Mace Windu

Template:SW Character Mace Windu (72 BBY–19 BBY) is a Jedi Master in the fictional Star Wars universe and one of the last members of the Jedi Council before the Great Jedi Purge. Windu is often regarded as second only to Master Yoda on the council. His wisdom and power are legendary, as is the weight of his words.

In addition to his reputation for wisdom, Windu is considered to be one of the finest swordsmen to ever grace the Jedi Order. He is the creator of Vaapad, a dueling technique within the seventh style of lightsaber combat. Only Mace Windu, his former student Depa Billaba, and legendary lightsaber instructor Sora Bulq have ever mastered it, though Depa and Sora fell to the darkside through the technique. With his eclectic fighting style, it is said that only two individuals have ever outsparred Master Windu — Yoda and Count Dooku. Windu was also able to disarm the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, until the intervention of Anakin Skywalker.

In addition to being a great warrior, Mace possesses extensive knowledge of Jedi history and philosophy. Windu is a diplomat by nature.

History

Mace Windu is originally from the planet Haruun Kal as revealed in Matthew Stover's novel Shatterpoint. After the death of his parents when he was a mere six months old, he was turned over to the Jedi Order. He is appointed to the Jedi Council before reaching the age of thirty (around twenty-eight years old to be precise), a remarkably young age for such a feat. Windu trains many other Jedi during his career, including Echuu Shen-Jon (who ultimately survives the Purge), and fellow council member Depa Billaba.

In the events leading up to the Battle of Geonosis, Mace Windu kills the bounty hunter Jango Fett. He leads a small force of Jedi to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala from a Geonosian style execution administered by Count Dooku.

With the Clone Wars in full swing, Master Windu returns to his homeworld to track down his missing former Padawan, Depa Billaba. There, he experiences firsthand the horrors of war, and is pitted against the deadly Kar Vastor and the dark side itself. Although Windu survives, the memories of his return to Haruun Kal would haunt him for a long time. As a Jedi general in charge of clone forces of the Grand Army of the Republic, he also fights against and defeats many separatist incursions, including a powerful seismic tank on Dantooine.

At the advent of the Battle of Coruscant, Mace Windu has other troubles to worry about in addition to the impending attack on the capital world of the Republic. The Jedi have been investigating the mysterious and elusive Sith Lord Darth Sidious. This investigation leads Master Windu to believe that the Sith Lord is in fact a member of Chancellor Palpatine's inner council. When Anakin Skywalker reveals that Palpatine is in fact Sidious, Master Windu decides to take action and arrest the Chancellor. Along with Masters Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, Mace confronts Palpatine, and is attacked by the Sith Master. Palpatine easily and swiftly slays Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin. He kills Master Fisto shortly after. However, Sidious finds that Windu makes for a far tougher opponent.(LOL, Palpatine fooled Mace, Anakin AND you, whoever wrote this!!! Palpatine is MUCH more powerful than Master Windu, he was playing with him, waiting for Anakin to hit Mace. Yoda is most powerful Jedi, Mace's teacher and beat Mace before in training and Yoda couldn't beat Palpatine) Master Windu's long study of lightsaber combat and his mastery of Form VII combat and Vaapad serve him well in fighting Sidious. Sidious uses Force lightning, but Windu deflects it back onto Sidious, deforming the Emperor's face. Windu has Sidious at his mercy and is weighing up whether or not he should stand trial or be summarily executed. However, a conflicted Anakin Skywalker intervenes and severs the Jedi Master's saber hand. It was very unfortunate that Anakin was too misguided by his desire to save his wife, Padmé, to realize that Windu had to kill the already defeated Chancellor, since Palpatine takes advantage of this development to attack the Jedi Master with his Force lightning once more, heavily injuring Windu and eventually flinging him off the building. This confirms Skywalker's place as Darth Vader at Palpatine's side.

Mace Windu is portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in all three of the prequel films. According to an interview on the The Late Show with David Letterman on May 13 2005, the purple color of his lightsaber was explained as a personal request from Jackson to George Lucas. Jackson wanted his own color so that his character would be easily distinguishable in the final battle scene of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (the Battle of Geonosis). As a result, Mace Windu is the only major character in any of the Star Wars films to have a lightsaber that is not red, green, or blue. It could be argued that there is deeper meaning to the color of his saber. One could be the difference in saber style as Vapaad borders the light side (blue) and dark side (red). Another could be his skill level and mastery of lightsaber combat. One other character, Jedi Master Plo Koon was initially said to possess an orange lightsaber, though his is clearly displayed as blue during Attack of the Clones.

Memorable Quotes

"This party's over."

"We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers."

"You are under arrest, my lord!" (Mace to Palpatine in RotS)

"The oppression of the Sith will never return. Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over . . . you have lost . . ." (Mace to Palpatine in RotS)

"He is too dangerous to be left alive!" (Mace to Anakin in RotS)