Star Wars: Best Bounty Hunters From The Original Trilogy Era

The Star Wars franchise has no end to bounty hunters throughout the series’ fictional universe. Such is especially the case with Star Wars‘ Original Trilogy, when numerous bounty hunters were active, working as contract killers for the Empire or for the various criminal organizations active after the fall of the Republic.

During the roughly 25 year period between the events of Revenge of the Sith and The Return of the Jedi, there were endless bounty hunters known for their violent capabilities and ability to bring their quarry in. Some–like Boba Fett–would reform with the dawn of the New Republic, but there’s no denying that the only deadliest bounty hunters managed thrived under the tyrannical rule and lawlessness of Star Wars’ Imperial Era.

Greedo

Greedo is actually an interesting character. For starters, he was the first bounty hunter to ever be featured in Star Wars, forcefully stopping Han Solo and nearly killing him before Solo managed to shoot first (or “shoot simultaneously at the same time as Greedo” – it’s a touchy subject for Star Wars fans).

This Rodian bounty hunter might perhaps be best known for the entire “Han shot first” debate among Star Wars fandom, but there’s no denying his distinct appearance paved the way not just for Rodians in the Star Wars universe, but fellow bounty hunters alike who made their appearance in the following movies.

IG-11

Star Wars has quite a few capable (and deadly) IG assassin droids at their disposal. While it’s tempting to highlight someone like IG-88, one of the original bounty hunters featured in The Empire Strikes Back, ultimately, few droids are more deadly (or caring) than The Mandalorian‘s IG-11.

Like most battle-programmed droids, IG-11 is a cold, calculated, efficient killer, demonstrated by his unique combat skills, his ruthless, tactical mind, and his protocol-abiding nature to “always finish the job.” When he’s eventually reprogrammed to act as a caretaker for his one-time quarry, Grogu, fans see a much more nurturing side to IG-11, who is fiercely protective of his young ward. Ultimately, IG-11 would perish in Nevarro, but his short appearance in The Mandalorian definitely remains a memorable one for Star Wars viewers.

4-LOM

Known as the partner of fellow bounty hunter, Zuckuss, 4-LOM is a former protocol droid who managed to override his programming, setting out to become one of the most notorious bounty hunters in the galaxy.

4-LOM’s cold, analytical mind allows him to work out the logical new step for the criminals he’s hunting down, giving him a serious edge over his bounty targets and even other competing bounty hunters. Like most other bounty hunters, he would receive plenty of contracts from either Jabba the Hutt or the Empire. In his partnership with Zuckuss, 4-LOM brings the more tactical mind, frequently relying on logic and statistics rather than Zuckuss’s “mumbo jumbo” Force abilities.

Zuckuss

Force-sensitive bounty hunters are a rarety in Star Wars, making the bug-eyed, insectoid bounty hunter, Zuckuss, an interesting character among his rivals in the bounty hunting profession. A Gand findsman who worked as a bounty hunter with 4-LOM, Zuckuss had some minor knowledge of the Force, using it mostly to aid him in tracking his bounty targets.

Unlike most other members of his species, Zuckuss is one of the few findsmen to venture off-world, using his niche skillset in order to become a renowned intergalactic bounty hunter in his own right. Throughout the Galactic Civil War, he would usually partner with 4-LOM, who served as the more “tactical” mind of their missions, while Zuckuss did a majority of their duo’s tracking.

Bossk

“Beware an old man in a young man’s game,” if that phrase can be applied to anyone, it’s a bounty hunter as old and lethal as Bossk, a Trandoshan who has been active since the Clone Wars.

Bossk may be known for his brief live-action appearance in Empire Strikes Back among casual Star Wars viewers, but his canonical appearance stretch back to the Clone Wars TV series. During the events of the Original Trilogy, he would work for the Empire, although he would occasionally side with non-Imperial enemies like Ezra Bridger. However, Bossk remains one of the most dangerous bounty hunters in Star Wars, perhaps even deadlier than his competitor, Boba Fett.

Dengar

Like Bossk, Dengar is another bounty hunter who was active in both the Clone Wars and, later, the Galactic Civil War and was one of the main bounty hunters called upon to track Han Solo.

Unlike many of his fellow bounty hunters, Dengar is known for his career longevity, working from the Clone Wars until well after the fall of the Empire. (There are even rumors that his character appears in a “surgically altered form” in the Sequel Trilogy as the character, Rothgar Deng.) His unique, heavily-bandaged appearance helped also him set apart visually from his contemporaries at the time. Since his first appearance in Empire Strikes Back, he’s gained a loyal fan following, with actor Simon Pegg even campaigning to play Dengar at some point in the future.

Fennec Shand

Like her eventual employer/partner Boba Fett, Fennec Shand operated almost entirely during the reign of the Empire. Throughout the events of the Original Trilogy, she worked as an incredibly skilled assassin, bounty hunter, and mercenary for numerous criminal organizations, though her career fell apart when many of her clients were imprisoned by the New Republic after the Empire’s fall.

Setting out to make for herself early on in the Empire’s formation, Shand attempted to capture the clone fugitive, Omega, managing to hold her own against the veteran bounty hunter, Cad Bane, known for his appearances on the Clone Wars series. Eventually, she would become a criminal in her own right, pursued by Din Djarin before reforming and joining fellow ex-bounty hunter, Boba Fett, as his right-hand.

Din Djarin

This one may be up for debate – some fans might think Din Djarin operated during the New Republic Era rather than the Original Trilogy. However, it’s likely Djarin was an active bounty hunter in the six years prior to The Mandalorian, earning him a spot on this list.

As the titular Mandalorian in the show of the same name, Din Djarin is a skilled bounty hunter known for abiding by his species’ strict of honor and conduct. An orphan raised by the Mandalorians during the Clone Wars, Djarin would grow up to be a Mandalorian as formidable and deadly as his predecessor, Boba Fett. That is until he adopted a somewhat “softer” side after saving Grogu, protecting the young would-be Jedi above all else.

Black Krrsantan

A disgraced Wookiee from Kashyyk with a violently strong hatred for Trandoshans, Black Krrsantan is the bitter, cold, incredibly dangerous bounty hunter known for his physicality and ruthlessness.

Perhaps it’s the fierce loyalty and warmth of Wookiees like Chewbacca that make Krrsanta stick out so clearly among the rogues’ gallery of Star Wars bounty hunters. If that’s the case for Chewbacca, Krrsantan is the complete opposite, possessing none of the lovable qualities of Chewie, but instead relying on his species’ brute strength and his own cantankerous disposition to embark on his bounty hunting career. Other bounty hunters like Boba Fett may be more renowned or well-known, but Black Krrsantan ranks among the most genuinely terrifying bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe.

Boba Fett

A man that needs no introduction, Boba Fett is the definitively best bounty hunter in the galaxy during the Original Trilogy Era. Inheriting his father’s combat skills yet shaped by a late childhood in the bounty hunting profession, Fett was destined from birth to become one of the deadliest and most notorious bounty hunters in Star Wars.

One of the most famous and easily recognizable in virtually all of science fiction, Fett has managed to do it all in the Star Wars universe. He’s the favored bounty hunter for Darth Vader, known for his lethal disposition, talented tracking skillset, and ability to always get the job done. If there’s one man practically synonymous with the title “bounty hunter,” it’s Boba Fett.