Jedi

The Lost Twenty

The Lost Twenty was the name given to a group of Jedi Masters—numbering twenty in total—who left the Jedi Order throughout its history.^[10] The first twelve of these ‘Lost Twenty’ left the Jedi Order before the Third Great Schism; these twelve Masters later became "Dark Jedi" who eventually founded the first Sith Empire. In the standard years preceding the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Dooku left the Jedi Order as a result of differences with his fellow Jedi, becoming the twentieth Jedi Master in the history of the Order to do so. To commemorate these former Jedi, memorial statue busts were displayed at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

Twilight of the Old Republic

The prequel films depict the Jedi in their prime, dealing with the rising presence of the dark side of the Force and determined to fight their mortal enemies, the Sith. In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) discovers nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), whom he believes to be the "Chosen One" of a Jedi prophecy who is destined to bring balance to the Force; the boy is eventually paired with Qui-Gon's apprentice, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), who promises to train him. The sequel, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, establishes that the Jedi forswear all emotional attachments, including romantic love, which proves problematic when Anakin, now a young adult (Hayden Christensen), falls in love with Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), whom Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi had served ten years before. In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is later revealed to be Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith, manipulates Anakin's love for Padmé and distrust of the Jedi in order to turn him to the dark side and become his Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. Once corrupted, Vader helps Palpatine hunt down and destroy nearly all of the Jedi, leaving very few left, such as Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin’s former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.

Order 66

In accordance with Order 66, for crimes of "sedition and high-treason" against the Galactic Republic, the Jedi are nearly exterminated by the Clone Army and Sith Lord Darth Sidious, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda among a handful of survivors.^[11] The first person to be issued this order was Clone Commander Cody (who until then was under the command of Jedi General Kenobi). Darth Vader led Operation: Knightfall against the Jedi Temple with the 501st Legion while the rest of the clone army around the galaxy carried out Order 66. Palpatine convinced the people of the Republic that Jedi were corrupted warmongers responsible for prolonging the Clone Wars; the Jedi became universally hated with huge bounties placed on them. Darth Vader continued to hunt and execute surviving Jedi during the first 10 years of the Empire's history.^[12]

Rebellion Against the Galactic Empire

The Jedi are first introduced in the 1977 motion picture Star Wars as an order of warrior monks who serve as "the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy" and embrace the mystical Force. Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) explains that the Galactic Empire had all but exterminated the Jedi some twenty years before the events of the film, and seeks to train Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to be the Jedi Order's last hope. Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) is also established as the Jedi's main enemy. By the end of the film, Luke is on the path to becoming a Jedi. In the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back, Luke receives extensive Jedi training from the elderly (and only surviving) Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz), even as he learns that Vader is, in fact, his father, former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. The third film in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi, ends with Luke redeeming Vader and helping to destroy the Empire, thus fulfilling his destiny as a Jedi.

Fall of the New Jedi Order

In the sequel-trilogy film series however, Luke's attempts to restore the Jedi Order took a turn for the worse instead when one of his apprentices, his nephew Ben, is drawn to the Dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke and becomes Kylo Ren. He is convinced to destroy all that Luke has built, murdering most of Luke's apprentices in the occasion. After Ren's fall and the destruction of the New Jedi Order, Luke goes into a self-imposed exile on Ahch-To, believing himself and the Jedi to be a negative influence on the galaxy as a whole.

In the sequel Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the scavenger Rey discovers Luke on Ahch-to and convinces him to train her in the ways of the Force. During her training, Luke describes the hubris of a full-fledged Jedi order, one that allowed Darth Sidious to rise to power and eliminate nearly all of them. She also discovers several ancient Jedi texts hidden away in a tree. Rey learns the truth about Ben's fall to the Dark Side and believes herself to be his only chance of redemption. Luke does not go with her, staying on Ahch-To. Luke attempts to burn the tree down, but cannot bring himself to do so. However, Yoda appears as a Force Ghost to mentor Luke one more time, burning the tree and teaching him that failure is just as important as success, and that Masters are defined by those who surpassed them. When the First Order launches an attack on the Resistance on Crait, Luke appears to stall the oncoming forces. He and Kylo Ren engage in a duel on the battlefield, Ren apparently striking him down. Luke reveals to Ren that he has been projecting an image of himself across the galaxy. On Ahch-To, an exhausted Luke meditates, facing the sunset. He hallucinates a binary sunset and fades away, becoming one with the Force. Rey has stolen the Jedi texts and loads them onto the Millennium Falcon to continue her training.

Yoda

Yoda was a wise, experienced, and powerful Grand Master of the Jedi of an unknown species and the oldest known prophet (at least 900+ years) in existence, considered the wisest and most powerful Jedi Master within the Star Wars universe. He was knighted at age 100, and spent the next eight centuries mentoring several generations of Jedi, about 20,000 of which he took as Padawans. During this period, the green Jedi Master formed good relations with the Wookies of Kashyyyk on numerous occasions, such as when he saved their Terentatek.

Mace Windu

Mace Windu was a male human Jedi Weapons Master of the High Council and one of the last members of the Order's upper echelons before the fall of the Galactic Republic. Born into a tribe of nomads on the planet Haruun Kal, Windu was offered to Jedi anthropologists as a blessing to regain his people's connection to the Force when he was 6 months old, sometime after his parents died in the bordering jungle. He was taken as a Padawan by Mirialan Jedi Master Cyslin Myr, and began using a unique talent of seeing "shatterpoints", or faultlines in the Force that could affect the destinies of certain individuals, and indeed the galaxy itself. Knighted early in his career, the esteemed Windu progressed up the Jedi ranks until reaching his place on the Council, from which he was known as one of the most powerful Jedi and possibly the greatest swordsman of his time.^[13] He first appeared in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, where he expressed doubt regarding Qui-Gon Jinn's conclusion about Darth Maul (who attacked him on Tatooine during the mission to escort Queen Amidala of Naboo from her Trade Federation-blockaded homeworld), but nonetheless assured the Council that their full resources would be utilized to verify the theory that the Sith could have returned. The weapons master was even the most reluctant to train young Anakin Skywalker (who Jinn believed was the prophesied Chosen One) at Jinn's request. In Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, he led a party of 200 Jedi on a mission to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala from Separatist captivity on Geonosis, where he was able to defeat and kill the bounty hunter Jango Fett in the battle that followed. In the Clone Wars, he served the Republic as an overseer of the war effort and advisor to Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine as well as taking part in such conflicts such as the Battles of Malastare and Dantooine.

Qui-Gon Jinn

Qui-Gon Jinn was a wise and powerful male human Jedi Master, and the Master of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Unlike other, more conservative Jedi, he values living in the moment as the best way to embrace the Force. While other Jedi respect him highly, they are frequently puzzled by his unorthodox beliefs and ultimately deny him a seat on the Jedi Council, despite him being among the wisest and most powerful of the Jedi.^[14]

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi was a male human Jedi Master who initiated Anakin and Luke Skywalker to the Jedi arts and served as a central character during the events of the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan proved himself an adept strategist, duelist, and spy, as his leadership style heavily favored subterfuge and misdirection while commanding clone troopers, or wielding the Force.

Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker was a human male Jedi Knight and main protagonist of the prequel trilogy. He was apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi and proved to be a very gifted duelist and Force user, being appointed to the Jedi High Council at the age of 23, though being denied the rank of Master. He secretly married Padme Amidala and had two children. He eventually fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Vader. While he was not technically a Jedi Master, he was a member of the Old Jedi Council, and trained a Padawan of his own, Ahsoka Tano during the Clone Wars, who dutifully called him "Master".

Kanan Jarrus

Kanan Jarrus was a human male Jedi who fought for the Rebellion during its formation. First introduced as a principle character of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, Jarrus is known to be the leader of a small rebel cell called the Spectres, operating on the planet Lothal. As a survivor of Order 66, Jarrus is forced to break certain Jedi traditions to avoid being detected by Imperial forces that continue their mission to eliminate any Jedi on sight, such as eschewing traditional Jedi robes or occasionally using a blaster, a weapon typically shunned by Jedi. After the Spectres rescued the young Ezra Bridger, Jarrus discovered his Force potential and successfully trains him to become a Jedi. As he trains Bridger and battles Imperial forces, Jarrus' actions draw the attention of the Imperial Inquisitorius, a special task force of Force-attuned individuals who are specialized in hunting and eliminating Jedi, and he occasionally crosses paths with them. Jarrus later earned the title of Jedi Knight during his conflict with the Inquisitors, but shortly after the last of them were defeated at the Sith temple on Malachor, he was betrayed and blinded by the former Sith Lord known only as Maul, who assisted in eliminating them solely to pursue his own goals. Kanan then continued serving the Rebellion as it faced the Imperial tactician Grand Admiral Thrawn, before sacrificing his own life to help his fellow cell members succeed in rescuing one of their own, while simultaneously disrupting production of the Imperial TIE Defender, a powerful starfighter that could have doomed the growing Rebellion.

Ezra Bridger

Ezra bridger was a human male jedi and padawan to Kanan jarrus. In the end of star wars rebels he went missing after he and Thrawn are dragged into hyperspace aboard Thrawn's star destroyer by Purrgils but both survived. After the battle of Endor Sabine wren and Ahsoka tano went searching for him.

Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker was a male human Grand Master of the Jedi and the protagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy. As the last Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he became an important figure in the Rebel Alliance's struggle against the Galactic Empire. Luke is heir to a family deeply rooted in the Force, being the twin brother of Rebellion leader Princess Leia Organa of the planet Alderaan, the son of former Queen of Naboo and Republic Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi turned Sith Lord Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker), and the maternal uncle of Ben Solo. After redeeming his father from the Dark Side of the Force, Luke set out to train a new generation of Jedi to rebuild the Order, only to have them wiped out by Ren. Skywalker then spent the rest of his life in exile on Ahch-To, with a final heroic act of using Force Projection to distract Ren and help the Resistance flee the planet Crait.

Rey

Rey (Star Wars) was a human female Jedi Padawan and Scavenger and one of the main protagonists of the sequel trilogy. She is allied with the Resistance and helped to find Luke Skywalker. She found him on the planet of Ahch-To where he spent the rest of his life. She is also the pilot of the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca. As the Padawan of Luke Skywalker, She proved that she is powerful with the force and good at dueling. She is now currently the Last Living Jedi since Skywalker joined The Force.

Jedi High Council

The Jedi High Council is the main ecclesiastical leadership of the Jedi Order, which is a spiritual, philosophical and paramilitary organization. The Jedi High Council is made up of some of the strongest, wisest and most experienced members of the Jedi Order. They are elected to lead the Jedi.

Council of First Knowledge

The Council of First Knowledge administered the Temple-based academy and its curriculum, and funded scholar's scientific research. To this end, the Council guarded and maintained the Temple Archives and its holocron vaults, as well as the "Shadow program" at the Jedi Temple: Jedi Sentinels tasked with hunting down Sith artifacts.^[16]

Council of Reconciliation

The Council of Reconciliation dealt with the Galactic Senate and the Republic Diplomatic Corps in order to help bring diplomatic resolutions to conflicts and end political standoffs. The "first face" of the Republic presented to worlds interested in joining the Republic, this Council would dispatch Jedi diplomats and ambassadors to moderate debate and hammer out treaties^[16]

Council of Reassignment

The Council of Reassignment administered the Jedi Service Corps and each of its branch councils. Organizing work for those Initiates who failed out of the academy and Knights with special talents, the Reassignment Council oversaw this branch's missions and assignments.^[16][17][18]

Initiate

Initiation is the first part of Jedi training; they are mentored by Jedi Masters in rudimentary control over the Force and basic self-defense techniques.

Most Initiates were typically Youngling (a child Jedi-in-training) receiving early and first-class education. When Jedi Sentinels discover or test a suitable "force-sensitive" candidate, they are taken to the Jedi Academy at the age of 5 (depending on the species and arbitrary years) with the parent's permission. Jedi scholarship educations are considered prestigious, as most parents are portrayed as either happy or proud of the opportunity, but sad since they are unlikely to see their child again before adulthood. Younglings were portrayed training under Jedi Master Yoda in a scene on Attack of the Clones and hiding during the assault on the Jedi Temple in Revenge of the Sith.

The “Young Jedi” story arc^[19] and the episode “Path of the Jedi”^[20] explored the Jedi tradition called "The Gathering"; where initiates traveled to the "Crystal Caves" to harvest kyber crystals, which they would use to build their first lightsabers. Crystals were attuned to individual Jedi and lacked color. The Force spoke to each of the younglings through their crystals. To find their crystal, each initiate had to learn a lesson: courage, hope, patience, trust, confidence, and selflessness.

Padawan

An Initiate who successfully completes "fundamental training" is given a second-class education and then undergoes Padawan training under the tutelage of Mentor (usually a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master). They are also called "Apprentices" and "Padawan learners". As a rite of passage and the final test before the trials to knighthood, Padawans must build their own lightsabers. In the Old Republic, Padawans usually wore a hair braid on the right side of their head which was removed with a lightsaber upon attaining knighthood. They also served as Commanders in the Clone Wars. The term "padawan" appears to originate in Sanskrit and can be understood as “learner," both in Sanskrit and by contemporary native speakers of Sanskrit-based languages.^[5][6][7]

Knight

Disciplined and experienced, Jedi Knights become so only when they have completed "the trials" (final tests) and may continue to pursue a third-class education (see below) to obtain the equivalent of a habilitation or post-doctoral degree. As the most common rank, it is interchangeably referred to as "Jedi", "Jedi Knight" and "Master Jedi" (although the latter are honorifics used only by Younglings and Padawans when addressing Jedi Knights or above).

The five tests are usually known as Trial of Skill, the Trial of Courage, the Trial of the Flesh, the Trial of Spirit, and the Trial of Insight (or Knowledge). In Return of the Jedi, Master Yoda gives his apprentice, Luke Skywalker, the trial of confronting Darth Vader for a second time so he might become a full-fledged Knight. Occasionally, performing an extraordinary (usually heroic) act can earn a Padawan learner Jedi status, such as when Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats the Sith Lord Darth Maul. By the time of the movies distinct "battle classes" were not necessary as the Republic had not seen war in over a thousand years, and the title of Knight was simply a rank once again.

Master

Jedi Master is a term of respect used by beings who respect the Jedi. Regarded as among the most accomplished and recognized polymaths in the Star Wars galaxy. Upon completion of vocational or postgraduate education, a Jedi Knight becomes a Jedi Master after successfully training a Padawan learner to Knight status. Though this is the most common manner, there are other ways of attaining the rank.

Weapons

The most notable instrument wielded by a Jedi is the Lightsaber. Both Jedi and Sith use lightsabers, though the former regards one as a tool, the latter, a weapon. The Jedi's lightsabers emit cool colors, usually blue or green blades (sometimes yellow, or purple, as seen in the case of Mace Windu), while the Sith emit warm colors (red). Lightsabers can be of many different colors depending on the crystal fixture. Most Jedi use naturally formed crystals, whereas Sith tend to use synthetic crystals, which are usually red in color.

Vehicles

Eta-2 Actis Jedi Interceptors first appeared in Revenge of the Sith. Delta-7B Aethersprite Jedi starfighters appear in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan Kenobi travels via Jedi starfighter to Kamino to investigate the attempted assassination of Padmé Amidala; he also flies a Jedi starfighter to Geonosis in an attempt to track down the bounty hunter Jango Fett.^[21] Lacking a hyperdrive, the starfighter relies on an external sled to propel it through hyperspace.^[21] Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) fly updated Jedi starfighters (called Jedi Interceptors) in the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith.^[21] Later, Plo Koon (Matt Sloan) flies an Revenge of the Sith-era starfighter when he is shot down by clone troopers carrying out Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) Order 66.^[21]

The Jedi starfighter's triangular shape in Attack of the Clones stems from the shape of Imperial Star Destroyers in the original Star Wars trilogy.^[22] Industrial Light & Magic designer Doug Chiang identified the Jedi starfighter as one of the first designs that bridges the aesthetic between the prequel and original trilogies.^[23] Chiang noted that viewers' familiarity with the Star Destroyer's appearance and Imperial affiliation gives added symbolism to the Jedi craft's appearance and foreshadows the Empire's rise to power.^[23] The starfighter seen in Revenge of the Sith is a cross between the previous film's vessel and the Empire's TIE fighters from the original trilogy.^[22] Hasbro's expanding wings in the Attack of the Clones Jedi starfighter toy inspired the opening wings in the Revenge of the Sith vessel.^[22] The starfighter in the Revenge of the Sith is called a Jedi Interceptor Starfighter.

Jedi Archives

The Jedi Archives, known as The Great Library of Ossus or The Great Library of the Jedi, contained the galaxy's most priceless and ancient of texts sacred to Jedi scholars and archaeologists. Among these were Sith artifacts, considered by the Jedi Order to be the most dangerous artifacts in the galaxy, that were accessible only to those able to control the Dark Side of the Force.^[24]

The Jedi archives of the Jedi Temple in the movie Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones bear a startling resemblance to the Long Room of the Trinity College Library in Dublin. This resemblance resulted in controversy as permission had not been sought to use the building's likeness in the film. However, Lucasfilm denied that the Long Room was the basis for the Jedi archives, and officials from Trinity College Library decided not to take any legal action.^[25][26]

Jedi Academy

The Jedi academies were established to train Force-sensitive beings accepted into the Jedi Order in the ways of the Force. Overseen by the Council of First Knowledge, each academy was governed by an advisory Council appointed by their superiors on Coruscant. Mainstreaming the majority of teachings at the Temple, certain practices were permitted to vary from world to world. However, at all sanctioned academies, a group of Jedi Masters would instruct Initiates to the Order in the ways of the Force. The size of the school varied from world to world; the smallest consisted of a single clan of younglings, and the largest was the main academy housed within the Jedi Temple of Coruscant. Most academies had been established during the Old Sith Wars and were located in the Galactic Rim. Some were located on or near Force-wellsprings or places significant to the Order like crystal caves or nexuses of dark side energies that needed constant monitoring.^[27]

In addition to the traditional academies established by the Order, the Exploration Corps maintained several spacefaring mobile academies such as the Chu'unthor so that roaming the galaxy and exploring new worlds could be achieved while still teaching traditional doctrine.^[27]

By the fall of the Galactic Republic in 19 BBY, many of the ancient academies had been shut down for decades, with the Council of First Knowledge preferring the central teachings of the Coruscant Temple. After the dissolution of the Order during the Great Jedi Purge, all orthodox Temples and academies were routed and burned in order to prevent any more Jedi from learning the secrets of the Force. However, the Galactic Empire's chokehold on Force-education did not last and the Order was reformed following the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War. When Grand Master Luke Skywalker's New Order became a single class of twelve students including his nephew Ben Solo, however it was reduced to only himself when his nephew turned to the darkside and became Kylo Ren.

Jedi Temple

In the Star Wars prequel trilogy saga, the Jedi Temple is located on the capital planet of Coruscant. As the chief administrative headquarters, the Temple served the Order in three capacities: a monastery and library for the Jedi seeking enlightenment and to reflect on the will of the Force; an academy and training center for Jedi younglings and Padawans who endeavored to join the ranks of the Jedi Knights; and government, in which the Masters of the Jedi High Council guided the Order's direction. It was originally built atop an old "dark-side nexus" shrine during the birth of the Republic, so as to be symbolic to the Coruscant people that the tyrannical rule of the Sith was over.^[28]

In Revenge of the Sith, the Jedi Temple is attacked by clone troopers of the 501st Legion, led by the newly christened Darth Vader, who butchered the Jedi within and set the Temple alight. After the fall of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, the Temple became the Palace of the Emperor and a location for his dark side artifacts. It would serve as Sidious' residence for over two decades until his death at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. The Temple is visible in the celebrations on Coruscant at the end of Return of the Jedi. After the destruction of the Sith, Luke Skywalker—the last of the Jedi—recovered fragments of a Force-sensitive tree that was once located at the heart of the Jedi Temple.

Architects' Journal rated the temple third on its top-ten architecture of Star Wars list behind the second Death Star and Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine, and ahead of Coruscant, the capital city of the Old Republic.^[29] The temple is described in the article as adapting "the robust typology of Mayan temples, with durasteel cladding specified for the external stone walls for improved defensive strength" and said to be a ziggurat that "is built above a Force-nexus and has ample room for training facilities, accommodation and the Jedi Archive."^[29] The temple has five towers, the tallest is Tranquility Spire, that are stylistically similar to the minarets surrounding the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.^[29] Star Wars Insider listed it as the one hundredth greatest thing about Star Wars in its one hundredth issue special.

Dark Side Adept

Dark Side Adept is an official term, used to describe someone with the power to use the dark side of the Force outside of the traditions of the Jedi or the Sith. They were often steeped in the lore of the dark side and opposed to those who used the light side, such as Jedi. While all Sith were technically "Dark Side Adepts", the term was not exclusive to them, as non-Sith individuals such as Asajj Ventress, Kylo Ren, and the Grand Inquisitor were considered Dark Side Adepts. Dark Side Adepts were referenced in passing in James Luceno's canon novel Tarkin.^[30]