The Client (Star Wars)

The Client is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise who appears in three episodes of the first season of the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian. He is a mysterious, unnamed leader in the former Galactic Empire and subordinate of Moff Gideon, who plays a key role in setting the show's story into motion by hiring the bounty hunter known as "The Mandalorian" to retrieve a "50-year-old", yet infantile alien dubbed "The Child" (later named as Grogu).

The Client is portrayed by German film director, screenwriter, and actor Werner Herzog, who was recruited for the part by series creator and showrunner Jon Favreau. Herzog was not familiar with Favreau's previous work, nor had he ever seen a Star Wars film, but was impressed with the screenplays for The Mandalorian as well as the film-making style of the show.

Herzog particularly enjoyed filming scenes with the animatronic puppet of The Child, subsequently strongly urging Favreau to solely use the puppet for the character and not computer-generated imagery as had originally been intended for later scenes, calling them "cowards" for considering using CGI in its place. The character and Herzog's performance have received positive reviews from critics.

Almost no details are provided about the Client's backstory, except that he is loyal to the remnant of the former Galactic Empire, which by this time has fallen from power after losing its war against the Rebel Alliance. The character is never identified by name on the series and is known simply as "The Client".

He first appears in the series premiere episode "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" of The Mandalorian, a Star Wars television series on the streaming service Disney+. The show's protagonist, a bounty hunter known as "The Mandalorian", is placed into contact with the Client by Greef Karga, the leader of the Bounty Hunters' Guild headquartered on the planet Nevarro. When the Mandalorian asks for work, Greef informs him that the Client is offering a mysterious, high-paying assignment, but will only meet with bounty hunters in person to discuss the matter. A number of Imperial stormtroopers are present for the Mandalorian's meeting with the Client, during which the Client informs the bounty hunter that the target is an unnamed individual who is 50 years old. Unbeknownst to the Mandalorian, this individual is a young alien creature known only as "The Child", a member of the same species as the Star Wars character Yoda. Werner Herzog, the actor who portrays the Client, said that in this way, his character "sets the story on its path" by recruiting the Mandalorian to seek the Child. The Client says he would prefer the Child be delivered to him alive, but that he is willing to pay a smaller amount for proof of termination. As a down payment, the Client gives the Mandalorian a small bar of beskar, the rare metal traditionally used to create the virtually invulnerable body armor of his people.

The Client returns in the episode "Chapter 3: The Sin", in which the Mandalorian brings him the captured Child. The Client provides the Mandalorian the promised beskar steel in a white security container he identifies as a "camtono". (This container is identical in appearance to an ice cream maker that an extra carried while fleeing Cloud City in the Star Wars film The Empire Strikes Back (1980). The item and its purpose had been the subject of much discussion by fans over the years, but the Client's use of the camtono was the first time it had been identified within the universe/franchise.) After collecting his payment, the Mandalorian asks what the Client plans to do with the Child, but the Client curtly reminds the Mandalorian that the Bounty Hunters' Guild forbids such questions. Later, the Mandalorian uses technology to eavesdrop on the Client, and hears the Client order his Imperial colleague, Dr. Pershing, to "extract the necessary material" from the Child; the exact material is not identified and his reasons for wanting it are not explained. Although Pershing notes they are supposed to return the Child to their employers alive, the Client insists he simply extracts the material quickly and "be done with it". The Mandalorian later returns to rescue the Child, killing all of the stormtroopers present and successfully fleeing the planet with the Child. The Client was not present during the Mandalorian's rescue.

The Client makes his final appearance in the season's penultimate episode, "Chapter 7: The Reckoning". By this time, the Client had reinforced Nevarro with more stormtroopers, which had made it more difficult for the Bounty Hunters' Guild to operate there. As a result, Greef Karga arranges for the Mandalorian to return so they can kill the Client and his troops and eliminate the Imperial presence from the planet. The offer is a trap, and Greef plans to kill the Mandalorian and return the Child to the Client, but Greef has a change of heart after being healed by Grogu. They devise a new plan to assassinate the Client during a surreptitious meeting at a Nevarro cantina. The scheme initially goes according to plan, with the Client believing the Mandalorian and the alien Child have both been captured. Just as he asks to see the Child, the Client receives a hologram call from his superior, Moff Gideon, who rhetorically inquires about the Child; then presumably to punish his failure, orders a squad of six Death Troopers to open fire on the Client from outside the cantina, through its main window. The Client is seen shot through the chest and killed, as are all of his stormtrooper guards.

The Client is a mysterious figure, with little known about his history or motivations. He is an untrustworthy and devious individual, described by Werner Herzog as "a dark, dark sort of figure that shouldn't be trusted at all". He is an intimidating figure, as illustrated by the fact that Greef Karga, who is normally confident and commanding with others, acts cautiously and even fearfully in dealing with the Client. He has an esoteric and existential manner of speaking, much like that of the real-life Herzog himself. Variety writer Will Thorne has suggested the Client's dialogue may have been specifically tailored after Herzog's dark and eccentric personality, particularly citing lines like the one from "Chapter 7: The Reckoning" in which the Client says: "Look outside: is the world more peaceful since the revolution? I see nothing but death and chaos." The Client is a cold and severe individual, as illustrated by his apathy over whether the Child lives or dies. John Serba of Decider.com wrote that the Client was less like criminal characters featured in other Star Wars works like Jabba the Hutt, and more similar to Vito Corleone, the mobster protagonist of The Godfather (1972).