Mace Windu

Mace Windu
Star Wars character
Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu.
Portrayed by	Samuel L. Jackson (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film)) Terrence C. Carson (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV series), Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron, Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and Kinect Star Wars) Kevin Michael Richardson (Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter) Adrian Holmes (Lego: The Yoda Chronicles)
Fictional profile
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Position	Jedi Master, Jedi Council Member, High Jedi General, Master of the High Council
Homeworld	Haruun Kal
Affiliation	Jedi Order, Galactic Republic

Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson in the prequel films and voiced by voice-actor Terrence C. Carson in other projects. A Jedi Master of the High Council and one of the last members of the order's upper echelons before the Galactic Republic's fall, he is the Council's primary liaison but the Clone Wars caused him to question his firmest held beliefs.^[1]

Character conception and overview

Several early incarnations of Mace Windu have been developed in the original Star Wars drafts as the narrator,^[2] Princess Leia's brother and Luke Skywalker's friend.^[3] Through the process of redrafting and copyediting, his character was removed from the original trilogy (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) but was reintroduced in 1994 when series creator George Lucas began writing the prequel trilogy.

The search for an actor to play the character ended when Samuel L. Jackson expressed his desire to be in the prequel films. Lucas then offered him the role which Jackson accepted and thus signed on but with certain stipulations on his character's portrayal. Aware that the prequel trilogy's climax would eventually call for Windu's death, one of the conditions was that his character die in a spectacular fashion, rather than being killed off ingloriously "like some punk".^[4]

According to an interview on the Late Show with David Letterman on May 13, 2005, the character's purple lightsaber was a personal request from Jackson to Lucas as a quid pro quo for appearing in the films, as well as a way of making the character unique and easily distinguishable.^[4] Mace Windu is the first character in the Star Wars film series shown to wield a lightsaber not colored blue, green or red.

Appearances

Prequel trilogy

Introduced in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu appears as the Master of the Jedi High Council.^[1] He is present when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn brings Anakin Skywalker before the Council, claiming that the young slave is the "Chosen One" fortold by Jedi prophecy to bring balance to the Force. Windu shares the Council's concerns that the boy exhibits a great deal of fear and subsequently agrees with the body's unanimous decision to deny Qui-Gon permission to train him as a Jedi. However, following Jinn's death at the hands of Sith Lord Darth Maul, the Council reconsiders and allows Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Anakin in place of his deceased master, simultaneously conferring upon Kenobi the Jedi Knight title. Windu is present at Qui-Gon's funeral at which time he agrees with Yoda that Qui-Gon's killer was undoubtedly a Sith but states that he is not sure as to whether the defeated was the Master or merely the apprentice.

In his second film appearance in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (set a decade later), Mace Windu has ceased to function as the ranking Master of the Jedi Council and has reverted to his former position as an ordinary (albeit greatly revered) member of that body. After a second assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, he watches with growing concern as Anakin Skywalker begins to rebel against Obi-Wan Kenobi's tutelage. Mace later tries to help the Jedi defeat the growing threat posed by the growing Separatist Alliance led by Count Dooku (Darth Tyranus). In the film's climactic scene, he leads a large group of Jedi in a battle against Dooku's droid army. During the battle, Windu kills bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template for an army of clone troopers.

In his third film appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (set three years later), Mace Windu has fought in the Clone Wars for three years and during which time has come to distrust Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

When Palpatine appoints Anakin Skywalker as his personal representative on the Jedi Council, Windu fears that the move is designed to give Palpatine a vote in Jedi affairs and casts a key vote in denying Anakin the full Jedi Master rank, later confiding to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda that he does not trust Anakin.

After Obi-Wan Kenobi kills General Grievous, Anakin informs Windu that Palpatine is in fact the Dark Lord of the Sith who masterminded the war. Acting swiftly on this terrifying revelation, Windu and fellow Jedi Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin confront Palpatine, unbeknownst to the fact that the Dark Lord was expecting such a confrontation and had prepared accordingly. Refusing to be taken into Jedi custody, the Chancellor accuses Windu of treason before brandishing his lightsaber and launching himself at the Jedi, killing all three of Mace's companions in a matter of mere seconds and engaging the Jedi Master in a lightsaber duel. Moments before Anakin enters the room, Windu kicks Palpatine in the face which causes the Sith lord to drop his lightsaber and fall onto the ground. Windu points his lightsaber at Palpatine's throat and declares the Sith defeated once and for all, whereupon Palpatine fires a barrage of Force lightning at him which is then blocked by Windu and redirected back to its source. As Palpatine's face is being severely deformed by his own reflected lightning, Palpatine begs Anakin to defend him, stating that only he is capable of saving Padmé from a premature death. Feigning exhaustion, Palpatine ceases his lightning attack and begs Anakin again. After Windu makes it clear that he intends to execute the Dark Lord, Anakin pleads with Mace not to do so, claiming that such an action would contradict the Jedi code, and that Palpatine must instead stand trial. Windu replies that Palpatine has control of both the Senate and the courts, and so to keep him alive would be far too dangerous. As Windu prepares to deliver the killing blow, Anakin intervenes and severs Windu's lightsaber hand. Casting off his illusion of weakness, Palpatine pummels Windu with another torrent of lightning and then Force pushes him out of the window, sending him falling to his death.^[5] With one of the few Jedi Masters who posed any threat to Palpatine eliminated, Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader has also been secured at the same time.

Cartoons

In Cartoon Network's Star Wars: Clone Wars animated micro-series (set after Attack of the Clones), Mace Windu appears as a supporting character. In episodes 12 and 13 of volume one, he is shown defending the grasslands planet Dantooine against a large hovering "fortress", and over the course, he loses his lightsaber, forcing him to instead use a lethal form of unarmed combat powered by the Force. In episode 25 (the final episode), he and fellow Jedi Master Yoda help defend the planet Coruscant from an attack by General Grievous. In the midst of the battle, he realizes that the attack is a ruse to distract the Jedi from Grievous's true objective: to kidnap Palpatine. Despite being too late to save the Supreme Chancellor, the Jedi Master uses the Force to crush Grievous's chest, inflicting upon the cyborg general a wheezing, asthmatic cough, setting the stage for Revenge of the Sith.

In his fourth film appearance Star Wars: The Clone Wars as well as the subsequent television series (both set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith), Mace Windu has a supporting role.

Expanded Universe

Mace Windu appears extensively in the Star Wars "Expanded Universe" of novels and comic books.

Mace is the central character of Matthew Stover's novel Shatterpoint, in which he is called to his home planet of Haruun Kal to defeat his former apprentice Depa Billaba who has turned to the dark side of the Force. The novel establishes that Windu has the unique talent of seeing "shatterpoints", or faultlines in the Force that could affect the destinies of certain individuals, and indeed the galaxy itself. It also explains that Windu is the creator and sole master of a style of lightsaber combat called Vaapad (Form VII), in which the user skirts dangerously close to the dark side — without giving into it — by actually enjoying the fight and the thrill of victory. All others who attempted to master the form either gave in to the dark side or were unable to properly master the technique. Stover also referenced these abilities in his Revenge of the Sith novelization. It was said that without his unique style only Yoda and Dooku could match him. However, with the use of Vaapad he was the greatest swordsman of his time, able to defeat Darth Sidious in lightsaber combat which even Yoda could not achieve. He was also able to overwhelm Dooku in lightsaber combat during the battle of Boz Pity which took place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Besides Shatterpoint, Mace has appeared in other Expanded Universe novels, such as Cloak of Deception, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Rogue Planet, Outbound Flight, The Cestus Deception, Jedi Trial, Yoda: Dark Rendezvous and Labyrinth of Evil.

Star Wars Transformers

A Mace Windu action figure was added to the Star Wars Transformers toy line in 2006. It was a remold of the toy first used for Obi-Wan Kenobi, he becomes an Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor starfighter with Astromech droid R4-M6.

Reception

IGN reported Mace Windu as the 27th top Star Wars character, stating that he is an important component of the series.^[6]

Further reading

• Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Novelization - Novelization, 1st edition hardcover, 2005. Matthew Woodring Stover, George Lucas, ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
• Shatterpoint (novel), 1st edition, 2003. Matthew Woodring Stover, ISBN 0-345-45573-8
• The New Essential Guide to Characters, 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2
• Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 1999. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-4701-0
• Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-7894-8588-5
• Revised Core Rulebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game), 1st edition, 2002. Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, J.D. Wiker, Steve Sansweet, ISBN 0-7869-2876-X
• Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Power of the Jedi Sourcebook, hardcover, 2002. Michael Mikaelian, Jeff Grubb, Owen K.C. Stephens, James Maliszewski, ISBN 0-7869-2781-X
• Star Wars Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley, softcover, 1993. Martin Wixted, ISBN 0-87431-187-X

References

External links

• Mace Windu in the Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Mace Windu on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars wiki