Mace Windu

Mace Windu is a major character in the Star Wars franchise. He is an extremely powerful Jedi Master who was Master of the Order, the leader of the Jedi Council and second-in-command to the Jedi Order itself after the Grandmaster. During the Clone Wars, he served as a Jedi General in command of the 187th Battalion.
Windu did not believe that Anakin Skywalker is the "Chosen One" and personally felt that Anakin was too old to be trained. During the war, Anakin's power and friendship with Chancellor Palpatine increased to a point that the Jedi Council didn't trust either of them. Little did they know that Anakin's friendship with Palpatine and the council's distrust in them would lead to the downfall of the Jedi.
He was portrayed by in the films, who also portrayed Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction, Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Carl Lee Hailey in A Time to Kill, Zeus Carver in Die Hard with a Vengeance, Danny Roman in The Negotiator, Ray Arnold in Jurassic Park, Marcus Banks in Spiral, and voiced Frozone in The Incredibles, Whiplash in Turbo, and Jimbo in Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, Afro Samurai from the anime series of the same name, Ninja Ninja from the same series, Alfred Solomon in Argylle, and Vic in The Garfield Movie. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, he was voiced by , who also voiced Kratos in the God of War series.
==Personality==
Mace is serious, wise, intelligent and very cautious, to the point of occasional reluctance, a careful chooser of his friends, being slow to trust or being mistrustful. Despite this, he is highly compassionate and extremely brave, as he willingly risked life and limb many times to protect the people of the Republic, as well as his fellow Jedi and even the clone troopers under his command. He also has a certain value for life, as he refused to support the constant attempts to kill the mighty Zillo Beast, which he correctly presumed to be the last of its species. Mace firmly believed in the role of the Jedi as the Republic's servants rather than its masters, and displayed a fierce dedication to the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic alike. To Mace, the Republic wasn't a civilization, it was civilization itself. A staunch traditionalist, Mace was long regarded as the great champion of the Jedi Order.
However, despite these commendable and admirable traits, Mace is also rather arrogant and self-righteous; he is very confident in his own abilities and saw very little fault in the Jedi, believing they were always in the right and everyone else was in the wrong. As a Jedi, he was prideful and known to be outspoken, occasionally sarcastic, and was largely obstinate to anything that contradicted his views. However, he held his arrogance in check for the most part; he was humble towards other individuals as the Jedi Master Yoda, and he treated most civilians and fellow Jedi with respect.
Despite this, Mace didn't always hold his arrogance in check; he was shown to be somewhat cold, arrogant and dismissive, especially towards individuals with rebellious behavior and those who would try to bend the rules, most notably fellow Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, all of whom he distrusted and treated with little respect, despite the fact that they are all exceptionally powerful Force users, skilled lightsaber duelists, strong characters and loyal members of the Jedi Order in their own rights.
During Ahsoka Tano's trial, Mace showed once again his distrusting nature, claiming that the council had to figure out who was lying to them, and included Ahsoka as a suspect. Then, he coldly informed that the Council members had decided to strip her of her status as a Jedi. After learning of her innocence, Mace joined the Council in offering to reinstate Ahsoka into the Order, but instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he claimed that the whole ordeal had been nothing more than a test given to Ahsoka by the Force. This shows that he was not only incapable of acknowledging or learning from his mistakes, but he was also incapable of apologizing or admitting when he was wrong.
Despite this, Mace's true motivation for all he did was to bring peace and protect the Jedi Order and the Republic, both of which he cared for deeply. To Mace, the Republic wasn't just a civilization, it was civilization itself. His distrusting personality led him to suspect of the Chancellor intentions and, upon being informed by Anakin that he is a the Sith Lord, he immediately tries to arrest Palpatine. But because Palpatine had a great control of the system of the Republic, Mace realized that he would not be stopped by normal means of justice. Thus, Mace decides to execute Palpatine to prevent the destruction of the Jedi Order, and is determined to do so even after hearing Anakin stating that killing an unarmed person would go against the Jedi Code. However, this proved to be his ultimate downfall, when he resolved to execute the seemingly helpless Palpatine, spurring Anakin into action.
==Powers and Abilities==
Mace Windu was one of the most powerful Force users in galactic history. He held immense command over the Force and is a legendary lightsaber duelist. His possession of both the Shatterpoint ability and the Vaapad fighting style made him an incredibly gifted, unique and powerful warrior. He was regarded as the most powerful Jedi of his generation and was the youngest Jedi to gain a Council seat. During the events leading up to the Clone Wars, he was widely regarded as the second most powerful Jedi alive at the time after Yoda and was part of the Big Three alongside Yoda and Dooku, with Yoda as his only superior and Dooku his only equal. He was even able to fight Darth Sidious, the most powerful Sith Lord in galactic history, as an equal.
===Powers===
*The Force: Mace is extremely powerful and has a very strong connection to the Force. Although not quite as powerful as Anakin Skywalker, Mace is still one of the most powerful Force-users of his time.
**Telekinesis: Mace utilizes Telekinesis either as offensive or defense. He is capable of destroying entire armies with his telekinesis alone.
**Body Augmentation: Mace is capable of using the Force to drastically boost his physical attributes, giving him superhuman strength, speed and agility.
***Force strength: Mace could use the Force to increase his physical strength. During the Battles of Dantooine and Coruscant, his punches are strong enough to obliterate Super Battle Droids, who are known for their tough armor.
***Force jump: Mace utilizes Force Jump, to jump or leap at great distances, including hundreds if not thousands of feet in the air.
***Force speed: Mace utilizes Force speed, to move at amazing speed. During his battle with Darth Sidious, the pair are described as purple and red blurs from the perspective of Anakin Skywalker.
**Mind control: Mace utilizes Mind control, to control the minds of other sentient beings, however, it does not work on individuals who have very strong wills.
**Force vision: Mace utilizes Force vision, to have visions of the past, the present and the future; however, like all force users, his visions are not always clear or sometimes has visions even when he is not utilizing this power at will.
**Force sense: Mace utilizes Force sense, to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, or impending danger and the presence of the dark side.
**Shatterpoint: Mace utilizes Shatterpoint to perceive faults through the Force and control them.
**Force rage: Mace utilizes Force rage to channel his anger to increase his speed, strength and ferocity. He rarely uses it, however.
===Abilities===
*Lightsaber Combatant: Renowned as the Champion of the Jedi Order, Mace is immensely skilled in lightsaber combat. He was such an extremely gifted duelist that it was said that Yoda was his only superior and Dooku his only equal. He was one of the greatest lightsaber duelists in the Jedi order's history, being able to match (and possibly defeat) Palpatine, in lightsaber combat, a feat only likewise achieved by Yoda and Luke Skywalker in the Legends continuity. Windu later also mentored his apprentice, Depa Billaba, into becoming a master duelist herself, enough that she proved capable of matching him as an equal when briefly consumed by the dark side. 
**Form V: Mace is extremely skilled in Form V.
**Form VII: Mace is a master of Form VII, also known as Juyo, to such a degree that he successfully developed his own variant.
***Vaapad: A lightsaber technique invented by Mace Windu himself. He was also the only Jedi known to have truly mastered this version of the form and not fallen to the dark side. Vaapad brought its practitioners dangerously close to the dark side due to its aggresive nature, even more so than Form VII's base discipline Juyo is prone to.
*High-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader: Mace is highly intelligent and wise. As a Jedi General and the former leader of the Jedi Order, Mace is a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader. 
*Negotiation: Despite his skills as a general and a warrior, as a Jedi, Mace preferred to settle conflicts peacefully through negotiation as opposed to violence. Though not quite on the level of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace was still known as a valuable and well-rounded negotiator and diplomat.
*Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist: Mace is also an outstanding unarmed fighter, as shown during the battle of Dantooine when deprived of his lightsaber, he effectively devastated the droid army surrounding him with his bare hands in combination with the force to enhance his speed and endurance. He is also noted to have an excellent understanding of the Teräs Käsi martial art.
*Will and Devotion: Mace was deeply devoted to the Jedi cause, the Force and the Republic. His devotion to the light was so strong that he was the only Jedi user of Vaapad to not fall to the dark side.
===Weapons and Equipment ===
====Lightsabers====
Mace's valued weapon and possession is his purple lightsaber.
*First Lightsaber: Mace built his first purple lightsaber on Hurikane, it would remain in his possession until it was destroyed.
*Second Lightsaber: Mace had built a new purple lightsaber, sometime before the First Battle of Geonosis, and used it throughout his Jedi career and the entirety of the Clone Wars until his duel with Palpatine. It stood against Nightsister magicks and Sith lightning. It would remain in his possession until his death, but it is unknown what happened to it after Mace's death, but it was presumed destroyed; it was last seen falling out of a window.
==Film Appearances==
===The Phantom Menace===
Mace was the leader of the Jedi Order, and head of the Jedi Council when Qui-Gon Jinn came back from Tatooine with news of a Sith. He also asked the Council if they would train a boy named Anakin Skywalker, who he sensed was strong with the Force and found he had more midi-chlorians than Yoda. Mace was skeptical of Qui-Gon's claims, but they agreed to test him. The Council was impressed by Anakin's abilities, but refused to allow him to be trained, believing he was too old and dangerous, full of fear and anger.
Mace later attended Qui-Gon's funeral, along with Yoda. Qui-Gon was killed by the Sith Darth Maul on Naboo during the battle after Obi-Wan was separated from the duel due to the laser shields that lead to the chamber where the duel took place. While there Yoda said to him there are always a master and an apprentice with a Sith, Mace agreed but wondered which one Maul was.
===Attack of the Clones===
Ten years after Qui-Gon's death, a Separatist movement was being led by ex-Jedi Count Dooku, Qui-Gon's former mentor and Yoda's former apprentice. Also Senator Padmé Amidala was the victim of many assassination attempts. They had assigned Obi-Wan Kenobi and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker to protect her. After another attempt, the Council sent Obi-Wan to track the dart that killed Padmé's assassin and sent Anakin to Naboo to protect her. Later on, Obi-Wan reported that on the planet Kamino he found a bounty hunter named Jango Fett who he thought was the killer and the Council told him to arrest him. Later on they received a message from Obi-Wan who was on Geonosis who said that Dooku was working with Fett and Viceroy Nute Gunray is behind of the assassination attempts on Senator Amidala, although he was captured before he could finish. The message also went to Anakin who they denied rights to going to rescue Obi-Wan, although he disobeyed this to stay where he is currently. Windu led a strike team of Jedi to rescue him while Yoda went to get the Clone Army Obi-Wan told him about.
When Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padmé were about to be executed, Mace came to the top balcony and put his lightsaber around Jango's throat while telling Dooku that "this party's over", but was shot off the balcony by Super Battle Droids and Jango's retaliation. Many Jedi came from the stands and they began to fight. During the battle, Fett came down and Mace decapitated him, leaving his son, Boba, an orphan. All Jedi were surrounded, with several casualties, and were given the option of surrender, but Mace refused. Yoda and the Clone Army came and saved them and Mace went to fight the Battle of Geonosis in the same ship as Yoda, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi and Jedi Knight Kit Fisto. The Clones became an army for the Republic and the Clone Wars started, in which Mace was made a general.
===Revenge of the Sith===
Three years after the start of the Clone Wars, Mace Windu was no longer the head of the Jedi Council, passing the possession to his superior, Grandmaster Yoda.
During the Clone Wars, the Council became increasingly suspicious of Chancellor Palpatine and his growing power in the Senate. The fearsome cyborg, General Grievous, had taken him captive and brought him aboard his ship above Coruscant. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former Padawan Anakin Skywalker were sent by Windu to rescue him and they came back with him, claiming Anakin killed Dooku (who now went by Darth Tyranus). Palpatine pointed out that Grievous was the leader of the droid army; Windu promised the Council would make it their highest priority to find Grievous. Windu and the other Council members denied Anakin's request to become a Jedi Master and asked him if he could spy on Palpatine, who had chosen Anakin as his representative on the Council. Yoda left to Kashyyyk to assist the Wookiees that were under attack there, whilst Obi-Wan went to Utapau to kill Grievous now that he has been located there.
Windu was later informed by Anakin that Palpatine was really the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. Master Windu left with Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin and Agen Kolar to kill Sidious in his office (originally, he was only going to bring Kolar before learning of this). When they got there, Sidious killed Tiin and Kolar almost instantly. Fisto was also slain very quickly only Windu living. After his vicious duel with Sidous, Windu shattered the window and disarmed Sidious. He had his opponent on the ground when the Dark Lord of the Sith began to shoot his Force lightning at him, but the Keeper of the Jedi Flame managed to deflect it back with his lightsaber, disfiguring Sidious and unmasking his true hideous appearance. 
Anakin, who was secretly married to Padmé who was pregnant and believed only Sidious could save her if she died in birth, came in and begged Windu to spare Sidious. Windu refused, telling him that Sidious was the real traitor of the Galactic Republic and keeping him alive would be far too dangerous. As the Keeper of the Jedi Flame was about to kill Sidious, Anakin intervened and cut off Windu's lightsaber arm. As Windu screamed in shock and pain, Sidious cackled. Sidious blasted him with Force lightning and Force-pushed Windu out of the broken window, sending him to his death, plummeting into the dark streets hundreds of stories below.
After Mace's death, Anakin at first regrets his actions, but then becomes Palpatine's new apprentice and is renamed Darth Vader before Palpatine summons all the Clone Troopers to execute Order 66 to kill all of the Jedi Knights. 
== Appearances outside of Star Wars==
===Disney Infinity 3.0===
Mace Windu can be called into battle if the player has the Galactic Team-Up: Mace Windu Power Disc. He appears to all players in the "Twilight of the Republic" Play Set, and can be unlocked for placing in the Toy Box by completing the Champion of the Galactic Republic Feat by doing every mission in the Play Set.
==Relationships==
===Yoda===
Like virtually all Jedi, Mace deeply respected Yoda and was trained by him. He always obeyed the ancient Jedi Master, though as a senior member of the Jedi Council, he was one of the few who dared to question him, though he rarely did so.
===Count Dooku===
Dooku and Windu were good friends before the latter left the Jedi Order. Both were powerful Jedi Masters and are keen investigators, though Dooku is more upfront while Windu is more reluctant and a sticker to rules in his handling of the investigation. Unlike Mace's opinion of Qui-Gon, Anakin and Ahsoka, Mace tolerated Dooku's rebellious behavior and still respected Dooku despite him leaving the order. The two became enemies after Dooku was revealed to be behind the assassination attempt on Padmé Amidala.
===Obi-Wan Kenobi===
Mace had a healthy respect for Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan held Mace in high esteem for his mastery of Form VII. Despite their mutual respect for each other, however, Obi-Wan often disagreed with Mace's questionable decisions. This was because Obi-Wan was a moderate who followed the Jedi Code while Mace was very attached to the Jedi rules.
===Qui-Gon Jinn===
Although Mace and Qui-Gon were both Jedi Masters, they were often at odds due to their differing ways; Mace was a traditionalist who was staunchly committed to the Jedi Code and always yielded to the will of the Jedi Council. Qui-Gon, on the other hand, was a maverick who was perfectly willing to violate the Jedi Code or disobey the Council if he felt he needed to. Because of this maverick nature of Qui-Gon's, Mace had a low opinion of him, though he did tolerate Qui-Gon. He was shown to be skeptical about Qui-Gon's opinions and beliefs, as when he was about Qui-Gon's theory that the Sith had returned and his insistence that young Anakin Skywalker was the prophesied Chosen One. In both cases, Qui-Gon ultimately proved to be right.
===Ahsoka Tano===
Like most Jedi, Ahsoka held Mace in high esteem for his legendary wisdom and fighting skills, but he held her in low esteem because of her young age and rebellious nature.
What respect they had between them was destroyed when Ahsoka was accused of treason; like most of the Jedi, Mace refused to believe in her innocence and coldly supported her expulsion from the Jedi Order without a fair trial. After Ahsoka was proved to be innocent, Mace joined the Council in offering to reinstate her into the Order, but instead of apologizing and admitting he had been wrong to accuse her, he somewhat arrogantly claimed that Ahsoka's traumatic experience had been nothing more than a test given to her by the Force.
===Anakin Skywalker===
Mace and Anakin had a rocky yet respectful relationship. Mace first met Anakin Skywalker when Qui-Gon Jinn brought him before the Jedi Council for testing. As Mace was a firm believer in the Jedi Code, he thus believed Anakin, nearly ten years of age, was far too old to begin training as a Jedi. Unlike Yoda, he was skeptical of Anakin's status as the "Chosen One", and viewed the young boy as potentially dangerous due to his internal conflict. However, given Qui-Gon's last wish and Anakin's heroic actions during the Battle of Naboo, Mace reluctantly agreed to allow Anakin to be trained by Obi-Wan, though he remained doubtful of Anakin's suitability for the life of a Jedi.
Contrary to popular belief, Mace did not dislike Anakin so much as he was skeptical of him. Throughout Anakin's years as a Jedi, Mace's fear of the boy diminished some what and he developed a degree of respect for Anakin's skills. However, he continued to regard Anakin's status as the "Chosen One" with a degree of skepticism, and was disdainful of the boy's maverick ways, similar to how Qui-Gon bended the rules. Anakin generally treated Mace with respect in spite of all this, but secretly harbored a degree of resentment towards the Jedi Master for his ill-concealed distrust. This resentment was intensified by most of Mace's questionable decisions; such as the decision to support the expulsion of Anakin's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, when she was suspected of treachery, and the decision not to grant Anakin the rank of Master when he was placed on the Jedi Council, the latter of which Anakin (correctly) perceived as an insult and secretly developed a grudge against Mace for his shamelessness. 
After the incident the two no longer (secretly) trusted nor openly respect towards each other for differing reasons; Mace arrogantly disliked and distrusted Anakin because he believed he was unstable, unpredictable and unreliable, Anakin on the other hand, disliked and distrusted Mace for good reason, because he was now openly arrogant and secretly mistrustful towards him, constantly lying, deceiving and repeatedly kept secrets from him, unbeknownst to Mace; Anakin was aware that the latter did not trust him.
Ultimately, Mace's distrust and underestimation of Anakin proved to be his undoing when he was the first to be slain upon Anakin's turn to the dark side.
===Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious===
At first, Mace respected and admired Palpatine for his clean slate. When Dooku revealed the existence of Darth Sidious and that the Dark Lord of the Sith had hundreds of Senators under his control, Mace, unlike Yoda, took it seriously and decided to keep a closer eye on the Galactic Senate. Throughout the Clone Wars, Mace often served as an adviser and protector to Palpatine, though as the latter amassed near-dictatorial power over the Republic as the war dragged on, the Jedi master became increasingly suspicious of the Chancellor's intentions.
Near the end of the war, Mace's trust and respect for Palpatine lessened less and less. Following the death of Count Dooku, Windu grew concerned over whether Palpatine would relinquish his wartime authority as he once promised. He later had Anakin spy on Palpatine, and not long afterwards, the younger Jedi revealed that Palpatine and Darth Sidious were in fact the same person. Windu was completely shocked and devastated by this terrible revelation, and immediately confronted the Dark Lord and managed to defeat him with a combination of his mastery of Vaapad and his shatter-point ability. Deciding that Palpatine was too dangerous to be kept alive, Windu prepared to execute the Dark Lord of the Sith, only to have his sword arm severed by an emotionally insecure and desperate Anakin, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu by throwing him out the window.
==Trivia==
*Mace Windu is the second black Star Wars movie character after Lando Calrissian and before Finn.
*Mace Windu is the only Jedi Master in the films whose lightsaber color is purple. All of the other Jedi Master's lightsabers are usually blue or green.
* In the junior book adaptation by Patricia C. Wrede, his hand is not cut off. Instead, Anakin knocks Mace Windu's lightsaber aside.
* In Angry Birds: Star Wars, he is portrayed partly by the Black Bird and partly by the Green Bird. He retains his former personality, but his shape is more similar to Bomb. He throws his lightsaber, and like the Kirby series' shooter cutter, it boomerangs back to his hand, like the Green Bird does. He is also merely knocked out rather than killed after he tries to kill Palpatine, and he kills Jango Fett (who isn't decapitated) off-screen, but Jango Fett and his son are still seen together afterward, as the latter cries over his father's death.
*In the Revenge of the Sith video game vs mode death star, Windu fighting Anakin implies his old master was slain by Palpatine and Windu lived in his place. He is also a boss fought by Anakin.
==External Links==
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