When most people bring up bounty hunters in the Star Wars series, it’s almost always to talk about either Bobba or Jango Fett. It’s not uncommon to hear the odd person mentioning Calo Nord from the classic Knights Of The Old Republic game. Usually, only those who have enjoyed the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show are quick to jump to talking about how great Cad Bane is.
While bounty hunters have always been a source of intrigue for the series, it’s not all that often that fans get to see into their world. That changed quite a bit when Cad Bane became a major antagonistic force in The Clone Wars series. As one of the most skilled bounty hunters to exist in the Star Wars universe, he was a foe that inspired fear in anyone unlucky enough to become his next target.
Who Was Cad Bane?
Cad Bane is a bounty hunter born originally on the planet Duro. This places Bane as a member of the Duros species, a group of aliens shown to have striking blue skin, and large, usually red eyes. While that would already be a rather off-putting sight to see for a bounty hunter, Bane completed his look with a western-style coat and hat, adding a layer of gravitas to his aura.
While much of his youth is unknown, it’s likely that it was uneventful until he took on the role of bounty hunter, as that is where much of his story begins. What is known is that Bane was pretty much always a conniving and cruel person. It could be said that Jango Fett was something of a teacher to Bane, but even that could be argued to be a bit of a stretch. Bane would often find himself serving the side of evil, but he didn’t actually care all that much, valuing what most bounty hunters do above all else: credits.
Bane would eventually find himself as the mentor of Jango Fett, though he wouldn’t view the young bounty hunter as any kind of son of his own. Instead, Bane was his usual cruel and calculated self to Boba Fett, which likely only helped to set him up for his brutal end years later. Despite how ruthless he could be to everyone in his life, Bane still saw so much success that the Jedi viewed him as one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy.
While working on his own, Cad Bane was more than capable of combating some of the greatest fighters in the galaxy. He was also capable of expert infiltration into highly guarded areas without any help. That doesn't mean Cad Bane wasn’t willing to work with others. He was also a skilled leader, even if he’d much rather be gunning down enemies by himself to make sure that whatever cut he was getting for the job was as big as possible.
What Did Cad Bane Do During The Clone Wars?
Cad Bane was a major force of chaos during the Clone Wars. He was constantly employed to steal precious objects, abduct important figures, and battle with the Jedi. Despite being thwarted eventually in pretty much every situation, Cad Bane proved quite skilled at what he did, often only being defeated after he had technically completed the mission he was employed to accomplish.
One of his biggest rivals during this period of his life was Obi-Wan Kenobi. The bounty hunter even went as far as to refuse to stop his ways until he had killed the Jedi. Unfortunately for Bane, he would fail to ever take down Obi-Wan, even if he did get a few technical victories over him in battles during the Clone Wars. Additionally, Cad Bane did spend some time in captivity, though he only allowed himself to be captured to further a job he’d been hired for.
What Did Cad Bane Do After The Fall Of the Jedi?
It should come as no surprise that the fall of the Jedi had little impact on Cad Bane. He continued his work as if nothing major had happened in the galaxy. One of the first times he popped back up after the fall of the Jedi was when he came at odds with the group of clones known as The Bad Batch, or Clone Force 99. Cad Bane demonstrated his speed with a gun by shooting down Hunter before he kidnapped Omega, though the group would later end up rescuing her.
Cad Bane wouldn’t surface in a big way again until The Book Of Bobba Fett. During this period, Cad Bane had become a major force on the planet Tattooine. It was that very thing that brought him into conflict with his former student, Bobba Fett. Unfortunately for Bane, the two would eventually battle one another, with Fett coming out on top and killing Cad Bane, thus ending his reign of terror across the galaxy.
How Skilled Was Cad Bane?
Cad Bane was one of the most legendary bounty hunters in all of Star Wars. In fact, he was so skilled that once Jango Fett was out of the way, he was said to be the most feared bounty hunter active in the galaxy. Part of the reason why Cad Bane was so legendary was that he was one of the few beings capable of going toe-to-toe with Jedi without any mastery of the Force himself. This meant that Cad Bane was such a skilled and brilliant fighter that he was capable of overcoming beings capable of using telekinesis and various other mind tricks.
His fighting ability was so impressive that he had no fear of coming to blows with some of the most skilled Jedi. Over the course of his life, he fought Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Quinlan Vos, with Bane arguably managing to come out on top on multiple occasions. He had no fear of taking the fight right to the Jedi, and was skilled enough to make his way inside the Jedi Temple and live to tell the tale.
Some might think it’s possible Cad Bane simply got lucky or had the advantage in a number of his encounters with Jedi. But clearly, that didn’t matter to someone as powerful as Darth Sidious, as the Sith Lord repeatedly sought Bane’s services. That’s without mentioning that he was also enlisted for work by Darth Sidious’ apprentice Count Dooku and even Darth Maul for additional help from time to time. It was all the respect her garnered and the skill he demonstrated that allowed Cad Bane to outlive the Jedi Order.
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