Mandalorian armor/Legends

"Verd ori'shya beskar'gam (A warrior is more than his armor.)"

- Mandalorian proverb

The warlike culture of the Mandalorians inspired them to develop many distinctive sets of armor during their long history. Such armor came to be known collectivelly as Mandalorian armor.

History
The design of Mandalorian armor changed a great deal in the seven millennia after the Taung first settled the planet Mandalore.

The first, widely recongizeable version was the Crusader Armor which was the signature armor worn by the Mandalorian Crusaders led by Mandalore the Indomitable during the Great Sith War. It had a jagged, organic form that varied from soldier to soldier. The design of Crusader Armor was centered around defending its wearer during melee combat which was considered by the Mandalorians to be the most honorable form of battle.

During Mandalore the Ultimate's reign as Mandalore, the Neo-Crusader Armor was designed for use in the Mandalorian Wars. By the time of the Jedi Civil War, it had become quite uniform in design and came in various colors, including blue, red, and yellow, which represented different ranks in the hierarchy of the Mandalorian Clans.

Millennia later, the Mandalorian Supercommando armor was developed to replace the older designs which were now referred to as Mandalorian Shock Trooper Armor. It was no longer full body armor, but partial armor that left limbs almost completely undefended, and focused its strength on the vital areas such as the torso, head, and groin. The New Mandalorian armor was a collection of blast resistant duraplast plates attached to a waterproof, armor mesh flight suit. A liner shirt with a micro energy field projector and two layers of ceramic plates greatly improve protection around the chest, back, and stomach. The careful layering of segmented armor plates ensures mobility, which if the wearor had a jet pack would further increase mobility. The Mandalorians began to see the value of extra weapons mounted on the suit, and so simple dart shooters, grappling wires, wrist-mounted rocket launchers and flamethrowers were added to the overall assault capabilities of a Mandalorian Supercommando.

The helmet alone was the control center of most of the suits abilities. A range finder attached to the duraplast armored helmet can track up to thirty targets, while a battle computer inside the helmet allows the wearer to control the suit's weapons, sensors, and jet pack through verbal commands. The dark macrobinocular viewplate offers a variety of vision modes, including infrared. A pineal eye sensor on the helmet combines with and internal overlay display to provide tracking information within a 360-degree radius. Motion sensors, and encrypeted internal comlink, and a broad-band atenna completethe helmet devices, all of which can be linked to the wearer's weapon's or their personnal starship. The helmet can act as a enviroment filter system with a two hour reserve tank allows

Design
Throughout Mandalorian history, three major features have remained constant in Mandalorian Armor design:
 * 1) The wearer was always protected by lightsaber-resistant Mandalorian iron, which could also deflect blaster bolts.
 * 2) The helmets almost always possessed a T-shaped visor and a sophisticated heads-up display (HUD).
 * 3) Mandalorian warriors decorate their armor to reflect personal accomplishments, clan affiliation, or simply personal preference. They often repainted their armor to reflect rank, clan and possibly the current terrain.

There are a few special suits of mention from the Galactic Civil War. One of the most famous was worn by the Bounty Hunter Boba Fett. But rumors told of possibilities of crafting a set of Mandalorian armor in the dreaded Death Watch Bunker.

Behind the scenes
The classic computer game Crusader, although totally unrelated to Star Wars, featured a main character that wore a red Mandalorian-like suit of armor. In the Megaman X series on the SNES, a villain named "Vile" ("Vava" in the Japanese version) bears a helmet similar to that of the Mandalorians. Both are perhaps inspired by Boba Fett's popularity.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Flashpoint
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Jedi vs. Sith 1
 * The Paradise Snare
 * See List of Boba Fett appearances
 * See List of Jango Fett appearances