The other day, I was going down a rabbit hole about the clone army and how they were created. We all know Jango Fett was the genetic template for the Grand Army of the Republic—but I never really stopped to think about why him, specifically. Out of everyone in the galaxy, why did Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus) handpick this one Mandalorian bounty hunter?
Turns out, an old Star Wars game actually touches on that question, and it lines up with what we’ve seen in Legends and the broader canon.
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Star Wars: Bounty Hunter Finally Explains Why Jango Fett Was Chosen to Be Cloned
A little background on the game I just mentioned—it’s called Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, and you actually play as Jango Fett. You take on contracts, travel from planet to planet, and basically live out the full bounty hunter experience while exploring the galaxy.
The story takes place before the events of Episode II – Attack of the Clones, so it fills in some of the blanks about how Jango got involved with the Kaminoans and why he was picked to be the clone template in the first place.
As for the plot, it kicks off after Darth Sidious kills his master, Darth Plagueis. With his rise to power underway, Sidious sees the Force-worshipping cult known as the Bando Gora as a serious threat to his grand plan. So he tasks Count Dooku—now operating as Darth Tyranus—with wiping them out and eliminating their leader, Komari Vosa, a fallen Jedi.
But instead of going himself, Dooku places a massive bounty—5 million Republic credits—on Vosa’s head, and hires two bounty hunters to compete for the prize: Jango Fett and his rival Montross.
The Origin of the Clone Army Plan
At the start of the game, we’re dropped into a secret conversation between Darth Sidious and Count Dooku. Sidious expresses concern about the growing influence of the Bando Gora cult and questions why Dooku hasn’t yet dealt with their leader, Komari Vosa. But that’s not the only topic they discuss—this is also where we get our first glimpse into the origins of the Clone Army.
Sidious instructs Dooku to begin preparing for the creation of a clone army. He tells him to “find an ideal specimen”—someone strong, skilled, and obedient enough to serve as the genetic template for what will eventually become the Grand Army of the Republic. He even suggests that Dooku look among bounty hunters or mercenaries to find the right candidate.
Rather than search randomly, Dooku takes a different approach. He puts out a bounty: 5 million Republic credits for Komari Vosa—dead or alive. It’s a high-stakes challenge meant to draw out the galaxy’s best hunters, so Dooku can observe them in action and pick the strongest.
Later, when Jango Fett returns to his contact Rozatta, she tells him he’s received a special message—one that was sent directly to him. It’s a hologram from Dooku (going by “Tyranus”), informing Jango that he’s been chosen to participate in the hunt. The test has begun.
Jango Fett Won a Bounty Hunter Contest
With a bounty that was almost impossible to resist, Jango Fett jumps into the hunt for Komari Vosa, and this is where things start to get really interesting. As we follow him through the later stages of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, we see him heading to the planet Kohlma, where Vosa is hiding out.
But Jango isn’t the only one on her trail.
Montross, a rival bounty hunter and former Mandalorian, is already there. He’s been one step ahead of Jango throughout the entire mission, and now he’s waiting just outside Vosa’s fortress. The two finally come face to face—and it’s personal. There’s a long history between them, and this bounty is about more than credits now. It’s about proving who’s better.
The two clash right outside the castle, and after an intense fight, Jango comes out on top. He defeats Montross once and for all, securing his position as the top hunter in the galaxy.
After defeating Montross, Jango Fett gets back on track with his original mission—taking down Komari Vosa. He heads straight for her castle on Kohlma, but things don’t go as planned. As he tries to sneak in, he’s overwhelmed by the Bando Gora cultists. They capture him, beat him down, and he blacks out.
When Jango wakes up, he’s tied up and being tortured by two Bando Gora goons. Eventually, Vosa herself shows up, clearly intrigued by the man who came all this way just to claim a bounty on her head. She demands to know who sent him, but Jango refuses to say a word.
Just when things are looking grim, help arrives—Zam Wesell, the same changeling bounty hunter we later see with Jango in Attack of the Clones, comes in clutch and rescues him.
After regrouping, Jango fights his way back through the castle and finally confronts Vosa in a brutal final battle. He defeats her, but as the dust settles, he senses something, or someone—watching.
That’s when Count Dooku steps out of the shadows.
Dooku congratulates Jango, telling him he’s the only man in the galaxy skilled enough to defeat a Force-wielding assassin without using the Force himself.
Impressed by Jango’s skill, Dooku offers him something more than credits: a chance to be the genetic template for a new army being secretly built on Kamino. Jango would earn a fortune, but more importantly, it would allow him to pass on his legacy.
Jango doesn’t say yes right away. Instead, he makes one condition: he wants one unaltered clone for himself—a son. Dooku agrees.
And that’s how Boba Fett came into existence. And why Jango became the blueprint for the entire Clone Army.
In the Official Canon, the Kaminoans Simply Offered Jango a Price for His DNA
While the earlier story comes from Legends, the official Star Wars canon presents a different version of how Jango Fett became the template for the clone army.
In the comic Age of Republic – Jango Fett #1, we learn that Count Dooku first tested Jango with a bounty hunting mission—similar to the version seen in Legends. After completing the job, Jango travels to the Moons of Bogden, where he meets Dooku to collect his reward.
But here’s the key difference: during their meeting, Dooku informs Jango that the Kaminoans are offering to buy his genetic material for use in a cloning project. According to the canon reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, they offered him 20 million credits in exchange.
The comic doesn’t mention the payment directly, but the number comes from that canon source. It’s a small but notable shift—this time, the Kaminoans approached Jango with the deal, and he accepted.
It’s a cleaner, more direct version of events—and one that’s backed by official canon.