This list will contain the current Disney Canon list of Mandalores that have led the Mandalorian people in Star Wars. A quick note, Pre Vizsla from the Legends list is also on the Canon list and will NOT be added again here as the information would just be repeating itself.
Mandalore the Great in Disney canon has very little information to go off of other than his existence during the Mandalorian-Jedi War during the Old Republic era. After some research and peer debates, it is concluded that Mandalore the Great and either Mandalore the Ultimate or The Indomitable are one and the same. As both The Ultimate and The Indomitable served as the Mandalorians’ leader during the war, with The Ultimate taking over when The Indomitable fell. We cannot pinpoint which one of these is exact, but what we can conclude is that our current history had such an impact during those times that both had created the persona of a “Mandalore”. Both Mandalore’s could be the very reason the legend of The Great came into existence.
Tarre Vizsla, while also not having much in the way of information, is a key figure in Mandalorian history. He was the first and to this day only Mandalorian to have been accepted into the Old Republic’s Jedi Order. He is also the reason the legendary Darksaber was created, as it was Tarre who made it, a one-of-a-kind lightsaber. His death led to the Darksaber being housed and kept within the Jedi Temple on the planet of Coruscant until members of his House infiltrated the temple and stole the Darksaber back. From then on it would be used to determine the “secret” Mandalore by the members of Death Watch and the Children of the Watch Cult.
Former Sith Lord Maul, who at the time formed and led his own criminal alliance the Shadow Collective, aided the former Mandalore, Pre Vizsla, in conquering the planet Mandalore. The Force-sensitive Dathomirian Zabrak had plans to use the planet as a means to combat his former master, Darth Sidious. Pre Vizsla betrayed him and hoped to bring Mandalorian culture back to its former glory. This did not end well for Vizsla, as Maul challenged him for the rightful rule of Mandalore and won the duel. While claiming the Darksaber, Maul became the rightful Mand’alor. However, many members of Death Watch, who were primarily the Nite Owls, did not consider him Mandalorian nor the rightful ruler. This continues to be a matter of debate to this day, as both arguments of whether he needed to be a Mandalorian or not to acquire the Darksaber and rule Mandalore rage on. Nevertheless, he ruled Mandalore by using a puppet prime minister, Almec, and continued to rule until the Republic overtook the homeworld in the months prior to Order 66 being enacted.
Another reason to note here is the issue of claim to the Mand’alor title from this point in history. While during Maul’s rule as Mand’alor, he was defeated when Darth Sidious himself confronted him and bested him utterly in combat. Sidious however did not kill him, but simply had Maul imprisoned. The Darksaber was lost for a brief moment in history here but the question remains, does Darth Sidious, who defeated Maul in combat, now rule Mandalore? Another issue would come when Maul was broken out of prison by Mandalorian Supercommandos loyal to him and returned to Mandalore. When the Republic began the Siege of Mandalore, Maul once again was defeated in combat by a former Jedi, Ashoka Tano. If the answer to Sidious ruling Mandalore results in a no, would Ashoka Tano become the next Mand’alor? These are questions that will be discussed in a future course, but what we can offer as an answer now is that ultimately Maul still had possession of the Darksaber by the time it was passed on to the next claimant.
The last name on this list has been the most controversial of the Mand’alors and generally in Mandalorian Culture. Bo-Katan of House Kryze was a prominent member of her Nite Owls and of the Death Watch, serving as the Watch’s second in command. She is the sister of the now-deceased New Mandalorian leader, Satine Kryze, whose death drove Bo-Katan to go against her old Death Watch ways and fight against what she believed was the tyranny of Maul and later on the Empire. At one point she was given the Darksaber, which is a deciding factor on who becomes the next Mand’alor, and goes on to free her people from the Galactic Empire. She was successful for a brief time, until the Empire came back en masse and committed the atrocity that is known as The Night of a Thousand Tears, which was the relentless carpet bombing of the entire planet of Mandalore.
Many Mandalorians blame Bo-Katan for the actions the Empire took against their people, immortalizing her as a cautionary tale to illegitimate claims to the title of Mand’alor. The Children of the Watch were especially vocal in this instance, claiming that she was nothing more than a curse upon the Mandalorian people. Bo-Katan survived the Night of a Thousand Tears, and swore to reclaim the Darksaber that was currently in the possession of Imperial Moff Gideon the correct way, instead of being gifted it again. When Din Djarin tried to give her the Darksaber once more, she wouldn’t accept it at all for fear of repeating the curse many blamed her for already. We are unsure at this time how she planned on trying to continue as a leader of the Mandalorians, although we are certain that as long as she no longer possesses the Darksaber, she will have a much more difficult time trying to unite the Clans once more as a unified Mandalorian people.