The page is dedicated to Jedi Master Mace Windu. Click Here for my Mace Windu Photo Gallery

A native of the planet Haruun Kal, this dark-skinned Jedi Master was a member of the Jedi Council in the years leading up to the Clone Wars. He was distinguished by his bald pate and stern manner, and chose to resolve conflict with discussion and negotiation over fighting whenever possible. As a child, Mace Windu was orphaned before he could be named, when his parents were killed in the jungle. He was given the name of his ghosh, and was turned over to the Jedi Order when he was just six months old. A delegate of the Jedi had traveled to Haruun Kal to request an individual for more formal training, and Mace was provided to them. He was young for his position, appointed to the Jedi Council before his thirtieth birthday and just past forty when Qui-Gon Jinn brought Anakin Skywalker before the Jedi Council, claiming that the boy was the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy. He was known as a man who led others by rigorous example, employing definite guidelines and steady discipline to his students, rather than allowing them to suddenly discover something. He was also considered one of the Order's toughest fighters, although a popular story among the padawans told of Windu's singlehandedly capturing a team of Gang Killers without ever igniting his lightsaber. Despite these characteristics, Mace Windu was also one of the quickest Masters to appreciate a good joke, and often sprang a few himself. Master Windu took as his padawan learner the Chalactan child Depa Billaba, after he rescued her from the space pirates who had killed her parents. Her appointment to the Jedi Council was a proud moment fdor him, since he considered Depa to be the daughter he could never have. Mace Windu was skeptical that the appearance of young Anakin was another of Qui-Gon's foolish causes. However, a cursory testing of the young boy proved that he was indeed strong with the Force. While the Jedi Council initially decided against Anakin's training, citing the fact that he was too old and too full of fear for his mother, Qui-Gon's death on Naboo forced them to re-evaluate Anakin's position. In the end, Windu agreed with the Council that Anakin should be trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Over the next ten years, Windu monitored Anakin's progress, always searching for proof of his being the Chosen One. When Count Dooku later emerged as the leader of the Separatist party, Windu felt strongly that the situation could be resolved through negotiation, since Dooku himself was a former Jedi Knight. However, Master Windu's instincts were clouded by the pall of the Dark Side of the Force which had spread over the galaxy, and he was forced to lead a task force to Geonosis to investigate the Separatist army. The strength of the Jedi was no match for the sheer number of droids in the Separatist army, and Windu found himself being attacked by the bounty hunter, Jango Fett. Windu managed to decapitate Fett during the battle, but was quickly overpowered by the droid soldiers. The timely appearance of Master Yoda and the clone troopers of the Army of the Republic saved the Jedi and won the Battle of Geonosis, but Windu and Yoda were worried that deeper, darker events were occurring that they could not foresee. Master Windu also privately believed that he could have prevented the battle on Geonosis and, therefore, the Clone Wars, by simply destroying Count Dooku when he arrived on Geonosis, rather than confronting Jango Fett. Although this would have surely meant he would be killed by Fett, Master Windu felt that Dooku's death would have defeated the Separatsts. Six months after Geonosis, Master Windu was sent to Haruun Kal to recover his former apprentice, Depa Billaba, after she disappeared in the uplands. While on Haruun Kal, Master Windu experienced an intense vision of the future, which was believed to have been a premonition of the Yuuhan Vong invasion of the galaxy some fifty years later. He also learned that he was one of only two surviving members of the Windu ghosh, the other being Kar Vastor. Instead of accepting this relationship, Master Windu refused to admit his family, and refused to call Vastor doshallai. However, he did accept Vastor's assistance in reaching Depa Billaba and in freeing the Korunnai from their subservience to the Balawai and the Separatists. Mace Windu was portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.

Taken from The Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia

From the Expanded Universe

Though a member of the High Council since the age of 28, this did not dull Windu's fighting edge or his willingness to venture forth on dangerous missions. His exploits are legendary, and he was an inspiration to his fellow Jedi, leading through rigorous example and steady discipline.

In his day, Mace was one of the best lightsaber fighters of the Jedi order. It was said only two opponents ever bested him -- Yoda, and Dooku. Only the most skilled of the Jedi could master the his Form VII discipline of combat -- the deadly technique known as vaapad -- for its aggressive nature treaded dangerously upon dark side practices.

Among his better-known assignments in the service of the Republic was an expedition to Yinchorr to investigate the deaths of two Jedi. Also, Windu spearheaded a diplomatic mission to Malastare, to forge a truce between the Red Iaro terrorist group and the people of Lannik. Shortly thereafter he uncovered illegal animal trade on Nar Shaddaa involving akk dogs -- deadly yet beloved predators native to Mace's homeworld of Haruun Kal.

One of Mace's numerous apprentices was the Chalactan Jedi Depa Billaba. Under his skilled tutelage, Billaba became a remarkable Jedi, ascending to rank of Master herself and earning a place on the Jedi Council beside her former Master. Another of his Padawans was Echuu Shen-Jon, a Jedi who would ultimately survive the dark times.

The Clone Wars were a trying time for Windu, as he had to adapt to the new role of the Jedi as military leaders. Not all the Jedi agreed with their positions as Generals in the wars, and a group of dissident Jedi splintered from the order. When Mace went to parley with these dissidents, he found himself in the jaws of a trap -- the meeting was a set-up. Asajj Ventress, an agent of Count Dooku, attacked Windu. Though Asajj was outmatched and fled, Mace Windu reported this new threat to the Jedi Council. It was further evidence of the rising tide of the dark side.

Four months into the Clone Wars, Mace led clone troopers against Confederacy forces that had amassed on Dantooine. The Separatists planned on securing a launch-point on Dantooine to defend the nearby world of Muunilinst, and hoped to prevent the Republic from doing the same. Mace's troops were decimated by the terrible power of a seismic tank, and even though he was temporarily disarmed in the confusion of the battlefield, Mace was able to single-handedly defeat the droid forces and destroy the tank.

Six months into the Clone Wars, Mace Windu received a disturbing report that his former Padawan, Depa Billaba, had possibly gone mad on the battlefront of Haruun Kal. He returned to the inhospitable jungles of his homeworld to seek out the rogue Jedi, and got a firsthand look at the horrors of the Clone Wars.

Below is an interview Samuel L. Jackson had with MTV

"I got the only purple lightsaber in the universe. And hopefully I get to take it home with me after they kill me." — Samuel L. Jackson

Most people have no idea when their life will end, but Samuel L. Jackson has his expiration date narrowed down.

Or at least that of his "Star Wars" character, Mace Windu.

"I'm just going to die, you know?" Jackson said recently of George Lucas' plans for "Star Wars Episode III," which the actor begins work on next month in Australia. "I'm basically going down there hoping that I'm going to have this really awesome lightsaber battle with somebody that takes me out in the proper way. You know, the way a Jedi of my status deserves to be taken out."

Like Jackson, Ewan McGregor — a.k.a. Obi-Wan Kenobi — is looking forward to getting his hands back on the Jedi knights' signature weapon, even if he isn't too psyched about shooting scenes on empty soundstages in front of green screens, interacting with things that will be added in later.

"I like the fighting sequences [the best]," he said. "They're good fun to prepare for and also good fun to shoot. It's one of the rare instances in the 'Star Wars' movies when you're working with someone else, because you can't really swordfight on your own. However, most of the other scenes seem to be played into midair with computer-generated characters."

Both Jackson and McGregor appeared in 1999's "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace" and last year's "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones," the record-breaking blockbuster prequels to Lucas' iconic science-fiction trilogy of the late '70s and early '80s.

"I never realized I would end up with some kind of franchise character that's in the middle of a big franchise of its own, but it's very cool," Jackson said. "Mace is kind of evolving for me. And it's been a wonderful experience being able to be in 'Star Wars,' first of all because I was a huge fan. I used to sit around and wonder how you got into something like that and how great it would be to be in it. Fortunately for me, somebody must have heard me and I'm in it!"

Not much is known about the plot of "Episode III" except that in order for it to bridge the gap between the two trilogies, Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) has to get pregnant, Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) will become Darth Vader, and all of the Jedi — save for Kenobi and MTV Movie Award-winner Yoda (see "MTV Movie Awards: Gollum, Yoda Steal Show; Sloppy Jackasses Rock Red Carpet") — must die. Jackson isn't upset about seeing his character knocked off, though.

"[I owe] thanks to George for creating a character like Mace Windu that makes me, like, the second-baddest dude in the universe," he said. "It's kind of awesome. And then, you know, to top that off, giving me the oddest lightsaber in the universe. I got the only purple lightsaber in the universe.

"And hopefully," he added, "I get to take it home with me after they kill me."

"Star Wars Episode III," the last in the series, is scheduled to hit theaters in 2005.

Mace's own cover in the Star Wars Jedi Series

As the Jedi's top general in the galaxy-wide Clone Wars, Mace Windu must oversee battles on many fronts. But the struggle that concerns him most is that within the Jedi Order itself. With the outbreak of hostilities, many Jedi are unwilling to commit themselves to the war -- either because of their ambivalence toward the Republic, or because they have actively joined the Separatists! On a quest to reunite the divided ranks of the Jedi, Mace Windu is forced to confront the same Jedi sword-master who tutored him in the legendary lightsaber regimen known as Vaapad!