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burnwater13 · 4 months ago

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Pencil sketch on off white paper of Grogu wearing a wetsuit, goggles, fins and a snorkel. He is standing by a pool of water. Image by me.

Be Yourself

Grogu sat at his comp and flipped through vid after vid after vid. Nothing was catching his eye. He’d been invited to go to a dress up party that the Nevarro School for Exception Scholars was hosting and he wanted to get his costume just right. Something elegant, colorful, properly tailored, and of course, sturdy. His dad had added that last quality to his list and Grogu couldn’t fault the Mandalorian for suggesting it. Shuffling along the rough streets of Nevarro City had been wearing down his coveralls much to his dad’s consternation, as Din Djarin insisted on fixing them himself.

He had considered going as High Magistrate Greef Karga, but he didn’t think that R5 would agree to hold the bottom of his cape up and there was no time to convince his dad to borrow the pit droids from Peli Motto. That’s why he was flipping through vids that showed all sorts of costumes, both historic and fanciful. He didn’t just want to go as a Jedi (which his dad had suggested right off the bat) and he didn’t think going as a Mandalorian was going to be all that cool either.

“What’s wrong with being a Mandalorian?”

Din Djarin would have to pay attention to Grogu’s muttering when he said that.

Grogu sighed. Obviously there was nothing wrong with being a Mandalorian. He was a Mandalorian apprentice already. He was proud of his Mandalorian dad and the skills and abilities that the bounty hunter used to help make Nevarro a safer planet for all of its people. But… he really didn’t want to wear a helmet the whole time. Or the armor. Or the side arm. Or the flight pack. It would have been fine if they’d been real and he already had them, but they were not going to be real and that would just be a sharp reminder that he wasn’t actually a full blown Mandalorian yet and he had no idea when that would happen.

Grogu just explained that it was supposed to be a fancy dress party, not an imitate your parents party. That seemed to appease his dad and he was glad of that. He really didn’t have time to soothe his dad and find a costume that made sense to him, that Grogu could make in the time allotted and that wouldn’t require a lot of specialty components. It was a balancing act, and while Grogu knew that the Force encouraged people to be in better balance, he was pretty sure that what to where to a fancy dress party wasn’t really what those lessons were about.

He continued to flip through the vids. He would have loved going as a Krayt dragon or even a Mythosaur, but those creatures were huge and he had no idea what they’d looked like as younglings. Were they just smaller versions of the adults or were they completely different stages, like a frog being a tadpole after it was just an egg and before it was an actual frog-looking frog? It seemed kind of silly to be the galaxy’s tiniest Krayt dragon. Same for being the smallest Mythosaur. Who would find that scary and intimidating? No one.

Grogu also thought it would be fun to be an old style Knight of the Jedi order and wear fancy robes, with long belts, sashes, jewels and all that, plus having a lightsaber. But it was the same problem as being a Mandalorian in many ways. It wasn’t that different from being himself. He wanted to surprise people and have them wonder out loud how he’d managed to make such a great costume and how it was just perfect for him and they would congratulate him on his creativity. Uff. What creativity? He was just looking through vids.

That was depressing. Dressing up like someone else was probably the least creative thing he could do. Grogu needed to come up with his own original design. Something that spoke to who he was and who he wanted to be and how he wanted people to perceive him. Which begged the question, who did he really want to be?

He was both a Jedi and a Mandalorian in training. He was actually older that his dad, but everyone thought he was a baby or at least a toddler. Grogu looked like no one else because the people he had looked like were now ‘one with the Force’ and he had no idea where his species actually originated, so he couldn’t visit his home planet and get any ideas about what set them apart from the rest of people of the galaxy. And did any of that actually matter? He didn’t know. Dank Farrik!

Since he still had his comp handy, Grogu decided that he needed a break and selected an episode of Diggle and Daggle, the Fish that fish, to watch. He loved their vids and how they were the same but different each episode. The order of events was always the same. They always discussed the planet, the inhabitants, their culture and customs, the types of fish and their habitats and then finally which fish they were going after, before they actually went fishing.

How they caught the fish was always different. Sometimes they used nets. Sometimes they sat in their flat bottom boat and used rods and reels. At least once they’d gone spear fishing, which had been amazing and a lot less dangerous than Grogu had expected. Grogu had learned how to tie ‘flies’, repair nets, and that under no circumstances should he use thermal detonators as a fishing aid.

This particular episode had required specialized diving equipment because the fish they were going after were deep dwellers and neither Diggle, nor Daggle could just swim that deep. They had to wear diving suits and air re-breathers and mechanized swim fins. They didn’t even look like themselves when they all dressed up in that suit. It was funny and heroic. The lengths those two would go to to please their audience just knew no bounds. They were like the Jedi-Mandalorians of fishing show hosts.

Yippee! Grogu knew exactly what his costume was going to look like and why it was going to look that way and he had a pretty good idea of how to get one with minimal fuss. One of the other things that Diggle and Daggle talked about at the end of every episode was their sponsors. Grogu could just order the dive suit from Naboo Outfitters! He’d have it in plenty of time to attend the party and he’d be able to use it a bunch after that.

Sure, he didn’t design it himself, but it would really represent him. He loved fishing. He loved the water. He loved the idea of wearing the flippers on his feet to protect them from the harsh streets of Nevarro City. And he loved the face he imagined his dad making when he saw him all dressed up that. Maybe Din Djarin would take his requests to go fishing a little more seriously if he had the proper gear for it. Anything was possible when you let yourself be yourself.

#grogu #din djarin #the mandalorian #star wars #Fancy Dress

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mythosaursarecool · 3 months ago

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⚠️Minor flash warning⚠️ because sorry I could not figure out why there’s some color discrepancy going on with the background

Anyways

She go hisssssss

Really wanted to show of how her neck plates stand when her hackles go up (: they’re generally rather soft and flexible but the muscles flexing pulls them upwards and reveals the more pointed hard cartilage under the scaled skin. Also got like a single split frame to see her second eyelid

#star wars #the mandalorian #fanart #mythosaur #my art #mythos #mythos oc #sw #mythosaur oc #mythosaur concept #mythosaur design

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separatistnightmare · 7 months ago

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The Mythosaur if it slayed or whatever (and was actually semi aquatic-ish)

I’ll finish this design later maybe

#art wip #wip #mythosaur #mandalorian art #it’s so hideous it needed a redesign #‘But but- it’s a carnivore it shouldn’t get that big!!!’#dont care it’s my redesign I can do whatever I want with it #Star Wars #the mandalorian #star wars the mandalorian

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the-starry-seas · 7 months ago

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Since seeing a post about the new mythosaur design, I've been rotating some ideas about how I would design them instead. Full permission to use these ideas, in part or whole, however you like.

Mythosaurs have a long, heavyset frame with six short legs. Their front shoulders are the widest and tallest point of their body. Their back slopes down slightly, just as their frame narrows slightly. Its back shoulders are about two-thirds of the width of the front ones.

At the end of the body is a tapered tail that doubles the animal's length. It is very heavy and agile. When swung, even the narrow end will crush an armoured man's chest on impact. It has very little up-and-down movement, but a lateral range of about 180 degrees.

Beginning at the shoulders is a dramatic twin crest that runs parallel to the spine, above the shoulders. This bony crest is several feet tall at its beginning, and tapers to only a tenth of that at the end of the tail. The top of this crest is serrated.

Along the lower half of the tail, these two crests slowly merge into one, and the height of the serration gradually fades to a smooth top. The very end of the crest forms a long, sharp spike of bone that sticks out past the muscle and flesh of the tail itself. This spike is used to impale whatever draws the mythosaur's ire. It is not used in hunting, only self-defence.

The scaly hide is nearly impenetrable, and dark brown or grey. Melanistic, leucistic, and vitiligo animals exist, but usually only the melanistic ones survive to adulthood. They're patterned with stripes and splotches of a secondary and much brighter colour, which can be any shade of purple or blue, bright yellow or red, or light or pastel green. In the deep waters where they almost always hunt, these colours blend into their coat, and are no warning to prey.

One of the most striking features of mythosaurs is not their size and strength, but their bioluminescence. These coloured patterns are host to special cells that allow mythosaurs to control whether or not they glow. Mythosaurs have been observed to flash specific patterns to lure prey, communicate with others of their species, warn away predators, and attract mates. They have also been observed slipping up on prey in the dark and then abruptly flashing their lights as they leap forward, in order to disorient their prey.

Running between the crests, under the neck, is a thin flap of skin. If a mythosaur is scared or angry, it can flare out this bottom layer as a threat display. As this layer is brightly coloured and bioluminescent, like the rest of its patterned skin, this can be quite a shock. When not flared, the flap is tucked smoothly against the skin and indiescernible from the rest of their scales.

Its front teeth are long, narrow, and sharp. The teeth farther along its jaw are more triangular, with curved tops that help it easily tear flesh. Both sets pale in comparison to the long, curving tusks that protrude from the sides of the head, just below its ears. These tusks not only prevent any predators from being able to bite its face, but help trap prey animals near its jaws. Though these tusks are strong enough to be used in a clubbing fashion, similar to its tail, they are reluctant to fling their heads around and will only do so as a last resort.

Mythosaur eyesight is fine-tuned to a life in the depths of the water. Their pupils are vertically beaded, with its width automatically adjusting to available light levels. Their low-light vision is impeccable, and they're able to focus on small objects at long distances and see a wide range of colour. Each eye has a nictating membrane, and blood-red eyeshine. The iris can be any colour and typically matches the skin patterns. Heterochromia happens but isn't common.

Their most sensitive sense is their hearing. Mythosaurs communicate almost exclusively at extremely low frequencies. While most other species are not equipped to hear these frequencies, the rumble of a mythosaur voice is felt as a vibration in the ground and nearby objects. Noises at higher frequencies are almost exclusively threat displays, pitched so that the offending creature is sure to hear them. The louder a call, the more forceful the vibration, with an angry roar strong enough to knock over a full-grown man.

Their feet have thick, fatty pads on the bottom. These help them pick up on the vibrations from others of their species, which plays a part in communication. Combined with their naturally cautious steps, mythosaurs are almost noiseless on land. Footsteps are rarely heard unless they're running at top speed, moving too quickly to be careful of where they place their feet. They have webbing between their toes that they can 'fold' closed for easier maneuvering on dry ground.

They have four toes on each foot. Each is tipped with long, hooked talons. They grow throughout the mythosaur's life and must be worn down through hunting, running, and climbing. Though few trees can bear the weight of anything larger than a hatchling, they're adept at climbing any surface short of vertical - cliff faces, walls, tree trunks, even up the sides or legs large vehicles such as AT-ATs.

Mythosaurs are ambush predators. Their lung capacity allows them to lurk among rocks at the bottom of deep bodies of water for hours before striking. Small prey is swallowed whole. Larger prey is ripped at with the teeth and front legs, torn into large pieces which are then swallowed. When hunting on land, they leap out and grab their prey with their front and middle legs, while kicking to disembowel with their back legs. They are omnivorous, and will scavenge from carcasses (especially when young), but much prefer to hunt their own fish and game.

#mythosaur #mandalorians #star wars #i'd love to talk about them more if y'all have questions

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mandalorianhistorian · 7 months ago

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what the great Mythosaur looks like

expanded universe:the bounty hunter code

I have a few art pieces I enjoy more but those designs are better then whatever Disney has done

There obviously is more art in the eu I have to re find

#mandalorian culture #mandalorians #star wars eu #star wars expanded universe

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cienie-isengardu · 2 years ago

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Cienie’s take on Mandalorian Culture: Kad Ha’rangir and mandalorian traditional weapons, p.2

part 1

There are in theory contradicting sources about Taungs - namely Death Watch Manifesto [Bounty Hunter Code], Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author’s Cut, Part 2 – Ancient Coruscant and Republic Collapse, all written within the TCW era (2008-2020) and Mandalorian song Vode An best known from the Republic Commando game soundtrack (2005).

The first source claims that Taung Crusaders “relied primarily on handheld weapons such as beskade and Mythosaur axes” and that those weapon forms inspire modern Mandalorian designs.

Bounty Hunter Code also included an artistic version of Taungs proving themselves against Mythosaur, while using swords / sabers against the beast.

The problem with the Death Watch Manifesto lies in its political nature and so can’t be treated as an objective source. The point of Manifesto was to gain new loyal members of Death Watch (the loyalists of Old Faith) to fight against Duchess Satine Kryze’s pacifist rule. Text provided simplified version of the conflict between warriors and so called Faithless supported by Republic and Jedi from supposedly perspective of Tor Vizsla[3], including emphasis on repression that happened upon the traditionalists, such like exile to Concordia and intentional destruction of their culture:

“Seven centuries ago, their craven, hut’uune warships and Jedi bombarded our worlds. They incinerated Mandalore’s farmland and forests, leaving much of our homeworld a forsaken desert of fine white sand, and then occupied our worlds. They killed, exiled, or disarmed our warriors and suppressed our ancient codes.

“Our secret operations on Mandalore and Concordia are producing more and more beskar, but Mandalorian armor remains hard to find - and the New Mandalorians treacherously destroyed many heirloom suits of beskar’gam.”

and

“Some of our warriors were exiled to the moon Concordia. Others - myself included - slipped away to resume the ba’slan shev’la”.

This raises a question: how close to the truth is the knowledge provided by the author? If warrior culture were systematically erased for ages within Mandalorian society, then there is a high possibility that author’s knowledge is either

incomplete - the ancient tradition was passed in secret for ~700 years and from the start was designed to uphold customs that warriors should consider sacred, thus the only one correct and right version to believe. After such a long time Tor Vizsla (and Death Watch members in general) may simply repeat already whitewashed “history lessons” that for ages fitted Faithfuls’ needs. In that case we could assume the author himself does not lie on purpose and simply presents the knowledge passed through generations between traditional Mandalorians.

deliberately present information in a way that fits the Death Watch’s rhetoric to manipulate/encourage readers to the author's case. This doesn’t mean Tor is lying about events per se, as Sith War, Mandalorian Wars and Republic attack on Mandalore did happen and have confirmation in different sources, however the manner of presenting is clearly non-objective. This is especially noticeable in a way Mandalorians are separated into Faithful working hard to keep their culture alive and thus in symbolic way face and overcome the trials of Kad Ha’rangir (the warrior / positive god) while Pacifist choose the easier way and follow the Arasuum (negative god) or how the text focus so much on connecting modern Mandalorians to their mythical-historical progenitors as Mandalore the Ultimate (who opened Mandalorian warrior ranks to anyone worth of the title) and Taungs in general.

Of course, those two options don’t exclude each other and may easily co-exist, as the author operates on knowledge passed down to him while presenting it in a favorable way to potential members of Death Watch. Which leads me back to Taungs using swords and what traditional weapons means.

Taungs at some point needed to pass down their metallurgist knowledge to humans and other assimilated Aliens so it is very possible that their blacksmiths in fact had made those types of weapon, especially in a period of time close to Mandalorian Wars. The new warriors (Neo-Crusaders) needed to be properly equipped - and many “recruits”came from Republic territories thus could be more familiar with sword fighting than using axes, so the author may not be wrong about ancient Mandalorian design on which the modern beskar swords are based to some degree. With Mandalorian culture existing for over 7000 years, both (Taung) axes and (Mandalorian human) swords at some point became seen as traditional Mandalorian weapons however there is no way to say for sure did Tor Vizsla had a proper knowledge about Taung battle methods or did he stretched the facts for propaganda, as another cultural tradition that humans shared with the ancient Mandalorians?

Considering the nature of the Death Watch Manifesto and mentioned destruction of warrior culture by New Mandalorians (Republic), I tend to favor the latter possibility. Especially when the three most important ancient Mandalorian (Taung) deities presented in the same Manifesto carry no sword-like weapon. Which again raises a question, what is the point of a god called Kad (sword) if the available picture (interpretation) shows him with a Taung-like traditional ax?

Hod Ha’ran too carries an axe while only Arasuum either is using ceremonial(?) cane or his weapon is deliberately held blade down, as a sort of symbol of giving up warrior nature (that author of Manifesto clearly ties to “traitorous” pacifism).

The ancient Mandalorian deities were led by the all-seeing Kad Ha’rangir (left), shown here beside the trickster god Hod Ha’ran (center) and the slothful Arasuum (right).

This is even more palpable, as:

🔶Mandalore the Indomitable was presented with a typical mythosaur axe and spear - weapons both used by the Taung leader in original comics.

Comparing his image to other important figures from Mandalorian history, this Taung is the only one that holds a traditional weaponry while the Ultimate (and some unnamed characters) has a blaster and the rest don’t hold any armament at all. Interestingly, Tor is pictured twice - first, with a sort of technologically advanced spear/lance(?) and secondly with a darksaber.

The lack of blaster connects him the strongest with Indomitable yet not with the gods who use solely axes.

🔶the sabers used by Taungs, as far as can be seen on the Mythosaur picture, don’t resemble the presented above sword design (it does however fit the author’s description “a single-edged, curved sword”). One may argue that those two types represent different eras, which is a fair argument - with a culture reaching 7 thousands years there is no reason to think the armament didn’t evolve according to the needs of warriors who took part in endless war campaigns. However, from a propaganda purpose solely, I find it interesting how the author didn’t try to connect each bit of lore of original Mandalorians to swords and in result, highlight the importance of the Darksaber. Instead we are told that Taungs used both swords and axes and the book even presented a bunch of unnamed warriors with sabers, yet the Indomitable and Mandalorian gods are tightly tied to axes first and foremost. It could be really easy to present both of those figures with mentioned single-edged, curved swords that Darksaber resembles to some degree and keep it as a continuation of a great, old tradition. Yet the best known Taung mythological-historical characters do not use swords at all.

Another source, Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author’s Cut, Part 2 – Ancient Coruscant was published on starwar.com in 2013 (and still can be read there). This in-universe text gives us some insight about historical education and archaeological works in regard to Taungs and prehistoric Battle of Coruscant:

Nor, says Hu, can we say anything about the Battalions of Zhell, or the Taung legions that confronted them. “When enthusiasts stage recreations of the battle they tend to use replica great axes and swords known from the excavation of Taung burial sites on Roon,” he says. “But by the time the Taungs reached Roon these were ritual objects -- species capable of traveling through hyperspace don’t still rely on edged weapons. Nor do you find such weapons still used by societies as sophisticated as the Zhell nations. It’s as if you staged a recreation of the Siege of Ramsir with the Imperial Army limited to parade sabers.” Hu says he knows it may be unromantic to imagine the confrontation at Zhell occurring between armies that possessed aircraft and atomic weapons. But he urges us to look deeper and examine the qualities of Dha Werda Verda that have kept the poem alive for eons.

(For those unfamiliar with the history of prehistoric Coruscant - Zhell nations were the ancient enemy against whom the forefathers of original Mandalorians fought for control over the planet. Ultimately, Taungs were driven away from the Coruscant and it is generally assumed that Zhells were humans.)

It is understandable that in-universe researchers won’t have the same knowledge as star wars fans familiar with Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War or Knights of the Old Republic various media - and in result in-universe assumptions may differ from “truth” (lore). Here are some vital details to take into account:

🟢For one, Taungs (ancient Mandalorians) were capable of traveling through hyperspace yet still used edged weapons during fight, as was proved in The Sith Wars. So the assumption axes or swords were solely ritual objects before Taungs even got to Roon doesn’t hold true. The traditional axes and swords may have some ritual importance (and thousands years later Din Djarin, a modern Mandalorian will claim, “weapons are part of my religion”) but their primary function is still fulfilled on the battlefield.

🟢The second detail worth examining is that axes and swords are mentioned solely in the context of graves. Source does not provide any additional information about the nature of those old burial sites and so there is no way to tell whether Taung cremated their dead (a continuation of prehistoric Taung funeral rites known from Dha Werda Verda poem?) or preferred skeleton burials. We don’t have any clue where the weapons were placed in the graves, if swords and axes were next to each other and if not, which kind of weapon were more often found in the closest immediate vicinity of the remains. There is also no information on what kind of advanced research was conducted on the blades to test if those were indeed battle weapons or items forged solely to fulfill the cultural/religious purpose. Due to lack of additional data, we can’t exclude a possibility that in one grave several weapons could be deposited and only one or two truly belonged and were used by the dead while the rest was simply grave goods - like the trophies taken from defeated enemies, a parting gift from the Taung community or, in case Roon was inhabited by other species (conquered and dominated or living peaceful alongside warriors?), a grave good related to a different social group and/or culture. Additionally, a specific funeral rites like cremation may not leave enough organic remains for a proper science research. If Taungs co-existed with other species, the graves with swords could belong to non-Taungs, either as a sign of honor /good relationship between separated cultures or as sacrificial burials on the occasion of Taung's funeral (as sacrifice of a slave/conquered people). Of course, those are just possibilities worth taking into account though sadly, we do not know the extent of in-universe archaeological research in that regard.

With such a large period of time Taungs spent on Roon, there is a great potential to create a proper correlation between type of weapon (its shape) and the chronology of burials and to theorize which weapon and when were the most popular. Similarly, there should be research done about correlation between type of weapon and alleged age, status and battle injuries of dead. As in, a certain type of weapon may be more often found in graves of esteemed adults (warriors) while the juvenile ones equipped appropriate to their age or lack of fighting experience.

Of course, Roon burial sites are older than 7.000 years and so archaeological excavations won’t solve all Taung cultural riddles and will depend a lot on the type of burial and its state of preservation but the point is, fiding swords in Taung graves does not automatically means it was their traditional weapon.

Thinking more about the issue, I’m intrigued by no mention of spears - and sure, organic parts such as wooden spar wouldn’t survive to modern times without proper conditions yet the stone or metal spearhead could. Especially since there are more examples of Taung using spear and spear-like weapons than swords.

The Essential Guide to Warfare gives an illustration of Taungs on prehistoric Coruscant (Notron) and if we take it at face value, spears are presented as a common weapon.

In the same sourcebook, The Indomitable was presented as holding glaive(?), while The Sith War also featured spear-like weapons used by Taung!Mandalorians alongside mythosaur axes, including Mandalore himself.

In The Essential Guide to Warfare even the Ultimate was presented with a spear - and doesn’t this picture resemble the prehistoric Taung leader?

Of course, over time Taung & early Mandalorians’ weapon preferences could change, yet the spears and axes are present in both a prehistoric and ancient period of their culture, while swords themselves either fell out of favor or have never been that common to begin with.

🟢 The third matter is that Taungs in times of living on Roon weren’t Mandalorians yet. Galaxy at War sourcebook states that they “battled the native Human nations for control of Coruscant before being driven off and forced to flee to the Outer Rim world of Roon, where they remain for millennia until the legendary Mandalore the First leads them to conquer another world.”

Of course, Taung primary culture is what Mandalorians were based on, yet millennia is a long span of time and so naturally cultural changes happened within their society. There is no clue if Kad Ha’rangir even predates the Mandalorian era or if his cult evolved once Mandalorians for good started their holy crusaders and destruction brought to many species. On one hand, if Kad Ha’rangir was a part of mythology existing during the Roon era, then we could argue that using swords could become a sort of religious taboo once Mandalorian culture came to life. Thus Taungs relied on mythosaur axes (probably based on the great axes mentioned in Author’s cut), spears and similar weapons while swords were sacred and maybe played a special religious function. However, if that was true, then why would Taung!Mandalorians accept human warriors / vassals to carry a sacred weapon?

Ancient Mandalorian society is implied to have more rigid structures than modern one, with a clear division into warriors and non-warriors social classes. If non-Taung part of society and newcomers could join Crusaders ranks before the Sith War then they should follow the same religious and/or cultural practices. Which could explain the general lack of traditional swords between Mandalore the Indomitable’s soldiers seen in the comics regardless of their biological species. At the same time Star Wars Miniatures included in Bounty Hunters set presented Mandalorian Blademaster - the set is not limited to one era but considering that

A) Mandalorian miniatures don’t have Neo-Crusader typical armors - if anything the shape and gray-black colors resemble Ordo Canderous’ armor[4] who according to KotOR Campaign Guide was already a warrior before Neo-Crusaders dominated Mandalorian culture

B) includes Mandalore the Indomitable and basilisk war droid rode by a warrior with again, no Neo-Crusader armor

C) various additional quotes and description on cards

may as well imply the Sith War and/or pre-Neo Crusaders culture.

Of course, there is no way to tell for sure if said Mandalorian Blademaster was meant to represent Taung or human/non-Taung species yet the existence of warriors specialized in swordfighting may suggest using swords was not a matter of religious taboo in the original warrior culture. At least not during the twilight period of their religion, as in the Indomitable’s times Taungs were said to worship the war itself, not gods in their primal version.

If we go further into the Great Adoption era, swords become more and more visible between warriors, as was presented:

on already mentioned illustration from The Essential Guide to Warfare

and here it is important to note that swords are held by Neo-Crusader(s) and Mandallian Giants. The latter were one of the first alien species included into Taung!Mandalorian ranks, before humans and Great Adoption.

Star Wars Miniatures also introduces Neo-Crusaders using swords such as

Mandalorian Marauder - KotOR set - with description “For years the Mandalorians were content to raid worlds on the Outer Rim, but during the Mandalorian Wars they began launching assaults across the Old Republic” suggesting the era of Great Adoption (opening ranks to non-Taungs)

Mandalorian Jedi Hunter - Dark Times set - with description “Some of the scattered survivors of the Mandalorian Wars seek out Jedi to punish for their humiliation”. This model (quote) is clearly representing the post-Mandalorian Wars era in which Taungs are believed to be extinct.

yet still didn’t dominate the ratio of melee weapons. So we have previously mentioned KotOR Campaign Guide with majority of characters described as humans and whose stats of traditional weapons varied from unarmed, dragger, knife, mace, vibroblade, vibrodagger or bayonet while mythosaur axes are solely mentioned in regard to two Taungs, Mandalore the Indomitable and Ultimate.

From the above set, Canderous Ordo (future Mandalore the Preserver) has a dragger gauntlet, while the KotOR II Prima Guide advises to equip Ordo with swords.

However in modern times, human Mandalorians are more commonly tied to swords (and knives or vibroblades in general) than axes, as can be seen in various sources:

A Practical Man

"And my name's Briika," said her hard-eyed mother. Her name came from the word for "smile," and Beviin enjoyed that kind of irony. She could shrivel anyone with that stare. "Those crushgaunts are illegal. But you know that." "I just like antiques," Beviin said. He patted the scabbard on his belt, rattling an ancient saber in its sheath. "I've got a proper beskad, too. On the road for a reason?"

and

It could have ripped Beviin open like a canister. But his armor was forged from beskar, real Mandalorian iron that even Yuuzhan Vong weapons might not penetrate. He reached into his belt and drew his ancient beskad, a short razor-edged saber forged from the same.

Republic Commando: Triple Zero

"I opted to take on Vau. He had a real Mando iron saber, and I was unarmed.”

Collapse of the Republic sourcebook

Jango Fett: Open Seasons

Star Wars Miniatures

Mandalorian Quartermaster whose design clearly was inspired by Death Watchman from Jango Fett: Open Seasons.

Star Wars – Clan Wren Unit Expansion

Card: Beskad Duelist (x)

The Clone Wars

introduced Darksaber

and the characteristic art seen in Pre Vizsla (and later in Duchess Satine)’s residence

and the mural decorating the city:

All presented there ancient(?) Mandalorian warriors carry a simple, two-edge(?) swords.

Sidenote: Darksaber originally was introduced as heirloom passed down in clan Vizsla, not the item representing the right to title of Mandalore. However since the later lore presented Tarre Vizsla, the first and for now the only New Canon Mandalorian Jedi, there is a question - should TCW!art be seen as a cultural shift from Taung weapons to human swords inspired by the figure of Tarre and his legendary darksaber?

Star Wars Rebels

presents Darksaber as ancient and culturally important weapon:

"I didn't know Mandalorians developed a type of lightsaber." "We didn't. This was one of a kind. Legend tells that it was created over a thousand years ago by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian ever inducted into the Jedi Order. After his passing, the Jedi kept the saber in their temple. That was until members of House Vizsla snuck in and liberated it. They used the saber to unify the people and strike down those who would oppose them. One time, they ruled all of Mandalore wielding this blade."

Forces of Destiny: Art History

(the short animation can be seen here)

The statue of Tarre Vizsla though wasn’t presented in full details, clearly was built to represent the legendary Mandalorian holding sword blade down that brings to mind the medieval-like knights.

The Mandalorian

follows the The Clone Wars and Rebels take on Mandalorian culture with an even greater importance put on Darksaber and its meaning for warriors. The show treats Darksaber not only as an ancient relic and as a valid claim to the “throne”, but also as mystical item that may not accept its wielder like it did with Paz Vizsla (though this put under question all previously Mandalorians using the sword who were far away from heroic side of characters) and may even be cursed, as said Armorer:

If, however, it is not won in combat and falls into the hands of the undeserving, it will be a curse unto the nation. Mandalore will be laid to waste and its people scattered to the four winds”

Looking at the sources, it can’t be argued that some major cultural changes happened to Mandalorians and the further from Taung hegemony era, the swords became more prominent and in some cases, like Darksaber, are vital to secure “line of succession”. This shift is as much about weapons as about warriors themselves, as modern Mandalorian society is dominated by humans - although how much of an important role religion (Kad Ha’rangir) played in this change is up to debate.

Even if Taung society living on Roon used swords - whatever as weapons or ritual objects - during Mandalorian era this kind of weaponary is hardly seen used by confirmed Taung warriors (BHC so far is an exception) while modern human Mandalorians moved away from the axes in favor of swords, especially Darksaber.

[Next part] further sources to dispute

SIDENOTES:

[3] I say supposedly, as I support Jango Fett’s doubt it was written by Tor Vizsla. C’mon, can anyone imagine Legends!Tor writing anything like that?

[4] For better comparison, the typical Crusader and Neo-Crusader armors look like this

Ordo’s own armor resembles the Neo-Crusader type however it seems to still keep some elements from the previous kind. Ordo himself took part in the Mandalorian Wars yet as a veteran he was bitter about how his people from proud warriors degraded into mercenaries and criminals. When he became a Mandalore, he tried to bring Mandalorians back to the honorable ways which is why I personally count him more as example of pre-Neo Crusader Mandalorian culture.

#star wars #cienie's take on mandalorian culture #mandalorians #taungs #darksaber #bounty hunter code #mandalorian religion #cienie's research #i think the next part will be the last in regard to kad ha'rangir

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anonymousewrites · 2 years ago

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Clan of Three Special: Symbolism

Two of my readers expressed interest in my idea of explaining the symbolism of Clan of Three, so this goes to them. :)

In the Clan of Three series, I have three major symbols that played a large role in my writing. Putting aside the development of Mando and Ginger’s relationship (It’s fun to call them that) since it’s the focus of the series anyways (going from (Y/N) to Verd’ika to Ad’ika), I had a few other background plots going on, and now that the three books are completed, I can explain them!

First, the dagger. (Y/N)’s dagger is small, Ushti, and like a farm tool. It represents them and their home planet. For the first two books, Ginger is extremely attached to the dagger, and when they lose it and it gets bent when the Razorcrest explodes at the end of the second season, it represents Ginger and Mando’s relationship getting broken and also the end of who they were before the events of the first two books.

When Mando has a beskar dagger created in the same design, it represents the two cultures together, Ushti and Mandalorian, and also a mending of Ginger and Mando’s relationship since he gives it to them when they return from training in the Force. And then, of course, that symbolism plays into why I had Ginger use their dagger to kill Gideon. It was a physical representation of Ginger’s changes after everything Gideon did to Ushti and Mandalore and them, how much they changed and became stronger (beskar is a stronger metal). So, it was pretty important to me that they use it to kill Gideon (as well as say the line “I’m not a Jedi. I’m a Mandalorian” while holding it).

Second, the Darksaber. Similar to the dagger, it plays into Ginger’s development as a Mandalorian. Just as their dagger is broken, before it is repaired, Ginger disarms and has a knife to Gideon’s throat, winning the Darksaber. A new weapon, Mandalorian and Jedi, the same overlap as the Ushti and Mandalorian their other dagger would become. Then, of course, Ginger is an Ushti training as a Jedi for a bit, so all three identities and cultures kind of circle around each other.

Most significantly for the Darksaber, however, was it representing Ginger’s form of being a Mandalorian and the start of a new era. Just as the Armorer said that seeing the Mythosaur marked a new era, I wanted Ginger to handle the Darksaber to mark this as well. It juxtaposed with the Ushti dagger breaking and then being rebuilt stronger since I feel like having the Darksaber be destroyed is a symbol of Mandalore being reborn anew and stronger. I was also influenced by the fact that I disliked that Gideon got to destroy the Darksaber since it felt wrong and not written well for such an ancient weapon to just be crushed by a single bad guy. I thought it would be more significant and telling of a new age for Mandalorians if one of their own destroyed it. That’s why I had Ginger destroy it. They as a character mark a new era of Mandalore, so I decided that they would protect Mandalore by ensuring no one could hold a weapon and lay claim to the Mandalorians and their planet.

Third, Mandalore the Great. Their symbolism plays into several things, but all of them revolve around Ginger’s visions, so here we are. I think it’s pretty easy to tell by now that Mandalore the Great has “chosen” Ginger to guide and that they knew from the beginning that Ginger would be important for Mandalore and its coming new age. So, I tried to weave that into each of their interactions.

In the first vision at the stone at the end of the second season, Mandalore the Great simply gives advice and, in their own vague way, assures Ginger that whatever way they choose will guide them down the path they are meant to be on. There’s not a lot of symbolism per say in this vision, but I do introduce the “Mando’ika” name Mandalore the Great uses for Ginger, literally translating to “Little Mandalorian.” They knew from the start. That and, of course, they foreshadow that Ginger is going to give their words to the other Mandalorians to encourage them to work together.

The second vision is when things start getting more fun, especially symbolism wise. Once again, when Ginger goes to help Mando in the Living Waters, they have a vision, and there’s a bunch of foreshadowing from Mandalore the Great and them vaguely telling Ginger the words that they know the Mandalorians need to hear because Ginger is their Mando’ika. There’s the mythosaur foreshadowing, of course, and Ginger sees it, once again symbolically being chosen by the first great Mandalorian to bring about a new age, a new “first” like them. (And there’s the fun “I’m not a leader.” “Maybe not now.” Because Mandalore the Great damn well knows Ginger has the Darksaber even if they don’t).

The actual symbolism stuff in the second vision, though, is the waters, and it ties with the third vision. Sticking to the second, though, Mandalore the Great goes into the waters that Mandalorians are anointed in, and Ginger goes in voluntarily after. That is what I consider their first step into identifying outright as Mandalorian.

The third vision has the greatest symbolism, at least in my eyes as the writer. Ginger almost dies during the pirate attack, and in between death, they are guided by Mandalore the Great, once again in the Living Waters. Mandalore the Great is once again telling them of them being the new era of Mandalore, and here’s my favorite symbolism so far in this series: the rebirth and “baptism.” Ginger quite literally nearly dies, and Mandalore the Great anoints them with the Living Waters just like the Armorer anoints young Mandalorians become proper members of the society. They are quite literally baptized into another life, becoming a Mandalorian. If you notice, after that, Ginger doesn’t differentiate as much between themself and Mandalorians. When they hunt the droids, they are considered a Mandalorian by the royals, and Ginger doesn’t bat an eye.

So, yeah, in short: the Ushti dagger becoming beskar represents Ginger’s change to feeling like a Mandalorian, the Darksaber marks Ginger as a true Mandalorian and destroying it marks the end of an age so Mandalore can become stronger just like the Ushti dagger, and the Living Waters represent Ginger choosing to step into the Mandalorian Way.

#clan of three #x reader #anonymouse #anonymousewrites #writer #writing #writblr #symbolism #symbol #the mandalorian #the mandolorian

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ooops-i-arted · 11 months ago

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Well here we are. I debated between Jango or Boba, but I LOVE the newer BoBF look (black + green are my faves and also it's so lovely to look at with the pops of color on black).

The base dress would be the Brassia Dress from Mood Fabrics (they have tons of free patterns btw) in all black (for rewearability), a knit of some sort I'm thinking, something with stretch or I'll have to add a zipper in the back. The overskirt would echo the shape of the kama Boba has and I'd fabric paint or cricut designs on it. I'm thinking a mythosaur skull for sure, maybe some other motifs if I can find specific ones to Boba or Jango, or just Mando'a outlining Fett clan heritage (a la what he shows Din in the show) or "Fuck Filoni Boba is a true Mandalorian" lol. (Just kidding. Maybe.) The skirt would be attached to a belt with a faux buckle on it, maybe some rivets or studs or something in gold as well.

For the vest I'm wanting something like this, if I can't find a pattern it should be simple enough to draft. I have this backpack pattern shown below and I should be able to use the applique patterns in it as a base to make the helmet shape on the back. Only downside is that to show it off I'll need a different bag instead of my mini Mando backpack I wear to cons, but that should be simple enough to figure out. If I find a patch or pin of Boba's chest logo I can add that too.

For shoes I could buy boots if I find or thrift them for a decent price, or make covers in the right cover. I also want to study Boba's original and new costumes, as well as Jango's, to see if there's any other little details I can reference.

FanExpo Chicago is August 17, so I guess I haven't learned my lesson about managing my timeline haha. I wish they'd announce big guests further in advance! Anyway, thoughts?

#so ironically I actually HATE hi low skirts like this BUT i want the kama look lmao #boba fett #sewing #wip #boba but make it fashion

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burnwater13 · 1 year ago

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Three Mandalorians in flight in a cloudy sky. Concept art by Brian Matyas from The Mandalorian, Season 2, The Heiress.

Grogu sat at the do everything table in the front room of their cabin on Nevarro and drew sketches of his dad. For those of you asking, no, not of his face. He was doing renderings or sketches or whatever you wanted to call them of Din Djarin standing in his full armor. Front, sides, back, feet, hands, knees. That sort of thing. Not that his dad was cooperating at all. He wasn’t.

‘Kid, just take a vid. It will last longer’, was a phrase Grogu was already tired of hearing. Yes, his dad had a point. He could take a vid. He could use it to help him in what he was doing. But he was an artist and he wanted to practice those skills more than he wanted to practice operating a datapad. He would have thought that a guy who had searched every planet within a parsec for his favorite armor polish would understand. Fat chance.

So Grogu had to catch the Mandalorian at odd moments when he was still. Those moments weren’t just odd because they didn’t happen much except when Din Djarin was sleeping, they were odd because it almost always meant that his dad was thinking of work that needed to be done, sometimes right now, but mostly when Grogu was showing signs of boredom. So they were a blessing and a curse. Uff.

But the rare moments that he caught his dad being still and he had his stylus handy (the markers were too wide and he couldn’t get the level of detail that he wanted), Grogu quickly sketched what he saw. Slowly but surely he’d been building up a nice thick file of drawings that could be used to create the master images that he needed. He knew if he didn’t get things quite right… well his dad was going to notice that the vambrace wasn’t perfect or the ammo belt was too far to the left or right, instead of answering Grogu’s perfectly reasonable question, what kind of paint job did the bounty hunter want on his armor?

Yup, all of this was in aid of helping Din Djarin become more of a Creed following Mandalorian than he currently was. And Grogu knew that seemed impossible. After all, this was the man who had voluntarily gone to Mandalore to find the waters there to renew his commitment to a Creed that could somehow allow new members to use any old water, but old members had to do the impossible and for what good reason? Harumph. Grogu didn’t understand that at all, but he supposed all organized cultures with as many rules as the Mandalorians had, ended up with rules that really didn’t make a lot of sense, but given who his dad was, they were going to be followed no matter what.

That was why Grogu wanted Din Djarin to select a paint design for his armor. All the other Mandalorians had one and Din Djarin should have one as well. At least that was Grogu’s opinion. His dad’s opinion was that being the only Mando with super shiny pure beskar armor was enough of a design. Grogu had snorted so hard when he heard his dad say that, he was still wiping his nose.

He’d told his dad that would be like saying that the absence of a plan was a plan in and of itself. Instead of arguing with him, his dad had mentioned that they were having stew for dinner and that Grogu’s bowl would have frog bites in it, so they couldn’t mix them up. Yup. He totally distracted Grogu. The mud scuffer.

But Grogu hadn’t gotten to where they were by being the kind of person who gave up at the first sign of adversity. Nope. He was old friends with tricks, traps, entanglements, and delays. He knew how to be patient and how to strike when the lightsaber was lit.

He also knew that his dad wasn’t going to accept any old design. Yes, there would have to be a head nod to the mythosaur because that imaginary (but real) critter defined them. Then there would need to be symbols or colors that represented Clan Mudhorn. The sigil was great, but mudhorns weren’t shiny. They were shaggy. And muddy. Not like Din Djarin was ever going to let him just layer mud onto his armor as part of the symbolism. Nope. Whatever the design was it had be executed in manner that allowed everything to be polished and clean looking.

With all that in mind Grogu had also sketched the designs used by other Mandos. Not the whole armor, but the bits and pieces that provided for their uniqueness. Bo-Katan had that sort of bird look on her helmet. Paz Vizsla had blue accents and mythosaur (of course) on his left pauldron. The Armorer of course had those weird little horns on her helmet and the reddish paint that made her armor stand out compared to anyone else’s.

Grogu knew that his dad didn’t want to stand out, although, given how shiny his armor was and how sunny a lot of the places they visited routinely were, the Mandalorian wasn’t really accomplishing that goal as things stood right now. Grogu also knew, as noted previously, that Jedi drabness wasn’t going to work for the design either. He needed to do something that spoke to his dad’s accomplishments. Something that made it clear that, first and foremost, Din Djarin was the father to Din Grogu. But would his dad really let his armor be painted Grogu green? Grogu wasn’t sure.

He did think that his dad would accept a four panel symbol on his left chest plate section that recognized the critters that Din Djarin had survived. They could skip the mudhorn because it was already on the pauldron. He definitely needed something to represent the Krayt dragon. That was pretty special and anyone who saw that symbol would think twice about annoying the person who wore it. Maybe the blurgg too? That hadn’t been easy for his dad to master, according to Kuiil and Greef Karga. And then what about the mythosaur? His dad didn’t talk about it much, but he’d dealt with that critter and lived to tell the tale.

Now there was just one question…what should go in the last section? And before anyone mentions it, not the Ice spider critter. First that would not make his dad happy. Second, it was really Captain Teva and Commander Wolfe who had helped them out of that mess. Grogu was pretty sure that his dad didn’t want to be reminded of that either.

What should it be? Let Grogu know. He’s counting on you.

Three Mandalorians in flight in a cloudy sky. Concept art by Brian Matyas from The Mandalorian, Season 2, The Heiress. Calendar by DataWorks.

#calendar prompt a day #the mandalorian #din djarin #grogu #Mandalorians

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