Mace Windu

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"Windu" redirects here. For the cycle of 8 lunar years, see Javanese calendar.

Mace Windu
Star Wars character
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu
First appearanceThe Phantom Menace (1999)
Created byGeorge Lucas
Portrayed bySamuel L. Jackson
Voiced by
Other:
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderMale
Title
  • Jedi Master
  • Deputy Grand Master of the Jedi High Council
  • Republic General (during the Clone Wars)
OccupationJedi
AffiliationJedi Order
Galactic Republic
Masters
Apprentice
Depa Billaba
HomeworldHaruun Kal

Mace Windu is a fictional character in the

The Rise of Skywalker, whilst Terrence C. Carson voiced the character in other projects, such as The Clone Wars animated television series. The character also appears in various canon and non-canon Star Wars media like books, comics, and video games
.

In the fictional Star Wars universe, Mace Windu is portrayed as a

dark side of the Force after helping the Sith Lord Darth Sidious
kill Windu.

Character conception and overview

Several early incarnations of the character who would become Mace Windu were developed in

prequel trilogy
.

Although his weapon was not seen onscreen until

Episode I – The Phantom Menace paired Mace with a blue lightsaber.[3] During the production of Attack of the Clones, Samuel L. Jackson asked Lucas if his character could wield a purple lightsaber as a way of making the character easily distinguishable in large battle scenes.[4] According to Jackson, the hilt was engraved with "bad motherfucker", a reference to his role in Pulp Fiction; the engraving is not visible in the films.[5]

Appearances

Film

Skywalker saga

Main article:
Skywalker saga
The Phantom Menace (1999)

Introduced in

Anakin Skywalker be trained, believing that the boy is the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy. Windu and the other Council members decline, deeming Anakin too old and full of fear. After the corrupt Trade Federation is defeated and Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats the Sith Lord Darth Maul, who killed Qui-Gon, Windu realizes that the Sith have returned, and he and the Council reluctantly allow Obi-Wan to train Anakin in Qui-Gon's stead.[6]

Attack of the Clones (2002)

In

Geonosis while investigating the Separatists, Windu leads a cadre of Jedi to rescue him, Padmé and Anakin from being executed at Dooku's order. In the ensuing battle, Windu kills bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template for the Republic's army of clone troopers, before he and the other Jedi lead the Clone Army to victory in a battle with Dooku's forces. At the end of the film, with the Clone Wars begun, Windu resolves to keep a closer eye on the increasingly corrupt Galactic Senate.[7]

Revenge of the Sith (2005)

In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, set three years after the beginning of the Clone Wars, Windu and the other members of the Jedi Council are concerned that the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine, may not relinquish his emergency powers when the Clone Wars end. Their suspicions only grow when the Senate grants Palpatine a vote on the Jedi Council by appointing Anakin as his personal representative. The Council makes Anakin a member, but Windu notifies Anakin that they do not grant him the rank of Jedi Master, infuriating the Jedi Knight and diminishing his trust in the council. Further, the Council orders Anakin to spy on Palpatine.

After Obi-Wan kills Separatist leader

Order 66, which results in the vast majority of the Jedi being killed by clone troopers.[9]

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Samuel L. Jackson makes a vocal cameo as Mace Windu in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. During the battle between Rey and Darth Sidious, Windu's voice is heard by the former, encouraging Rey to fight back and finally destroy the Sith.

Other films

The Clone Wars (2008)

Windu plays a supporting role in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, set shortly after the beginning of the Clone Wars. He is depicted as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic, like all other Jedi Masters. Samuel L. Jackson reprised his role from the prequel film trilogy.[10]

Television

The Clone Wars (2008–2014; 2020)

Mace Windu has a supporting role in the animated series

Mother Talzin
.

In the seventh season, released on Disney+ in 2020, Windu and Obi-Wan lead the Republic's ground forces in the Anaxes campaign, and the former manages to deactivate a bomb hidden by Admiral Trench as a contingency plan once he is defeated. During a meeting with the Jedi Council, Windu orders Ahsoka Tano to deliver Maul to Coruscant, and declines to discuss sensitive information as Ahsoka is no longer part of the Jedi Order. Ahsoka later senses Anakin turning to the dark side and helping Palpatine kill Windu; archive recordings of Samuel L. Jackson were used for this scene.

Literature

In 2017, Marvel released Star Wars: Jedi of the Republic – Mace Windu, a five-issue comic series centered around Windu during the early days of the Clone Wars. The series received negative reviews for both its art and story.[11] It follows Windu leading a small team of Jedi to a remote planet to investigate a Separatist presence. Windu battles a mercenary droid hired by General Grievous, and one of the Jedi turns on Windu after becoming disillusioned with the Order's involvement in war.

Windu also appears in flashbacks in the comic miniseries Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – Dark Temple.[12]

The 2022 novel Brotherhood (focused on Obi-Wan and Anakin) acknowledges Windu's ability to sense "shatterpoints", established in the Legends continuity.[13]

Legends

Windu appears extensively in prequel-era

Expanded Universe material. In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise.[14][15]

Clone Wars (2003–2005)

Mace Windu is a supporting character in

Dantooine
against a large Separatist hovering "fortress", and over the course of the battle, he loses his lightsaber, forcing him to instead use a lethal form of unarmed combat powered by the Force. In the final chapters, Windu and Yoda help defend Coruscant from an attack by General Grievous, though the latter is successful in kidnapping Palpatine, thus initiating the events of Revenge of the Sith.

Comics

The 1999 "

Eeth Koth. However, the lightsaber returned to him is blue, so this does not explain why his saber color changed to purple, as is sometimes claimed.[16]

Novels

Windu has appeared as a supporting character in Legends/Expanded Universe novels, such as

Yoda: Dark Rendezvous and Labyrinth of Evil
.

Shatterpoint
Shatterpoint
Author
Random House Audio
Publication date
Hardcover: June 3, 2003
Paperback: April 23, 2004
PagesHardcover: 464

Paperback: 432

Audiobook: 3h 45m 17s
The Cestus Deception
 

Mace Windu is the central character of Matthew Stover's 2004 novel Shatterpoint, taking place six months after Attack of the Clones. Stover based the novel on both Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, and its 1979 film adaptation Apocalypse Now. George Lucas wrote the prologue to the novel, and Jonathan Davis reads the audiobook version.

Windu's former

Depa Billaba
has been sent to Windu's homeworld, Haruun Kal, to start a revolution against the Separatist-allied government. Evidence is discovered that Billaba has fallen to the dark side of the Force. Since Windu taught her a special lightsaber combat form, he is sent by the Jedi Council to find her.

After a fight, he puts Billaba under arrest, and calls a Republic cruiser. It is attacked by

vulture droids and deploys gunships, which battle the droid starfighters with the assistance of clone troopers. Some of the landing craft make it to the surface, and the cruiser defeats the Separatists. Windu uses the gunships to destroy the droid fighters that followed them, then orders the clones to take out a nearby droid control station. The Separatists are forced to surrender to the Republic, and Billaba falls into a vegetative coma
. A Republic force stays on the planet to police the unrestful local tribes.

The novel explores Windu's unique talent of sensing "shatterpoints", faultlines in the Force which allow him to exploit his enemies' weaknesses. It also explains that Windu is the creator and sole master of a style of lightsaber combat called Vaapad, in which the user skirts dangerously close to the dark side by enjoying the thrill of the fight. All others who attempted to master the form either gave in to the dark side or were unable to properly master the technique. Stover later referenced Windu's unique lightsaber-fighting abilities in his novelization of Revenge of the Sith. Vaapad was also acknowledged in the 2010 reference book The Jedi Path.[17]

Merchandising

An action figure was released following the prequel films' release.

Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor starfighter with Astromech droid
R4-M6. He also received his own legacy Lightsaber at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, before being discontinued around April–June 2021.

Legacy

IGN listed Mace Windu as the 27th best Star Wars character, stating that he is an important component of the series.[18]

Samuel L. Jackson called for Windu's return at Star Wars Celebration in 2017, saying that "We all know Jedi can fall from incredible heights and survive, so apparently, I am not dead. Yes, I have two appendages right now, but we know the long and rich history of Star Wars characters reappearing with new appendages".[19]

Relationships

Mentorship tree

Main article: Jedi
Jedi Order
master-apprentice relationship
Yoda
Count
Dooku		Mace
Windu
Depa
Billaba
Younglings
Obi-Wan
Kenobi		Kanan
Jarrus
Anakin
Skywalker		Luke
Skywalker		Ezra
Bridger
Ahsoka
Tano		Leia
Organa
Sabine WrenBen Solo
[n 1]		Rey
[n 1]
Din Grogu
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Ben Solo and Rey are a Force dyad.

Further reading

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0345477637
    .
  2. ISBN 978-0345494764
    .
  3. ^ Veekhoven, Tim (June 30, 2014). "The Beginning: Hasbro's Phantom Menace Toys". StarWars.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  4. ScreenCrush. Greenwich, Connecticut: Townsquare Media. Archived
    from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Prairie (May 18, 2005). "Celebrity Spotlight: Samuel L. Jackson". LongIslandPress.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2005. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  6. 20th Century Fox. 1999. Archived
    from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  7. 20th Century Fox. 2002. Archived
    from the original on September 5, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  8. ^ (HD 1080p) Mace Windu vs. Darth Sidious & Anakin Skywalker, archived from the original on December 15, 2021, retrieved February 27, 2021
  9. 20th Century Fox. 2005. Archived
    from the original on December 7, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  10. ^ Star Wars: The Clone Wars (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2008. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "Review: Star Wars- Mace Windu: Jedi of the Republic". ComicBookWire. February 6, 2019. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Celestino, Mike (September 5, 2019). "Comic Review - "Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order: Dark Temple" #1". LaughingPlace.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2021.
  13. ^ Bacon, Thomas (May 11, 2022). "Star Wars Makes Mace Windu's Rarest Jedi Power Canon Again". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  14. ^ McMilian, Graeme (April 25, 2014). "Lucasfilm Unveils New Plans for Star Wars Expanded Universe". The Hollywood Reporter. Los Angeles, California: Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on August 30, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  15. StarWars.com. April 25, 2014. Archived
    from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  16. ^ Dela Cruz, Judith Anne (March 18, 2019). "Mace Windu's Original Lightsaber Color Revealed". Epicstream. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  17. OCLC 752590192
    .
  18. ^ "Top 100 Star Wars Characters: 27: Mace Windu". IGN. Los Angeles, California: j2 Global. Archived from the original on August 16, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  19. ^ Cavanaugh, Patrick (June 13, 2019). "Star Wars: Samuel L. Jackson Wants "One More Run" at Mace Windu". Comicbook.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

External links

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