[Done] Jedi & Sith Rankings [No Pictures]
Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:16 pm
Credit to Legion 2.5 for inspiring me to make another thread. Heh.
Jedi
Jedi Initiate
The term Jedi Initiate, Jedi Trainee, or Youngling referred to a Force-sensitive child who was undergoing the early stages of Jedi training at a Jedi academy. Typically, the term of Initiate was used to describe those Jedi-in-training who were yet to become Padawans, not yet having been accepted by a Jedi Knight or Master for advanced training. In the years of the Galactic Republic, initiates typically spent most, if not all, of their time at the Jedi Temple, rarely venturing outside of its walls. Youngling was a term that existed in Galactic Basic Standard to refer to a child in a species-neutral way. Thus, the term youngling could apply to all forms of offspring, from humanoid children to insectoid grubs.
Used from the begining of the Jedi Order's history the term Initiate or youngling was used by Jedi Masters as a name for the Jedi yet to be chosen as a Padawan. Because the Jedi Order brought its members into their society at a very early age, Initiates were grouped into clans to create friendships and bonds between the children. Each Clan was assigned a caretaker or instructor who would look after them and prepare them as they moved through the ranks of the Order.
If a youngling was not chosen by any Jedi Knight to be their Padawan by 13 years of age, the Initiate was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps. Depending on where the student's talents lay, this could have been the Agricultural Corps, the Medical Corps, or the Exploration Corps.
During the Great Jedi Purge, most of the Initiates were killed by Darth Vader, Sith apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. A standing order was put in place within the Stormtrooper Corps demanding that all Initiates found during the Dark Times be captured alive for interrogation and torture.
Jedi Padawan
A Padawan, Padawan learner, or Jedi Apprentice in Basic, was a child, or in some cases an adult, who began serious training under a Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master, chosen by the Knight or Master him/herself from the ranks of the younglings.
Padawans followed and helped their Masters everywhere, unless seen unfit by the master, from simple tasks to dangerous missions, so that they learned from experience and personal guidance. Padawans that belonged to species that grew hair on their heads typically grew a braid signifying their apprentice status, although there were a few exceptions among species, even some humans. When a Padawan passed the 'trials', he or she was elevated to knighthood, and his or her braid was cut off during the knighting ceremony. There was no fixed age when this happens: Padawans could even be adults, but for a Human, it usually occurred in the Padawan's early- or mid-twenties.
If a youngling was not chosen by any Jedi Knight to be his or her Padawan by thirteen years of age, the youngling was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps—a tradition abandoned by Luke Skywalker when he created the New Jedi Order. This, however, was not the case for all younglings as many surpassed the age of thirteen but were still selected to become a Padawan by a Jedi Knight or Master.
he terms "Jedi Apprentice" and "Padawan" were not always synonymous throughout the long history of the Jedi Order. Nor were the terms used consistently throughout the thousands of years of the Jedi Order.
Before the Old Sith Wars, the practice of multiple apprentices learning under a single Master was common. During this period most students were simply called Jedi Apprentices until they achieved the rank of "Knight." After this time, training multiple students concurrently was discouraged, due to their apparent predilection to defect to the dark ways of the Sith. Thus, while ancient masters such as Arca Jeth commonly had several apprentices at any given time, tradition came to dictate a single Padawan, allowing his or her master to better focus on their pupil, and give them more of their attention. The term Padawan usually indicated the new practice of one student to one master.
During the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War, the rank of "Jedi Apprentice" was actually obtained before the rank of Padawan. During this time, an Apprentice mostly trained within the safety of the temple and could learn from many instructors there. After completing some relatively easy trials, the Apprentice would be granted the rank of Padawan and be able to train with a master during real world missions. The Jedi Apprentices stage at that time closely resembled the "Jedi Youngling" stage of training that was common just before the fall of the Jedi order. Using the word "youngling" to describe these Jedi Apprentices would have been inaccurate, however. The many years of war and loss of life necessitated that many beings be allowed into the Order at older ages. It was not uncommon for adults to be apprentices at that time. For example, Revan, after losing his memory and being "reprogrammed" by the Dantooine Enclave Council, was retrained as a Apprentice under Master Zhar Lestin, and was then granted the title of Padawan.
During the Clone Wars, all Padawans by decree of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, achieved the military rank of Jedi Commanders, even those who didn't have military duties.
Jedi Knight
Jedi Knight was a rank of Jedi in the Jedi Order, following the title of Padawan and preceding that of Jedi Master. A Padawan would become a Jedi Knight once he or she had passed the Jedi Trials. In theory, it could take a Padawan many years of training under another Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master to achieve this rank. Obi-Wan Kenobi spent twelve years under Qui-Gon Jinn before he became a Knight, Anakin Skywalker had trained for almost the same amount of time as his Master before he achieved the rank. Knights were the backbone to the Jedi Order, being the majority. Jedi who held this rank were assigned most of the standard Jedi missions. Because most of the Jedi were of the rank of Knights, the Jedi Order as a whole were often called Jedi Knights. It should be noted as well that many Knights were addressed as "Master," at least by their own apprentices.
Once a Padawan had passed the Jedi Trials, he was knighted by the Jedi Council and commissioned as an active member of the Jedi Order, free to participate in galactic peace-keeping, judicial, and diplomatic affairs. Rather than immediately beginning to participate in galactic affairs, a Jedi Knight also had the option of choosing to train a new Padawan.
During the time of the Old Jedi Order, after a Padawan had spent an adequate amount of time learning from their Master, they would undertake the trials of Knighthood. If the Padawan passed the trials they were declared to be a Knight of the Galactic Republic by the Jedi Council. The customary braid worn by Padawans who were of species that grew hair on their heads was cut off with a lightsaber by the leading Jedi Council member of the time, in the Knighting ceremony held in the Hall of Knighthood. Only the Jedi Council or the Padawan's Master could promote a Padawan to the rank of Jedi Knight. Most Knights were promoted to Jedi Masters after they successfully made a Padawan into a Knight, although in rare cases they could also be promoted to Master without having done this (such as in the case of Master Saesee Tiin, who never took an apprentice, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was promoted due to his exceptional credit during the Clone Wars.)
In the waning days of the Order, one legendary Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, was given the chance to sit on the Jedi Council but was not allowed the rank of Master. Sitting on the council was a position mostly reserved for Jedi Masters only. However, Jedi Knight Ki-Adi-Mundi occasionally sat in on a number of Jedi Council meetings in the absence of other members. As such, he temporarily held a unique position on the Council as he had not attained the rank of Master. When he was nominated for a permanent Jedi Council seat as a result of Micah Giiett's death, Ki-Adi-Mundi was officially granted the rank of Jedi Master. At the time of his appointment, Anakin Skywalker was the youngest member of the order to have a seat on the Council, an impressive achievement in the eyes of many. He, however, saw it as a personal insult that he was not promoted to the rank of Jedi Master.
Jedi Master
The title of Jedi Master was the second highest rank a Jedi could obtain, and a traditional requirement for becoming part of the Jedi Council, the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic. It was reserved for those who had shown exceptional devotion and skill as well as balance in the Force and often combat. The titles of Sith Lord or Sith Master were on par with Jedi Master.
The rank was usually achieved by Knights who successfully entered Padawans into knighthood. When a teacher felt that his or her Padawan was ready, or if the Council deemed them ready, the pupil would undergo a series of tests - known as the "trials"[1] - and should the student pass, the Council would promote the Padawan to Jedi Knight and the former teacher to Jedi Master. The Master could then pick another apprentice if they chose to. A Knight who hadn't taken a Padawan could also retake the trials to earn the rank; often the trials were much harder and often involved a few more tests. The rank could also be granted by the Jedi Council to a Knight for performing some extraordinary deed or service, although this was rare (this exception was often reserved for Padawans to become Knights).
Jedi Knight Saesee Tiin, never known to have taken a Padawan, was appointed to the rank of Jedi Master, and later served on the Jedi High Council. Another example of appointment of a Jedi Knight/Jedi Master without a trained apprentice to date is that of Ki-Adi-Mundi. He was officially granted the rank of Master when he was given a seat on the Jedi Council, although he considered himself a mere Jedi Knight until he trained his own Padawan. Also, Obi-Wan Kenobi was promoted to Jedi Master due to his reputation and talent on the battlefield and his legendary diplomatic skills, and was granted a seat on the Jedi High Council to replace Depa Billaba towards the end of the Clone Wars.
Councilor (or Council Member)
At the time of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order had four Jedi Councils. The Jedi Temple had five spires, and while the tallest spire (the Temple Spire) contained the texts of the founding Jedi, the four smaller spires each contained one council.
The Jedi High Council, less formally known simply as the Jedi Council, was the primary Jedi Council of the Jedi Order during the rule of the Galactic Republic. The High Council met in the southeast tower of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The High Council was a group of twelve wise and powerful Jedi Masters who were elected to guide the Jedi Order as well as to serve as an advisory body for the Supreme Chancellor. The Council was made up of five lifetime members, four long-term members, and three limited-term members. This organizational structure had evolved from the earlier assemblies of Jedi Masters, and during the Great Hyperspace War may have been nothing more than an "inner circle" within the assembly. The Council originally had no set meeting place, and met irregularly on planets such as Ossus, Alderaan, and Chandrila. With the relocation of the Order from Ossus to Coruscant, the Council was permanently established on that world.
The members of the Jedi Council alone chose promising Jedi to join them. No outside body attempted to appoint a member to the Council against its wishes until the Clone Wars, when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine appointed Anakin Skywalker to the Council.
During the final days of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker, who was the first and last Jedi to acquire his membership by the Supreme Chancellor's will, was on the Council as a replacement for Even Piell. This was the final makeup of the High Council, and it did not last long. Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin were all killed fighting Darth Sidious. Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, and Stass Allie were all killed during Order 66. In one day in Galactic history, nearly two thirds of the Council was dead.
With all that were dead, some did survive. Shaak Ti escaped Operation Knightfall, lived until the late years of the Empire, exiled herself to planet Felucia where she was training Force-sensitives for a confrontation with the Sith. She was later killed by Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek. Nineteen years after the initial dissolution of the Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had exiled himself to Tatooine to watch over Anakin's son Luke, was killed onboard the Death Star by Darth Vader. Yoda died of old age four years later on Dagobah after completing the training of Luke Skywalker. The death of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker days later onboard the Second Death Star saw the end of the last surviving member of the final High Council.
Jedi
Jedi Initiate
The term Jedi Initiate, Jedi Trainee, or Youngling referred to a Force-sensitive child who was undergoing the early stages of Jedi training at a Jedi academy. Typically, the term of Initiate was used to describe those Jedi-in-training who were yet to become Padawans, not yet having been accepted by a Jedi Knight or Master for advanced training. In the years of the Galactic Republic, initiates typically spent most, if not all, of their time at the Jedi Temple, rarely venturing outside of its walls. Youngling was a term that existed in Galactic Basic Standard to refer to a child in a species-neutral way. Thus, the term youngling could apply to all forms of offspring, from humanoid children to insectoid grubs.
Used from the begining of the Jedi Order's history the term Initiate or youngling was used by Jedi Masters as a name for the Jedi yet to be chosen as a Padawan. Because the Jedi Order brought its members into their society at a very early age, Initiates were grouped into clans to create friendships and bonds between the children. Each Clan was assigned a caretaker or instructor who would look after them and prepare them as they moved through the ranks of the Order.
If a youngling was not chosen by any Jedi Knight to be their Padawan by 13 years of age, the Initiate was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps. Depending on where the student's talents lay, this could have been the Agricultural Corps, the Medical Corps, or the Exploration Corps.
During the Great Jedi Purge, most of the Initiates were killed by Darth Vader, Sith apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious. A standing order was put in place within the Stormtrooper Corps demanding that all Initiates found during the Dark Times be captured alive for interrogation and torture.
Jedi Padawan
A Padawan, Padawan learner, or Jedi Apprentice in Basic, was a child, or in some cases an adult, who began serious training under a Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master, chosen by the Knight or Master him/herself from the ranks of the younglings.
Padawans followed and helped their Masters everywhere, unless seen unfit by the master, from simple tasks to dangerous missions, so that they learned from experience and personal guidance. Padawans that belonged to species that grew hair on their heads typically grew a braid signifying their apprentice status, although there were a few exceptions among species, even some humans. When a Padawan passed the 'trials', he or she was elevated to knighthood, and his or her braid was cut off during the knighting ceremony. There was no fixed age when this happens: Padawans could even be adults, but for a Human, it usually occurred in the Padawan's early- or mid-twenties.
If a youngling was not chosen by any Jedi Knight to be his or her Padawan by thirteen years of age, the youngling was placed into another, lesser role in the Jedi Service Corps—a tradition abandoned by Luke Skywalker when he created the New Jedi Order. This, however, was not the case for all younglings as many surpassed the age of thirteen but were still selected to become a Padawan by a Jedi Knight or Master.
he terms "Jedi Apprentice" and "Padawan" were not always synonymous throughout the long history of the Jedi Order. Nor were the terms used consistently throughout the thousands of years of the Jedi Order.
Before the Old Sith Wars, the practice of multiple apprentices learning under a single Master was common. During this period most students were simply called Jedi Apprentices until they achieved the rank of "Knight." After this time, training multiple students concurrently was discouraged, due to their apparent predilection to defect to the dark ways of the Sith. Thus, while ancient masters such as Arca Jeth commonly had several apprentices at any given time, tradition came to dictate a single Padawan, allowing his or her master to better focus on their pupil, and give them more of their attention. The term Padawan usually indicated the new practice of one student to one master.
During the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War, the rank of "Jedi Apprentice" was actually obtained before the rank of Padawan. During this time, an Apprentice mostly trained within the safety of the temple and could learn from many instructors there. After completing some relatively easy trials, the Apprentice would be granted the rank of Padawan and be able to train with a master during real world missions. The Jedi Apprentices stage at that time closely resembled the "Jedi Youngling" stage of training that was common just before the fall of the Jedi order. Using the word "youngling" to describe these Jedi Apprentices would have been inaccurate, however. The many years of war and loss of life necessitated that many beings be allowed into the Order at older ages. It was not uncommon for adults to be apprentices at that time. For example, Revan, after losing his memory and being "reprogrammed" by the Dantooine Enclave Council, was retrained as a Apprentice under Master Zhar Lestin, and was then granted the title of Padawan.
During the Clone Wars, all Padawans by decree of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, achieved the military rank of Jedi Commanders, even those who didn't have military duties.
Jedi Knight
Jedi Knight was a rank of Jedi in the Jedi Order, following the title of Padawan and preceding that of Jedi Master. A Padawan would become a Jedi Knight once he or she had passed the Jedi Trials. In theory, it could take a Padawan many years of training under another Jedi Knight or a Jedi Master to achieve this rank. Obi-Wan Kenobi spent twelve years under Qui-Gon Jinn before he became a Knight, Anakin Skywalker had trained for almost the same amount of time as his Master before he achieved the rank. Knights were the backbone to the Jedi Order, being the majority. Jedi who held this rank were assigned most of the standard Jedi missions. Because most of the Jedi were of the rank of Knights, the Jedi Order as a whole were often called Jedi Knights. It should be noted as well that many Knights were addressed as "Master," at least by their own apprentices.
Once a Padawan had passed the Jedi Trials, he was knighted by the Jedi Council and commissioned as an active member of the Jedi Order, free to participate in galactic peace-keeping, judicial, and diplomatic affairs. Rather than immediately beginning to participate in galactic affairs, a Jedi Knight also had the option of choosing to train a new Padawan.
During the time of the Old Jedi Order, after a Padawan had spent an adequate amount of time learning from their Master, they would undertake the trials of Knighthood. If the Padawan passed the trials they were declared to be a Knight of the Galactic Republic by the Jedi Council. The customary braid worn by Padawans who were of species that grew hair on their heads was cut off with a lightsaber by the leading Jedi Council member of the time, in the Knighting ceremony held in the Hall of Knighthood. Only the Jedi Council or the Padawan's Master could promote a Padawan to the rank of Jedi Knight. Most Knights were promoted to Jedi Masters after they successfully made a Padawan into a Knight, although in rare cases they could also be promoted to Master without having done this (such as in the case of Master Saesee Tiin, who never took an apprentice, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was promoted due to his exceptional credit during the Clone Wars.)
In the waning days of the Order, one legendary Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, was given the chance to sit on the Jedi Council but was not allowed the rank of Master. Sitting on the council was a position mostly reserved for Jedi Masters only. However, Jedi Knight Ki-Adi-Mundi occasionally sat in on a number of Jedi Council meetings in the absence of other members. As such, he temporarily held a unique position on the Council as he had not attained the rank of Master. When he was nominated for a permanent Jedi Council seat as a result of Micah Giiett's death, Ki-Adi-Mundi was officially granted the rank of Jedi Master. At the time of his appointment, Anakin Skywalker was the youngest member of the order to have a seat on the Council, an impressive achievement in the eyes of many. He, however, saw it as a personal insult that he was not promoted to the rank of Jedi Master.
Jedi Master
The title of Jedi Master was the second highest rank a Jedi could obtain, and a traditional requirement for becoming part of the Jedi Council, the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic. It was reserved for those who had shown exceptional devotion and skill as well as balance in the Force and often combat. The titles of Sith Lord or Sith Master were on par with Jedi Master.
The rank was usually achieved by Knights who successfully entered Padawans into knighthood. When a teacher felt that his or her Padawan was ready, or if the Council deemed them ready, the pupil would undergo a series of tests - known as the "trials"[1] - and should the student pass, the Council would promote the Padawan to Jedi Knight and the former teacher to Jedi Master. The Master could then pick another apprentice if they chose to. A Knight who hadn't taken a Padawan could also retake the trials to earn the rank; often the trials were much harder and often involved a few more tests. The rank could also be granted by the Jedi Council to a Knight for performing some extraordinary deed or service, although this was rare (this exception was often reserved for Padawans to become Knights).
Jedi Knight Saesee Tiin, never known to have taken a Padawan, was appointed to the rank of Jedi Master, and later served on the Jedi High Council. Another example of appointment of a Jedi Knight/Jedi Master without a trained apprentice to date is that of Ki-Adi-Mundi. He was officially granted the rank of Master when he was given a seat on the Jedi Council, although he considered himself a mere Jedi Knight until he trained his own Padawan. Also, Obi-Wan Kenobi was promoted to Jedi Master due to his reputation and talent on the battlefield and his legendary diplomatic skills, and was granted a seat on the Jedi High Council to replace Depa Billaba towards the end of the Clone Wars.
Councilor (or Council Member)
At the time of the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order had four Jedi Councils. The Jedi Temple had five spires, and while the tallest spire (the Temple Spire) contained the texts of the founding Jedi, the four smaller spires each contained one council.
The Jedi High Council, less formally known simply as the Jedi Council, was the primary Jedi Council of the Jedi Order during the rule of the Galactic Republic. The High Council met in the southeast tower of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The High Council was a group of twelve wise and powerful Jedi Masters who were elected to guide the Jedi Order as well as to serve as an advisory body for the Supreme Chancellor. The Council was made up of five lifetime members, four long-term members, and three limited-term members. This organizational structure had evolved from the earlier assemblies of Jedi Masters, and during the Great Hyperspace War may have been nothing more than an "inner circle" within the assembly. The Council originally had no set meeting place, and met irregularly on planets such as Ossus, Alderaan, and Chandrila. With the relocation of the Order from Ossus to Coruscant, the Council was permanently established on that world.
The members of the Jedi Council alone chose promising Jedi to join them. No outside body attempted to appoint a member to the Council against its wishes until the Clone Wars, when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine appointed Anakin Skywalker to the Council.
During the final days of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker, who was the first and last Jedi to acquire his membership by the Supreme Chancellor's will, was on the Council as a replacement for Even Piell. This was the final makeup of the High Council, and it did not last long. Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin were all killed fighting Darth Sidious. Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side and became Darth Vader. Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, and Stass Allie were all killed during Order 66. In one day in Galactic history, nearly two thirds of the Council was dead.
With all that were dead, some did survive. Shaak Ti escaped Operation Knightfall, lived until the late years of the Empire, exiled herself to planet Felucia where she was training Force-sensitives for a confrontation with the Sith. She was later killed by Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Galen Marek. Nineteen years after the initial dissolution of the Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had exiled himself to Tatooine to watch over Anakin's son Luke, was killed onboard the Death Star by Darth Vader. Yoda died of old age four years later on Dagobah after completing the training of Luke Skywalker. The death of the redeemed Anakin Skywalker days later onboard the Second Death Star saw the end of the last surviving member of the final High Council.