There were Jedi. "Star Wars". Who are the Jedi? See what "Jedi" is in other dictionaries

“May the force be with you” - this phrase is known not only to avid Star Wars fans. The cult space epic is known all over the world. And since the release of its very first part, millions of children around the world dreamed of one thing - to become a Jedi.

Origin of the word

It was invented by the director of the saga, George Lucas. According to him, he took the name of the Japanese cinema genre “jidaigeki” as a basis. This is a historical drama, the plot of which is centered on the life and development of a samurai. The creator of Star Wars has a deep appreciation for Japanese culture, and may have based his character on the samurai. Who is a Jedi?

Knights-peacekeepers - warriors of Light

Jedi is one of the key characters in the space epic Star Wars. He is the defender of the Republic during armed conflicts with hostile forces. The Jedi always try to act exclusively peacefully, which is why they are also called peacekeeping knights.

A Jedi is not a supernatural being. It could be any humanoid with the ability to control the Force. What it is is briefly indicated in the stellar epic. One of the episodes tells that all life in the Universe is connected with certain microscopic creatures that make it possible to control living and inanimate matter. Those who have a lot of them in their blood can become Jedi. According to another version, the Force is an integral part of all life in the Universe.

Children with the Force were found and transferred to be raised and trained in the Jedi Order. If they completed the entire path of formation and successfully passed five tests, they received the title of knights. In rare cases, a Jedi became a knight without passing tests - for performing an exceptional heroic deed.

Order of the Knights of Strength

Millennia ago, the Jedi Order was formed, which stood guard over peace. The planet Tython became its homeland. Initially, he studied the nature of the Force, but over time he began to take an increasingly active part in the affairs of the Galaxy. The order is believed to have no leader and is governed by a Jedi council. However, formally there is the title of Master, the Supreme Ruler of the Jedi. In Star Wars, Master Yoda was called a Master several times, which suggests that he was the leader of the Jedi Order during the events of the saga.

The hierarchy of the Order is as follows:

1. Younglings are those who begin to take the first steps in learning.
2. Padawans are students of knights who have successfully completed the first stage of training.
3. Jedi.
4. The Master is a Jedi whose student has successfully passed the final tests and received the title of knight.
5. Master - elected by the Council from among the best warriors. In Star Wars it's Yoda.

Jedi Code

Peacekeeping knights have their own set of rules. First of all, he is needed to help the Padawans, young students, overcome the attraction of the dark side of the Force.

The Code contains only a few commandments: do not use your skills for personal purposes, act only when in harmony with the Force, do not succumb to rage and anger, which lead to the dark side, and always try to find peace. The Jedi try to maintain peace to the last and only defend themselves. They can attack as a last resort if this can prevent an even greater threat.

Jedi: Sith Wars

The world created by the brilliant director George Lucas is huge. It contains thousands of different characters. The Warriors of Light could not do without antagonists. In the Star Wars space saga, the Jedi have their eternal and powerful enemy - the Sith. Their appearance is frightening and repulsive - under the influence of dark forces, the appearance of a person who has chosen the path of evil changes. The whites of the eyes turn yellow, and the pupils become “cat-like”.

The Jedi who chose were expelled. They fled to the planet Korriban, mixed with the local warlike race of red-skinned Force-sensitive humanoids, and founded their own order of the Sith. Since then, they have remained the main enemies of the Jedi.

Knight's weapon

As a matter of fact, he himself is the main one. More precisely, his ability to control the Force. Thanks to it, he can move objects and hold them in the air. As for military weapons, they are unchanged and are an indispensable attribute and insignia. This is a Jedi lightsaber - a blade whose blade represents pure energy.

It is used both at ceremonies and in battle. According to tradition, the knighted must make a Jedi sword with his own hands. The weapons differed in the material of the handle and blade options. The color of the light beam could also be different - white, blue, blue, green and purple, depending on the crystal used in the sword.

“Return of the Jedi” - the story of the formation of a “star” warrior

Peacekeeping knights have been found in the saga since its first part. But information about the Jedi is provided very sparsely. It is known that these are warriors who use a certain Force, stand on the side of good and try to maintain a balance in the universe between good and evil. But already in the third part of the epic, the film “Return of the Jedi,” the viewer will finally be shown how knights are trained and introduced to the legendary head of the Jedi Order, Master Yoda.

This part of the saga convincingly shows that it is not about strength and height. The tiny Grand Master of the Order easily defeats the larger Luke Skywalker.

Cult of peacekeeping knights

The influence of “Star Wars” is so strong that it led to the emergence of not only a huge number of fans of Lucas’s work and ardent fans of the space saga, but also to the emergence of a unique religious doctrine - Jediism. Here it is more appropriate to talk not about a new religion, but about a subculture. Jediism is an officially registered religious movement in Great Britain. Here the number of its members reaches almost 400 thousand people. Most of them are students from major universities in the country. There are also many adherents of this belief in Australia and New Zealand. In Russia, this movement is not so widespread, although the circle of its participants is gradually growing. Who is a Jedi according to the new religious teaching? The same space saga “Star Wars” is taken as a basis. In it, the Jedi is a knight who follows the path of Light and uses the Force for noble purposes. As for the new religion, this definition is not entirely correct. Here a Jedi is, rather, one who follows the path of spiritual and physical improvement, and it does not matter what combat skills he possesses.

George Lucas is revered as a prophet in Jediism.

The Jedi are peacekeeping knights created by fantasy, adherents of the light side of the Force, and today they remain role models for fans of the famous space epic.

You may consider me to be relapsing into childhood, but from time to time I like to review an old film, Star Wars, one of the most famous science fiction sagas, directed by George Lucas. Its main characters are Jedi knights who control supernatural forces and deftly wield lightsabers. So they sank into my soul. So much so that I wanted to know where the idea itself came from. Isn't it interesting? Moreover, there is another song that seems to overthrow their selflessness.

Around 1975, a young American film director visited Japan, fell in love with the work of the great Akira Kurosawa and dreamed of creating something similar. In Japan, there is a special genre of historical drama dedicated to the adventures of warlike samurai. It is called jidai-geki (時代劇). The American, whose name was George Lucas, also liked the name itself. A few years later, this word turned into “Jedi.” The Jedi Order has not only a father (of course, Lucas), but also a mother, the famous science fiction writer Leigh Brackett. And it was she who began to develop the theme of the Jedi, their philosophy and special Path. Alas, two years before the film's premiere in 1980, Brackett died of cancer. But literally millions of followers all over the world followed the path of the Jedi in her footsteps! In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi arose approximately 25 thousand years before the events described in the classic film trilogy. They are star knights, defenders of peace and justice in a “very distant galaxy.” They use their abilities to protect themselves and others, but never to attack. The essence of their life is to serve others. Jedi use the Force in their actions. It is described as an energy field that all living things create that binds everything in the galaxy together. Essentially, it is analogous to the Chinese concept of qi. The Force also has a scientific basis: in the process of “cellular respiration,” chemical reactions occur that generate an electrical impulse, albeit a microscopic one. In the Star Wars universe, interaction with the Force, which provides the adept with telekinesis, levitation, super-fast reactions, supersensible perception and much more, is determined by microscopic midi-chlorians. However, they are not a guarantee - mastering the Force takes a long time to learn; ideally - all your life. When they talk about the Force, they certainly mention its Light and Dark sides. They are, however, part of the same whole. Opponents of the Jedi who use the Force to achieve selfish, evil goals are called Sith. Once upon a time they were simply Dark Jedi. Having lost in battle and been expelled to the outskirts of the galaxy, they enslaved one of the people there and began to call themselves by his name. The battle between the Jedi and the Sith, often taking on the character of a galactic war, is the essence of the eternal Battle between Good and Evil. The Jedi are armed with special weapons that are inextricably linked with the world of Force adepts - lightsabers. The sword hilt is a high-tech device with a capacious energy battery. When turned on, the device generates a powerful blade of pure energy, capable of cutting any material, with rare exceptions. After preparation, each Force adept had to assemble his lightsaber himself. The ability to wield it requires perfectly honed skill and concentration, mastery and achieving complete harmony with the Force. The Jedi have their own special Code, according to which they constantly compare and comprehend their actions, they are guided by it when making decisions and choosing alternatives. “There are no emotions - there is peace. There is no ignorance - there is knowledge. There is no passion - there is serenity. There is no chaos - there is harmony. There is no death - there is Great Power."
While looking for information about the Jedi, I found out that I wasn’t the only one who was on the move. It turns out that things have come to the emergence of a new religious movement - Jediism, which experts, however, consider more of a subculture or philosophical movement. Jediism is quite popular because its moral standards and principles of life correspond to both traditional religions and the norms of secular ethics. Adult toys? No matter how it is! Having studied public opinion, the UK Ministry of Justice in 2000 added code 8968 Jedi Knight to the lists of religious movements used for the census! According to updated data, today 390 thousand adherents of Jediism live in Great Britain alone. Agree that there is something attractive in this doctrine, albeit completely invented. In the end, why is it worse than the story about...?

The Jedi Order is an ancient organization with a very deep culture. It is not for nothing that members of the order bear the honorary title “Knight”, which is a reference to ancient times when the races inhabiting the galaxy could not leave the confines of their planets. It was from the ancient knightly orders that the Jedi transferred the ranking system, which will be discussed below. With the growth of the Jedi's experience and authority, as well as depending on his talents, the Jedi moved up the ranking ladder, expanding their powers and gaining weight in the life of the Order; this ranking system will be discussed below.

Master Mace Windu, Knight Obi-Wan and Padawan Anakin Skywalker

Padawan Young Jedi could be trained by the knights of the order, but they could not have more than one student at a time. The knight taught the padawan everything he knew and prepared the latter for initiation into knighthood, after which the teacher took on a new student, and his former padawan himself became a knight and after a while he himself began to teach someone. In fact, a Padawan is already a quite influential Jedi, who may even be superior to his teacher in some ways, but does not have enough experience to act alone. For example, Obi-Wan Kenobi, being Qui-Gon Jin's Padawan, was able to defeat Darth Maul, while his teacher was defeated in this battle.

Jedi Knight When a Padawan, in the teacher's opinion, completed his training, he underwent a series of tests that included tests of body, spirit and strength. If successful, the padawan received the title of Knight and ceased to obey his teacher. However, sometimes the title was awarded without verification, for example, Obi-Wan received the title of knight after defeating Darth Maul.

Jedi Master When a Knight trained his first Padawan, he could become a Jedi Master. In fact, becoming one is much more difficult than it seems at first glance. To undergo training yourself, as well as to make your student a knight, is work that takes several decades, during which the Jedi needs to survive himself and carefully protect his Padawan (although, for example, it was Anakin who protected Obi-Wan more than vice versa). After a padawan successfully became a knight, his master would undergo more difficult tests, as a result of which he could increase his rank in the Order. At the same time, the situation is similar to receiving a knighthood; for special merits, it could be awarded without trials.

Council Member The next step after the master is a place in the Jedi Council - a meeting of the 12 wisest and most experienced Jedi who make the most important decisions in the Order. A member of the council was rarely appointed for life; it was rather a temporary position, although it could be held for several months or tens of years. Any member of the council could always resign and leave the council. At the same time, someone else from among the masters was always elected in his place. Despite the fact that the council is a brotherhood of equals, there was an unwritten hierarchy within it. For example, Mace Windu was considered second in importance in the Order, whose opinion was highly valued within the council.

Grand Master This rank indicated the highest level in the Order's career ladder. The Grand Master is the leader of all Jedi, the wisest and most experienced among the others, and he held extraordinary powers not only within the Order, but also within the Republic. With all this, the Grand Master, theoretically, had the same rights as other members of the council, but in reality, his one request was enough for both the Order and the Republic to do as he wanted.

He came up with the word “Jedi”, remembering the name of the genre of Japanese cinema - “jidaigeki” (Japanese: 時代劇), which made a great impression on him. The popularity of Star Wars and the Jedi led to the emergence of a self-proclaimed religious movement called Jediism.

Jedi Code

The Jedi Code is found in many Star Wars books and consists of five truths:

There is no excitement - there is peace.
There is no ignorance - there is knowledge.
There is no passion - there is serenity.
There is no chaos - there is harmony.
There is no death - there is Power.

The truth about chaos and harmony is not given in all publications of the Codex.

Jedi Creed

The Star Wars books also contain the Jedi Creed. Sometimes it is also called a code, which is incorrect and causes some confusion. Creed of the Jedi Jedi Creed), unlike the Code (eng. Jedi Code), was written already in the era of the New Republic, after Luke Skywalker restored the Jedi Order. The Creed consists of five main tenets:

The Jedi are the defenders of peace in the Galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to guard and protect - never to attack others.
Jedi respect every life, in every form.
Jedi serve others, rather than dominate them, for the good of the galaxy.
Jedi strive for self-improvement through knowledge and training.

Original text(English)

Jedi are the guardians of peace in the Galaxy.
Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others.
Jedi respect all life, in any form.
Jedi serve others rather than rule over them, for the good of the Galaxy.
Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

Basic Galactic, Huttian, Aqualish, Bokke, Lasatnian, Ithorian, Ubesian, Ewokian, etc.

Excerpt characterizing the Jedi

Prince Vasily did not think about his plans. He even less thought of doing evil to people in order to gain benefit. He was only a secular man who had succeeded in the world and made a habit out of this success. He constantly, depending on the circumstances, depending on his rapprochement with people, drew up various plans and considerations, of which he himself was not well aware, but which constituted the entire interest of his life. Not one or two such plans and considerations were in his mind, but dozens, of which some were just beginning to appear to him, others were achieved, and others were destroyed. He did not say to himself, for example: “This man is now in power, I must gain his trust and friendship and through him arrange for a lump sum allowance,” or he did not say to himself: “Pierre is rich, I must lure him to marry his daughter and borrow the 40 thousand I need”; but a man in strength met him, and at that very moment instinct told him that this man could be useful, and Prince Vasily became close to him and at the first opportunity, without preparation, by instinct, flattered, became familiar, talked about what what was needed.
Pierre was under his arm in Moscow, and Prince Vasily arranged for him to be appointed a chamber cadet, which was then equivalent to the rank of state councilor, and insisted that the young man go with him to St. Petersburg and stay in his house. As if absent-mindedly and at the same time with an undoubted confidence that this should be so, Prince Vasily did everything that was necessary in order to marry Pierre to his daughter. If Prince Vasily had thought about his plans ahead, he could not have had such naturalness in his manners and such simplicity and familiarity in his relations with all the people placed above and below himself. Something constantly attracted him to people stronger or richer than himself, and he was gifted with the rare art of catching exactly the moment when it was necessary and possible to take advantage of people.
Pierre, having unexpectedly become a rich man and Count Bezukhy, after recent loneliness and carelessness, felt so surrounded and busy that he could only be left alone with himself in bed. He had to sign papers, deal with government offices, the meaning of which he had no clear idea of, ask the chief manager about something, go to an estate near Moscow and receive many people who previously did not want to know about his existence, but now would offended and upset if he didn’t want to see them. All these various persons - businessmen, relatives, acquaintances - were all equally well disposed and affectionately disposed towards the young heir; all of them, obviously and undoubtedly, were convinced of the high merits of Pierre. He constantly heard the words: “With your extraordinary kindness,” or “with your wonderful heart,” or “you yourself are so pure, Count...” or “if only he were as smart as you,” etc., so he He sincerely began to believe in his extraordinary kindness and his extraordinary mind, especially since it always seemed to him, deep down in his soul, that he was really very kind and very smart. Even people who had previously been angry and obviously hostile became tender and loving towards him. Such an angry eldest of the princesses, with a long waist, with hair smoothed like a doll’s, came to Pierre’s room after the funeral. Lowering her eyes and constantly flushing, she told him that she was very sorry for the misunderstandings that had happened between them and that now she felt she had no right to ask for anything, except permission, after the blow that had befallen her, to stay for a few weeks in the house that she loved so much and where made so many sacrifices. She couldn't help but cry at these words. Touched that this statue-like princess could change so much, Pierre took her hand and asked for an apology, without knowing why. From that day on, the princess began to knit a striped scarf for Pierre and completely changed towards him.

The Jedi (English: Jedi) are one of the main characters in the Star Wars universe, a kind of knightly order that primarily performs a peacekeeping function during armed conflicts. The main task of the Jedi Order is to protect the Republic and democracy. Any humanoid capable of controlling the Force could join their ranks. Mastery of the Force gives Jedi some superpowers.

The Jedi never sought power as such, supporting the Republic only to the extent that its policies complied with the Code. In the new trilogy of the franchise, the Order was subordinate to the government, but after the revival of the Republic, it took the form of an organization independent from the state. Nevertheless, when making decisions, the Jedi always took into account the opinions of the authorities.

origin of name

The word "Jedi" was coined by franchise creator George Lucas. He claims that he took the name of the Japanese cinematic genre “jidaigeki” as a basis. This genre refers to historical drama, the leitmotif of which is the life path of a samurai. Since George Lucas is a big fan of Japanese culture, most likely He took the image of the samurai as the basis for the Jedi as a character.

So who does the Force reside with?

According to the plot, the Force exists because all life in the Universe is connected to each other through symbiotic creatures - midichlorians. The higher their content in the cells of the body, the stronger the contact with the Force. However, the presence of midi-chlorians does not guarantee proper control over the Force; this art requires long and hard work.

Children with a high content of midichlorians were specially found and, with the permission of their parents, were given to be raised and trained by the Order. Those who completed the training to the end and passed the five tests received a knighthood. Occasionally it was possible to become a knight without any tests - in case of performing an exceptional feat.

The most famous Jedi weapon is considered to be a lightsaber, consisting of plasma released by the handle. According to tradition, the newly minted knight must make a light “blade” with his own hands. The ability to wield this weapon well, as a rule, is combined with high concentration and harmony with the Force. In addition, thanks to the Force, Jedi are characterized by increased agility, telekinesis, hypnosis, and the gift of foresight.

Of course, the Jedi have sworn and powerful opponents - the Sith. Unlike most Jedi, they have a rather unpleasant appearance, since the appearance of a person who has chosen the dark side changes under its harmful influence. The most striking distinguishing feature of the Sith is the “cat’s” eyes.

The Sith themselves were once Jedi, however, fascinated by the dark side of the Force, they chose the path of separation and moved to the desert planet Korriban. The planet was inhabited by a race of red-skinned humanoids who also had Force abilities. A couple of millennia later, settlers enslaved them and became known as the Sith Order.

Jedi Code

Many Star Wars books contain the Jedi Code, which includes the following truths:

• There is no excitement - there is peace.
• There is no ignorance - there is knowledge.
• There is no passion - there is serenity.
• There is no chaos - there is harmony.
• There is no death - there is Power.

Hierarchy of the Order

As in any professional environment, the Jedi have a hierarchy based on their level of Force proficiency:

• Yunling. This was the name given to children with Force abilities, selected by the Order and raised by the Jedi as younglings.
• Padawan. The knight could take on one of the younglings as an apprentice. The Padawan followed his mentor everywhere and gained invaluable first-hand knowledge. When the teacher deemed it necessary, a padawan could undergo tests to determine his strength of spirit.
• Knight. After successfully passing the tests, the padawan was recognized as a knight and could take on his own student. The Knights were full members of the Jedi Order and subordinate to the Council.
• master. The most honored and respected knights were elected to the Council and appointed masters.

Jedi among us

Due to the enormous popularity of the star saga, a unique teaching of Jediism arose. Of course, it is more of a subculture than a religion, however, in the UK, Jediism is an officially registered religious movement. In this country alone, the subculture has about half a million participants and is popular in many European countries, Australia, New Zealand. Modern “Jedi” consider themselves to be the same noble knights, following the path of Light and trying to live up to this title. Whether real followers of Jediism have the Force is a mystery.