History of the Jedi Order

The original Jedi Order was a group of individuals that had the ability to touch and use the Force. The order began thousands of years before the rise of the Galactic Empire.

Founding of the Order and early Jedi
It is generally accepted that Jedi Order was formally founded at the same time as the initial incarnation of the Galactic Republic - 25,000 BBY.

However, much of the specifics are still shrouded in mystery.

Many ancient and semi-legendary organizations have been proposed as the forerunners of the Jedi Order, such as the Order of Dai Bendu or the Chatos Academy, but no conclusive links have ever been shown.

Likewise, the birth planet of the order is unknown. There are many candidates, including such known worlds as Coruscant, Ossus, Utapau and Corellia, and mythic, lost planets such as Had Abbadon and Ondos

The most commonly accepted dawn world of the Jedi was Tython. It was here that the brightest and best philosophers, priests, and warriors came together long ago to discuss their discoveries involving the enigmatic, mystical Ashla. Dissidents who used the Bogan eventually arose, sparking the Force Wars of Tython. From the ashes of these wars arose the early Jedi, whose Jedi Forge initiation ceremony led to the invention of lightsabers after they faced threats from beyond Tython. A proactive group left Tython to liberate other worlds, becoming the Jedi Knights. They founded a philosophy school on Ossus, defining the light side and dark side of the Force (equivalent, respectively, to the ancient Ashla and Bogan), and the living Force and unifying Force.

25,000 BBY, the Galactic Republic formed. The Republic mapped the Perlemian Trade Route, which linked Coruscant with Ossus. The early Jedi learned morality from the Caamasi.

Great Schism, the First Dark Jedi and the Hundred Year Darkness
After the order was established, there began to be a divide within the structure, leading to the First Great Schism, which several Jedi were to have been discovered delving within the "dark" side of the Force. The Dark Jedi General Xendor and his followers allied with Master of Teras Kasi Arden Lyn and her Followers of Palawa from Bunduki. In a climatic battle, Xendor was slain, Jedi Master Awdrysta Pina stopped Arden's heart with morichro, and Lyn killed Pina with a Kashi Mer talisman. After a heavy war, these rest of these dissidents - known as the Legions of Lettow were defeated.

The Republic and Jedi fortified Ossus, Falang Minor, and Haashimut to protect the Perlemian from the Tionese and Hutts.

c. 20,000 BBY, Jedi Roni van Wasaki brought peace to the frontier worlds until captured by bounty hunters Leshy Drobo and XT-8.

10,000 BBY, the Jedi created what would later be called the Lost City of the Jedi on Yavin 4. They used the City to terraform Yavin 4 into a rain forest world. Within the next 3,000 years, the Jedi abandoned Yavin 4.

7,000 BBY the Jedi suffered the Second Great Schism, resulting in the Hundred-Year Darkness. This conflict ended with the Battle of Corbos 6,900 BBY. The surviving Dark Jedi fled to Ziost and founded the Sith Empire.

The Jedi, believing that they had dealt with their dark-sided brethren, turned inward, and over the next twenty centuries forgot about their exiled members.

The Great Hyperspace War
In 5,000 BBY, the Republic discovered the Sith and the Great Hyperspace War began. Though it ended with Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow in suspended animation on Yavin 4 and his great war fleets destroyed, the Sith Empire survived.

It was believed to have collapsed shortly afterward due to infighting and attacks by the Republic, but it was later discovered that the Sith Empire had retreated into the Unknown Regions, where the Lords of the Sith waited patiently for over a millennium for the right moment to return.

The paranoia created by this conflict led to the Jedi and Republic's attempted genocide of the Sith and Stenness Shifters.

The Reign of Freedon Nadd
However peace was not easily come by, as once again, members of the Order began delving into the dark side of the Force. In 4,400 BBY, Freedon Nadd, who discovered, and was corrupted by, the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord, Naga Sadow, on the world of Yavin 4. Nadd would later go on to the planet of Onderon with hopes of rebuilding another, stronger Sith Empire.

The Freedon Nadd Uprising
The world of Onderon suffered through the legacy of Freedon Nadd, as a cult devoted to his memory, known as the Naddists wreaked havoc on the people of the planet, until the cult was put down by the Jedi.

The Great Sith War
Only 400 years later, In 3,996 BBY, the talented Exar Kun would also be exiled by the Jedi Order for manipulating the dark side and slaying his master. Kun would be corrupted by the spirit of Nadd on Dxun, causing the former Jedi Knight to give into the dark side once and for all. Planning on gaining his power, Kun would cause the Cron Cluster explosion that would destroy the former Jedi Archives on Ossus, after he and another skilled knight, Ulic Qel-Droma, were denied the ancient Sith holocrons stored there.

The Mandalorian Wars
Forty years would go by before the Mandalorian Wars would cause another and greater rift in the Order, when some of their most exceptional Jedi left to aid the Republic in the fight. The most notable were that of Revan, Malak, and the Jedi Exile. The Jedi master Arren Kae would be exiled ten years before this, but would go on to help, with aid from her husband Yusanis of the Echani. Jedi Master Kreia would also be exiled, as the Jedi Council felt her 'gray' stance on the Force had lead her students (most notably, Revan) down the path of the dark side.

The Jedi Civil War
In the aftermath of it all, the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was completely abandoned and the Jedi Academy on Dantooine was nothing but a hollow shell. It would also see the destruction and death of the order, though Kreia stated that the Lost Jedi&mdash;those that would travel with the exile&mdash;would come together to re-establish another Jedi Order.

The New Sith Wars
The horrors of the Old Sith Wars and the near extinction of the Jedi Order that had resulted from the conflict were remembered in the Republic for generations. Few could have guessed, however, that a much larger conflict would soon engulf the galaxy.

One of the order's brightest stars, a Jedi Master no less, became entranced with the forbidden knowledge of the Sith and, defying the council, absconded into deep space with a Sith holocron, stolen from the Jedi Archives.

Like Exar Kun and Darth Revan before him, this Jedi was seduced by the Dark Side. He took up the long vacant title of Dark Lord of the Sith, as well as a new name and identity%mdash;Darth Ruin.

In the ensuing years, Ruin gathered together a vast mass of darkside followers - which he dubbed the Brotherhood of Darkness. With this army, Ruin planned to bring the Republic, and the Jedi who served it, to their knees.

The Brotherhood attacked the Republic, and conquered vast swathes of the galaxy from a crumbling Republic - then, when total victory was in their grasp - they fell amongst themselves.

Treachery is the way of the Sith. The Brotherhood splintered, and various high-ranking Sith Lords claimed the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, and began to prosecute vast, cruel campaigns against each other, giving the beleaguered Republic and its Jedi protectors time to recover.

The Jedi regrouped, and formed a vast army to oppose the Brotherhood - the Army of Light. Ably led by Lord Hoth, it took the fight to the Brotherhood's central systems in the Cloak of the Sith. As the decades ground on, the Jedi slowly gained the initiative over the foes - but the Sith would not give in.

Eventually the surviving Sith, after many a long and bitter campaign, regrouped on the world of Ruusan under the leadership of Kaan.

There Hoth followed, and the Army of Light and Brotherhood of Darkness engaged in seven fierce battles. At the conclusion of the Seventh Battle of Ruusan Kaan, near defeat and driven insane by the power of the Dark Side, unleashed the thought bomb and killed every single force user on the world.

The New Sith Wars were over, the Jedi Order had survived once again, and the Sith were presumed wiped out to the last.

One, however, had survived &mdash;Darth Bane. He and his successors would hide from the Republic and the Jedi, planning for revenge. It would take a thousand years to come to fruition, but the new Sith had patience.

Post-Ruusan Reformation
With the Sith thought extinct, the Jedi believed that they had, at last, forged a long-lasting peace in the galaxy. With the Ruusan Reformation, both the Jedi and the Republic renounced militarism - disbanding the vast armies and navies. From that point on, the Galaxy would rely on smaller, Judicial forces to help the Jedi keep the peace.

The Jedi were determined that the Sith would not be reborn, and, mindful of their own history, set about enforcing strict guidelines that the Council hoped would avoid the mistakes of the past. They would renounce all ties to the outside world - to wealth, material possessions and even family. Training would now be undertaken on a strict one-to-one basis and centralized on Coruscant. With the far-flung academies of the past, the temptation of delving into forbidden knowledge was just too great.

The Return of the Sith
In 32 BBY, the presence of the Sith once again became known to the Jedi. Two Sith Lords, the master Darth Sidious, and the apprentice Darth Maul supported the blockade of Naboo. After Darth Maul was killed, the Jedi knew that somewhere in the galaxy there was still one member of the Sith active, but they were unaware of the identity of Sidious.

The Clone Wars
During the next ten years, former Jedi Count Dooku fell to the dark side, and became the new apprentice Darth Tyranus. Tyranus and Sidious arranged the Clone Wars as a way of consolidating Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's hold on the galaxy. In actuality, Sidious secretly governed both sides of the Clone Wars; effectively assuring his rise to power. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi discovered that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker switched to the dark side. During a battle with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin suffered grievous injuries. After the fight, the majority of Anakin's body had to be replaced with mechanical implants, including a breathing apparatus to keep him alive. Anakin became known as Darth Vader, Sidious' final apprentice, and thus the bloody Great Jedi Purge began.

The Great Jedi Purge
At the onset of the Great Jedi Purge, the Jedi were almost completely wiped out by followers of the Dark Side, led by the Sith lord Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Palpatine. The corrupted Anakin Skywalker (who, as Darth Vader, initiated the Great Jedi Purge along with Sidious), Obi Wan Kenobi (Anakin's own teacher), and Yoda were among the few survivors. Other survivors include Empatojayos Brand and Vima-Da-Boda. A limited number of Jedi other than Skywalker were turned to the Dark Side and became servants of the Emperor, such as Jerec and the Inquisitor Tremayne.

The Empire
The Empire took steps to exterminate the Jedi and any family members. Corran Horn's grandfather was a Corellian Jedi named Nejaa Halcyon, who had died in the Clone Wars. Halcyon's friend Rostek Horn married Halcyon's wife, adopted Corran's father Valin "Hal" Horn, and altered the records concerning the Halcyon family. He did this to protect Hal and his mother from the Empire's Jedi hunters. Hal kept the knowledge of Corran's true grandfather from him, because revealing that knowledge would have made Corran a target as well. As a result, Corran only learned of his true heritage when Luke Skywalker discovered his past, and shared that discovery with Corran.

The Emperor also trained a number of "Hands," or those who had the potential to use the Force as his personal agents. Through the Force, he was able to relay orders to his agents. Mara Jade was one such agent. She had been discovered to be Force sensitive at a young age and trained by the Emperor. Several of the Hands were eventually redeemed by Luke Skywalker and became part of the new generation of Jedi.

Obi-Wan had the order to watch Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son, and perhaps the true Chosen One, as he grew, and teach him about the Force in order to keep the tradition alive, and perhaps, to restore the Order. Indeed Luke became Yoda's last student who would come to play a pivotal role in the history of the Order.

The Return of the Jedi
After the Galactic Civil War, Luke set out to reestablish the Jedi order by training a new generation of Jedi Knights. Because the Emperor wished to completely destroy the order, almost all of the information on the Jedi was erased. Only a few histories remained, and they were propaganda pieces used to paint the Jedi in an unfavorable light. Almost all the material on instructing Jedi was eliminated, save a few documents on how to turn potential Jedi to the dark side of the force.

Four years after the death of the Emperor at Endor, Luke had discovered the wreck of the Chu'unthor on the planet Dathomir. The Chu'unthor was a starship that had served as a mobile Jedi academy, which had crashed on Dathomir. Dathomir was the home of Force sensitive "Witches," who were the descendants of a fallen Jedi banished to that world. Master Yoda had left the instruction materials from the ship behind with the rest of the ship. 400 years later, after defeating Witches that had fallen to the Dark Side, one of the natives gave Luke the instruction materials that she had kept safely since the time of the crash.



Due to Luke's lack of knowledge with the old ways of the Jedi Order the new generation of Jedi were very unorthodox. He established an academy for teaching many students the way of the Jedi which is much different to the "one student, one master" way used by the old order. The academy was established in the old temples on Yavin 4 that the Rebels once used as a base until the Battle of Yavin. He allowed his students to have personal possessions and had no rule against a Jedi having emotional attachments to friends and family, which was forbidden by the old order. Also, students were taken in at a much older age than previously. Most members were already well in to adulthood before they began training.

Luke was unaware that Yavin 4 had been a base for the Sith Lord Exar Kun during the Great Sith War, and that Kun's spirit had been trapped in the temples all that time. Kun was able to influence one of Luke's students, Kyp Durron, who eventually fell to the dark side for a time. Durron destroyed several star systems with the Sun Crusher. The students at the academy were able to finally destroy Kun's spirit. Freed of Kun's influence, Durron surrendered. He returned to the Light Side of the force, and became one of the first new Jedi.

Luke eventually turned the academy into a center that would provide basic training for potential Jedi. He began pairing Jedi who had gone through that training with a more experienced Jedi, much like the master-apprentice system used in the old order.

A New Generation
This new order grew slowly but steadily. Some Jedi from the first class Luke taught&mdash;such as Kyp Durron&mdash;became Jedi Masters. The Order eventually become large enough that Luke Skywalker considered reinstating the Jedi Council. Suddenly, an extragalactic Force-absent alien species, the Yuuzhan Vong, declared war on the galaxy. Many Jedi died fighting this new threat, but the order did survive the war and continued to grow in strength. One of the Jedi casualties of this war was Anakin Solo, the youngest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa-Solo. Before his death, it was widely felt that Anakin would eventually become one of the greatest Jedi of his generation, and that he would eventually take Luke's place. Since Anakin's death, it has been assumed that Luke Skywalker's son, Ben Skywalker, has the most force potential of any living being.

After the war with the Yuuzhan Vong was over, Luke realized that the order would have to further adapt in order to survive. His experiences had led him to believe that the Force was not rigidly divided into a light and a dark side. Strong emotions, including anger, were not intrinsically evil&mdash;instead it was the intentions of the Force user that mattered most. Luke came to believe that nearly everyone, regardless of their heritage, had some ability to touch and use the Force. He also felt that individual Jedi (and other Force users) would need to discover their own paths: that some could be called to contemplative life, while others would feel a need to take a more active role in galactic affairs. Because the Jedi had no single goal, he felt the Jedi order as a whole should remain careful aloof its allegiance to the Galactic Alliance or any succeeding government.

In 35 ABY, A mysterious alien race called the Killiks with a leader very strong in the Force, who are ancient enemies of the Chiss return, with some of the younger members of the Jedi interfering, and becoming part of their alien "Hive", physically and mentally joined to each other. The leader of the Killiks turned out to be one of Luke's new Jedi.