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In The Mandalorian series, we learned that

a Mandalorian never takes off his helmet in front of living beings. It was actually a matter of shame inside a clan if someone had broken this rule even once or twice. The protagonist (who had never broken this rule) even chose death over removing helmet when he was injured.

And yet, I never saw Jango Fett following such rules. Other than showing his face, he even gave his DNA for creation of clone army, potentially revealing his face to trillions.

Why this inconsistency in the Mandalorian rule? Is this rule/ protocol applicable only to specific clan (seems less likely because ordinary people had heard in The Mandalorian that a Mandalorian never takes off his helmet)?

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  • 4
    It's my understanding that Jango and Boba Fett aren't actually Mandalorians. They just wear that style of armor.
    – Alarion
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 6:15
  • @Alarion - In the new Disney canon, apparently you don't have to be born a Mandalorian to be a Mandalorian; you only have to accept the rules and make some sort of pledge. Closest thing IRL might be the French Foreign Legion or the New Zealand Māori people.
    – user62584
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 11:06
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    Oh, let's not forget that there is no Jango Fett because there are no episodes 1, 2, or 3. You can just throw out anything that was contained in those works of vandalism
    – Kai Qing
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 16:42
  • @Jeeped in legends, being a Mandalorian was also a cultural thing
    – Jack
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 6:14
  • @Jeeped, It isn't necessarily specific for the new disney Canon, in many of the pre Disney comics, Mandalorians accepted people into their ranks as long as they abided by the Mandalorian code.
    – EwokSniper
    Commented Jan 20, 2020 at 2:53

2 Answers 2

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Because it is a new invention for the show

This answer will answer any question of the same nature of 'why did this Mandalorian not mind showing their face?' and that's because it's simply a new invention of the show.

In Star Wars Rebels, most of the Mandalorians in the show never wear their helmet outside of combat. The same holds true for pre-Disney takeover legacy content like The Old Republic, where the Mandalorians took a far bigger role.

So out-of-universe the reason that Jango Fett was perfectly okay with showing his face is because nobody had decided yet at that time that Mandalorians don't show their faces.

The in-universe reason is anybody's best guess. Perhaps the Mandalorians adapted an ancient custom of never revealing their face after the Clone Wars because of the Empire, or perhaps this particular branch of Mandalorians has always stuck to their "ancient customs". (Which mind you, are still newly made up, because the ancient Mandalorians in the Old Republic Era also show their faces on a regular basis and the Mandalorian series is the first time this helmet-must-be-worn thing has come up.)

And because he's been retconned as "not a Mandalorian"

And, apparently, new Disney canon has retconned Jango Fett to not be a Mandalorian, even though the old lore established that he was a Mandalorian. So if you want to go by pure new Disney canon, he was never restricted because he wasn't a true Mandalorian, but that won't help if you ask the same question about any other old Mandalorian that showed their face.

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  • In CGI character creation, it is a lot easier to copy & paste an identically armored clone soldier than to create a new individual from scratch. Same goes for a group of Mandalorians that only require different texture mapping on their armour.
    – user62584
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 11:15
  • Beat me to it, likely by virtue of living on a different continent (or just being up at 2:30 am on a weeknight)
    – Levi C. Olson
    Commented Jan 16, 2020 at 20:30
  • I agree with you @Theik, but also I would suggest that this tradition may be added after the purge they suffer with the Empire. Their numbers are becoming fewer, therefore they do not show how many they are and never show their faces in order to prevent others to differentiate them.
    – Miguel NoTeimporta
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 12:09
  • @MiguelNoTeimporta While possible, their conversations seem to suggest that this is an older custom that they're picking up again and not something they recently came up with.
    – Theik
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 12:13
  • @Theik Right, but the Empire last about 30 years, in this time the new tradition could be become an old one. In opposition, this could be an ancient tradition that they retake. However, the mandalorians we see in the Clone Wars enters in conflict with this, and they are in deed a race rather a cult. So, your answer covers the subject.
    – Miguel NoTeimporta
    Commented Jan 17, 2020 at 12:24
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Jango Fett was a Mandalorian but he was evidently not a member of the specific subset of Mandalorians who observed the practice of never removing their helmets.

From "The Heiress":

Din: You do not cover your face. You are not Mandalorian.

Bo-Katan: [Din's] one of them.

...

Bo-Katan: Children of the Watch are a cult of religious zealouts that broke away from Mandalorian society. Their goal was to re-establish the ancient way.

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  • I edited your quote formatting slightly under the assumption that this is all one excerpt. Feel free to revert if that's incorrect.
    – Cadence
    Commented Dec 9, 2021 at 22:54

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