Jedi

What's a Jedi?

The Jedi were much like the enforcers of the law, solving crimes, helping in wars and creating peace amongst the planets in different galaxies. The Jedi were very much respected, with the ability to create peace due to their wisdom and patience, and if ever needed, would be able to enforce the law physically thanks to their lightsabers and Force powers. However, due to the Jedi philosophies going against the natural flow of human life, some Jedi had turned to the dark side, and so the Sith were born. The line between Jedi and Sith (good and bad) were sometimes blurred, as the people thought that the Jedi did not make the best decisions, often leading to conflict and the destruction of planets.

Becoming a Jedi and Lifestyle

To become a Jedi, one must have a high enough midi-chlorian count and then be discovered by a Jedi Master. How the Jedi Master finds a potential Jedi is usually found by events that the Force creates, due to the Force being in every living form and therefore being connected to each other, no matter how direct or indirect. The Jedi Master will observe the Jedi-to-be and see if they have characteristics that are fit for a Jedi, such as commitment and an astute mind. The Jedi Master would also see if their emotions were in check, seeing as the Jedi thought that emotions such as anger and hate would lead to the dark side. The Jedi Code speaks of openness and no emotion:

There was also a new Jedi Code after the fall of the Empire:

Once a Jedi Master decided that the Jedi-potential person could be accepted in the ranks, their training began. They would start out as Younglings, and students would usually practice with a remote, which was a small sphere that hovered just above the trainee's head. It would shoot small lasers that would sting, and the trainee would have to deflect it with their training lightsaber. Once they had gained the rank of a Padawan, they could be able to build their own lightsaber. They would have to find their own crystal however, and once they did, use their Force training to place and charge the cell. Even something as little as a misplaced crystal could blow up the lightsaber.

However, the main training of a Jedi was the Force. It is explained that the Force is an energy that runs through everyone. However, the Force in others is more prevalent and therefore can be trained as Jedi. The Jedi Masters always taught them to use the Force for good, such as healing, and if they needed to protect themselves, for defence, and never to be used with anger. Temptation of the dark side was always there, because it always seemed like the easier path to take. Some Jedis would fall to the dark side and realise that they had taken a self-destructive path and then realise that going back to the light side was difficult. Many Jedi saved dark side Jedi, though sometimes it was not possible, and they would need to kill the dark Jedi as a last resort.

The way of the Jedi was to help the weak, as opposed to the Sith, where the weak were to serve the strong. Since their lightsaber was such a strong symbol, they were to uphold the best behaviour and have a great amount of responsibility. They were to have a clear mind and take care of things that were trivial, and they were required to have an open mind to all things, in order to learn how things work and come up with the best judgement from all they have learned. The Jedi were to wear a tunic and a cloak with a hood, boots and trousers, which were in shades of grey and brown/tan. This was in contrast to the what the Sith wore, which was black, and sometimes red. Due to the Jedi Code, they frowned upon emotions, attachments and materialism. They were to live a life of what seemed to be like poverty even though they had housing, food and clothing. They were never to love or even have sex, though there were certain instances, legal and illegal. One legal example was the Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi, whose race suffered from low birth rates. From this, he was able to have a polygamous relationship and was a father to many children. An illegal relationship example would be Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. This drove Anakin to the dark side and he became Darth Vader, though he was brought back to the light side, thanks to his son Luke.

Sects

The 3 sects of the Jedi are:

• Dark Jedi
• Potentium
• Gray Jedi

Jedi Rankings

The rankings are as follow:

• Jedi Youngling

• Jedi Padawan

• Jedi Knight

• Jedi Master

• Grand Master

More can be found here.

A Jedi Youngling would train until the master would decree that he/she would have enough knowledge in the Force to be put up to Padawan. Once a Padawan, they would be taken under the wing of a Jedi Knight; to become a Jedi Master, a Jedi Knight would have to train a Padawan sufficiently until they themselves could become a Jedi Knight. Once a Jedi Knight successfully trains a Padawan, the Knight is to become a Master. Other ways to becoming a Master would be to complete a heroic act. The highest rank was the Grand Master, where they have shown the utmost of wisdom. An example includes Yoda.

There were also Jedi who had a specialised class if the Jedi Order felt that their skills could be used else where. For example, there were Jedi known to lead armies into war, and Jedi who were interested in politics. There are Jedi classes called the Jedi Guardian, who focused on skills, but had limited use in Force powers, and Jedi Consulars, who specialised in the Force, but had limited fighting skills. There were also Jedi Sentinels who had focused on a balanced practice on the Force and their fighting capabilities. There were also Jedi Healers, and Jedi who took interest in preserving and learning about the culture and history of the Jedi, in hopes of learning past mistakes and improving themselves in the future. There were Jedi investigators, who basically acted as detectives, such as petty arguments to murder cases, and a class, called the Jedi Shadow was to spy on the Sith and expose them in order to prevent any wars between the Jedi and Sith. The Jedi Shadow would obviously have to have a very strong will, in order to fend against the dark side attacks.