Mandalorian Mercs

"Warmaster, we think too often in terms of dualism: Jedi or Sith, light or dark, right or wrong. But there are three sides to this blade, not two, opposed and similar at the same time. The third edge is the Mandalorian."

- Vergere

The Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club is a world-wide fan organization that began life as the brainchild of Tom Hutchens in March of 2007. Noticing that Mandalorian costumers had distinctive and separate needs to other Star Wars costuming groups, Tom decided to create a costume group based on Mandalorian culture.

Utilizing a guild name from Star Wars Galaxies and references from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic video games, the Mandalorian Mercs as a costume organization was born.

During the formation of the club, Tom began uniting Mandalorian costumers in the USA and UK; the regions were given names using the Mandalorian language developed by Karen Traviss. Talon Clan became the first Mandalorian Mercs clan in April 2007, shortly followed by Falco, Sun Raider and Storm Raider clans. The UK's Vok’Chi Clan was founded in late 2007.

From humble beginnings the club has grown from five to thirty-eight clans, spanning several countries with over five hundred members as well as several hundred prospective members from new countries, including Australia and Japan.

The Mandalorian Mercs has grown to become a truly global club that entertains Star Wars fans, promotes the creation of costumes, and raises money for charities world-wide.

Organization
"For the 501st Dune Sea Garrison and Tom's Mando Mercs."

- Karen Traviss, in her dedication of Imperial Commando: 501st

The infrastructure of the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club is based on all known references to Mandalorian Culture in Star Wars Expanded Universe canon. The cultural leader, or Mandalore, is the public figurehead with a ruling and advisory council and command staff used to debate and guide the club’s direction.

This makes the Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club unique as it is based on methodology and ideology as opposed to visual accuracies based on the Star Wars films. The Mercs are an inclusive and friendly club, following the Mandalorian way of clans, or family units, and a clans’ ability to adopt anyone who wishes to be a Mandalorian.

Command Staff
The Mercs Command Staff consists of:


 * Mand'alor, the Mandalore
 * Alor, the Council Chair
 * COMMO, the Communications Officer and head of the web team
 * PERSO, the Personnel Officer and head of the approval team
 * CAO, the Clan Admin Officer
 * PRO, the Public Relations Officer and head of the pr and art teams
 * QM, the Quartermaster
 * BR, the Brigadier
 * CA, the Council Advisers

Adminstrative Staff

 * CXO, the Communications Executive Officer
 * ATO, the Applicant Team Officers
 * RC, the Regional Commanders

Local Leadership

 * Alor'ad, Commanding Clan Officer
 * Ver'alor, Executive Officer
 * Ruus'alor, Sergeant at Arms
 * Squad Leader, Commanding Squad Officer

Members of the Mercs not holding an official position are referred to as 'OMs', or 'Official Members'.

In true homage to the characters they portray, the Mercs have changed and adapted over the years to support the growing amount of people interested in Mandalorian costuming. In 2008 the Mercs introduced smaller squads to allow people to better serve the communities in their region, with facilities to grow into larger clan units.

Charity
In November of 2007, the Mandalorian Mercs was a rapidly-growing community for Mandalorian costuming. The members of the club wanted to use this popularity to give back to the community in some way. The council of Mercs put their heads together, and working in conjunction with other costume clubs like the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion, decided to sponsor its own charity called the "Verd'ika Fund".

The goal of the fund is to provide toys for underprivalaged children throughout the regions of the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club. Besides toys the fund helps provide books, clothing and gift cards during the holiday season. The name of the fund is derived from the mando'a word "verd'ika", which means "little warrior".

Membership
Anyone who is at least 18 years and in possession of a custom Mandalorian costume from the Star Wars Universe is eligible for membership in the club. Applications can be submitted on the official site. This process typically consists of the application team checking an applicant's submitted photos and forwarding the information to the local clan or squad to which the member would belong.

All Mercs members are encouraged to create their own unique character name to use on the site's forums and at events in conjunction with their costume.

Honorary Members
"I'm hoping to take over the world. First of all to build up the Mandalorian Mercs until they are so strong that I can take over Lucasfilm and be in charge of everything that they do."

- Jeremy Bulloch, joking in an interview at Celebration V.

Some honorary members of the Mercs include:


 * Daniel Logan
 * Karen Traviss
 * Jeremy Bulloch
 * Mary Franklin
 * Jamie Snell
 * Dave Filoni
 * Joe Corroney
 * Steve Sansweet
 * Temuera Morrison
 * Timothy Zahn
 * Katee Sackhoff

Costumes
The Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club set the standards of Mandalorian costuming based on canon movie references of characters Boba and Jango Fett), as well as canonical television, comic book, video game and other written references in the novels by author Karen Traviss.

Custom Armor Styles Accepted

 * Early/Sith Wars Era
 * Late/Crusader Era
 * Neo-Crusader Era
 * Modern/Legacy Era

Canon Characters Accepted

 * Boba Fett
 * Jango Fett
 * Jodo Kast
 * Kal Skirata
 * Pre Vizla
 * Clone Wars Deathwatch Grunt