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Windu, Mace

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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. Like most Jedi, Windu had a special talent, which was the ability to see beings and events through the Force as if they were crystalline matrices. With this vision, Windu could identify the "shatterpoint" of an individual or situation, and know exactly how to manipulate events to ensure the shatterpoint didn't become trouble. As a member of the Jedi Council, Windu was young for his position, having been appointed to the 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 for 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, and Master Windu's ability to see shatterpoints showed him that Anakin was destined for something great. 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 helped persuade the Council that Anakin should be trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This in itself was another surprising decision influenced byt Master Windu, who saw additional lines of converging power when he considered Kenobi and Skywalker together. 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. Upon returning to Coruscant, Master Windu was given command of Systems Army Alpha. As the Clone Wars began to wind down after the First Battle of Coruscant, Master Windu became more and more worried about the emergency powers that had been granted to Chancellor Palpatine. He felt that the Dark Side of the Force surrounded Palpatine, but couldn't place his finger on the reasons why. His concern only deepened when he discovered there was a vastly important shatterpoint centered on Palpatine, indicating that the very fate of the Republic might rest on his actions. Further investigation of this shatterpoint revealed linkages to Obi-Wan and Anakin, all of which were connected to the Dark Side of the Force. Then, shortly after the First Battle of Coruscant, Anakin Skywalker revealed to Master Windu that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord they had been searching for. Master Windu gathered Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto, and Saesee Tiin to his side, and set out to arrest Chancellor Palpatine. However, the Jedi were unprepared for Palpatine's powers, and Master Windu's companions were was quickly killed during the fighting. Master Windu was left to face Palpatine alone, and would have utterly defeated him if young Skywalker hadn't intervened. Windu knew that the only way to end the war was to kill Palpatine - the Senate was too corrupt and probably beholden to the Chancellor for him to receive a fair trial. Skywalker, however, struggled to convince Windu that simply killing was not the Jedi way. Just as Master Windu was to slay Palpatine, Skywalker drew his own lightsaber and cut off Windu's hand. This gave Palpatine the opportunity he needed, and the Sith Lord poured Force lightning into Windu's body. Unable to control himself, Master Windu fell out of a window to the street below, a fall of some twenty stories that killed him upon impact.