers , until the day when his strong morals led him to kill a corrupt superior officer . Charged with murder , Mereel was exiled from Concord Dawn , going on to join the Mandalorians . An accomplished soldier , Mereel ' s prowess in battle earned him the respect of his supercommando peers , and he would eventually go on to become " Mand ' alor " , the leader of all the Mandalorian clans , and the " Al ' Ori ' Ramikade " — " Commander of Supercommandos " . As " Mand ' alor " , Mereel issued a new guideline for Mandalorian behavior known as the Supercommando Codex in which he asserted that the Mandalorians who wished to fight would simply be highly - paid soldiers , and should conduct themselves as honorable mercenaries . Mereel would face opposition to his reforms both from the peaceful New Mandalorian faction , and the more dangerous Death Watch , a violent splinter group formed by the followers of Mereel ' s rival , Tor Vizsla . A civil war broke out between the Death Watch and the supercommandos loyal to Mereel , the early years of which would see Mereel ' s return to his home planet , where he saved the life of a local farmer ' s son , Jango Fett , when the Death Watch attacked the boy ' s home . Taking Fett in following the death of his family , Mereel raised the boy as a his son until the fateful Battle of Korda Six . Ambushed by the Death Watch and betrayed by his second - in - command , Montross , Mereel was killed by Vizsla . His body was carried back to the Mandalorians ' landing zone by Fett , where Montross was exposed as a traitor and Fett succeeded his adoptive father as the new " Mand ' alor " , in accordance with what Mereel would have wanted . Biography . Fighter for reform . Jaster Mereel was a male Human , born on the agricultural world of Concord Dawn in the Outer Rim ' s Mandalore sector . As an adult , Mereel served as a Journeyman Protector — one of his homeworld ' s respected lawkeepers — until he was driven by his strong moral code to kill a corrupt superior officer . Mereel was subsequently charged with murder , and exiled from Concord Dawn . At some point after , Mereel joined the Mandalorians ; an accomplished soldier , Mereel ' s martial prowess earned him the respect of his peers . Around 60 BBY , Mereel had attained the rank of " Mand ' alor " , the traditional leader of the Mandalorian clans . Having noticed many Mandalorians ' dissatisfaction with the wide - spread savagery that had become prevalent in certain warrior circles , Mereel hoped to hold the Mandalorians to a higher standard of behavior . As " Mand ' alor " , Mereel instituted the Supercommando Codex , a new behavioral guideline influenced by Mereel ' s own moral ideals , in which Mereel decreed that any Mandalorians who wished to fight would be merely highly - paid soldiers , and should conduct themselves as honorable mercenaries . It was around this time that Mereel would have some manner of dealings with the Regent of Mek va Uil , acting as both " Mand ' alor " and " Al ' Ori ' Ramikade " — " Commander of Supercommandos " . During this interaction , Mereel informed the regent of his views on what it meant to be a mercenary , and why they were deserving of respect . However , Mereel ' s ideas were not unanimously accepted throughout the Mandalorian community . By this point in time , a large number of Mandalorians had joined the peaceful movement of the New Mandalorians , a reformist political faction formed in the aftermath of a devastating conflict with the Galactic Republic approximately 670 years earlier . The New Mandalorians had moved away from the traditional warrior ways , denouncing the old warrior codes , and believed that the best opportunity for Mandalorian survival and prosperity would come through being peaceful , neutral , and tolerant . Further dissension came in the form of a number of a amoral Mandalorians who resented Mereel for his attempts to rein in their enjoyed lifestyles of unaccountability . These malcontents rallied to a Mandalorian soldier named Tor Vizsla , and therein formed a splinter group known as the Death Watch with Vizsla as their leader , under the pretense of returning the Mandalorians to their ancient roots as conquerors and raiders with the goal of instigating another war of conquest . Though the Death Watch ' s goals were quite opposite to the New Mandalorians ' , they could neither support Mereel ' s faction of loyal supercommandos — now calling themselves the " True Mandalorians " — for despite his reforms , " any " act of Mandalorian violence was fundamentally against what the New Mandalorians stood for . Mereel was pressured by Mandalorian hard - liners such as Montross to destroy the Death Watch , and civil war soon broke out between Mereel ' s True Mandalorians and the Death Watch . The New Mandalorians kept to their ideals of pacifism and non - violence , rejecting both groups and remaining out of the conflict that would come to be known as the Mandalorian Civil War . In the year 58 BBY , Mereel returned to his homeworld as the Mandalorian Civil War spilled onto Concord Dawn . Hunted by the Death Watch after a lost firefight , Mereel and his men were forced to rely on the kindness of the Journeyman Protector who ' d replaced Mereel , a man by the name of Fett . He offered them refuge on his family ' s farm , and brought them food in the fields . Unfortunately , the Death Watch captured Fett ' s young son , Jango , and attempted to use the boy , in addition to a brutal beating , to force the Journeyman Protector to reveal the location of Mereel and his True Mandalorians . Fett would not give in and a chaotic firefight erupted when Fett ' s wife attempted to save her husband and son . Sadly , both Fett and his wife were killed , although Mereel was able to step in — giving up his cover — in order to save young Jango ' s life . As the Death Watch set fire to the field Mereel and his troops had fled into , Jango led them to an irrigation pipe that would take them safely away from the blaze . Mereel regrouped his forces in a nearby town and laid in wait until the Death Watch arrived , at which time he sprung an ambush . With the Mandalorians firing on the Death Watch troops , Jango placed an explosive charge on the underside of the armored speeder Vizsla rode into the town upon . The tank exploded , although Vizsla would manage to escape . As the battle came to a close , Mereel located Jango standing over the body of the Death Watch soldier who ' d murdered his parents . Praising the boy ' s courage , Mereel decided to take Jango with him as the Mandalorians departed Concord Dawn , and he eventually came to consider the boy his son . Betrayal on Korda Six . By 52 BBY , six years after the battle on Concord Dawn , Mereel believed the Death Watch to be finished . With the Death Watch gone , Mereel now led his True Mandalorian supercommandos as a mercenary force , and it was in that capacity that they traveled to the planet Korda Six . Contracted by the Korda Defense Force , Mereel and his men had been hired to extract a rookie security team pinned down under fire by a force of local hostiles . Kordan intelligence suggested minimal resistance ; the natives had no formal army and were poorly armed . Considering the mission " easy credits " , Mereel divided his men into three teams : Vertigo Company , an aerial unit utilizing jetpacks under Mereel ' s second - in - command , Montross , " Jango ' s Grunts " which would provide cover fire and hold the extraction zone , under the command of a now teenage Jango Fett , and Headhunter Company , Mereel ' s own unit , charged with reaching the recovery site and extracting the security team . As the Mandalorians boarded their ships , Mereel spoke briefly with Jango , asking the boy to make him proud . On the approach to the planet ' s surface , Mereel ' s ships took heavy damage from ion cannon fire , forcing most to make the best of rough crash - landings . The " minimal resistance " estimated turned out to be vastly inaccurate and almost immediately , the Mandalorians came under heavy fire . Mereel was helpless as numerous soldiers fell victim to enemy blasters , and it wasn ' t long until the " Mand ' alor " called for them to abort the mission and retreat . Montross refused to comply , unwilling to have a retreat on their record , and pushed forward , only to fall prey to a grenade blast that left him wounded and in need of rescue himself . That rescue would come from Mereel , who shot and killed no fewer than three enemy Kordan before angrily reiterating his orders for a retreat . At the same time as Jango and his team stumbled upon a Death Watch ambush , Vizsla arrived on the battlefield in a four - wheeled tank . Mereel berated Montross ' foolhardy actions as the reason they were in such a situation , swearing to have him ejected from his mercenary crew if they survived the battle . Vizsla was determined to see that would not survive , launching a wrist rocket that injured Mereel , although Montross was able to avoid it using his jetpack . As Vizla opened fire with a barrage of laser cannon fire , Mereel called to Montross for an airlift . But Montross had decided he would no longer take orders from Mereel and turned his back on the " Mand ' alor " , leaving him to die alone on the battlefield while he returned to the other Mandalorians . Mereel soon fell to fire from Vizsla ' s tank , though Jango tried desperately to reach him . It was in Jango ' s arms that Mereel would succumb to his injuries . Montross would attempt to take over leadership of the Mandalorians upon his return to camp , claiming that Mereel was dead and that Jango had perished trying to save him . However , Jango returned to the camp , carrying with him his adopted father ' s body , and exposing Montross as a liar and a traitor . As Montross slipped off into exile , Jango succeeded Mereel the new " Mand ' alor " , just as the other Mandalorians believed Mereel would have wanted , having chosen Jango as his successor at a point prior . Jango would go on to avenge Mereel by killing Vizsla on Corellia , and later Montross on one of the moons of Bogden . Legacy . Following Mereel ' s death , Jango took ownership of Mereel ' s personal starship , an AIAT / i transport which he would rename " Jaster ' s Legacy " in Mereel ' s honor , and treasure for years to come . Jango would also use Jaster Mereel ' s name as a pseudonym during his life and career as a bounty hunter , as a means of honoring his adopted father . Jango ' s cloned son , Boba Fett , would do the same during his own career as a bounty hunter , following his father ' s death at the hands of Jedi Knight Mace Windu in the First Battle of Geonosis , along with his brief tenure as a Journeyman Protector on Concord Dawn . Boba would unwittingly follow in his grandfather ' s footsteps , becoming a Journeyman Protector only to be exiled from Concord Dawn after killing a superior officer . In Boba ' s case , however , the officer in question was a man by the name of Lenovar whom he had greatly respected , and whom Boba killed after Lenovar raped Boba ' s wife , Sintas Vel . The use of Mereel ' s name by both Jango and Boba would contribute to rumors that Mereel was still alive and operating years after his actual death , and some even believed that the inverse was true — that " Boba Fett " was actually an alias being used by Mereel . Boba also recovered Mereel ' s armor , and he would wear Mereel ' s distinctive sigil on his armor ' s chestplate . The knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Mereel ' s betrayal and death would serve to keep Boba wary for years after , even in the presence of allies . One of the Grand Army of the Republic ' s Null - class Advanced Recon Commandos , a clone trooper designated Null - 7 , was given the name " Mereel " by the Mandalorian " Cuy ' val Dar " training sergeant , Kal Skirata . Following the end of the Clone Wars and his desertion from the Republic ' s Grand Army , the good - humored ARC lieutenant would go on to become a Mandalorian , just as his namesake . Personality and traits . Jaster Mereel was a man of strong morals and a rigid ethical code . Highly respected as one of Concord Dawn ' s Journeyman Protectors , Mereel was unable to suffer the corruption of his superior officer and killed him , an act that would push him toward a new life as a Mandalorian . An extraordinary soldier , Mereel ' s combat prowess won him the respect of his Mandalorian peers . During a time when many Mandalorians had fallen into disreputable brigandage , Mereel ' s strong ethic would drive him to become " Mand ' alor " , and institute a reform that would change the way the Mandalorians conducted themselves for years to come . Mereel ' s moral code would also not allow him to stand by when a young Jango Fett was threatened by the Death Watch , giving up his cover to rescue Jango from the more numerous Death Watchmen . Mereel was a confident but pragmatic commander , proud of the skill he and his troops possessed , but was unwilling to let that pride influence his decisions , such as whether or not to retreat in battle . On a personal level , Mereel was a direct speaker who spoke plainly and was unafraid of bluntly casting blame where he felt it was due . At the same time , he cared for his comrades and especially for Jango Fett , whom Mereel took in when the boy had become an orphan and raised like a son until his untimely death . Mereel was also proud to be a mercenary , and believed it to be a noble profession worthy of respect . Equipment . Jaster Mereel wore traditional Mandalorian armor of a metallic - gray color , with red shoulder plates and red trim around the visor of his rangefinder - equipped helmet . On the left shoulder , Mereel bore the custom Mythosaur skull - inspired insignia of the True Mandalorians , and his chest plates were adorned with a yellow - painted , four - sided diamond . Mereel also wore a red cape , heavy combat boots , and a brown multi - pouched utility belt with his armor , but did not opt to wear or use a jetpack in the field . During his life as a Mandalorian soldier , Mereel utilized a short - barreled blaster rifle that supported the attachment of a combat knife beneath the muzzle , in addition to two blaster pistols which he kept holstered around his thigh plates . Behind the scenes . Jaster Mereel was originally proposed as the true identity of Boba Fett in the novella " " and repeated in Fett ' s entry in the " The Essential Guide to Characters " . But when was released in 2002 , its depiction of Fett ' s childhood on Kamino as a clone of Jango Fett , relegated the other backstory to non - canon status . However , the 4 - part comic , " " , retcon ned the character of Jaster Mereel to be a different individual entirely , and the mentor of Fett ' s father , Jango . It was also revealed that both Jango and Boba Fett occasionally used Mereel ' s name as an alias , thus saving the story from being apocryphal . Apart from his appearance in " Jango Fett : Open Seasons " , Mereel would be referenced again in the " Star Wars " novel , " " by author Karen Traviss , wherein the character of Null ARC trooper N - 7 would be named " Mereel " , after Jaster ; the clone Mereel would go on to appear in every subsequent entry in the " Republic " and " Imperial Commando " series . Traviss ' fourth Republic Commando novel , entitled " " , would feature a quote from Jaster Mereel as the opening for the novel ' s tenth chapter , and the series ' next installment , " " , featured several references to Jaster Mereel and the events seen in " Open Seasons " .