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| “ | Take some advice, kid. You wanna be a bounty hunter? Make the best deal for yourself and survive. | „ |
| ~ Fennec trying to fool Toro Calican. |
| “ | The only person you can rely on is yourself. | „ |
| ~ Fennec to Omega. |
| “ | In difficult times, fear is a surer bet. | „ |
| ~ Fennec Shand to Boba Fett. |
Fennec Shand is a major character in the 2019 Disney+ live-action series The Mandalorian, a supporting character in the 2021 animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and the deuteragonist of the 2021-2022 live-action miniseries The Book of Boba Fett, a spin-off of The Mandalorian. She is a master assassin who had been active since the rise of the Galactic Empire. Following an unfortunate confrontation on Tatooine, Fennec was left for dead until she was rescued by the former bounty hunter Boba Fett, whom she would later ally with to reclaim criminal territory from the late Jabba the Hutt.
She is portrayed and voiced by Ming-Na Wen, who also played Agent Savannah in Milo Murphy's Law.
Personality[]
| “ | Fennec Shand is an elite mercenary. She made her name killing for all the top crime syndicates, including the Hutts. If you go after her, you won't make it past sunrise. | „ |
| ~ Mando about Fennec's reputation. |
Since her beginnings as a bounty hunter, Fennec has proven to be a formidable fighter, determined, manipulative, reckless and devious. During her encounter with Omega, she won her target's trust with a friendly false facade, though she gave her some honest advice on the importance of knowing what to do in the galaxy when you're alone.
Despite her already feared reputation, Fennec was never hostile towards Omega, showing a mild concern for the clone child's well-being. Facing any opponent, Fennec never shows fear or dread, this being seen when she faced the much stronger Wrecker or facing the much more experienced veteran bounty hunter Cad Bane.
During the New Republic era, Fennec has become even more ruthless and cold than in the past, hence his reputation as an elite mercenary that even the fearsome bounty hunter, Din Djarin/Mando feared. Fennec also retained her manipulative side but lost some of that talent however as she failed to trick a rookie like Toro Calican who immediately shot her after trying to trick him.
Following her rescue by Boba Fett, she remained initially suspicious of him until working together the two developed mutual respect, with Boba offering Fennec a place by his side when he took over the throne from Jabba. Helping Boba get his armor back from Mando, Fennec didn't hesitate to keep Grogu in her sights despite being a toddler. After Grogu was captured by Moff Gideon, Fennec helped rescue the Yoda's species little one in gratitude for the return of Boba's armor, showing that despite her ruthless nature Fennec has some sense of honor. Fennec also possesses a certain arrogance, as she claimed to never miss her targets even though it did indeed happen.
As Boba's second in command, Fennec expressed her differing opinion on how a Daimyo should show power over others, such as being carried like a king or using fear rather than respect to rule. With each new enemy or potential allies showing up, Fennec remains suspicious in every way, although she ends up trusting the cyborgs and Black Krrsantan. Upon reuniting with Mando, it turns out that the two former enemies now have a more friendly and respectful relationship.
Biography[]
Early bounty hunter career[]
Originally from the Mid Rim, Fennec began her career quickly noticed as a bounty hunter when the Galactic Empire had just replaced the Republic. Her first known assignment is given to him by the Kaminoan scientist, Nala Se, to retrieve a runaway clone child named Omega.
Warned by Raspar Six of Omega's presence on the moon Pantora, Fennec unexpectedly encountered Omega on the street as she had just become separated from her friends. The bounty hunter amicably offered her help to the child to find his way, the latter still unaware of all the dubious people who abound in the galaxy. A little later, Fennec notices that Omega is hungry so she pretends to accidentally run into a fruit vendor and steals some while helping pick them up.
Omega notices that they didn't pay for the fruit, just for Fennec to tell her that breaking the rules every once in a while is fine. Then questioned on why she carries a blaster, Fennec affirms that it is better to have what to defend oneself when one is alone. At the moment, Hunter arrives and this forces Fennec to reveal her true colors while attempting to stab Hunter while Omega flees. Hunter arrives disarmed by brute force but is knocked unconscious when Fennec headbutts him with her helmet before fleeing as local authorities approach.
She catches up with Omega in the sewers and finds herself confronted by Wrecker who covers up Omega's escape but Fennec uses his superior speed to knock the modified clone into a gas pipe. Following Omega to the top of a communications tower, Fennec on the outside access door locked by the child, causing her to almost fall into the void if Fennec hadn't caught her in time. Pursued by Hunter on a speeder bike, Fennec attempts to flee with Omega through traffic while trying to take down the clone sergeant. The chase finally ends when Omega manages to reach Hunter and the latter detonates with an explosive, although Fennec escapes unscathed. His target having eluded him, Fennec still pays Six for the info and then contacts Nala Se to tell her that she continues to track down Omega.
A few weeks later, Fennec finds Omega's trace on Bora Vio when she had just been captured by Cad Bane hired by Lama Su. Infiltrating the abandoned cloning facility, Fennec kills Taun We who came to bring the money to Bane before confronting the veteran bounty hunter. Bane is unimpressed with Fennec due to her lack of experience but was tempted to trade the credits for Omega, only for Bane's minion, Todo 360, to ambush Fennec from behind. An exchange of blaster fire ensues between the two bounty hunters, allowing Omega to get away. Bane stunned by an explosion, Fennec caught up with Omega in a Kaminoan's clone tank room and once again attempted to gain her trust but Omega was smart enough to not fall for Fennec's tricks again. Another interference from Todo distracted Fennec long enough for Omega to drop a dead clone on the woman before fleeing.
Fennec and Cad Bane clash on Bora Vio.
As Bane blocks Omega on the balcony, Fennec pops up and takes on the Duros in close combat. Despite Fennec's combat skills and painful armlocks, Bane's resilience and experience allows him to get the better of her and knock her out briefly. Narrowly dodging Bane's flamethrower, Fennec ties him up with a bolas and knocks him down with a kick to the face, though Bane survives using his boots' thrusters. Once Omega is rescued by the Bad Batch, Fennec sabotages Bane's ship and then leaves Bora Vio before contacting Nala Se, whose goal now was to keep Omega away from Lama Su. Fennec offers to pursue the clones in exchange for a bonus but Nala Se is content to pay her for her completed work.
In 18 BBY, the rogue clone commandos Hunter and Wrecker seek out Fennec on a space station for intel on the Empire's M-Count targets. She agrees to provide them with intel if they help her capture an elusive and dangerous target named Sylar Saris. During the mission, Fennec uses the clones' unique abilities to navigate the explosive-ridden river and locate Saris' location. Along the way, she also reveals that her employer had previously allowed Omega to escape with the Bad Batch. After a brief altercation, Saris is captured alive and the trio return to the space station. Fennec says that she cannot hand over the intel just yet but will reach out in the future. She later contacts Assajj Ventress over hologram to ask about the M-Count bounties and sends information regarding the Bad Batch's whereabouts.
Growing Reputation[]
Fennec would later become well known in the galaxy as a fearsome bounty hunter and then master assassin, often hired by the worst crime syndicates for her skills as a killer.
New Republic Era[]
Following the fails of the Empire and the imprisonment of all of her employers by the New Republic, Fennec made her way onto Tatooine. A rookie bounty hunter named Toro Calican hoping to join the Bounty Hunters Guild used a tracking fob to follow his trail on Tatooine and hired the more experienced Mandalorian Din Djarin to help him corner Fennec. The duo enters the Dune Sea and after having spotted the body of another hunter probably victim of the mistress assassin dragged by a Dewback, they are attacked by Fennec sheltered in the heights and using his MK rifle to keep them away.
As night fell, Mando and Toro took advantage of the darkness to rush towards Fennec on their Speeders and use flash charges to blind the mercenary. She manages to take down Mando's Speeder then confronts Toro and almost kills him just for Mando to take aim at her. Recognizing the Mandolarian as the person who fled the Bounty Hunters Guild on Nevarro with a special child, Fennec waits until Mando has gone to retrieve the Dewback in an attempt to manipulate Toro. After convincing the arrogant Toro that bringing Mando to the Guild would make him a legend, Fennec expects the rookie to free her from her handcuffs but get shot in the stomach instead, with Toro suspecting that she would have killed him at the first opportunity. When he returns, Mando finds Fennec apparently dead and Toro leaves with the Speeder. Later, after Mando kills Toro in Mos Eisley for his failed attempt to double-cross him, Boba Fett approaches Fennec on the brink of death. A Boba Fett who saw the flash charges finds an apparently dead Fennec.
Fennec was found to still be alive but her injuries were so severe that Boba took her to a workshop in Mos Eisley where a cybernetics expert replaced the integrity of Fennec's damaged organic parts with multiple cybernetic implants. Waking up later by a fire in the Dune Sea, a still-weakened Fennec sees what has happened to her, as Boba and his Bontha look on. She then questions him save about his identity but doesn't believe him at first since she heard about his supposed death. After Boba is told he survived the Sarlacc and lived among the Tusken Raiders until he unintentionally caused their death, the former bounty hunter asks the master assassin to help him retrieve his ship from the Jabba's palace and after which her debt will be paid, what Fennec accepts.
The duo later prowl near the palace now run by Jabba's former butler, Bib Fortuna, as revealed by Fennec. The assassin sends a mini droid to map the palace and the forces present to better prepare the attack. In the meantime, Fennec and Boba discuss a moment about life as a bounty hunter where Boba expresses how tired he is of risking his life in the service of idiots and plans to take over Fortuna's criminal empire, even offering a equal place with Fennec at his side when that happens. After the Slave One recovers despite some setback in the plan, Fennec decides to stay with Boba, beginning to respect him.
They then go to the Great Pit of Carkoon where lives the same Sarlacc who had swallowed Boba five years before, the latter convinced that his armor got stuck inside. The Slave One descends into the darkness of the pit only for the still-living Sarlacc to awaken and attack, ramming the ship towards him. Fennec managed to kill the creature by having it swallow a seismic charge. However, it turns out that the armor was not inside. Sometime over, Boba discovers that his armor was obtained by Fennec's old enemy, Mando, and the pair begin to hunt him down.
They would eventually reunite with Mando and his fellow traveler Grogu on Tython, a planet with close ties to the Force. Fennec moves into a sniper position with a meditating Grogu in her line of sight while Boba confronts Mando about possessing the Mandalorian armor. The three individuals eventually come to a talk during which Mando expresses his surprise at Fennec's survival. Suddenly, two Imperial ships land and disembark several remnant Stromtroopers, forcing the trio into defensive positions.
Shooting down the enemy both on the ground and in the air, Fennec soon finds herself in difficulty facing an E-Web heavy repeating blaster cannon firing laser bursts that she nevertheless manages to destroy by breaking a rock with all her might on the cannon. The Stormtroopers quickly surround her after that while clarifying that they only want the little green creature. Mando comes to Fennec's aid but the two are quickly in bad shape until a Boba, again equipped with his armor, reverses the situation and destroys the two fleeing transporters. Unfortunately, Mando's ship, the Razor Crest, is destroyed and Grogu is captured by the Dark Troopers. With the fight partially lost, Fennec and Boba nevertheless decide to help Mando save Grogu in retribution for the armor as Boba promised earlier.
After recruiting Cara Dune on Nevarro, the group travels to Karthon Chop Fields to retrieve prisoner Migs Mayfeld due to his former ties to the Empire. Mayfeld leads them to Morak where an Imperial Rhydonium Refinery is secretly located and where they can get the coordinates of Moff Gideon's Imperial Cruiser from a terminal. On the spot, they plan to infiltrate the refinery using a juggernaut transport but as the place is managed by former members of the ISB, Fennec would be immediately spotted as well as Cara while Boba could be recognized because of his clone face, leaving Mando and Mayfeld as the only ones who can infiltrate the refinery. Fennec and Cara stay behind outside the refinery and cover Mando and Mayfeld as they escape by taking down the Imperial forces. The two also comment on Mayfeld's perfect shot in the rhydonium to fully blow up the refinery as being a good shot.
After separating from Mayfeld, the group storms an Imperial ship, capturing Doctor Pershing there to hold all the information on Gideon's cruiser and later recruits Mandalorian warriors Bo-Katan Kryze and Koska Reeves. With Boba pretending to shoot them as they board the stolen ship and approach the cruiser, Fennec and the three other women manage to board and fight their way to the bridge while Mando will free Grogu. Later, the group is joined by Mando with a rescued Grogu and a captive Gideon, the Dark Troopers storming the armored doors, the only way out. The Jedi Luke Skywalker subsequently boards and begins destroying the Dark Troopers, causing Gideon to attempt to kill Grogu with a hidden blaster but his attempt fails, leaving him surrounded by Fennec, Koska and Cara who then knocks the Moff down when he tried to kill himself. Fennec then watches the separation of Mando and Grogu who leaves with Skywalker.
Boba's Reign[]
Fennec later reunites with Boba and as they had planned, storms Jabba's palace. Fennec notably kills the majority of Fortuna's guards while freeing a female Twi'lek slave. Boba then enters the throne room and coldly kills Fortuna then takes his throne with Fennec celebrating their victory with a bottle of spotchka.
Shortly after, Boba and Fennec are visited by the heads of criminal families who have come to bring their offering, except from the mayor's butler, Mok Shaiz, who keeps chattering away saying nothing and claiming that Boba must pay the mayor. Fennec then warns the Twi'lek that if he had spoken to Jabba that way he would already be dead. After the departure of the butler, two Gamorreans prisoners formerly in the service of Jabba then of Fortuna are presented to them and Boba decides to offer them a place at his side as bodyguards.
Traveling through Mos Espa, Fennec disapproves of Boba not showing off his power like Jabba used to. They stop at the Sanctuary cantina where they meet the owner Garsa Fwip whom Boba assures that her business will continue to flourish under his reign. On their way out, the duo are ambushed by a group of men armed with energy shields and plasma pike. Despite their good offensive and defensive, Boba and Fennec find themselves overwhelmed until the arrival of the Gamorreans, which reverses the situation. While the only two surviving assailants flee, Fennec pursues them with orders from a wounded Boba to bring them back alive. She corners them on a roof and disarms them before throwing a deliberately into the void.
Fennec returns to the palace with her prisoner who is later identified by 8D8 as a member of the Order of the Night Wind. Fennec and Boba are unimpressed and when Fennec loses patience, she activates the trapdoor under the prisoner's feet so that they find themselves in the Rancor's lair. Unaware that there is no more Rancor, the assassin admits in fear that he was hired by Mok Shaiz.
Going to the town hall, the quartet to question Mok Shaiz face to face and the latter to deny his involvement while executing the assassin and redirect them to the Sanctuary for answers. At the Sanctuary, Garsa informs Boba that the Twins, Jabba's cousins, are claiming their late cousin's criminal territory. The two Hutts soon after arrive outside the Sanctuary to confront Boba about claiming Jabba's territory, Fennec staying behind her boss, gun in hand, especially when Black Krrsantan turns out to be working for the Twins. The conversation ends a bad omen, with Fennec suggesting that Boba beware of the Hutts.
The next evening, Fennec accompanies Boba to confront a gang of cyborgs who have stolen water, just so the new Daimo doesn't recruit them. Later, Fennec and the cyborgs defend Boba from an attempted murder by Krrsantan, with the Master Assassin locking the Wookie in the Rancor's lair after impaling his hand with her dagger to knock him down.
In the early morning, Fennec and Boba are having lunch together while discussing what to do next when they are suddenly interrupted by 8D8 announcing that the twins are here. Outside, Fennec once again stays in the back with gun in hand as the Twins apologize for trying to kill Boba, offering him a Rancor as compensation and giving up territory to Jabba who apparently already had promised to the mayor. As the Twins depart, Fennec disapproves of Boba releasing a leave behind Krrsantan. After capturing Mok Shaiz's butler with the help of the cyborgs, the Pykes Syndicate arrive en masse in Mos Espa.
Mos Espa Conflict[]
In this situation, Fennec attends the summoning of the heads of families by a Boba wanting him to remain neutral in the coming conflict. Black Krrsantan now on their side, Fennec will recruit additional muscle. She finds Mando in Mos Eisley who was coming to see Peli Motto to get a new ship and the Mistress Assassin offers him money but the Mandalorian offers her help for free due to what Fennec and Boba have done for him in the past.
Some time later, Boba's group meets to discuss the situation in the Sanctuary which has just been destroyed by a bomb left by the Pykes. Fennec soon has the unpleasant surprise of seeing Cad Bane again twenty-eight years after their last meeting, now working for the Syndicate and imposing an ultimatum on Boba. Subsequently, the criminals under the orders of the crime families turn against the new Daimo. Boba then orders Fennec to find the conspirators. Along the way, she saves the cyborgs from an Aqualish sniper before taking on a speeders.
After Boba is defeated and slays Cad Bane, Fennec arrives at Mos Eisley, eliminates the two Pykes guards guarding the entrance to the hideout, sneaks through the roof and slays the family bosses one after the other with blaster shot, Mok Shaiz with a furtive strangulation, and the leader Pyke with a backstab.
Upon returning to Mos Espa, Fennec and Boba are respectfully hailed as heroes by the locals, something they are not used to to before joining Krrsantan and the cyborgs.
Powers and Abilities[]
| “ | Omega: Are you a soldier? Fennec: Not exactly. Omega: Then why do you have a blaster? Fennec: To protect myself. The galaxy's a dangerous place to be on your own. |
„ |
| ~ Fennec to Omega. |
- Master Fighter/Advanced Martial Artist: Fennec's main talent is her fearsome fighting ability. Her first confrontation against Hunter was more of a showdown than a real fight, but against Wrecker, Fennec was able to use the clone's charge against him to quickly put him out of action. She also proved capable of standing up to Cad Bane, one of the most feared bounty hunters of the Republic era. However despite her edge in martial arts, Fennec soon found herself overwhelmed by Bane's more basic yet more experienced fighting style. Even more than two decades later, Fennec's skills in hand-to-hand combat have not deteriorated, managing to easily overpower the much younger Toro Calican as well as easily defeat Stromtroopers and Order of the Night Wind warriors. Fennec also specializes in Joint locks.
- Expert shooter/Sniper: Fennec has excellent marksmanship with both one-handed blasters and a sniper rifle. She easily reached Mando's Beskar armor from a distant ridge and despite being temporarily blinded, she was also able to shoot down his moving speeder. On Tython, Fennec proved capable of sniping both on the ground and while jumping in the air.
- Master Assassin: Fennec is an experienced killer, having started out as a simple bounty hunter in her youth before earning the title of Master Assassin shortly before 9 ABY. She also killed for the Hutts and her services were known to be expensive. Her best feat to date was easily assassinating the traitorous family bosses, Mok Shaiz and several Pykes single-handedly.
Equipment[]
- Helmet: Fennec uses her helmet both as face protection but also in close combat. The helmet proved hard enough to stun a physically fit human like Hunter but was less effective against a Duros like Cad Bane, although it should be noted that Bane is a very hardened bounty hunter and had a metal plate in his head.
- MK sniper rifle: Fennec uses this modified rifle as her primary weapon both at range and close range. It is one of the few weapons that can damage Beskar, one of the strongest metals in the Star Wars universe, when fired multiple times at close range. The rifle also has a secret compartment from which Fennec can pull out a knife.
- Knife: In her early days, Fennec used a knife on rare occasions but seems to have lost it following her fight against Hunter. At the time of the New Republic, she uses it again.
- Blaster pistol: Like most Star Wars characters, Fennec wields one-handed blaster pistols, at least during the early Imperial era, having presumably replaced her pistol with her MK rifle. Although she still had a pistol of another model. Her new pistol looks similar to a DL-44 heavy blaster pistol but featured an iron sight, different barrel housing and a few greebies on it.
- Bolas: Fennec used bolas during her fight against Bane to both disarm and immobilize the Duros.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Din Djrin/Mandalorian
- Cara Dune
- Migs Mayfield
- Boba Fett (Friend and partner)
- Mos Espa crime families (formerly)
- Boba Fett's Gamorrean guards (deceased)
- Boba Fett's Rancor
- Krrsantan
- Unnamed Rancor Keeper
- Ratcater LEP series services droid
- 8D8
- Hutts (sometimes)
- Citizens of Freetown
- Citizens of Mos Espa
- Mok Shaiz's majordomo
- Cobb Vanth
- Peli Motto
- Peli Motto's droids
- Garsa Fwip (deceased)
Enemies[]
- Clone Troopers
- Galactic Republic
- Galactic Empire
- Stormtroopers
- Rebel Alliance
- Moff Gideon
- Mandalorian (formerly)
- Toro Calican - Attempted Killer (deceased)
- Kintan Striders
- Pyke Syndicate
- Mok Shaiz - Victim (deceased)
- Mok Shaiz's majordomo (formerly)
- Night Wind (defunct)
- Hutts (sometimes)
- Bib Fortuna (deceased)
- Jabba the Hutt (deceased)
- The Twins
- Cad Bane (deceased)
- Mos Espa crime families
- Garfalaquox - Victim (deceased)
- Unidentified Klatooinian don -Victim (deceased)
- Dokk Strassi - Victim (deceased)
- Unidentified Pyke Boss - Victim (deceased)
- Mining collective
Gallery[]
.jpg "Fennec (The Bad Batch Poster).jpg (124 KB)")
.jpg "Fennec Shand (Profile).jpg (185 KB)")
.jpg "Fennec in the action (The Bad Batch).jpg (35 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Fennec Shand is technically Ming-Na's first full-fledged villainous role since the other villainous appearances represented only temporary physical forms or disguise. However, she only acts as a villain in her earliest chronological appearances and reforms later on.
- Fennec is based on the real life Fennec Fox, known for his ability to survive and his cunning.
- She loves the Spotchka.
- Fennec's helmet is based on medieval jousting helmets.
- Ming-Na Wen has been a huge Star Wars fan since childhood, which is why she agreed to play the role of Fennec Shand.
- In The Bad Batch, Fennec does not yet have her tattoo on her left cheek.
External Links[]
- Fennec Shand on the Heroes Wiki
- Fennec Shand on the Star Wars Wiki
- Fennec Shand on the Disney Wiki
- Fennec Shand on the Wikipedia
