Boba Fett’s First Appearance In Star Wars Isn’t What You Thought It Was

Ever since Boba Fett made his big screen debut in The Empire Strikes Back, he’s been a fan-favorite Star Wars character. The mysterious bounty hunter may have only had four lines in the film, but what he lacked in character development, he more than made up for with one of the most iconic designs in cinema history. But as many fans know, Empire was only Fett’s canon introduction to the Star Wars universe. The character actually showed up two years earlier in the infamous Star Wars: Holiday Special — which, believe it or not, technically, wasn’t his first appearance, either.

Boba Fett and his iconic armor had their first public outing as part of the 1978 San Anselmo Country Fair Day Parade. The California event served as a soft launch for Boba Fett, offering attendees no clue whatsoever who the masked gunslinger was or what role he would be playing in the greater Star Wars Universe. Fett wouldn’t receive a proper introduction by name until a few months later when the Holiday Special was broadcast nationwide. Instead, early Star Wars fans were left to wonder who the mysterious new villain was escorting Darth Vader around the streets of San Anselmo.

Early Boba Fett Looked Much Different

When the rest of the country did get a chance to see Boba Fett, it was in cartoon form as part of “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee,” an animated segment explicitly created for the Star Wars: Holiday Special. Fett’s animated look is quite different than the one he would sport in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, lacking much of the coloring and detail of his live-action counterpart. The mostly grey-and-white look Fett sports in the Star Wars: Holiday Special is actually more in line with the character’s original concept art when he was still being developed as a new type of Stormtrooper.

Parade Boba, on the other hand, was almost entirely screen-accurate, and for good reason. The suit worn by assistant film editor Duwayne Dunham is the same one Lucasfilm would use while filming The Empire Strikes Back. There are a few superficial differences, however, mainly regarding the suit’s helmet.

The pre-Empire version of Boba Fett’s headgear sports two marks above the T-visor, known as “Jaig Eyes”. Because nothing in Star Wars ever goes to waste, these marks would re-appear decades later on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, adorning the helmet of Clone Captain Rex. In addition to the Jaig Eyes, the proto-Fett helmet is missing the giant dent present on the helmets in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Details about why Boba Fett was chosen to accompany Vader during the parade are scarce. What little we do know boils down to George Lucas living in San Anselmo at the time and wanting to have some Star Wars representation in the town’s local festivities. Given that the parade took place only a year after the release of the original Star Wars it could be that Lucas — knowing that the movie’s sequel was still a few years away — wanted to keep the franchise fresh in the public’s mind.

That still wouldn’t explain why he chose Boba Fett over something better known like a Stormtrooper or one of the droids. Perhaps Lucas was using the parade as his own litmus test to see how the public reacted to the Star Wars bounty hunter. Lucas needn’t have worried. Despite being a complete unknown, Boba Fett was mobbed for autographs thanks to his unique costume, which was unlike anything the fans had seen in the first movie. If anything, the crowd’s reaction to Boba Fett is proof that sometimes all a character needs is a cool design to become a hit with fans.

Indeed, a cool suit of armor is all fans would get of Boba for over a decade after his supposed death in Return of the Jedi until the Star Wars Expanded Universe brought the character back in the ’90s. From there, we would finally get some insight into the faceless warrior, though much of it would be undone by Fett’s inclusion in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. The film would give Fett an official backstory as a clone of famed bounty hunter Jango Fett that would replace nearly all the lore built up by pre-Clones stories like Dark Empire and Boba Fett: Twin Engines of Destruction.

While some fans might argue that Boba Fett’s current canon nerfs the character somewhat, taking away the edge and mystique the character had built up in Legends, San Anselmo residents in 1978 didn’t have that problem. For them, Boba Fett was a blank slate onto which they could project their wildest Star Wars fantasies.

For anyone desiring a deeper dive into this odd bit of Star Wars trivia, check out the documentary Under the Helmet: the Legacy of Boba Fett streaming on Disney+. While you’re there, you can also check out “The Story of the Faithful Wookiee,” possibly the only watchable part of The Star Wars: Holiday Special.

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