Aran Tal

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"For the glory of Mandalore. Who am I to buck tradition?"

―Aran Tal^[3]

Aran Tal was a human^[1] male Mandalorian who was active on Vespaara, where he fought in the Grand Arena in the Hunters of the Outer Rim competition.^[2] He joined the Hunters roster in 9 ABY, soon after Balada and Daq Dragus established a broadcasting deal for their competition with the Outer Rim Sports Network.^[5] While Arena News would advertise Tal as the competition's newest hunter^[6] after already covering news about Rieve and J-3DI,^[7] Rieve had only become a hunter after Tal had already joined, meaning she was in fact the newer of the two.^[3] Tal defended the Grand Arena from attacking goons who were intent on destruction.^[3]

As a Hunter, Tal was said to be the last remaining scion of Clan Tal after Mandalore was devastated by the Galactic Empire during the Purge of Mandalore. He was said to deeply cherish the traditions of his clan and bore the weight of familial responsibility in their passing.^[8] In the Arena, Tal was said to be a bit of a loner, not making many friends.^[9] Further, he was said to have a rivalry with Imara Vex given her history as a bounty hunter, a career that Tal supposedly found as lacking integrity.^[8]

Biography

Losing his clan

Part of Clan Tal, Aran Tal hailed from Mandalore, where his clan and his home were destroyed by the Galactic Empire as part of the Night of a Thousand Tears. In the aftermath of the cataclysm, Tal sought both vengeance^[10] and to honor the memory of his clan.^[6] At some point, Tal took on a few mercenary jobs, but denied ever doing bounty hunting.^[10]

In 9 ABY, Aran Tal joined the roster of Hunters of the Outer Rim^[5] on the planet Vespaara. He was notably the first Mandalorian to participate in the competition.^[6] When a group of goons led by a mysterious figure attacked the Grand Arena intent on destruction, Aran Tal helped fight off the invaders and directed his roster of Hunters towards the Aftermath battlefield.^[3]

The Pinnacle Event

During the debut season^[11] after Hunters of the Outer Rim's broadcasting deal with the ORSN, tensions began to rise between Aran Tal and the former bounty hunter Imara Vex.^[8] After making public comments denigrating the bounty hunting profession, Imara Vex grew frustrated of Tal's prejudice. When she asked the Mandalorian for an apology, Tal doubled down and escalated his charged insult.^[12] Vex subsequently was interviewed by Boz Vega for Arena News, where she called out Tal's hypocrisy, insisting that mercenary work was philosophically the same as bounty hunting. She felt disdain for what she perceived was Tal's holier-than-thou attitude.^[13] Tensions continued to grow as Tal and Vex had a brawl in the Grand Arena's chow room in which weapons were drawn and furniture was destroyed.^[14]

Soon, Tal and Vex simultaneously held opposing press conferences in which they challenged each other to fight in the battlefield. At his conference, Tal demanded that if he won, Vex would have to admit that bounty hunting was a low-life profession, whereas in her press conference, Vex demanded that Tal would have to go on her next bounty hunting job with her if she won. Although neither agreed to each other's terms, they agreed to brawl in the arena.^[11]

Ultimately, Tal won their challenge. He reinforced his anti-bounty hunter rhetoric, and declared he would donate half of his winnings to foundlings.^[15]

Shortly after the Clash, Tal found a gift-wrapped box in his dressing room. Assuming it to be a trap, Tal incinerated it with his flamethrower. It turned out to be a gift from Grozz - a doll in the likeness of Tal, crafted by the Wookiee himself. Tal apologized and returned what was left of the doll to Grozz.^[16]

Personality and traits

Tal emphasized honor and nobility in himself and expected it from others.^[8] His disdain for scum and villainy, as well as his tendency to be a loner, led to him not having many allies within the arena. As part of his concept of honor, Tal opted to give most of his earnings from Hunters of the Outer Rim to charity.^[17] Although a Mandalorian, Tal did not subscribe to the belief held by some that their helmets were to stay on.^[10] He also believed that in-fighting between Mandalorians, such as the conflicts between Clan Vizsla and Clan Tal, to be wasteful.^[8]

Tal was widely critical of bounty hunters, believing them to be lowlifes and scum. This led to conflict with fellow Hunter Imara Vex, who was a bounty hunter.^[8] Although he had taken mercenary work in the past, Tal vehemently believed in some professions being more honorable than others.^[10] Tal preferred Huttball to podracing due to the former's higher level of physicality.^[3]

Equipment

Tal was equipped with his ancestral Mandalorian armor^[4] made of beskar and MT-97 blaster pistols, as well as a jetpack and flamethrower.^[2] Also available to him were Concordian Crescent Technologies blaster pistols WESTAR-34 and WESTAR-35, as well as MT-62s.^[8]

Behind the scenes

In game availability

Aran Tal was a character made for the canon video game Star Wars: Hunters, which was developed by NaturalMotion's BossAlien and published by Zynga.^[8] However, Tal first appeared in the tie-in novel Hunters: Battle for the Arena, authored by Mark Oshiro and published by Disney–Lucasfilm Press^[3] on March 7, 2023.^[18] before making his in-game debut during the game's global release on June 4, 2024.^[19] Concept artist Luke Kendall was responsible for designing the character.^[20]

At launch, Tal had three active abilities. With the Jetpack Boost ability, players could use launch a short distance in any direction, knocking back and damaging opponents. The Tal's Breath ability, a small cone of fire shot from Tal's flamethrower would damage enemies. The Air Assault ability allowed players to use the jetpack to launch Tal some distance while maintaining ability to fire. Once landing, the shockwave would push back opponents and cause damage.^[9] His ultimate, Fury of Clan Tal, made a sustained flamethrower assault that rapidly damaged enemies caught in its proximity. Tal was turned into a Hunter's Path character in Hunter's "Season 3" release, ensuring he would be free to unlock.^[8]

Contradictions

Sometime after Tal's official release in Star Wars Hunters via its global launch,^[8] an Arena News piece would be released advertising Tal in-universe as game's newest hunter.^[6] However, even though prior Arena News pieces had made references to Rieve as an active hunter,^[7]^[21] the official prequel novel Hunters: Battle for the Arena depicts Rieve as joining the game's ranks sometime after Tal had become a hunter himself. Therefore, Tal would not be the game's newest hunter in-universe.^[3] As Arena News represents an in-universe source, this article presents it as an intentionally incorrect fact compared to the reality.