Military ranks

In most cases, there are no specific "leaders" of groups of Mandalorians. If, for some reason, you have more than one type of person and they aren't given one of the military ranks listed in the standard dictionary, then use alor be and the plural of whatever group of people they are in charge of. For example: alor be baar'ure, leader of the medics.

As a general term when asking for "the person in charge around here," just use alor.

Likewise, there is no equivalent in Mando'a for "sir," "ma'am," or similar term of respect. Instead, Mandos use the person's title, their name, or the generic alor (leader). 

Using military ranks from the dictionary

One fan the theory is that these are old Neo-Crusader ranks that the Mando instructors resurrected to use with the clones, who did use a rank system. Although these are translated to typical army ranks, they also apply to equivalent ranks in a navy, air force, space force, etc. The following list was suggested by a member of the military in a Mando-realism server.

Details about the Mandalorian Protectors ranks from Galaxy at War supplement for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Saga Edition:
https://www.tumblr.com/archeo-starwars/723627204480811008/source-galaxy-at-war-roleplaying-game

Alternate-universe titles

If you're writing fiction set in an alternate universe where many people have titles, you can repurpose the military ranks listed above, replacing the highest designation (al'verde) with one specifically for the group in question. Create this title by tacking the prefix al' onto the plural form of a job to indicate the leader of a large and permanent group of those doing that job.  For example: al'baar'ure, commander of the medics.

In all other situations, use the recommendations above.

Forum posts from Karen Traviss

Date Posted: Oct 27, 2005 01:36 AM, from https://web.archive.org/web/20070821084157/http://forums.starwars.com/thread.jspa?threadID=237751&start=255

> One thing I was wondering... how would you say "Sir"?
> I was thinking ad'ika would work, but that's
> more of a pet name than a term of respect, right?

Yep. If you call your boss ad'ika, you better know him really well...

Mandos have a problem with rank. They have a long list of rank-equivalent words, because they needed them to work in various armies, but a Mando has a Mandalore and...well, that's it. They don't use "sir" easily. They reckon they're as good as the next man; they're informal and they don't like long chains of command. There is a phrase for sir, but it's the more like the "sir" you use if you're working in a shop or waiting on tables. It's almost cheeky, too.

So a Mando would be inclined to use a descriptive instead - exactly like "Sarge" or "Boss" or "Commander". You see that in the way Darman talks to Etain sometimes. He defines her - and himself - by role. The lads aren't really that deferential to officers.


Date Posted: Oct 28, 2005 12:57 AM, from https://web.archive.org/web/20070819185845/http://forums.starwars.com/thread.jspa?threadID=237751&start=270

From an organisational point of view, they would have to have some sort of command hierarchy - the equivalent of platoon sergeants, commanders and so on. That doesn't mean they have those ranks formalised; it looks much more to me like they'd say, "Oh yeah, Atin's good at the stratgeic stuff - so he's leading us, then." They need to be able to communicate and deploy. It's not that they don't have any chain of command, just that it's not formal and central to their existence, as it is in most armies. You don't hear Mandos talking about their promotion prospects.

And you don't hear much about Mando secretaries of state, cabinets, treasury ministers, bureaucracies...they just don't take well to big organisational structures. They're nomads. They're used to fighting in any number of armies. They just slot in where needed without much effort.

Their army - for want of a better word - is what we call in business a "flat pyramid" - a very simple chain of command with a lot of people at the ground level and few on top. They're so organised and disciplined as individuals that their main need is for communications and definitions of objectives, not control by officers. Their mode of combat is based on small groups (which are the most cohesive) that assemble into larger ones when needed. It's all about function, not status.

This explains why Jango can lay his hands on experienced sergeants for the Cuy'val Dar. (Sergeants run armies. Many officers spend their whole career thinking that they're in command, and nobody has the heart to tell them otherwise. ;) ) A sergeant is one of those automatic human pecking orders that emerge - the dominant person in a small group.

The only status thing is Mandalore - and even then the Mandalore is accountable.

Yeah, I've retconned all this from scanty material, but it's there, and it fits them like a glove, so I've gone with it.


Date Posted: Oct 28, 2005 01:07 AM, from https://web.archive.org/web/20070819185845/http://forums.starwars.com/thread.jspa?threadID=237751&start=270

> Montross, wore silver armor with a blue outline- the same Jango wore later

I've never seen armour colour linked to rank. I do explore how Mandos choose armour colour in TZ and elsewhere, but it's more complex than that. Look at the RCs. Most of them adopted the Mando tradition of individualising armour with paint. That says clearly to me that there was no true uniform and that colour did not indicate rank among Mando'ade.

Kal Skirata's armour is a certain colour for a specific reason that has nothing to do with rank, but about the mission he has set himself in life. (Colours have great significance for Mandos.)

Now, Jaster might well have tried to introduce more formality. It didn't get him very far, great guy though he was. Mandos are very much individual hunters bound by a common culture and who group up for the communal good when needed, but they like to maintain their individual and clan identities.

Anyone who tries to organise them formally might as well try herding cats. It'd be easier.

It's what's kept them alive. Fast, fluid, unpredictable, and unpindownable.


Date Posted: Oct 30, 2005 01:44 AM from https://web.archive.org/web/20070821154257/http://forums.starwars.com/thread.jspa?threadID=237751&start=285

> I think that, in ways, Mando rank seems more
> functional and less... well, "cultural." It's not
> there as a status quo so much as as a means of
> functioning. It's only there 'cause it strengthens
> them.

Exactly. They're not status-conscious in the sense of caring about how many stripes or pips someone has. They just want to get the job done. Ironically, they're more co-operative than the average, because they see the objective and then work out what they have to do to achieve it. Some people enjoy a process for its own sake (classic bureaucracy) and some see process as the means to an end. Mandos are generally the latter type. And because they are self-selecting and not an ethnic group, they attract and retain people with that mindset, and reinforce it.

This is where psychological profiling in fiction comes into its own!