Mace Windu

**Mace Windu** was a male Korun Human Jedi Master of legendary status who was the Master of the Order in the days leading up to the Battle of Geonosis, after which he gave the title to Grand Master Yoda. Hailing from the world of Haruun Kal, Mace Windu served as one of the last members of the Jedi High Council before the Great Jedi Purge. Serving on the Council, Windu was often regarded as second only to the Grand Master Yoda, though Windu was eight centuries Yoda's junior. Windu's wisdom and power were considered legendary by many, as were the weight of his words.

Trained as a Jedi Guardian, Windu was considered to be one of the best swordsmen in the history of the Jedi Order and had created the modern seventh form of lightsaber combat, Vaapad along with fellow Jedi Sora Bulq. He was the only practitioner of the form who did not fall to the dark side. Windu served the Jedi Order his entire life, training a Jedi named Depa Billaba.

It was Master Windu who led two hundred and twelve Jedi into combat at the Battle of Geonosis and slew the infamous bounty hunter Jango Fett, Boba Fett's father. Throughout the war, Windu served the Jedi and the Republic in various capacities—on the battlefield in command of the clone army, on Coruscant as an overseer of the war effort and an advisor to Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, and even as a diplomat to contested worlds, despite his disdain of politics. His exploits on the frontline served as a reminder of his reputation as a renowned Jedi warrior.

As the war drew to a close, Windu became increasingly suspicious of the chancellor's motives, as Palpatine had amassed near-dictatorial control over the Galactic Senate, and sensed the rising power of the dark side in the galaxy. His suspicions were confirmed when Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight and the Chosen One of ancient prophecy, discovered that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith who manipulated and deceived the Republic and the Separatist Alliance into war. Windu, along with Jedi Masters Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar, confronted Palpatine with the intention of arresting him. Instead, the Dark Lord attacked them, striking them down one by one until only Windu was left. Windu bested Palpatine in the confrontation and—deciding the chancellor was too dangerous to be left alive due to his influence over the government—prepared to strike him down, but the intervention of Anakin Skywalker, who betrayed Windu and saved the chancellor's life, led to Windu's apparent death. As a result, Skywalker fell to the temptation of the dark side and was renamed Darth Vader. However, being the second most powerful Jedi Master in the Order, Windu actually survived his fall from the Chancellor's office and went into hiding on the Outer Rim colony world of Innton II.

Windu's actions led Palpatine to brand the Jedi as traitors to the Republic. The chancellor executed Order 66, forcing the clone troopers across the galaxy to turn against and kill their Jedi leaders, marking the fall of the Jedi Order. Palpatine transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire and the Emperor's new regime promoted anti-Jedi sentiment across the galaxy. Through propaganda, the Empire portrayed Windu as the leader of a criminal gang of Jedi who caused the outbreak of the Clone Wars. In spite of the propaganda, some of Windu's actions were remembered with fondness; General Cham Syndulla, who served alongside Windu during the Battle of Ryloth, remembered Windu with great respect and told the tale of how Windu helped him liberate Ryloth during the war.

Mace Windu lived through the Imperial Era and beyond, managing to avoid being hunted down by the Empire and its Jedi hunters. Years after the Battle of Endor which saw the fall of the Empire and the deaths of both Sidious and Vader, Windu was still alive and residing on Innton II. In 7 ABY, he encountered Boba Fett for the first time in over 20 years, and the two fought an intense duel which saw Fett nearly killing Windu but ultimately letting him live due to his code of honor. Eventually, Windu passed away, becoming one with the Force.

## History

### Duel in Palpatine's office

In 19 BBY, with Windu's attention focused entirely on Darth Sidious during their duel, he failed to foresee Anakin Skywalker's intervention. Skywalker ignited his own lightsaber and severed the Jedi Master's lightsaber hand, as he looked down with his lightsaber falling off the edge of the building, leaving him defenseless against the full power of Sidious's Force lightning. Shocked, Windu realized he had been too focused on Sidious and consequently had failed to sense Skywalker's own shatterpoint. As the Chancellor ranted, he once again unleashed his rage, blasting raw dark side energy through Windu's body, sending him hurtling out the window into the cityscape, where he would certainly have been killed upon hitting the surface miles below.

### Survival and going into exile

> "*[screaming while falling] THAT MOTHERFU-*"
> ― Mace Windu right as he hits the hood of a passing airspeeder during his fall towards the surface
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However, due to being the second most powerful Jedi Master of the Order, Windu survived his miles-long fall from the window, unknown to either Skywalker or Sidious. While plummeting into the cityscape, he landed on the hood of a passing airspeeder and rolled right off of it. Following the impact with the airspeeder, Windu continued falling towards the surface, albeit slower, eventually crashing through the roof of an abandoned restaurant and getting knocked out from the impact. Barely alive, he was later found by a group of Coruscant Guard clone troopers who took him to a nearby medical center. The troopers had no knowledge of the showdown that transpired in the chancellor's office. There, the Jedi Master received a cybernetic replacement for his lost hand and treatment for the wounds he had sustained during both his fall into the cityscape and Sidious' earlier Force lightning attack. Shortly afterward, Order 66 issued to the troopers. Windu, having regained his consciousness and strength by this time, sensed a disturbance in the Force and immediately utilized a Force Push that incapacitated the shock troopers as they moved in to kill him. The Jedi Master escaped the medical center, instantly sensing Skywalker's fall to the dark side and subsequent transformation into Darth Vader. Windu learned of Operation: Knightfall when he came across the burning Jedi Temple upon receiving the sabotaged Jedi beacon's message. He immediately fled the temple's grounds upon sensing that the beacon was a trap. Not much later, while keeping a low profile in the streets, Windu felt the galaxy-wide results of Order 66 through the Force and witnessed a broadcast of the Proclamation of the New Order, the speech in which Sidious, in his public guise as Chancellor Palpatine, claimed that the Jedi had tried to overthrow the Republic and declared himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Feeling bitter at his failure to stop the Sith, Windu sought a means of transport off-world to hide from the new regime. Stealing an Eta-class shuttle, he found his way into the Outer Rim and settled on the planet Innton II due to its sparse population and the supposed expectation that nobody would find a Jedi there.

Sometime later, in 18 BBY, Windu briefly emerged from hiding and returned to Coruscant to recover his lost lightsaber, which had been salvaged by a Duros from a street in the lower levels that year and was on display in Senator Sano Sauro's office. He somehow retrieved his weapon without being discovered, fleeing Coruscant and returning into seclusion on Innton II immediately afterwards. Remaining in exile in the Outer Rim through the Imperial Era and eventually the Galactic Civil War, Windu was able to avoid being discovered by the Empire, Darth Vader or the Inquisitors, having chosen a sufficient hiding place on Innton II. Much like his colleague Obi-Wan Kenobi, who also survived the Jedi Purge and was in hiding on Tatooine, Mace Windu regarded Vader as being more machine than man, doubting that there was any trace of light or good left in the Sith Lord.

### Interregnum

Assumed dead by the galaxy at large, Windu was scapegoated by the New Order as the primary villain behind the alleged "Jedi Rebellion". Less than a week after his retreat into exile, various media outlets began circulating *The Private Journals of Mace Windu*, an alleged first-person account of Windu's many years of scheming to conquer the Republic. In truth the journals were fabrications and Imperial propaganda, in which various portions of Windu's actual journal from the Clone Wars had been included to give them credibility.

The name of Mace Windu was later reviled by those who believed the line of the Galactic Empire. The Empire taught in their history books that Windu was the leader of a "criminal gang" that interfered with a legal execution taking place on Geonosis, thus sparking the Clone Wars. However, Windu's reputation was not completely tarnished by Imperial propaganda. During the Imperial Era, the people of Ryloth still remembered his exploits and heroic deeds in the Battle of Lessu, and ultimately immortalized his name along with Cham Syndulla's through songs dedicated to their victory. On one occasion, Sidious referred to Windu as a mighty Jedi rumored to have possessed the only purple lightsaber for a great span of time.

Windu was also remembered by Kenobi, who ascended to the Cosmic Force as a Force spirit during the Galactic Civil War. It was not known if Kenobi was aware of the fact that Windu had survived. Kenobi's final apprentice, Luke Skywalker endeavored to become a Jedi Knight, but risked a confrontation with Darth Vader—unaware at the time of his family lineage as the Dark Lord's son—before his Jedi training was finished. Skywalker's decision left Kenobi questioning if the young Jedi apprentice was their last hope and heard the voice of Windu along with Jedi who fell with the Order in his question.

During the Galactic Civil War, bootleg HoloNet broadcasts were made showing animations of Windu's activities during the Battle of Dantooine. The Imperial Security Bureau unsuccessfully attempted to stamp them out, as they were a large recruiting tool for the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

### Coming to terms

The climactic Battle of Endor in 4 ABY saw the greatest victory for the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War as well as Luke Skywalker's final confrontation with Darth Vader, which resulted in Vader's redemption as Anakin Skywalker and led to Sidious's death. Windu, from his secluded hiding place on Innton II, felt the battle's effects through the Force and sensed a shatterpoint that would have a great role in the course of fate in the form of the duel between Luke and Vader aboard the Death Star II; this would be when Vader returned to the light and saved his son from Sidious by hurling his former master to his death, sacrificing himself in the process. As such, Windu saw that the redeemed Anakin Skywalker, by killing Darth Sidious and ending the Sith's reign as a result, had finally brought balance to the Force and thus fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One, which Qui Gon Jinn had projected 35 years earlier. Despite remembering Skywalker's betrayal during the duel with Sidious years ago when he chose to save the chancellor's life, Windu came to terms with the young Jedi Knight, seeing that he still had some good left in him after all.

### Mentioned by Jar Jar

> "*Mastern Mace! Hesa so cool! Meesa sorry about he killed yousa daddy.*"
> ― Jar Jar Binks to Boba Fett on Mace Windu
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When Jar Jar Binks and Boba Fett faced off on Umbara in 5 ABY, Binks mentioned Windu as being cool, and also that he was sorry that Windu killed Jango. This angered Boba greatly as he thought that the death of his father had been insulted in this manner.

### New Republic Era

During the reign of the New Republic, Windu was still living in the Outer Rim on Innton II even with the fall of the Empire, residing near the grounds of the Defiant Core rebel base. During this time, he was no longer bitter like he had been when the Empire, led by Sidious and Vader, rose to power and plunged the galaxy into darkness. At some point during Luke Skywalker's efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order in the new era of peace, Windu's reputation was officially restored to its former glory and he was remembered as a hero of the Clone Wars. It was unknown if Windu ever learned of Skywalker's travels across the galaxy to search for knowledge that would aid him in training a new generation of Jedi, or if Skywalker ever met Windu himself.

#### Fighting Boba Fett

> "*Boba Fett.*"
> ― Mace Windu, upon seeing Boba Fett for the first time in over 20 years
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In 7 ABY, Boba Fett, shortly after completing a mission for TA-175, traveled to Innton II with the droid EV-A4-D, who had requested Fett to drop him off on the planet. Windu sensed Boba's presence through the Force, eventually encountering the bounty hunter in a cavern near the old Defiant Core rebel base.

Boba immediately recognized Windu and recounted witnessing the Jedi Master killing Jango on Geonosis in front of him all those years ago. The two then fought in an intense duel, with Fett hoping to finally avenge Jango's death. At first, both of them seemed evenly matched despite Windu's age being at seventy nine standard years old. During the fight's climax, a battered Fett gained the upper hand and prepared to deliver a final blow to an also battered Windu with his weapon, but ultimately decided to let the Jedi live as he thought of and revealed his code of honor. The bounty hunter also remembered trying to kill Windu during the Clone Wars and afterwards regretting the destruction he had caused despite not forgiving the Jedi. As such, both combatants agreed to drop their long-standing feud and go their separate ways. Fett later departed in his *Slave I*, leaving A-4D behind on Innton II. Having been surprised by Fett's decision not to kill him despite this second known attempt on his life by the hunter, Windu sought to someday come out of exile and gain a greater view of the wider galaxy, which was now finally rid of the evil he had failed to eradicate many years before.

#### Luke Skywalker's judgement

Eventually, Skywalker learned of Mace Windu's reputation as a respected Jedi Master who served in the ranks of the Jedi High Council during the Order's final years. He also learned about Windu's strong commitment to the Order as well as his military service to the Galactic Republic during the Clone Wars, revering his abilities, most notably that of the shatterpoint. Skywalker regarded Windu with high esteem because of his adherence to Jedi doctrine, referring to him as a true defender of the Jedi Order's principles. He was also aware that Windu was distrustful of politicians and therefore concerned by the Order's entangled relationship with the Galactic Senate. Skywalker believed that Windu's suspicious nature was ultimately vindicated by Darth Sidious' rise to power as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. He learned that Windu had led a group of Jedi Masters to arrest Sidious, and that Anakin Skywalker intervened by aiding the chancellor. Luke regarded Sidious as corrupt and Anakin's interference as an act of betrayal. As such, he believed that Windu could have defeated the Dark Lord of the Sith if his father had not turned against the Jedi.

#### Passing on

Sometime after 9 ABY, Windu died of old age and became one with the Force. When he passed from life, Windu's long-lasting devotion to the Jedi's legacy consumed him completely, transforming him into a spirit like his colleagues Kenobi and Yoda as well as Anakin.

## Personality and traits

In his youth, Mace Windu was remembered by Dooku as an "arrogant little Padawan." Regardless, he possessed a unique personality for a Jedi; he was cautious to the point of occasional reluctance, a careful chooser of his friends, and slow to trust. These traits resulted in a man that often came off as being remote and intense. Despite this, he was extremely courageous, bravely risking life and limb on numerous occasions for the Galactic Republic. In fact, due to his talent as a duelist and Force-user, Windu was very prideful, quite secure in his own strength, and he was especially well known for a sharp tongue and an occasional sarcastic interface. However, he kept this arrogance in check for the most part, humbling himself towards individuals he felt superior, such as Yoda. Windu strongly believed in the Jedi's role as the servants of the Republic rather than its masters, and treated all civilians with respect.

Ultimately, Master Windu's true motivation for all he did was a divergence from Jedi philosophy, as his personal belief system was an extremist viewpoint of peace at all costs. In his mind, peace was created by civilization, and he viewed the Republic as the ultimate civilization, thus developing an attachment towards the institution, and leaving him with a willingness to do anything required to preserve the Republic, even if it meant violating Jedi philosophy. This proved to be his apparent downfall when he resolved to execute the seemingly helpless Darth Sidious, an unarmed opponent, which spurred Anakin Skywalker into action.

After surviving his encounter with Sidious, Windu became bitter, exiling himself in the Outer Rim. During the New Republic Era, after the Empire was destroyed and Sidious was killed by a redeemed Skywalker, who was no longer Darth Vader, his heart lightened with this turn of events. Previously believing that there was no good left in Vader, Windu was proven wrong when he sensed the events surrounding the Jedi's redemption through the Force. Master Windu still retained his traits and skills when he fought Boba Fett on Innton II and was extremely astonished when the bounty hunter, who surprisingly gained the upper hand during the climax of their battle, chose to spare his life in the end.

## Appearances

* Bombad Bounty (Mentioned only)
* Shards of the Past (Mentioned only)
* Orders (First appearance)