I recently finished my current reread of Hard Contact, and he is the character who changed most in my perception.

I basically used to just see him as "evil Mando bad" and that was that, but nope.

Let's take a closer look at the man, shall we?

1.) We are introduced to him in the mission briefing with Omega Squad, Zey and Jusik. The squad, and by extend the reader, is told, that he used to be a member of Death Watch but was kicked out because he was to sadistic and extreme even for them. I used to believe that. However, in 501st (if I'm not mistaken), Fi says that Kal claimed this to be wrong, and I think Mij Gilamar also debunks this. Aparently Hokan never ran with Death Watch. Either the Jedi had incorrect intel, or they purposely fed the Omegas a lie.

2.) Different to what one might expect from a Death Watch member (which he wasn't, but we don't know ow that yet in Hard contact), Hokan seems to have a deep respect for Jango Fett, to even admire him. He sees the clones as sorry abominations, but as Mandalorian nevertheless. He thinks killing them is the lesser evil compared to them being slaves bred to fight for the Republic. But where did this infor.ation come from I the first place?

3.) He is proud to be a Mando, and proud to be a warrior. However, he doesn't run with other Mandos, although he wishes that he did have fellow Mandos around because they would be more competent than his militia. He does display military experience, but also a sadistic streak he deems a necessity for not being "soft". The worry of going to "soft" is a recurring theme in his thoughts, to the point that he keeps justifying his own actions infront of himself from that angle. It seems to be his biggest fear. Hokan, what happened to you that made you turn out like this?

4.) Let's look at his name. Ghez doesn't seem to be Mando'a, featuring a z. (However, that does not mean it might not be a common name with Mandos. Look at Clan Vizsla. They got a z, too.) Anyway, Ghez doesn't seem to have a meaning. Hokan, however, probably is related to hokaanir (to cut, to slice) and hokan'yc (sliced, cut up, slang for heavily defeated). He also is not the only character of that name I the books. Munin Skirata is mentioned to have know a Mando called Jun Hokan, who has a son roughly Kal's age, just a slight bit older. My first thought was: is that son Ghez? But Ghez Hokan does not seem to recognise the name Kal when Niner fake-screams for him. Also, my gut feeling is that Kal is older than Ghez. He might be Jun's grandson, though. Or, possibly, not related at all. Maybe Hokan is like Smith or Miller.

5.) Speaking of his age - I wonder why Ghez Hokan hadn't been chosen as a Cuy’val Dar. Don't get me wrong, it totally makes sense we meet Mandos who are not Cuy’val Dar. Still, I wonder if there are specific reasons for him. Instinctively, I would say his sadistic streak and willingness to kill his own people to make an exame might have been a reason, and maybe rumoured ties to Death Watch, but then again, Fett and Vau still got Priest and Reau on board. So maybe his age might be a factor. No idea how old he is, but maybe he hadn't made enough of a mark yet, maybe he hadn't had enough experience when the whole Kamino thing started. Because he seems to have loose enough ties for him to possibly have been an option otherwise.

6.) A quick side note on his armour: It is red and grey. It might just be that he liked the colours, but traditionally red is associated with honouring a parent, which makes sense considering how much he values his heritage. Grey, however, stands for mourning a lost love. And that I find extremely interesting, considering Ghez Hokan's behaviour and personality, including his fear of being seen as weak/soft. Intriguing.

Long story short, I really wonder who the man behind the job truely is. What his story is. What made him become the person we meet on Qiilura.

July 2017: maiko, geiko, and hokan Kikuji of Gifu city by  kassy_jar on Instagram

geisha of Gifu entertain on boats - that’s why they wear short-tied obi so it doesn’t hang out to the water. Hokan is a traditional male entertainer, specialized in the same arts as geisha.