Boba Fett is infamously defeated rather humiliatingly in the Star Wars galaxy, yet a flailing strike from a blinded Han Solo nearly kills Boba by activating his jetpack and sending him into the maw of a sarlacc. Canon and Legends non-movie material shows Fett to have survived this near-death experience, but he only found himself in this situation because of his childhood experiences in Attack of the Clones.
During the Rebellion’s heroic rescue of Han Solo above the Great Pit of Carkoon, Boba Fett enters the fray and immediately attacks Luke Skywalker (now a Jedi in all but name), putting all his focus on Luke and not noticing Han Solo wildly swinging a vibro-ax until it is too late. Fett is normally aware of his surroundings - which his suit’s helmet augments by allowing him to see in all directions - but may have missed Solo because he was so preoccupied with Star Wars protagonist Luke Skywalker due to his hatred of Jedi, which began when he watched his father decapitated by Jedi Master Mace Windu in Attack of the Clones. Boba Fett’s anti-Jedi sentiment and experience fighting Jedi after the events of Attack of the Clones are shown in both canon and Legends, so this detail would explain the otherwise awful death.
Star Wars Comics Can Also Explain Boba's Luke Anger
In Legends material, particularly comic books, Boba Fett is shown to be particularly skilled at capturing and killing Jedi, who became extremely rare during the reign of the Empire due to the Jedi Purge. Boba Fett is shown to have accumulated a sizable collection of lightsabers from Jedi he defeated and he is explicitly shown to have defeated and captured Jedi Knight Rachi Sitra in the Galactic Hunters expansion of the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game. Boba Fett’s loathing of the Jedi Order mirrors that of Jango Fett, whose entire team of True Mandalorian warriors was wiped out by the Jedi during the Battle of Galidraan, as shown in Jango Fett: Open Seasons.
Boba Fett notably also attempts to kill Mace Windu to avenge Jango Fett in both canon and Legends, as shown in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the Star Wars: Boba Fett book series. While canon does not explore Boba Fett’s conflicts with Jedi in the original trilogy era quite as much as Legends, Fett does fight Luke Skywalker before Return of the Jedi, as shown in Marvel’s canon Star Wars comics. Luke, despite lacking a significant amount of Jedi training, manages to knock Fett unconscious, an embarrassing defeat that may have motivated the bounty hunter to seek revenge in their next encounter, explaining Boba’s fixation on Luke in Return of the Jedi.
Did Boba Fett Hate The Jedi After Jango?
Boba Fett’s hatred of the Jedi is strongly implied in canon, while Legends is far more overt about it. Over time, however, Boba Fett’s notorious skill at killing Jedi Knights made him invaluable to the New Jedi Order, as the bounty hunter-turned-Mand’alor ended up training Jaina Solo to defeat her brother, Darth Caedus. In both Star Wars continuities, it is clear that Boba Fett’s disdain for the Jedi, which stems from Jango’s death in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, is what caused his humiliating Return of the Jedi defeat.
