Unidentified Taung Mandalore

The unnamed Taung Mandalore was a Mandalorian Crusader who succeeded Mandalore the Indomitable by claiming the latter's mask upon his death on Dxun. He was widely believed by his contemporaries to have later emerged as Mandalore the Ultimate, but evidence exists which casts doubt on the veracity of that belief. In any case, he is the last known Taung to hold the title of Mandalore.

Mandalorian Crusader
"Now I am the new Mandalore!"

- Mandalore the Ultimate

Little was known about the Taung warrior's early life. He was known to have been the quickest Mandalorian to ever master the use of the Basilisk war droids, and fought under Ulic Qel-Droma as a Mandalorian Crusader during the Great Sith War.

Following the Mandalorian retreat during the Battle of Onderon, the future Mandalore was one of the many soldiers forced to rally on the moon of Dxun. Once there, he and several of his brothers-in-arms began a search for Mandalore the Indomitable, the Mandalorian leader who had become separated from them. Upon finding his leader's mask, he realized that the former Mandalore had been killed by the moon's native fauna. In accordance with Mandalorian tradition, he placed the mask upon his face and declared himself the new Mandalore.

A mystery of identity
What happened after this point is unclear. In the years that followed, Mandalorian society was transformed by the rise of Mandalore the Ultimate and the Neo-Crusader movement. Most at the time believed Mandalore the Ultimate to be one and the same person as the Taung Crusader who claimed Mandalore the Indomitable's mask on Dxun. Most historical records have recorded this version of events as the truth.

However, in the years after the Jedi Civil War, Canderous Ordo encountered an ailing, elderly Taung who claimed that he was the rightful Mandalore, and that the person inside the armor of Mandalore the Ultimate (who had died years earlier at the hands of Revan) had been a usurper who had come to power with the assistance of the Sith. The old Taung was in possession of the mask and armor of Mandalore the Indomitable, which he passed on to Canderous Ordo, who then claimed the title of Mandalore for himself and set out to rally the Mandalorians.

Behind the scenes
An unidentified Taung soldier appears in Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 6: Dark Lord, taking up the mask of Mandalore the Indomitable and establishing himself as the new Mandalore. Later, an unidentified Mandalore would be mentioned several times in both Knights of the Old Republic video games by various characters and was said to have fought in the Great Sith War and led the Neo-Crusaders during the Mandalorian Wars. Eventually, this ambiguous Mandalore was identified as "Mandalore the Ultimate" in the Star Wars Insider article The History of the Mandalorians; The New Essential Chronology later established that the Taung soldier and Mandalore the Ultimate were indeed the same character. However, the account of the elderly Taung which first appeared in the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide may have retconned them into being two separate characters.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War 6: Dark Lord