The Jedi

The Jedi are an ancient order that defends peace and justice the galaxy. They have been around for thousands of years. In this post you will learn all about the Jedi.

The Force

The Jedi get their power from the light side of the Force. The Force is an energy that flows through all living things. The Jedi can harness the powers of the Force. Jedi can use the Force to lift objects, do high jumps called Force jumps, and many other things.

The Lightsaber

A Jedi Knight's weapon is a lightsaber. The lightsaber is powered by a crystal inside its hilt, which produces a blade that projects out of the top of the hilt. A lightsaber's blade can cut through anything, except the blade of another lightsaber. The blade of a Jedi's lightsaber is usually green or blue. Another colour is purple, but it is very rare (guess who has a purple lightsaber!). A Jedi Knight usually constructs his own lightsaber to fit his or her skills.

Padawans

A Jedi in training is called a padawan. A padawan must start his or her training when they are very young. They wear a special braid to show that they are a padawan. The oldest padawan to ever start training was Luke Skywalker, who started his training (under Obi-Wan Kenobi) at the age of 19.

The Jedi High Council

The Jedi High Council existed before the beginning of the Empire and was made up of several of the wisest Jedi. The High Council was not the only Jedi Council. There were a total of five, each one situated on a spire on top of the Jedi Temple (the High Council had the largest one). Yoda was the head of the High Council. Yoda was many centuries old, and very wise. Yoda had trained many, many padawans. His last padawan was Luke Skywalker, whom Yoda trained while he was in exile, hiding from the Empire.

Jedi Rules

A Jedi had to follow many ancient rules. These are just a few: A Jedi was not allowed to became emotionally attached to others and was not allowed to marry. A Jedi must learn to control his or her emotions, including hate and greed. A Jedi must use his lightsaber only to defend, never to attack. Several of these rules were abandoned during the time of the Empire, for the sake of survival.

The Sith

The Sith are the enemies of the Jedi. They get their powers from the dark side of the Force. The Sith's powers are similar to the Jedi's, but they have a power that the Jedi are forbidden to use: Force lightning. A Sith can shoot bolts of deadly lightning out of his fingertips that are very painful and sometimes fatal.

There were originally many Sith, but those Sith fought among each other, and the order was nearly destroyed.  So a rule was made that there can only be two Sith at a time, a Master and an Apprentice. The Master teaches the Apprentice the ways of the Sith, and when the Apprentice is powerful enough, he kills his master. The Apprentice then becomes the master to another apprentice.

The Sith use lightsabers like the Jedi, but the blades of their lightsabers are always red. A lightsaber crystal will obey a Jedi, but a Sith must force it to work, causing it to "bleed".

Fallen Jedi

In the history of the Jedi Order, 20 Jedi have abandoned the Order and gone to the Sith side. One of the most recent ones is Count Dooku. Dooku had originally been a great Jedi, and had trained Qui-Gon Jinn, the master of Obi-Wan Kenobi. But then he abandoned the Jedi and joined the Sith, with the name Darth Tyranus. He died when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine ordered Anakin Skywalker, the father of Luke Skywalker, to kill him.