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Mace Windu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Wars character | |
| Mace Windu | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Position | Jedi Master, Jedi Council Member, Jedi High General |
| Homeworld | Haruun Kal |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Affiliation | Jedi Order, Galactic Republic |
| Portrayed by | Samuel L. Jackson |
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is portrayed by actor Samuel L. Jackson throughout the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
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Mace Windu is one of the earliest named and created characters in Star Wars history, originally being the narrator of the original 1973 drafts of the original Star Wars film (later named Star Wars: A New Hope).[1] Through the process of redrafting and copyediting, his character was removed from the original film and its two successors, however he was reintroduced in 1994 when George Lucas began writing the Star Wars prequel trilogy.
When series creator George Lucas offered Samuel L. Jackson the role of Mace Windu, Jackson signed on, but with certain stipulations on the portrayal of his character. One of the conditions was that his character dies in a spectacular death, rather than be killed off "like some punk."[2][3]
Also, according to an interview on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 13, 2005 (as well as other interviews dating back to the promotion of Episode I, and confirmed in behind the scenes footage released on the Episode II DVD) Windu'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. Jackson, a huge Star Wars fan, especially wanted his own color so that his character could be easily spotted and recognizable in the final battle scene of Attack of the Clones amid all of the other Jedi.
Mace Windu is a Jedi Master and one of the last members of the Jedi Council before the fall of the Galactic Republic. A diplomat by nature, Windu is the Council's primary liaison to the Chancellor, although the Clone Wars cause him to question his firmest held beliefs. He is a senior member of the Jedi Council, second only to Jedi Master Yoda in authority.
Philosophy scientist James Whitlark has suggested that the name Windu appears to come from the word window. An early draft of the original Star Wars script had Mace Windu serving as narrator, and thus the "window" through which the action is viewed.[1]
According to the Star Wars Galaxy Guide #7: Mos Eisley (published by West End Games, 1993), Windu is also the name of the Squib who works at Jawa Traders, a second hand droid shop located in the town of Mos Eisley on Tatooine around the era of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Known for occasionally striking convoluted bargains in lieu of credits, he is something of a headache to the Jawa proprietress, Aguilae. The name was reportedly borrowed by the author of the Guide from an early draft of Lucas' original script for A New Hope.
Windu first appears in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. He is present when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn brings Anakin Skywalker before the Jedi Council, claiming that the young slave is the "Chosen One" whom Jedi prophecy foretells will bring balance to the Force. Windu shares the Council's concerns that the boy exhibits a great deal of fear and anger, and agrees with the body's decision to deny Qui-Gon permission to train him as a Jedi. However, following Qui-Gon's death at the hands of the Sith Lord Darth Maul, the Council reconsiders and allows Qui-Gon's former apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Anakin.
In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Windu tries to help the Council defeat the growing threat presented by the Separatists, led by renegade Jedi Master Count Dooku. He also watches with growing concern as the now-adult Anakin begins to rebel against Obi-Wan's tutelage. In the film's climactic scene, he leads a large group of Jedi and clone troopers in a battle against Dooku's army. The battle is later referred to in Star Wars continuity as the Battle of Geonosis, which is the genesis of the Clone Wars. In this scene, Windu fights noted character Jango Fett, decapitating and killing him.
Windu makes his final film appearance in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. By this point, he has fought in the Clone Wars for three years, during which time he has come to distrust the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine. When Palpatine appoints Anakin as his personal representative on the Jedi Council, Windu fears that the move is designed to give the Chancellor a vote in Jedi affairs, and casts a key vote in denying Anakin the full rank of Jedi Master.
Shortly afterwards, Anakin tells Windu he has learned that Palpatine is in fact a Sith Lord. Windu, accompanied by Jedi Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin, goes to the Chancellor's office to confront him. Resisting arrest, Palpatine brandishes a red lightsaber and launches himself at the Jedi, quickly killing all three of Windu's compatriots and engaging Windu himself in a lighstsaber duel. The dueling pair shatter a nearby window with their lightsabers and continue their fight on the ledge. Windu gains the upper hand and disarms the Sith Lord with a kick to the head. It is at this moment that Anakin arrives at the scene. Palpatine uses Windu's momentary distraction to attack him with Force lightning, but Windu blocks the barrage with his lightsaber and reflects it back. In the process, Palpatine's face is scarred and twisted into an unnatural visage. As Windu prepares to strike the death blow, however, Anakin intervenes and severs Windu's lightsaber hand, thus allowing Palpatine to hit him with another lethal torrent of lightning, forcing Windu out the chamber window to his death.
Mace Windu appears extensively in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels and comic books. He is a major supporting character in the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars, which appeared on Cartoon Network from 2003 to 2005. In the series, he is voiced by T. C. Carson.
In an episode in the first series he is shown defending a grasslands planet against a large hovering "fortress" and over the course of the episode loses his lightsaber, forcing him to instead use a lethal form of unarmed combat powered by the Force. In the series' final episode, he and Yoda help defend the planet Coruscant from an attack by Dooku's second-in-command, General Grievous. In the midst of the battle, he realizes that the attack is a ruse to distract the Jedi from Grievous' true objective: to kidnap Palpatine. He is too late to save the Chancellor, but manages to use the Force to crush Grievous' chest, inflicting upon the cyborg general the wheezing, asthmatic cough heard in Revenge of the Sith.
Windu 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. 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. Stover also referenced this ability in his novelization of Revenge of the Sith.
Shatterpoint establishes that Windu is responsible for creating Vaapad (so nicknamed by young Padawan learners), the full seventh form of lightsaber combat. Vaapad creates a superconducting loop that reflects the enemy's attack while allowing for speed and power on an unprecedented scale. Named after a predatory animal on one of the moons of Sarapin that used multiple tentacles for a blindingly fast attack. Vaapad is a penumbra of the dark side in its requirement for the user to actually enjoy the thrill of the fight, and the thrill of victory.
His unique lightsaber form aside, Windu is also distinctive in that he is the only major character in the films to possess a purple lightsaber, though in press materials for The Phantom Menace he had a blue lightsaber.
- 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, 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
- Star Wars Novel: Shatterpoint
- ^ a b James Whitlark, Ph.D.. Stage Eight in The Star Wars and Harry Potter Series?. whitlarks.com. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
- ^ http://www.longislandpress.com/?cp=142&show=article&a_id=3977\
- ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20050116/ai_n9623875
- Mace Windu in the Star Wars Databank
- Mace Windu on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki