A lot of folks ask me about Boba Fett's tough-as-nails daughter, Ailyn Vel. This is the character I developed for the "History of the Mandalorians" in Insider #80. I enjoy developing strong women characters. From history's Joan of Arc to TV's Xena the Warrior Princes, Kill Bill's samurai Bride and the gun-totting hookers of Frank Miller's Sin City, I think the woman-warrior archetype has a natural appeal to women and men, especially in the modern age. She is that bizarre combination of the traditional femininity and masculinity ideals--the gorgeous butt-kicker. It's from this mold that Ailyn Vel is cut.

Her story is this. At some point, Boba Fett decided to put down some roots, and wed the Kiffu bounty hunter Sintas Vel. The offspring from this marriage was Ailyn. But for whatever reason, Boba Fett wanted out of the relationship at some point, and left his wife and young daughter.

Ailyn grew up. When she was almost 16 years old, her mother took a bounty posting to buy the girl a nice birthday present. Big mistake. Sintas died going after her quarry. Alone, Ailyn blamed her mother's death and her solitude on Boba Fett for leaving them for the bounty hunting trade. Out of spite, she became a hunt-saboteur -- a trade devoted to thwarting bounty hunters' attempts to collect their prey -- hoping to cross paths with her father. But she never did.

Ailyn soon turned to bounty hunting herself, becoming a strong believer in the ethics of the Bounty Hunter's Creed. Like most of the galaxy, she thought Boba Fett was dead when he did his nose dive into the Great Pit of Carkoon in Return of the Jedi. Of course, fans of the Expanded Universe know Boba Fett escaped, and the rest of the galaxy will find that out in a few years too. When Ailyn learned that her father was still alive, she decided to finish what the Sarlacc couldn't. Tracking him to the Extrictarium Nebula, she blows her pops away and takes his armor!

But, the joke's on Ailyn. While the guy she killed looked exactly like Boba Fett, it turned out he was actually Alpha-Ø2--an insane clone of her grandpappy Jango Fett! The hunt for Boba continues, and meanwhile, Ailyn takes a cue from another manhunter, the Mandalorian poser Jodo Kast, and ocassionally pretends to be Boba to get those big bounty payoffs.

About 15 years after Return of the Jedi, Ailyn tracks her father down to a mysterious dream-like planet called Shogun. It's here that Ailyn finds an aging Boba Fett's ship, as well as an unrecognizable corpse in Mandalorian armor. Convinced that at last Boba is dead and her mother avenged, Ailyn takes Boba's ship and permanently assumes his identity (a la the Dread Pirate Roberts for you Princess Bride fans out there).

The dead guy wasn't Boba, of course. Boba goes into hiding as he takes over the Mandalorian Supercommandos, who make their reappearance in James Luceno's novel The Unifying Force. But that's another story. Ailyn herself goes on to a successful bounty hunting career under her father's name up until the time the Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy. At this point, Ailyn disappears, while the true Boba Fett remerges with his Mandalorians to fight the alien conquerors. ~ Abel G. Peña
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For more Mandalorian action, track down a copy of Insider #80. Also, check out the short comic "Prototypes" in the Visionaries trade paperback, and keep an eye out for Karen Traviss's books in next year's Legacy of the Force book series. Incidentally, here is the website of the model who inspired artist Joe Corroney's depiction of Ailyn for "History of the Mandalorians." All "You are now leaving starwars.com" content disclaimers apply.

Sweet Sith, I think I'm in love with my own creation.

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