Star Wars: 10 Things You Never Knew About Mace Windu
Find out what Samuel L Jackson demanded for his role.
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00:00In the minds of most casual Star Wars fans, Mace Windu is probably best known for one
00:05thing.
00:06Samuel L. Jackson played him.
00:07But there's a lot more to Mace Windu than a Hollywood A-lister and his purple lightsaber,
00:11I'll have you know.
00:12And here's a list to prove it.
00:15I'm Gareth from What Cultures Star Wars and here are 10 Things You Never Knew About
00:19Mace Windu.
00:2010.
00:21He Almost Killed a Fellow Jedi
00:24Simply put, nothing upsets Windu more than a fellow Jedi betraying their ideals.
00:29Don't you just hate it when that happens?
00:31This was because, more than almost any other member of the Order, Windu was devoted to
00:35maintaining the way and ideals of the Jedi.
00:39So it's not a surprise that Windu felt incredibly challenged when he learned that one of his
00:43fellow Jedi had betrayed the Order.
00:45This was way before Anakin Skywalker sent Windu sailing out of a Senate office window like
00:50an electrified hacky sack mind.
00:52Early in the Clone Wars, Windu was sent to investigate a planet called Hissrich.
00:56Part of Windu's team was a young Jedi called Proset Dibs.
00:59Dibs, of course, was concerned about the role the Jedi played in the Clone Wars, as he believed
01:04that the war had contaminated Jedi doctrine and so he confronted Windu with his concerns.
01:10Windu was having none of it though, and the two eventually found themselves in the midst
01:14of a duel.
01:15Windu ended the fight by force-pushing Dibs to the ground.
01:18Then for a brief moment, Windu contemplated murdering Dibs there and then.
01:23Such was his anger for those he considered to be traitors.
01:26But Windu's better nature won out, and the Master instead arrested Dibs so he could stand
01:30trial.
01:32He has Samuel L. Jackson to thank for his unique lightsaber
01:37One of Mace Windu's most recognizable features is his purple lightsaber, isn't it?
01:41In-universe, the lightsaber's unique color is thanks to an amethyst kyber crystal at
01:45its core.
01:46In reality, though, the purple lightsaber was a request of Samuel L. Jackson.
01:51His reasoning?
01:52He wanted to easily spot himself on screen, as you do.
01:55So thanks to Jackson, along with the character having a clearly defined personality, or at
01:59least being borderline compelling, he also came equipped with the coolest lightsaber
02:03in the galaxy.
02:06Windu was considered the Jedi's greatest champion
02:09During the dark times of the Clone Wars, Windu was considered by the Jedi to be their greatest
02:14champion.
02:15He worked hard to preserve the Jedi's ancient traditions during the time of war.
02:19He was also elected to lead the Jedi Council during said conflict.
02:23His role as champion was less about his ability as a warrior and more about his devotion to
02:27the Jedi way.
02:28But he was also a pretty badass warrior, which always helps.
02:32Alongside Yoda, he was one of the most feared and most respected Jedi in all the galaxy,
02:36before, you know, said pushing.
02:40In his youth, he was deeply offended by heretics and conmen
02:43Early in his life as a Jedi, Mace Windu had some, let's say, anger issues.
02:49Nothing got his blood boiling quite like a heretic, though.
02:52And as chance would have it, he would come into contact with one of these conmen on a
02:56mission on the planet Mathas.
02:58On this mission, a young Padawan Windu encountered a man named Druze.
03:02Druze had taken up residence in an abandoned Jedi temple.
03:05Whilst here, he had duped citizens of the planet into believing he was in fact a Jedi,
03:10and Druze charged a small fortune to perform fake miracles.
03:14Having such strong faith in both the Force and Jedi teachings, Mace found Druze very
03:18much offensive.
03:19So when Windu finally confronted Druze, he had some choice words for the Force prophet.
03:23He would twist such a beautiful thing as faith into something so vile, wring out what measly
03:28credit and adoration you could from these poor people, all while besmirching the esteem
03:33of the Jedi Order.
03:34I will make sure you never hurt another soul again.
03:37This I vow as a true Jedi.
03:39A very articulate lad.
03:42He ordered the attempted assassination of Count Dooku
03:46Windu was highly committed to ending the war with the Separatists.
03:49So much so that he argued for the assassination of former Jedi Master, Count Dooku.
03:54This is a pretty drastic move when you think about it.
03:56Sure, with hindsight we know that Dooku was a Dark Lord of the Sith under the manipulation
04:00of Darth Sidious.
04:01But during much of the Clone Wars, the Jedi were not entirely privy to this knowledge.
04:06As far as Windu was concerned, Dooku was no more than a political enemy.
04:10But after witnessing the devastation of war, Windu convinced the Jedi Council to send an
04:14assassin to kill Dooku.
04:16Yoda didn't exactly agree with this course of action.
04:18But with the support of Anakin Skywalker, the plan went forward.
04:22It ultimately failed, of course, but Dooku was later killed by Anakin, who consequently
04:25was responsible for the death of Mace Windu, too.
04:28As it goes, Anakin had some anger issues as well, didn't he?
04:31What's crazy about this plan is that Dooku was once pals with Windu.
04:35Windu was willing to kill Dooku for the slim chance of ending a galactic war.
04:405.
04:41Yoda taught him to fear attachment at a young age by taking his rattle
04:46Yoda and Mace were two of the most stoic Jedi of their time, and they both felt that emotional
04:50attachment was a path to the dark side.
04:53But there was a time when, rather than colleagues, Yoda was more of a babysitter for Mace.
04:58Like all younglings, Mace was trained by Yoda as a boy, and his training actually started
05:02in the crib.
05:03In one of the many Star Wars novels, Windu describes his early struggles with attachment,
05:08and Master Yoda was simply having none of it.
05:10Mace relates his earliest memory of Yoda to this moment of him taking his toy rattle.
05:15Mace of course cried and reached out with the force, but Yoda held it in place and eventually
05:19the toy broke.
05:21Mace claims this was Yoda's way of teaching him a valuable lesson, but we should all consider
05:25the possibility that Yoda was just being a bit of a dick.
05:284.
05:29Windu used a dangerous lightsaber form that channeled the dark side
05:33Part of the reason Windu was able to fare so well with Palpatine is because he already
05:38the dark side.
05:39Okay, obviously Windu is not an out-and-out Sith Lord.
05:42He did, however, use the dark side of the force to his advantage while in combat.
05:47This was through his use of the Form VII lightsaber combat, known as VARPAD, also called the Ferocity
05:53Form.
05:54Form VII was known to be a very aggressive form of lightsaber attack.
05:57Unlike other lightsaber techniques, Form VII encouraged an unchecked use of emotions.
06:01And if you know anything about the Jedi, you know they really hate those down emotions
06:06for some strange reason.
06:08Very few Jedi used Form VII until Windu himself refined the technique, in what he dubbed VARPAD.
06:13It was thought to be a bit dangerous to use, to be honest, and even Windu was hesitant
06:17to allow other Jedi to study the form.
06:19However, his use of VARPAD is probably what allowed him to best Palpatine in their lightsaber
06:23duel.
06:24And speaking of which…
06:253.
06:26He Could Have Killed Palpatine With Windu's prowess as a warrior in mind,
06:30he was definitely going to kill Palpatine.
06:32There is some controversy about whether Palpatine feigned defeat to manipulate Anakin, but let's
06:37just take a quick look at said skirmish for a moment.
06:40When Windu confronts the Sith Lord, Palpatine dispatches Windu's three Jedi Master Companions
06:44in short order.
06:45And many have argued that Palpatine does this to focus all his energy on his only true threat,
06:50Mr Mace Windu.
06:52Windu and Palpatine engage in a prolonged bout until the Jedi eventually gets the upper
06:56hand.
06:57Whether you believe this was by Palpatine's nefarious design, or Windu truly bested the
07:01Sith, the truth most likely is Windu had Palpatine right where he wanted him.
07:05So if it hadn't been for little old Anakin, Palpatine would have been Mace Windu's for
07:09the taking.
07:10And the galaxy would have likely been a whole lot safer, to be honest.
07:142.
07:15His Home Planet Appeared to be a Gaseous Nightmarescape
07:18Mace Windu hailed from a mid-rim planet called Harun Kal.
07:21Those words roughly translate to above the clouds in galactic basic.
07:25The reason Harun Kal is called above the clouds is that from orbit you might think this is
07:29an ocean world like Mon Cala or Kamino.
07:32The ocean isn't water though, it's an extremely toxic cocktail of noxious gases.
07:37These gases emerge from thousands of active volcanoes on the planet's surface, a charming
07:42habitat if ever you'd seen one.
07:44Harun Kal's habitable zones are serene mountaintops, and plateaus high enough to rise above the
07:48volcanic atmosphere.
07:50This mirrors the personality of Windu himself, who was calm and collected on the surface,
07:54However, he often channeled his submerged, dark emotions to become a formidable Jedi
07:59warrior.
08:00How poetic.
08:011.
08:02He was Trained by Sislin Myr
08:03It might be a bit hard to believe, but Mace Windu was once a Padawan, just like our young
08:09Jedi.
08:10I know, what are the odds?
08:11He also had a master, as it goes, a woman named Sislin Myr.
08:14In fact, it was Myr who traveled with Windu to the planet Mathas to confront the Force
08:18Prophet Druze.
08:19Outside of this mission, not much is known about Sislin Myr, as this is her only appearance
08:24in canon.
08:25In Star Wars Legends, of course, Windu was trained by the Jedi Master Thrasar.
08:29Owing to her species' extended lifespans, Thrasar lived through some of the galaxy's
08:33most intense conflicts.
08:34Thrasar was also a general during the Clone Wars.
08:37She survived the Jedi Purge on the Galactic Civil War, and went on to help found the New
08:41Jedi Order.
08:42So all in all, what did we learn?
08:44Mace Windu was a devoted Jedi, a controlled and powerful warrior, and overall a pretty
08:48cool dude.
08:49Before Anakin decided to help Sidious fire him out the window.
08:53And that's our list!
08:54Know any other things people never knew about Mace Windu?
08:57Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below, and do not forget
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09:11I have been Gareth from WhatCulture Star Wars, thank you as always for clicking on this video
09:15today, and I'm sure I'll see you very, very soon!
09:17Bye!
09:18Bye!