Jedi

George Lucas acknowledged Jedi, Sith, and other Force concepts have been inspired by many sources. These include: samurai's bushido, Shaolin Monks, Shamanism, Hindu mythology, Shintō, Buddhism not to mention countless cinematic precursors. The works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), directly influenced Lucas, and was what drove him to create the 'modern myth' of Star Wars.[7][8]

For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.

— Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: A New Hope

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 has all but exterminated the Jedi, 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, which depicts the Battle of Yavin, 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.

The two last Jedi Masters die during the events of the films, after which they return as Force ghosts to help Luke.

The prequel trilogy depicts the Jedi in their prime, headquartered at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and dealing with the rising presence of the dark side of the Force and the return of the Sith. In 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, destined to bring balance to the Force.[lower-alpha 1] At the end of The Phantom Menace, Anakin is paired with Qui-Gon's apprentice, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), who promises to train him.

The sequel, 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). The Clone Wars, first spoken of in the original 1977 film, begin with hundreds of Jedi participating in the Battle of Geonosis.

In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Yoda confides to Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) that the prophecy of the Chosen One could have been misread. Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who is revealed to be Darth Sidious, 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. The latter begins helping Palpatine hunt down and destroy the Jedi, who are nearly exterminated during the events of Revenge of the Sith; Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are among a handful of Jedi that avoided the initial purge.[11] As revealed in the Clone Wars series, each of the clones were implanted with chips that Palpatine would activate with the command Order 66: Operation Knightfall, a law that states:

In the event of Jedi officers acting against the interests of the Republic, and after receiving specific orders verified as coming directly from the Supreme Commander (Chancellor), GAR commanders will remove those officers by lethal force, and command of the GAR will revert to the Supreme Commander (Chancellor) until a new command structure is established.

— Karen Traviss, Republic Commando: True Colors (2007)

This resulted in clone troopers like Commander Cody to suddenly turn on their generals and kill them, and Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker leading the 501st Legion to carry out "Operation Knightfall" against the Jedi Temple, slaughtering all Jedi within including Temple-Defender Shaak Ti. Palpatine convinced the people of the Republic that the Jedi were corrupted warmongers responsible for prolonging the Clone Wars, labeling them criminals with bounties placed on them. Darth Vader continued to hunt and execute nearly every surviving Jedi during the early years of the Empire, in what is known as the Great Jedi Purge; only Yoda survived long enough to die of old age, and Ahsoka Tano, who outlasted the Empire, while others like Obi-Wan and Kanan have died fighting the Empire years later.

Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris. At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.

— Luke Skywalker, Star Wars: The Last Jedi

In The Force Awakens, the first film in the sequel trilogy, it is revealed that Luke had attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order, but failed when his nephew Ben Solo (Adam Driver) fell to the dark side, lured by the mysterious Snoke (Andy Serkis). Ben is renamed Kylo Ren and destroys all that Luke built. After Kylo'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.[12]

In the sequel The Last Jedi, the scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) 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 the past Jedi that allowed Darth Sidious to rise to power. 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 decides to stay on Ahch-To and attempts to burn down the tree with the texts, but cannot bring himself to do so. However, Yoda appears as a Force Ghost and burns the tree, teaching him that failure is just as important as success, and that masters are defined by those who surpass them. Near the end of the film, Luke confronts Kylo on the planet Crait. It is subsequently revealed that Luke had been projecting himself from Ahch-To; he dies from the effort and becomes one with the Force. Rey is shown to have taken the sacred Jedi texts before she left Ahch-To, in order to continue her training.[13]

In The Rise of Skywalker, the final film of the sequel trilogy, it is discovered that Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) has returned from death and has been secretly manipulating events from the Sith world Exegol. In his last attempt to reclaim the galaxy, Palpatine unveils a fleet of Star Destroyers capable of planetary destruction. He offers the fleet to Kylo Ren in exchange for killing the last remaining Jedi, Rey, who is revealed to be Palpatine's granddaughter. After the death of Kylo's mother, Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Kylo returns to the light and reclaims his identity as Ben Solo. At the end of the film, Ben joins Rey as she confronts Palpatine. Rey channels the power of the past Jedi to destroy Palpatine and the Sith, before dying herself. Ben sacrifices his life to revive Rey and becomes one with the Force. With peace and justice restored to the galaxy, Rey lives on to start the Jedi Order again.[14]

In a deleted scene from Attack of the Clones, the "Lost Twenty" is the name given to a group of Jedi Masters—numbering twenty in total—who left the Jedi Order throughout its history. The first 12 of these Lost Twenty became "Dark Jedi" who eventually founded the first Sith Empire. In the years preceding the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Dooku left the Jedi Order as a result of differences with his fellow Jedi, becoming the 20th Jedi Master in the history of the Order to do so. To showcase the failures of the Jedi they created statues of the fallen Jedi and placed them in the Jedi Temple Archives.

The animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars depicts the battles of the Clone Wars, focusing on the Jedi and clone troopers they lead against the Separatists and its Sith leaders. The feature-film pilot reveals that Anakin trained an apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.[15][16] Later arcs explore the foundations of Order 66 and Palpatine's manipulation of the Jedi Order.

The animated television series Star Wars Rebels reveals that Ahsoka and a Jedi named Kanan Jarrus survived the purge; the latter trains a new apprentice, Ezra Bridger. The series also reveals that, following the start of the purge with Order 66, the Emperor commissioned the Inquisitorius, a group of former Jedi who had turned to the Dark Side for various reasons, to aid Darth Vader in hunting down the remaining Jedi.

The canon video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order introduces Cal Kestis, a former Padawan hiding from the Empire who accidentally exposes his Force abilities to aid someone putting him on the Inquisitors' radar. Kestis gets aid from Cere Junda, another Jedi Knight in hiding.

The exact size of the pre-purge Jedi's membership and operations are never specified. However, in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Path of the Jedi", Kanan Jarrus stated: "...There were around 10,000 Jedi Knights defending the galaxy. Now, we are few. But in those days, we had small outposts, temples spread throughout the stars. The Empire sought out these temples and destroyed many of them..."

Yoda was a wise, experienced, and powerful Grand Master of the Jedi of an unknown species and the oldest known prophet in existence (having lived at least 900 years), 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. Following the Galactic Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, Yoda was one of the few Jedi survivors of Order 66, and spent the rest of his life on the swamp planet Dagobah. Hiding from the Empire, he trained Luke Skywalker in the Jedi arts, until dying of old age, though he returned as a Force spirit. In the sequel trilogy, Yoda appears both as a Force spirit, teaching an older and wiser Luke about failure, and as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Emperor Palpatine.

Mace Windu was a human male Jedi Master of the Order 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 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.[17] He first appeared in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, where he expressed doubt regarding Qui-Gon Jinn's conclusion about Darth Maul being a Sith Lord, but nonetheless assured the Council that their full resources will be utilized to verify the theory that the Sith could have returned. Out of all members of the Jedi Council, Windu was the most reluctant to allow young Anakin Skywalker (who Jinn believed to be the prophesied Chosen One), to be trained as a Jedi, believing he was dangerous due to his fragile emotional state. 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 Padmé Amidala from Separatist captivity on Geonosis, where he killed the bounty hunter Jango Fett in the battle that followed. During the Clone Wars, he served the Republic as an overseer of the war effort and advisor to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, as well as taking part in conflicts such as the Battles of Malastare and Felucia. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, upon being informed by Anakin that Palpatine was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Windu attempted to arrest the Chancellor and beat him in a lightsaber duel, but died after having his arm cut off by Anakin, who subsequently turned to the Dark Side, and being electrocuted with Force Lighting by Palpatine. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Windu appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Palpatine.

Count Dooku of Serenno was a human male Jedi Master who was trained by Yoda and in turn trained Qui-Gon Jinn, and one of the main antagonists of the prequel trilogy. Born to the royal family of the planet Serenno, Dooku was rejected by his family as an infant upon the discovery of his connection to the Force, which his father in particular feared and, as such, abandoned him after contacting the Jedi Order to come and take him to Coruscant. During his training under Yoda, Dooku proved himself to be both strong with the Force and a master duelist, regarded by many as one of the best in the Order. Upon becoming a Jedi Master, he left the Order and returned to Serenno to reclaim his title and heritage as a nobleman. He later fell to the Dark Side and became the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, Darth Sidious' second apprentice. Dooku helped Sidious with his galactic conquest plans, recruiting the bounty hunter Jango Fett as the template of the clone army that would be used by the Galactic Republic, and forming the Confederacy of Independent Systems from various planets and systems that wanted to become independent from the Republic, resulting in the Clone Wars. Dooku served as the figurehead of the Separatist Alliance throughout the Clone Wars, until meeting his demise at the hands of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, who decapitated him at Chancellor Palpatine's (secretly Darth Sidious) urgings, thus revealing that Sidious never cared about Dooku and merely used him to aid his plans.

Qui-Gon Jinn was a wise and powerful human male Jedi Master, and the Master of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Unlike other, more conservative Jedi, he valued living in the moment as the best way to embrace the Force. While other Jedi respected him highly, they were frequently puzzled by his unorthodox beliefs and ultimately denied him a seat on the Jedi Council, despite him being among the wisest and most powerful of the Jedi.[18] Jinn was both the Jedi to discover the Sith's return after more than a millennium, upon being attacked by Darth Maul during a mission to protect Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo, and the one to find the ability of becoming a Force spirit after death, though he wasn't capable of having a physical body. Following his death at Darth Maul's hands, Jinn guided both Yoda and Obi-Wan to the ability of becoming a physical Force spirit after death. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, he appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Emperor Palpatine.

Obi-Wan Kenobi was a human male Jedi Master who trained Anakin Skywalker, at the behest of his deceased master Qui-Gon Jinn, and later his son Luke Skywalker, making him one of the main characters in the Star Wars franchise. Having fought in the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan proved himself an adept strategist, duelist, and spy, as his leadership style heavily favours subterfuge and misdirection while commanding clone troopers, or wielding the Force. Due to his charisma and persuasion skills, he became known as 'The Negotiator' during the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan best exemplifies the Jedi Code: in spite of Darth Vader's betrayal, his master and the woman he loved being killed by his nemesis, Darth Maul, he never fell into darkness. As one of the few survivors of Order 66 following the Galactic Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, Obi-Wan hid on the desert planet Tatooine, watching over Vader's son Luke, knowing that he would one day grow to become a Jedi and defeat Vader. He briefly mentored Luke in the Jedi arts, before meeting his demise at the hands of his former apprentice aboard the Death Star, though he continued guiding Luke as a Force spirit. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Obi-Wan's voice can briefly be heard just after Rey's force vision when she came into contact with Anakin's lightsaber. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Obi-Wan appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Emperor Palpatine.

Anakin Skywalker was a human male Jedi Knight Master, one of the main protagonists of the prequel trilogy, and the primary antagonist of the original trilogy. He is the Chosen One, being born of the Force. 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 22. He secretly married Padmé Amidala at the onset of the Clone Wars and has two children, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. He was eventually seduced to the Dark Side by the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine) and became Sith Lord, Darth Vader, serving the Galactic Empire. While he was a member of the Jedi Council, he trained a Padawan of his own, Ahsoka Tano during the Clone Wars. Vader was eventually redeemed by his son in Return of the Jedi, and gave his own life to save his, killing Palpatine and fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Anakin appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Palpatine.

Ahsoka Tano was a Togruta female Jedi Padawan discovered on her homeworld of Shili by Jedi Master Plo Koon. Plo brought her to Coruscant to train as a Jedi, and she eventually became the Padawan learner of Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. Among many campaigns, Ahsoka found herself advising rebels on the planet Onderon, including Steela and Saw Gerrera, in their fight against the Confederacy. These rebels would eventually form part of the basis of the Alliance for the Restoration of the Republic, a relationship that would later prove beneficial to her. She was later accused of bombing the hangar at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant before clearing her name with Anakin's help. However, the Jedi Council's response during the ordeal soured her faith in the Order and she left the Order to forge her own path in the galaxy. She briefly returned in the service of the Republic during the final days of the Clone Wars, when she led part of the 501st Clone Legion in the Siege of Mandalore to capture the former Sith Lord Darth Maul, who attempted to warn her that Anakin would soon fall to the Dark Side. Shortly after capturing Maul, Ahsoka was betrayed by her clone troopers as part of Order 66, but managed to escape alongside Clone Captain Rex (whose control chip she removed). Years later, Ahsoka would eventually serve the nascent Rebel Alliance as the spymaster and head of its intelligence network, directing operations behind the codename "Fulcrum". She is one of the few Jedi to survive past the Galactic Empire era and into the New Republic era. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, Ahsoka appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Emperor Palpatine.

Cal Kestis was a human male Jedi Padawan who trained under Master Jaro Tapal. After the events of Order 66 and failing to save his master's life, he went into hiding on the planet Bracca where he worked as a scrapyard rigger. While scrapping a freighter, an accident forced Cal to reveal his Force abilities to save a co-worker, exposing him to the Empire and the Inquisitorius. On the run, Cal was aided by Cere Junda, a Jedi Knight also in hiding, who became his unofficial mentor. Cal is the protagonist of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Cere Junda was a human female Jedi Knight who went into hiding following Order 66. As a Padawan, Junda was sent with her master Eno Cordova to the planet Ontotho to regulate a dispute between corporate security forces and local freedom fighters. After an attack separated them, the impulsive Junda fought alongside the freedom fighters to find Cordova. Following the Clone Wars and the start of the Jedi Purge, Junda secretly sought to rebuild Jedi Order. After saving him from the Inquisitors, Junda began to mentor former Padawan Cal Kestis. Prior to the Purge, Junda also mentored a Padawan named Trilla Siduri, who later fell to the Dark Side and became an Inquisitor known as the Second Sister.

Kanan Jarrus was a human male Jedi Padawan who fought for the Rebellion during its formation. First introduced as a main character of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, Jarrus was 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 was forced to break certain Jedi traditions to avoid being detected by Imperial forces that continued 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. Although he lost his master Depa Bilaba to Order 66 before he could ascend the ranks of the Jedi Order, he was tasked with training the young Force-sensitive Ezra Bridger throughout his eventual service to the larger Rebellion. He was known as Caleb Dume before Order 66, and changed his name to avoid detection. Though Jarrus died saving Hera Syndulla, his legacy would live on through their son, Jacen Syndulla. In Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, he appears as a disembodied voice alongside other past Jedi, empowering Rey to face a rejuvenated Emperor Palpatine.

Ezra Bridger was a human male Jedi Padawan who was born on the planet Lothal on the same day the Galactic Empire was established. He witnessed many injustices of the Imperial occupation of his homeworld for much of his childhood and was separated from his parents from a very early age. He was able to survive alone using street smarts and skills, but was discovered by Kanan Jarrus to have potential Force sensitivity after he encounters the Spectres for the first time. After discovering how much of a team player he could be during a rescue operation, they recruited Bridger, who began training him in the ways of the Jedi under Jarrus, himself still a Jedi Padawan. Bridger took a long time learning how to wield a lightsaber and use it to deflect blaster bolts, modifying his first one to fire stun blasts in the interim. He was not well skilled in lightsaber duels against Inquisitors and Darth Vader, but later discovered his unique ability to use the Force to control and command animals, a skill that proved more useful several times during his service in the Rebellion. Bridger later went missing in action during the battle to liberate Lothal from Imperial occupation, where he successfully defeated Grand Admiral Thrawn, regarded by many as the Empire's best tactician.

Luke Skywalker was a human male Jedi Knight (later Master) and the protagonist of the 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 was 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, who died killing his master and the last Sith, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, in order to save Luke, he set out to train a new generation of Jedi to rebuild the Order, only to have them wiped out by Supreme Leader Snoke, a puppet created by a revived Palpatine, who also turned Ben to the Dark Side, adopting the Kylo Ren persona. Skywalker then spent the rest of his life in exile on Ahch-To, the original headquarters of the Jedi Order, blaming himself for Ben's turn and the destruction of his Order, until he was found by Rey, the last Jedi and the secret granddaughter of Palpatine, whom he reluctantly trained in the Jedi arts. Shortly after, he gave his life to distract Kylo Ren, now Supreme Leader of the First Order, on the planet Crait via a Force Projection, allowing the Resistance to escape. When Rey learned of her lineage and exiled herself on Ahch-To out of fear of turning to the Dark Side, Luke appeared before her as a Force spirit and encouraged her to face Palpatine. Along with the spirits of other past Jedi, he then empowered Rey during her final confrontation with Palpatine, which marked the definitive defeat of the Sith, and later watched from afar alongside his sister's spirit (who had died redeeming Kylo Ren) as Rey renounced her lineage, becoming a Skywalker instead.

Ben Solo was a human male Jedi Padawan and the primary antagonist of the sequel trilogy. He was the son of smuggler and Rebel Alliance General Han Solo and Rebellion leader Princess Leia Organa, and the nephew of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, having been born shortly after the Galactic Empire's defeat. As part of his uncle's new generation of Jedi, Ben trained under him, but was eventually seduced to the Dark Side by Supreme Leader Snoke, a puppet created by a revived Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, the last Sith, and sought to become a Sith Lord, as powerful as his late grandfather, Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker). Following the destruction of Luke's New Jedi Order, Ben adopted the Kylo Ren persona and became a commander within the First Order, as well as the leader of the Knights of Ren, an organization of fellow Force-wielders. He later killed his father when he unsuccessfully tried to redeem him, and formed a unique connection with Rey, the last Jedi and Palpatine's secret granddaughter, called a "dyad in the Force". After killing Snoke, Ren took over as Supreme Leader of the First Order, until ultimately being redeemed by his mother, who died in the process, and helping Rey face Palpatine, giving his own life to save hers.

Rey was a human female Jedi Padawan and the protagonist of the sequel trilogy. She was the illegitimate granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, the last surviving Sith, and was born in the years following the Galactic Empire's defeat. Abandoned on the desert planet of Jakku at a young age by her parents in order to keep her safe, she became involved in the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order, and formed a unique connection with Kylo Ren, called a "dyad in the Force". She was briefly trained by Luke Skywalker and, following his death, continued her Jedi training under the guidance of his sister and Resistance leader Leia Organa, as well as the ancient Jedi texts. Rey eventually learned of her lineage and, with the help of a redeemed Kylo Ren and the spirits of past Jedi, faced a revived Palpatine, killing him and ending the Sith Order once and for all. She then renounced her lineage, becoming a Skywalker instead, prepared to find her own path.

Not every "dark side"-user is a Sith; nor is every "light side"-user a Jedi. Within the Star Wars Expanded Universe, people of all species have demonstrated varying "force-sensitive" powers and abilities. These "force-wielders" are often depicted with little to no formal Jedi training in the Force, originating from primitive planets.

A dark side adept is 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, non-Sith individuals such as Asajj Ventress, Kylo Ren, and the Grand Inquisitor were also considered dark side adepts. Dark side adepts were referenced in passing in James Luceno's canon novel Tarkin.[19]

Bendu debuted in the Star Wars Rebels Season 3 episode "Steps Into Shadow". Bendu was a Force-sensitive individual who resided on the remote planet of Atollon and represented the "center" of the Force, between the light side and the dark side. "Jedi and Sith wield the Ashla and Bogan. The light and the dark. I'm the one in the middle. The Bendu..." stated Bendu. He is depicted as one who seeks balance, and has been likened to Tom Bombadil of The Lord of the Rings. The term "Bendu" first appears in the original script for Star Wars as the name of the Jedi Knights, the "Jedi-Bendu".[20][21][22][23]

Most notably, Anakin Skywalker's padawan Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order, and continued to wield the Force, she never affiliated or created any Force sensitive organization.

The Jedi Code was a set of rules that governed the behavior of the Jedi Order. It taught its followers to not give in to feelings of anger toward other lifeforms, which would help them resist fear and prevent them from falling to the dark side of the Force.

The Code:

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.

— The Jedi Code, Dark Disciple[24]

The Four Branches of the Jedi Council are fictional institutions from the Star Wars universe. They serve the Jedi Order as an organized administrative body that provide the necessary auxiliary and support services that sustain and governed the Order's academies, temples, interests and organizations.

The Jedi High Council is the main ecclesiastical leadership of the Jedi Order. 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. The Jedi High Council has twelve members at any given time: five members who serve for life, four members who serve long-term, and three limited-term members. Sifo-Dyas had a seat on the Council until his extremist views on a war that he foresaw caused his removal. Other older members include Jor Aerith, Tera Sinuba, and Yula Braylon.

In Jedi: Fallen Order: Dark Temple (which is set an unknown amount of time before The Phantom Menace), the Jedi Council includes Yoda, Mace Windu, Eeth Koth, Yarael Poof, Poli Dapatian, and Jocasta Nu. In Master & Apprentice, set seven years before The Phantom Menace and after the events of Dark Temple, the council includes Yoda, Mace Windu, Depa Billaba, Poli Dapatian (who is in the process of retiring), Eeth Koth, and Saesee Tiin.

Members of the Jedi High Council

The final roster of the Jedi High Council before the Order fell was:

The Council of First Knowledge administered the Temple-based academy and its curriculum, and funded scholars' 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.[25]

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[25]

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.[25]

Every Jedi, regardless of species or world, is trained for their career at Jedi Academy. Entrance is determined by rigorous examination and psychological tests. 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 presented to their child, who could never afford an education. However, parents also are generally sad since they know they are unlikely to see their child again before adulthood. Members of the Order progress through four educational stages, at times referred to as levels:

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 Younglings (a child Jedi-in-training), receiving early and first-class education. The first ten years of a youngling's training demands segregation from outside distractions and is deliberately designed to reinforce detachment from earthly emotions, including loyalty or love for their parents. This is why Yoda initially denied both Anakin and Luke Skywalker for being "too old for training".

Release all your earthly attachments; let go all you've grown to love... Surrender yourself.

— Yoda, in Attack of the Clones

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[26] and the episode “Path of the Jedi”[27] 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.

An Initiate who successfully completes "fundamental training" is given a second-class education and then undergoes Padawan training under the tutelage of a 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.

Disciplined and experienced, Jedi Knights become so only when they have completed "the trials" (final tests), they officially graduate, being eligible for specialized advance courses, 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 Skywalker Saga films, 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.

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 several Padawan learners to Knight status, such as when Obi-Wan Kenobi became a Jedi Master after he successfully trained Anakin Skywalker to the point where he was able to complete the trials and become a Jedi Knight. Though this is the most common manner, there are other ways of attaining the rank.

Various careers, occupations, ranks and titles were available to all Jedi. Upon a Padawan's ascension to "Knighthood-status", a Jedi pursued higher education or vocational education and training in a field of expertise; choose a careers based on preference, personal talents and skills. Before the Great Jedi Purge, numerous divisions existed across the whole of the order, but most personnel are represented within the three order divisions: the Order of the Guardian, the Order of the Consular, or Order of the Sentinel. In addition to their specialization, in times of war, the High Council could demand that the members of the Order assume military ranks in order to defend the Republic.

• Grand Master of the Jedi: The Grand Master is usually the oldest, most experienced and best trained of all Jedi. A Grand Master is voted unanimously by the Jedi High Council. The Grand Master dictates the organization's general policies while providing direction and guidance to the entire Jedi Order. Yoda and Luke Skywalker were Jedi Grandmasters.
• Chief Master of the High Council (or 'Master of the Order'): The Chief Master of the High Council is elected by the Jedi High Council,[28] which effectively acts as chairman and chief operating officer. Its chief responsibilities include; presiding over High Council meetings of the assembled group, conducts Jedi businesses in an orderly fashion, managing the particulars of the day-to-day administration of the Jedi Order, act as representative or spokesperson to the Galactic Senate, and serving as the Grand Master's junior partner. It is believed that Jedi Master Mace Windu filled this position at the time of the Clone Wars.
• Chief Librarian of the Archives: The overseer of the Jedi Archives, Holocron Vault, Librarian's Assembly and the Educational Corps. Second only to the Grand Master in administrative importance, the Chief Librarian worked closely with the Council of First Knowledge. Around the time of the Clone Wars, the Chief Librarian was the elderly Jedi Master Jocasta Nu.
• Jedi General: A title given to those given commanding roles in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.
• Jedi Commander: This title was given to Jedi Padawans under the leadership of Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters with their roles as Jedi Generals in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars.

• Jedi Guardian: Jedi Guardians focused all aspects of combat as an extension of their being, and trained on combining and perfecting their athletic, aviation and martial art skills with mastery of the Force. The Force skills studied by the Guardians were typically those used for quickly disabling an opponent and aiding in agility and stamina. Many were stationed within Republic planetary or sectoral government's security agencies where they worked as special peacekeepers and law enforcement agents, helping to quell riots and capture terrorists. The highest ranking Jedi Guardians were stationed at the Jedi academies as instructors tasked with passing down their experience to the young students of the Order. Those Jedi who mastered lightsaber-combat techniques (such as Mace Windu) were dubbed Weapon Masters and were among the greatest warriors of the Order.
• Jedi Consular: Jedi Consulars focused on further mastery of the Force and the sharpening of mental faculties, and wielded a lightsaber only for self-defense. Overseen by the Council of Reconciliation, Jedi Consulars were often called upon to act as impartial advisers, diplomats, and historians. Most Consulars specialized as historians, archivists, librarians, archaeologists, geologists, biologists, mathematicians, and astronomers; they contributed to the growth and preservation of the Jedi Archives as "Lore Keepers" directed by the Librarian's Assembly. Some Consulars worked closely with the Republic bureaucrats to assist in greeting unaligned governments and helping them join the Republic and given the authority to hammer out a compromise or treaty during tense negotiations, backed by the full support of the Senate and Jedi Order. Some Consulars joined the Circle of Jedi Healers (headquartered out of the Coruscant Temple's Halls of Healing) and focused on the medical and humanitarian aspects of the Force, manipulating the Living Force to perform the art of healing. Those Jedi specifically predisposed to receive visions through the Force were known as "Seers", maintaining and updating the Order's holocrons; the most perceptive of these Jedi (such as Yoda) were known as Prophets and foretold the future of the galaxy.
• Jedi Sentinel: Jedi Sentinels focused on diverse disciplines, applying their force abilities as engineers, technicians, intelligence and security experts. Most Sentinels were stationed at numerous locations for decades, to serve as liaison officers between the system or sector and the Republic. The anonymous "Jedi Temple Guard" Sentinels were charged with guarding the Jedi Temple. Some Sentinels aided police as detectives through the use of the Force. Since Republic law required all newborns undergo "Force-sensitivity" testing, Sentinels who worked as members of the Acquisition Division of the Order routinely tracked down and identified Force-sensitive children to assess whether they met the qualifications to receive training in the Jedi Order. The most elite Sentinels became "Shadows" or "Watchmen": the Jedi-secret police who worked under the supervision of the First Knowledge Council to destroy all remnants of the Sith.

Within the Star Wars universe, the Jedi are usually portrayed wearing simple robes and carrying specialized field gear for their missions. Their philosophical lifestyles mirror those of real-world religious vows and evangelical counsels, as their personal possessions are provided exclusively by the Jedi Order, and are only meant to allow self-sufficiency.

The most notable instrument wielded by a Jedi is the lightsaber. Both Jedi and Sith use lightsabers, though the former regard them 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. Although rare, multi-bladed lightsabers can exist, especially among Sith such as Darth Maul's double bladed lightsaber, the Inqusitors' double-bladed/rotating ones, or Kylo Ren's crossguard-bladed one (due to a cracked kyber crystal).

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.[29] Lacking a hyperdrive, the starfighter relies on an external sled to propel it through hyperspace.[29] Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) fly updated Jedi starfighters (called Jedi Interceptors) in the opening sequence of Revenge of the Sith.[29] Later, Plo Koon (Matt Sloan) flies a Revenge of the Sith-era starfighter when he is shot down by clone troopers carrying out Emperor Palpatine's (Ian McDiarmid) Order 66.[29]

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.[30] 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.[31] 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.[31] 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.[30] Hasbro's expanding wings in the Attack of the Clones Jedi starfighter toy inspired the opening wings in the Revenge of the Sith vessel.[30] The starfighter in the Revenge of the Sith is called a Jedi Interceptor Starfighter.

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.[32]

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.[33][34]

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.[25]

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.[25]

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. After Grand Master Luke Skywalker's New Order became a single class of twelve students including his nephew Ben Solo, it was reduced to only himself when his nephew turned to the darkside and became Kylo Ren.

In the prequel trilogy, the primary Jedi Temple is located on the Republic's 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.[35]

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. 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.[36]

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.[37] 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."[37] The temple has five towers, the tallest is Tranquility Spire, that are stylistically similar to the minarets surrounding the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.[37] Star Wars Insider listed it as the one hundredth greatest thing about Star Wars in its one hundredth issue special.

The Je'daii Order, precursors to the modern Jedi, studied and used both the light and dark sides of the Force equally. The preview issue of Dawn of the Jedi states that the Je'daii originated ten thousand years before the saga takes place (approximately 36,453 years BBY). They were more monk than warrior, and their capital was Tython in the Deep Core.

In novels set after the events of the film series, Luke Skywalker re-established the Jedi High Council as part of his New Jedi Order. The most notable difference between the format of the new council and the old is that only half of the council are made up of Jedi, while the other half consisted of politicians. Following the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, the Jedi withdrew their support from any one political entity and relocated to Ossus, where Luke had a full Jedi Council re-established.

In novels set after the events of the original film trilogy, the New Jedi Order was the restored and reformed Jedi organization, in the wake of the Great Jedi Purge and subsequent fall of the Galactic Empire. The Jedi Knights, reduced in number to only a handful, were slowly restored, primarily under the leadership of Grandmaster Luke Skywalker. Skywalker abolished the traditional Master/Padawan system. He believed all Jedi should be both teachers and students; that they should both learn from and mentor each other, and not just from one Master.

Within the Expanded Universe, The New Jedi Order indicates that the Jedi Temple on Coruscant is no longer standing but it is rebuilt as a gift to Jedi for their services and achievements during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The new temple is in the form of a massive pyramid made from stone and transparisteel that is designed to fit into the new look of Coruscant, though internally it is identical to the design seen in Revenge of the Sith.

In Star Wars and Philosophy, William Stephens compares the Jedi to Stoicism:

To recap, the virtues the Jedi shares with the Stoic sage are patience, timeliness, deep commitment, seriousness (as opposed to frivolity), calmness (as opposed to anger or euphoria), peacefulness (as opposed to aggression), caution (as opposed to recklessness), benevolence (as opposed to hatred), joy (as opposed to sullenness), passivity (as opposed to agitation), and wisdom. Given all these virtues, Yoda certainly resembles what the ancient Stoics described as the sage—the ideal person who has perfected his reason and achieved complete wisdom.[43]

Functionally, the Jedi order resembles a Praetorian Guard.[44]

Jedi have made their way into certain areas of pop culture, such as "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "The Saga Begins", a parody of "American Pie". In the film The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009), a reporter follows a former soldier who claimed to be a "Jedi warrior", a nickname for psychic spies in the US military.

One of the enduring influences the Star Wars saga has had in popular culture is the idea of the fictional Jedi values being interpreted as a modern philosophical path or religion,[45] spawning various movements such as the Jediism (religious) and the Jedi census phenomenon.

• Wallace, Daniel (2017) [2010]. The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-0227-6. OCLC 752590192.