What's So Special About Mandalorian Armor? Star Wars' Sacred Beskar Gear Explained
"Star Wars" has one of the vastest universes in fiction — one that is ever expanding, incredibly detailed, and fleshed-out, in addition to feeling lived-in. The thing that makes this franchise and fictional universe unique is that unlike Tolkien's Legendarium, or, say, the "One Piece" world, "Star Wars" is far from the work of a single person, or even a single team.
The "Star Wars" universe has grown and expanded piece by piece over nearly 50 years, with new artists coming in and building on the surprising success of George Lucas' original 1977 film. The original trilogy introduced a fleshed-out world with a long history that was barely hinted at, with places, people, and concepts that other writers in what was known as the Expanded Universe (now Legends) could expand on and explain. Of course, we've seen many elements from the Expanded Universe become part of the post-Disney canon in recent years, which adds to the organic growth of the property.
Case in point, the sacred Mandalorian iron known as beskar, which is a crucial aspect of the "Mandalorian" TV show. It was first introduced as a non-specific Mandalorian iron in the comic book "Tales of the Jedi" and described as being resistant to lightsaber attacks. The actual name, beskar, was not introduced until a 2006 article in "Star Wars Insider" about Mandalorians and their culture, written by Karen Traviss.
But what made beskar so special? Well, that isn't exactly explained. We do know, however, that the metal is extremely rare and can only be found on Mandalorian worlds like Mandalore. This makes beskar weapons and armor not just unique but also powerful.
The Mandalorians and their armor
Just like the planet Mandalore and the Mandalorian culture made their way from Legends into the main "Star Wars" canon, so did beskar's resistance to blaster fire and, more importantly, lightsaber attacks.
This matters because, for as long as the idea of Mandalorian has existed, so too has their conflict with the Jedi. Indeed, the idea of Mandalorians as a group was first introduced in the novelization for "The Empire Strikes Back," in which they were described as "a group of evil warriors defeated by the Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars." That conflict ended up changing over the decades but one thing remained true — from the moment the Jedi first encountered the Mandalorians, they fought.
The comics and the "Knights of the Old Republic" video games portrayed long and arduous wars between the two groups from the moment they first encountered each other. In the current canon, the war between Mandalorian and the Old Republic eventually caused a cataclysm on the surface of Mandalore that turned it into a lifeless desert. When Dave Filoni and his team brought the Mandalorians into the main canon for "The Clone Wars," he looked at these portrayals to the long and tumultuous history between the Jedi and the Mandalorians that the cartoon implied. From those stories, he also took inspiration in the way fighting the Jedi informed the Mandalorian arsenal.
"Their technology had a massive increase once they collided with the Jedi and found these Force-wielding people that had abilities they didn't understand," Filoni told ComicBook.com. "Their armor is a reaction to the Jedi."
Of course, other than just being resistant to lightsaber attacks, Mandalorians had arsenals of different weaponry — no two of them the same. From flamethrowers and missiles to jetpacks and more, each Mandalorian is unique.