Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is a Star Wars videogame which take place before the events of Attack of the Clones and tells the story of Jango Fett, and how he was chosen as the template for the clone army.

A mysterious cult, the Bando Gora, is wreaking havoc in the galaxy. Its members are distributing a dangerous variation of death sticks, which turn users into mindless devotees. The leader of the cult, the fallen Jedi Komari Vosa has become a threat even to Darth Sidious's plans, so he orders his disciple Darth Tyranus to take care of her. So he decide to hire several bounty hunters, offering a large reward for the head of Vosa. Soon, Jango Fett and his rival Montross start their hunt across the galaxy.

Armed with a large arsenal of weapons, Jango must fight his way in several, difficult levels divided in six chapters. Along the way he can also capture other bounties and find the Mandalorian Golden Feathers to unlock the bonus content.

Tropes used in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter include:
  • Action Girl: Zam Wesell, met halfway through the game.
  • Aliens Speaking English: Averted, Sebolto and the Hutts speaks their native, subtitled language.
  • Anticlimax Boss: Many of the criminals you have to search for will eventually be pitifully weak (provided they don't end up dying during a cutscene).
    • Also Gardulla's pet Krayt Dragon by itself. The only real challenge in this battle are the guards shooting you with rocket launchers and forcing you to move around.
  • Anti-Hero: Jango Fett is a Type V. He's only in it for the money, never claims to be a good or just guy, and often ends up fighting and killing even innocents and security guards. To be honest, he and Montross in the end are Not So Different.
    • However, Jango probably ends the game as a Type IV, with Roz's dying wish for him to find something to live for besides money inspiring him to include Boba's creation as a condition of becoming a clone template.
    • On a slightly more optimistic note, Zam Wesell probably qulifies as a Type IV. Her motives are more or less the same as Jango's and she does betray him, but gets to make up for it by saving him from Vosa. Roz is more of a Type III, running a low life criminal hideout and scamming credits off of Jango. However, she genuinely cares for him and helps him throughout the story despite being well aware of the risks.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The various missile-type weapons. If you're not careful when using them inside, you can easily blow yourself up.
  • Ax Crazy: Komari Vosa
  • Badass Normal: Jango, of course, and Montross as well.
  • Black and Grey Morality: Highly unusual for Star Wars, but when the most morally upstanding character is a money-grubbing, swindling, vain Toydarian then you know this trope is in effect. Jango is involved purely for personal gain, murders dozens of law enforcement officers during his hunt, and (depending on the player's own aim) may even end up killing a civilian or two.
    • Not to mention civilian bounties like an Ugnaught maintanence worker who plans to sell corporate secrets and is wanted for more dead. Hardly a morally upstanding guy, but not nearly as bad as Jango.
    • Fridge Logic: Those same law enforcement officers will instantly fill you with blaster fire just for passing near them. WTF?
      • Well, considering that you're a heavily-armored, gun-toting man trying to break into a Senatorial apartment tower and a maximum-security prison, the shoot-on-sight orders are probably justified.
  • Blood Knight: Montross. He never caught someone alive in all his career as bounty hunter, and his general philosophy seems to be "take everything, then burn the rest".
  • Bounty Hunter: Well, hello...
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: All the members of the Bando Gora.
  • Bullfight Boss: The very first game segment. You have to deal with a wild borhek (a sort of giant beetle/reptile) this way.
  • Butt Monkey: Meeko Ghintee.
  • Catch Phrase: "Dead or alive?"
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Zam Wesell sells Jango out to Gardulla the Hutt, but eventually pulls a Big Damn Heroes and rescues him from Vosa.
  • Degraded Boss: Meeko Ghintee goes from firing starship laser cannons at you as you're swarmed by mooks on Outland Station to being easily dispatched in an on-foot blaster fight during your escape from Oovo IV.
  • Dirty Cop: The entire corrections staff of Oovo IV, according to backstory, and pretty much all of the Coruscant police guarding Senator Trell's apartment building, as well.
  • Dirty Coward: Meeko Ghintee, your first bounty in the first chapter.
  • Disney Villain Death: Senator Trell.
  • Dual-Wielding: Komari Vosa.
  • Enemy Scan: Installed in Jango's helmet, allows him to see the eventual bounties on the people and enemies around him.
  • Escort Mission: A brief segment with Zam in the second level of Chapter 4 on Malastare. She can take care of herself, though.
  • Evil Versus Evil: On one side we have Komari Vosa, an Ax Crazy priestess of a Religion of Evil bend on brainwashing as many people as possible. Then we have Montross, a brutal and ruthless bounty hunter who leaves only death in his wake. However, Jango himself is surely not a good guy, and doesn't even try to justify himself.
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: Montross falls into a pit and is torn apart alive by a raving group of Bando Gora cultists while screaming for mercy.
  • Fat Bastard: Gardulla the Hutt.
  • Foe Yay: Between Komari Vosa and Jango Fett.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: Jango's Emergency Weapon.
  • Guide Dang It: Good luck locating all those Secondary Bounties without one.
  • Guns Akimbo: Jango's main weapon. Also, the Tatooine criminal Longo Two-Guns.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Temuera Morrison and Leeanna Walsman reprise their roles of Jango Fett and Zam Wesell from Episode II respectively.
  • Hilarious Outtakes: One of the special features, including scenes such as a Bando Gora captain hiding in the background of some cut-scenes and waving at the audiece, Montross stopping a scene to complain about his hair gel and Jango expressing his frustration at having to react to a ping-pong ball on the end of a stick (an infamous criticism of the Star Wars prequel movies).
  • Hypocritical Humor: When talking with Jabba, Jango states that "Discretion is his specialty". Note that this is just after he has killed a crooked Senator by dropping him from a window, all but destroyed the prison on Oovo IV, blown up several armored vehicles and blasted his way through countless armed thugs.
  • It Got Worse: Jango's original plan for breaking into the prison on Oovo IV was to sneak in, take the prisoner and leave. However, because of Zam causing a riot, he was forced to change his plans, ending up destroying a good part of the prison and killing many of the guards and inmates along the way.
  • Jet Pack: You obtain it halfway through the second level of the first chapter. It can't be used in the first mission on Tatooine because the extreme late-day heat causes the cooling system to break down.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Rozatta may be a vain, greedy Toydarian, but she genuinely cares for Jango.
  • Just Desserts: Gardulla attempts to kill you by summoning her giant Krayt Dragon into her own throne hall, but is eaten by the monster. She's later barfed by the monster who couldn't digest her properly.
  • Malevolent Masked Man: The High Priests of the Bando Gora wear a skull mask with horns.
  • Morality Pet: Roz, who's a sort of substitute mother for Jango.
  • Mythology Gag: Right before sending Senator Trell to a Disney Villain Death, Jango says the same sentence his son Boba says in The Empire Strikes Back: "As you wish" (the police were commanding Jango to release his hostage). Also the second level on Tatooine brings you close to the Sarlaac's pit and the whole level resembles the same scenario from Return of the Jedi.
    • Apparently, Watto is an old acquaintance of Roz.
  • Nice Guy: Wim "Smootie" Smoot, one of the prisoners of Oovo IV. He speaks with Jango and even helps him later for no particular reason, other than it's the only way he can think of to strike back at the prison's establishment.
  • Nintendo Hard: The whole game from Oovo IV forward becomes this.
  • No-Gear Level: In the third level of the fifth chapter, Gardulla strips you of your gear and forces you to fight her Krayt Dragon in the Arena. You have to escape and retrieve your weapons.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Most of the Bando Gora cultists are little more than mindless melee murder machines.
  • Psycho for Hire: Montross, a Mandalorian deserter turned bounty hunter.

Bounty: Montross! I'll pay you double... triple! Please, I'm worth more alive!
Montross: You're worth enough dead.

  • Recurring Boss: Montross, who later sports Mandalorian armor just like Jango.
  • Religion of Evil: The Bando Gora.
  • Ruins for Ruins Sake: The last level is set on a dark moon full of ruined buildings and a castle.
  • Strong Flesh, Weak Steel: Your first bosses are usually vehicles of some kind. Then the boss of the fifth chapter is a gargantuan Krayt Dragon and the later bosses in the sixth are all human.
  • Unexplained Recovery: Gardulla somehow survived being eaten by a Krayt Dragon.
    • External Retcon: The dragon threw her back up, finding her to be indigestible. Hutt hides are notoriously tough.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can set bystanders ablaze with the flamethrower.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Gardulla the Hutt, and later Montross, as he's being dog-piled by the Bando Gora and eaten alive.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: Jango and his informant/self-appointed adoptive mother, Rozatta.
  • Walking Armory: Jango. He can collect weapons from his enemies, but has also:
  • Villain Protagonist: Jango is a Type V Anti-Hero throughout most of the game, but on Oovo IV and the final level of Coruscant he leans towards this, as he's pitted against enemies who are decent, law abiding people, like civilians and security staff. This would be bad enough but his actions go beyond cynical pragmatist as he murders an unarmed, albeit corrupt, Senator for no apparent reason other than sadism, and hands Bendix Fust over to Sebolto despite knowing full well that he'll probably torture Fust to death. Combined with his purely selfish motives, this probably pushes him too far to be even an extreme Anti-Hero, especially given that the destruction of Oovo IV likely puts his body count pretty close to Vosa and Montross.
    • To be fair, most (if not all) of the cops guarding Senator Trell's tower are implied (a few are even directly stated) to be corrupt, as is the entire corrections staff on Oovo IV. As for the civilians, most of the time you won't be intentionally killing them unless they've got a price on their head; the rest of the time they just happen to be dumb enough to run into the crossfire of a blaster fight. Also, Jango does get (slightly) better by the end of the game.
  • You Killed My Mentor: A reason for fighting Montross.
  • Zerg Rush: The favored tactic of the Bando Gora cultists. Better keep that flamethrower handy.