Who do the Mandalorians most resemble from our history

Spartan, Celts, Huns? Perhaps they compare to all war like societys in there own way. But which one the most?

I personally say they compare to the Spartans the most. The early age military training, the war society, the I'm better than you attitude.

But Karen Traviss said she modeled them after the Celts. I seem to see the tribe comparison, but little else. My knowledge of Celts is a little thin. So I might be wrong.

 

Notice the thread titled "MANDALORIANS, TONIGHT WE DINE....IN HELL!"

 

Karen Traviss said that she based them more so on the Picts than the Spartans.

(though, their helmets look spartan)

 

Well, the Mandalorians have been around longer than Traviss has been writing for Star Wars, so her source of inspiration isn't really the only one that matters. No clue what previous writers had based them on, though.

 

Well they seem to be inspired by all war like societies of our history. Yet my belief is that most arthurs had Spartans in mind when writing about them. That may have been the original intention.

 

I want to lean on a mix between the Maoris and the Spartans. Their chant reminds me of the haka. But their whole warrior ethic reminds me of the Spartans. It doesn't help that Jango Fett was played by a Maori.

 

Now, now, that's blind prejudice speaking and you know it.

 

Just because you reach the pinnacle of your civilization before all the other late bloomers around your city-state doesn't make you stunted.

And if you want to get waaay back to the conceptual roots of the Mandalorians, George Lucas based Boba Fett off of the old Commando Cody Republic Pictures serials and spaghetti western gunslingers.

 

QFT.

The Sith in Tales of the Jedi comics were kinda like Azteks/Egyptians imo, so I like the idea tha Mandalorinas being inspired by the Spartans.

 

Celts, Sarmatians, and a bit of Spartans.

 

I dunno, back in their "Tales of the Jedi" era days, they always came across (to me) as more like the Mongols or Huns, or even the late Roman-era and beyond barbarian tribes (Vandals, Goths, and Vikings). They appeared as a (seemingly) nomadic warrior-race with a penchant for mounted (Basilisk) warfare, fighting against a long-established political entity (The Republic).

I've also never seen much of an emphasis on teamwork and group-tactics from the Mandalorians. They've often seemed more concerned with personal/individual glory in battle than working as a "perfect fighting unit" like the Spartans aspired to. Not that the Mandos are incapable of large or small-scale group tactics. It just doesn't seem like it's an overarching emphasis in their training.

Certainly they've evolved since those earlier appearances, though. But like most things in Star Wars, they've become a mishmash of a lot of different influences.

 

If they were inspired solely from one source, I imagine we'd hear people griping that they were just [insert here] in Star Wars.

 

Forgot one: the Scots. The kilts, get it?

 

The Mandalorians remind me very definitely of the Vikings:

1.) They're a warrior society, among whom armour and weapons are seen as the fundamental token of "citizen" status.

2.) They're a far-voyaging people, capable of organizing large military fleets on what's essentially a permanent campaign footing; but they're also prepared to establish themselves in small groups on remote, marginal worlds, with their main interests above subsistence-level being to maintain their armour and their ships.

3.) Bearing in mind both these factors (which aren't unconnected), there's not much social stratification among them, but they're nevertheless capable of producing war-leaders who can lead massive armies with near-imperial authority.

4.) At least in later centuries, they become very good at assimilating other ethnic groups into their own numbers.

Placed in the abstract, of course, those factors could be applied to quite a lot of real-world "barbarian" groups - the Goths, for instance; I suppose that what makes me think of the Mandalorians as specifically Space Vikings is the emphasis on heavy infantry armour, the importance of the interstellar "war fleet" element to their society, and their general disinterest in a long-term political accomodation with "civilization".

The military expedition off into the unknown, on either small or large scale, becomes a permanent social/cultural motif for them, whereas in the real world, most other barbarian groups seem to have undertaken a single major phase of long-range migration/campaign activity, and then integrated into an existing area of the civilized world, via an accomodation with the local élite.

There's more I could probably say on this (not least about the fact that Viking society was, overall, wider than the defintions I'm using), but I'll stop there for now....

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Actually everytime I watch Braveheart I get that Mandalorian vibe.

Wallace to the Bruce: "Unit us, unit the Clans."

Then again are the Scots celtic themselves?

 

I would compare them to the Cossaks. Semi-nomadic, often at odds with TPTB, warlike and able to wage wide campaigns once united. Also very individualistic (compared to the Spartans) and able to assimilate others into their way of life.

 

Well, the Mandalorians certainly share with the Scots an uncanny ability to lose battles quite disasterously.

 

To me, they seem to be a combination of Sparta's warrior "society" and Mongolian nomadic drifty-ness.

 

For me, they always struck me as a bit of a cross between Native Americans (strong oral tradition, children are given responsibility at young ages, both sexes were interchangable in some fashion, etc.) and the Celts (warlike tradition, fighting for glory and the fight, mercenary usage at times, etc.)

Basically all of the "good" aspects of the Native Americans and all of the "not so good" aspects of the Celts, IMO.

 

Actualy, I'ld say Celts are a good example, at least for Karen's interpretation.

A group of primarily farmers and craftsmen yet all trained to become a warrior on short notice, with a strong emphasis on indvidual acheivement in battle, fatherhood and protection of the home over conquest.

But I'ld say more Vikings. Very Viking to me.

I don't even know where people got Ninjas from-I can't imagine a group more different from the Mandos....except for maybe greenpeace.

 

Maybe the ELF though... they always seem to pick losing causes...

 

Don't need the baiting, thanks...

 

Actually, all of those "Native American" traits were also typical of the Celts.