Cobb Vanth

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Cobb first appeared in the 2015 Chuck Wendig novel Aftermath via an interlude chapter. In Aftermath (2015), Cobb shoots Adwin Charu, a Red Key Raiders representative, after they both discover Mandalorian armor in the wreckage of Jabba's barge, and Cobb takes the armor. In Life Debt (2016), Cobb has become sheriff of Mos Pelgo after liberating it from the Red Key Raiders' mining collective. He meets Malakili, former beastmaster for Jabba, who is protecting the infant Hutt heir Borgo, and agrees to bring them to Mos Pelgo. In Empire's End (2017), Cobb and Malakili work to create a deal with the Tusken Raiders to protect the town, promising the pearl from inside a krayt dragon. Red Key members capture the town before the krayt dragon can be killed, reducing Cobb's arsenal. Cobb is revealed to have once been a slave, with slave markings on his back. The Tusken Raiders free Cobb and drive out the crime syndicate. In the time between Empire's End and The Mandalorian, the town turns against the Tusken Raiders, and Malakili leaves with the Hutt.

In Their Own Story

In the second season of The Mandalorian, Timothy Olyphant appears as Cobb Vanth. In "Chapter 9: The Marshal", the Mandalorian arrives in Mos Pelgo looking for a Mandalorian and finds Cobb wearing Boba Fett's armor. After a standoff, Cobb explains how he acquired the armor and offers to give it to the Mandalorian in exchange for help killing the krayt dragon he failed to kill in the Aftermath trilogy. They ally with the Tusken Raiders and kill the dragon using a bantha as a suicide bomber, obtaining a pearl. Cobb honors the agreement and gives up the armor. In The Book of Boba Fett, Cobb returns in "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger". He confronts the Pyke Syndicate, shooting several Pykes. The syndicate sends bounty hunter Cad Bane, who visits Cobb and demands neutrality. After explaining Boba Fett's prior involvement with the Empire, Bane shoots Cobb and his deputy, killing the deputy and leaving Cobb's fate uncertain. In the mid-credits scene of "Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor", Cobb is revealed to have survived, recovering in Fett's bacta tank while a mod artist prepares to apply cybernetic enhancements.

Reader's Guide

Cobb Vanth is voiced by Marc Thompson in the audiobook for the Aftermath trilogy, and played by Timothy Olyphant in the second season of The Mandalorian and its spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. His name is a reference to The Office supporting character Bob Vance, and is often misspelled "Cobb Vance" in certain chapters throughout the Aftermath trilogy. He is a former Imperial slave and sheriff/marshal of the town of Mos Pelgo/Freetown. Upon the character's initial appearance in the Aftermath trilogy, speculation was common that his Mandalorian armor belonged to Boba Fett, or that the character was a disguised Fett; the former theory was proven true in the second season of The Mandalorian. Olyphant's portrayal was generally praised, with Comic Book Resources drawing comparisons to "basically [his Justified character] Raylan Givens... in Space". Olyphant's performance earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Did You Know?

• Cobb Vanth's name is a reference to The Office supporting character Bob Vance, and is often misspelled 'Cobb Vance' in certain chapters throughout the Aftermath trilogy.
• He is a former Imperial slave, with slave markings on his back revealed in Empire's End.
• Cobb acquired Boba Fett's Mandalorian armor after shooting Adwin Charu, a Red Key Raiders representative, at the wreckage of Jabba's barge.
• In The Book of Boba Fett, Cobb is shot by bounty hunter Cad Bane but survives and is seen recovering in Fett's bacta tank.
• Timothy Olyphant's portrayal of Cobb Vanth earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.