10 Things You Didn't Know About Cad Bane

Dec 29

There probably isn't much that Cad Bane wouldn't do if the payment was right. He had kidnapped Force-sensitive babies for Darth Sidious, and had taken hostages in the Republic Senate. He was even hired to kill Chancellor Palpatine himself. So far, the Duros bounty hunter had only appeared in animation form, both in The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch (and as graffiti in Star Wars Rebels). As this species was first seen back in A New Hope, nothing would stop Bane from jumping to live-action, like Ahsoka Tano or Bo-Katan before him. This is reason enough to look at 10 things you (probably) didn't know about Cad Bane.

1. Out Of The West

Everything about Cad Bane screams Western: his boots, his long coat, his twin blasters, and of course, his wide-brim hat. In fact, Bane was based on Lee Van Cleef's character Angel Eyes from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Even Corey Burton used the actor as a blueprint for creating Bane's voice.

2. Evolution Of A Bounty Hunter

When it was necessary to establish the bounty hunters as a third faction besides the Republic and the Separatists, Dave Filoni and The Clone Wars writer Henry Gilroy first thought of bringing in the bounty hunter Durge from the original Clone Wars series of 2003, but to reimagine him as a human. However, this idea was dropped, and Filoni and Gilroy came up with a completely new bounty hunter named Nom Kahbah. This was until George Lucas decided he wanted a more Western-like character.

3. Blast From The Past

As with many other things in Star Wars, the principal design of Bane stemmed from one of Lucas' previously unused ideas. When researching Bane's character, Filoni discovered early concept drawings for the original trilogy that depicted a spacer wearing a fedora.

4. Father Figure

After Jango Fett was killed, Bane was regarded as one of the most skilled bounty hunters in the galaxy. This was because Jango acted as a mentor to the Duros, and he had learned much from Jango in his youth. Rough animation of a never-completed story arc of The Clone Wars later showed Bane and Jango's son Boba working together, with Bane now acting as a mentor to the young bounty hunter. However, we would see that their relationship did not end well.

5. No Smoking

Fueling Bane's gunslinger image, he often had a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. While initially intended to be a cigarette, this idea was later scrapped due to the bad image of smoking. After all, R2-D2 and C-3PO participated in an anti-smoking PSA video in 1980.

6. A Hat To Kill For

In The Clone Wars Season 4 episode “The Box,” Bane got into a dispute with fellow bounty hunter Bulduga. As the Ithorian wasn't willing to voluntarily give Bane his wide-brimmed hat, the Duros shot him and exchanged his own hat with that of his dead victim.

7. Two Tubes

Bane made it his specialty to fight, kill, and capture any Jedi during the Clone Wars. He was employed by the criminal underworld and the Sith Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and Darth Sidious. In order not to suffocate if Force users tried to Force choke him, Bane had two breathing tubes implanted directly into his cheeks. This apparatus also allowed him to operate in environments without oxygen.

8. Worth More Than A Jedi

During the Clone Wars, the Separatists put out a bounty of one million credits for each dead Jedi. However, this sum paled compared to the 2.5 million credits that the Republic rewarded for Bane's capture.

9. Walking Arsenal

Like any good bounty hunter, Bane had quite a few weapons at his disposal. Most notably were his two LL-30 blaster pistols. He also wore gauntlets that enabled him to electro-stun his enemies and remote control his ship, the Xanadu Blood. The gauntlets also included a whipcord thrower and a flamethrower. He later acquired a GALAAR-15 blaster carbine that could emit a knockout gas. He also wore jet-boots that enabled him to escape the Force jumps of Jedi.

10. Headshots

Besides his friendly reunion with Boba Fett (see number 4.), the two bounty hunters were slated to meet again in another never produced but at least pre-visualized story arc of The Clone Wars. The two hunters faced each other in a classic Western duel, firing their blasters at the exact moment, knocking each other to the ground by the impact. While Fett's helmet probably saved his life (the hit caused the famous dent), Bane's fate remained unknown, and many believed him to be dead until his return in The Bad Batch. He was seen with a metal plate on the left side of his head. Although this has not been confirmed by Lucasfilm, this was likely the result of a not-lethal headshot by Boba Fett, which would make their duel officially canon.

Source(s): StarWars.com, Wookieepedia

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Gerald Petschk