Star Wars: 10 Things You Never Knew About Mace Windu
Find out what Samuel L Jackson demanded for his role.
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00:00 In the minds of most casual Star Wars fans, Mace Windu is probably best known for one
00:05 thing.
00:06 Samuel L. Jackson played him.
00:07 But there's a lot more to Mace Windu than a Hollywood A-lister and his purple lightsaber,
00:11 I'll have you know.
00:12 And here's a list to prove it.
00:15 I'm Gareth from What Culture Star Wars and here are 10 Things You Never Knew About Mace
00:19 Windu.
00:20 10.
00:21 He Almost Killed a Fellow Jedi
00:24 Simply put, nothing upsets Windu more than a fellow Jedi betraying their ideals.
00:29 Don't you just hate it when that happens?
00:31 This was because, more than almost any other member of the Order, Windu was devoted to
00:35 maintaining the way and ideals of the Jedi.
00:39 So it's not a surprise that Windu felt incredibly challenged when he learned that one of his
00:43 fellow Jedi had betrayed the Order.
00:45 This was way before Anakin Skywalker sent Windu sailing out of a Senate office window
00:49 like an electrified hacky sack mind.
00:52 Early in the Clone Wars, Windu was sent to investigate a planet called Hissrich.
00:56 Part of Windu's team was a young Jedi called Prosset Dibs.
00:59 Dibs, of course, was concerned about the role the Jedi played in the Clone Wars, as he believed
01:04 that the war had contaminated Jedi doctrine and so he confronted Windu with his concerns.
01:10 Windu was having none of it though, and the two eventually found themselves in the midst
01:14 of a duel.
01:15 Windu ended the fight by force-pushing Dibs to the ground.
01:18 Then for a brief moment, Windu contemplated murdering Dibs there and then.
01:23 Such was his anger for those he considered to be traitors.
01:26 But Windu's better nature won out, and the Master instead arrested Dibs so he could stand
01:30 trial.
01:31 9.
01:32 He has Samuel L. Jackson to thank for his unique lightsaber
01:37 One of Mace Windu's most recognizable features is his purple lightsaber, isn't it?
01:41 In-universe, the lightsaber's unique color is thanks to an amethyst kyber crystal at
01:45 its core.
01:46 In reality, though, the purple lightsaber was a request of Samuel L. Jackson.
01:51 His reasoning?
01:52 He wanted to easily spot himself on screen, as you do.
01:55 So thanks to Jackson, along with the character having a clearly defined personality – or
01:59 at least being borderline compelling – he also came equipped with the coolest lightsaber
02:03 in the galaxy.
02:05 8.
02:06 Windu was considered the Jedi's greatest champion
02:09 During the dark times of the Clone Wars, Windu was considered by the Jedi to be their greatest
02:14 champion.
02:15 He worked hard to preserve the Jedi's ancient traditions during the time of war.
02:19 He was also elected to lead the Jedi Council during said conflict.
02:23 His role as champion was less about his ability as a warrior and more about his devotion to
02:27 the Jedi way.
02:28 But he was also a pretty badass warrior, which always helps.
02:32 Alongside Yoda, he was one of the most feared and most respected Jedi in all the galaxy,
02:36 before, you know, said pushing.
02:39 7.
02:40 In his youth, he was deeply offended by heretics and conmen
02:44 Early in his life as a Jedi, Mace Windu had some, let's say, anger issues.
02:49 Nothing got his blood boiling quite like a heretic, though.
02:52 And as chance would have it, he would come into contact with one of these conmen on a
02:56 mission on the planet Mathas.
02:58 On this mission, a young padawan Windu encountered a man named Druze.
03:02 Druze had taken up residence in an abandoned Jedi temple.
03:05 Whilst here, he had duped citizens of the planet into believing he was in fact a Jedi,
03:10 and Druze charged a small fortune to perform fake miracles.
03:14 Having such strong faith in both the Force and Jedi teachings, Mace found Druze very
03:18 much offensive.
03:19 So when Windu finally confronted Druze, he had some choice words for the Force prophet.
03:23 "You would twist such a beautiful thing as faith into something so vile?
03:27 Wring out what measly credit and adoration you could from these poor people, all while
03:32 besmirching the esteem of the Jedi Order?
03:34 I will make sure you never hurt another soul again.
03:37 This I vow as a true Jedi."
03:39 A very articulate lad.
03:41 6.
03:42 He ordered the attempted assassination of Count Dooku
03:46 Windu was highly committed to ending the war with the Separatists.
03:49 So much so that he argued for the assassination of former Jedi Master, Count Dooku.
03:54 This is a pretty drastic move when you think about it.
03:56 Sure, with hindsight we know that Dooku was a Dark Lord of the Sith under the manipulation
04:00 of Darth Sidious.
04:01 But during much of the Clone Wars, the Jedi were not entirely privy to this knowledge.
04:06 As far as Windu was concerned, Dooku was no more than a political enemy.
04:10 But after witnessing the devastation of war, Windu convinced the Jedi Council to send an
04:14 assassin to kill Dooku.
04:16 Yoda didn't exactly agree with this course of action, but with the support of Anakin
04:19 Skywalker, the plan went forward.
04:22 It ultimately failed, of course, but Dooku was later killed by Anakin, who consequently
04:25 was responsible for the death of Mace Windu, too.
04:28 As it goes, Anakin had some anger issues as well, didn't he?
04:31 What's crazy about this plan is that Dooku was once pals with Windu.
04:35 Windu was willing to kill Dooku for the slim chance of ending a galactic war.
04:40 5.
04:41 Yoda Taught Him To Fear Attachment At A Young Age By Taking His Rattle
04:46 Yoda and Mace were two of the most stoic Jedi of their time, and they both felt that emotional
04:50 attachment was a path to the dark side.
04:53 But there was a time when, rather than colleagues, Yoda was more of a babysitter for Mace.
04:58 Like all younglings, Mace was trained by Yoda as a boy, and his training actually started
05:02 in the crib.
05:03 In one of the many Star Wars novels, Windu describes his early struggles with attachment,
05:08 and Master Yoda was simply having none of it.
05:10 Mace relates his earliest memory of Yoda to this moment of him taking his toy rattle.
05:15 Mace of course cried and reached out with the force, but Yoda held it in place and eventually
05:19 the toy broke.
05:21 Mace claims this was Yoda's way of teaching him a valuable lesson.
05:24 But we should all consider the possibility that Yoda was just being a bit of a dick.
05:28 4.
05:29 Windu Used A Dangerous Lightsaber Form That Channeled The Dark Side
05:33 Part of the reason Windu was able to fare so well with Palpatine is because he already
05:37 sort of used the dark side.
05:39 Okay, obviously Windu is not an out-and-out Sith Lord.
05:42 He did however use the dark side of the force to his advantage while in combat.
05:47 This was through his use of the Form VII lightsaber combat, known as Varpad, also called the Ferocity
05:53 Form.
05:54 Form VII was known to be a very aggressive form of lightsaber attack.
05:57 Unlike other lightsaber techniques, Form VII encouraged an unchecked use of emotions.
06:01 And if you know anything about the Jedi, you know they really hate those down emotions
06:06 for some strange reason.
06:08 Very few Jedi used Form VII until Windu himself refined the technique, in what he dubbed Varpad.
06:13 It was thought to be a bit dangerous to use, to be honest, and even Windu was hesitant
06:17 to allow other Jedi to study the form.
06:19 However, his use of Varpad is probably what allowed him to best Palpatine in their lightsaber
06:23 duel.
06:24 And speaking of which…
06:25 3.
06:26 He Could Have Killed Palpatine With Windu's prowess as a warrior in mind,
06:30 he was definitely going to kill Palpatine.
06:32 There is some controversy about whether Palpatine feigned defeat to manipulate Anakin.
06:36 But let's just take a quick look at said skirmish for a moment.
06:40 When Windu confronts the Sith Lord, Palpatine dispatches Windu's three Jedi Master Companions
06:44 in short order.
06:45 And many have argued that Palpatine does this to focus all his energy on his only true threat,
06:50 Mr Mace Windu.
06:52 Windu and Palpatine engage in a prolonged bout until the Jedi eventually gets the upper
06:56 hand.
06:57 Whether you believe this was by Palpatine's nefarious design, or Windu truly bested the
07:01 Sith, the truth most likely is Windu had Palpatine right where he wanted him.
07:05 So if it hadn't been for little ol' Anakin, Palpatine would have been Mace Windu's for
07:09 the taking.
07:10 And the galaxy would have likely been a whole lot safer, to be honest.
07:13 2.
07:14 His Home Planet Appeared to be a Gaseous Nightmarescape
07:18 Mace Windu hailed from a mid-rim planet called Harun Kal.
07:21 Those words roughly translate to "above the clouds" in galactic basic.
07:25 The reason Harun Kal is called "above the clouds" is that from orbit you might think
07:29 this is an ocean world like Mon Cala or Kamino.
07:32 The ocean isn't water, though; it's an extremely toxic cocktail of noxious gases.
07:37 These gases emerge from thousands of active volcanoes on the planet's surface, a charming
07:42 habitat if ever you'd seen one.
07:44 Harun Kal's habitable zones are serene mountaintops, and plateaus high enough to rise above the
07:48 volcanic atmosphere.
07:50 This mirrors the personality of Windu himself, who was calm and collected on the surface.
07:54 However, he often channeled his submerged dark emotions to become a formidable Jedi
07:59 warrior.
08:00 How poetic.
08:01 1.
08:02 He was trained by Sislin Myr
08:03 It might be a bit hard to believe, but Mace Windu was once a Padawan, just like all young
08:09 Jedi.
08:10 I know, what are the odds?
08:11 He also had a master, as it goes, a woman named Sislin Myr.
08:14 In fact, it was Myr who traveled with Windu to the planet Mathas to confront the false
08:18 prophet Druze.
08:19 Outside of this mission, not much is known about Sislin Myr, as this is her only appearance
08:24 in canon.
08:25 In Star Wars Legends, of course, Windu was trained by the Jedi Master Thrasar.
08:29 Owing to her species' extended lifespans, Thrasar lived through some of the galaxy's
08:33 most intense conflicts.
08:34 Thrasar was also a general during the Clone Wars.
08:37 She survived the Jedi Purge on the Galactic Civil War and went on to help found the New
08:41 Jedi Order.
08:42 So all in all, what did we learn?
08:44 Mace Windu was a devoted Jedi, a controlled and powerful warrior, and overall a pretty
08:48 cool dude.
08:49 Before Anakin decided to help Sidious fire him out the window.
08:53 And that's our list!
08:54 Know any other things people never knew about Mace Windu?
08:57 Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below and do not forget
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09:11 I have been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you as always for clicking on this video
09:15 today, and I'm sure I'll see you very, very soon.
09:17 Bye!