Form VII/Legends

"I created Vaapad to answer my weakness: it channels my own darkness into a weapon of the light."

- Mace Windu to Obi-Wan Kenobi



Form VII: Juyo/Vaapad was the final form of the seven forms of lightsaber combat.

Dubbed the Way of the Vornskr or The Ferocity Form, Juyo was originally considered an incomplete form for millennia. Generally viewed as undeveloped and rarely used by the Jedi and the Sith, Juyo was not seen as one of the main forms until it was further developed by Jedi Master Mace Windu, who completed it with his Vaapad fighting style, thereby finally completing Form VII. (In 22 BBY, Palpatine noted that he had only ever heard of six forms; Mace's reply indicated that this had been the case&mdash;until he finessed Juyo into Vaapad.) It is popular belief that Windu's technique was inspired by the flailing movements of the Vaapad creature of Sarapin, a beast which at one point made an indelible impression upon the Korun master - it was said to be impossible to tell how many tentacles a Vaapad had until it was dead.

The opening stance for Vaapad was the upper body, including hands, being drawn back while still holding the lightsaber pointed towards an opponent. Another ready stance of Vaapad consisted of a constant near-invisible weave of lethal energy generated by slashes of a whirring lightsaber blade.

The most challenging and demanding of all forms, Form VII required intense focus, a high degree of skill, and mastery of other forms. Only a few Jedi ever mastered Vaapad fully: Mace Windu, Depa Billaba and Sora Bulq, who instructed Quinlan Vos in a few of its basics. Sora Bulq helped Windu develop Vaapad, but Bulq proved too weak to master the flow of the light and dark sides of the Force generated by the use of the technique, and fell to the dark side. Mace Windu noted that Vaapad mastered Bulq, not the other way around. Depa Billaba, Windu's Padawan, similarly fell to the dark side when combining Vaapad with the rigors of war. Before her fate was sealed, Mace noted that Depa's bladework had already surpassed his Vaapad. General Grievous used his technical prowess to copy Vaapad to a degree when he fought Mace Windu on Coruscant, though due to his lack of Force sensitivity, he could not truly master it. But it was possible that Grievous had already learned the moves of Juyo, as Dooku noted that Grievous and his guards mastered all the seven classic combat forms.



Intrepid, somewhat direct movements were used in combination with advanced techniques involving Force-powered jumps and motions. Form VII did not appear as fancy as Form IV, as there were not moves like twirling and flipping, but the technical requirements were much higher. Vaapad used seemingly free-wheeling and open movements, but with utter control on the part of the wielder. In Windu's duel with Palpatine, Windu constantly had his arms spread wide, torso open to stabbing motions by Palpatine, as though Windu was daring him to strike. While appearing reckless on the surface, Windu knew exactly what he was doing. The end result, if practiced correctly, was a very unpredictable lightsaber style. The staccato swings and flow of the form made it seem as if the attacks were not linked&mdash;but in reality, it was merely confusing the opponent.

Form VII demanded the emotional and physical intensity of Form V, but it much more effectively controlled it&mdash;if mastered. Form VII, when fully mastered, resulted in extraordinary power.

However, Vaapad bordered on the edge of falling to the dark side, as it channelled one's anger and darkness into the attack. Only Windu's mastery and concentration on the light side prevented him from succumbing to his own anger, which is why Vaapad was rarely practiced and very dangerous. As noted above, the only other known practitioners of Vaapad, Sora Bulq and Depa Billaba both fell to the dark side of the Force. Darth Maul, a Sith Lord who appeared to have mastered Juyo, was so immersed in the dark side, yet so much in control of his anger that he could employ his own deadly variant of Juyo without fear. Coupled with his martial prowess, Darth Maul used this variant to defeat several skilled Jedi, including Master Qui-Gon Jinn. However, Darth Maul only devoted to the Form's physical focus, thus he remained silent during the duels on Tatooine and Naboo. Maul desired pure physical victory, rather than the "higher" Sith tradition of Dun Möch, which could dominate the opponent's spirit through taunts that expose inner doubts and weaknesses.



With that said, Vaapad was not just a fighting style. It was a state of mind and a power. The state of mind required that a user of Vaapad allow himself to enjoy the fight. He had to give himself over to the thrill of battle, the rush of winning. Vaapad was a path that led through the penumbra of the dark side. The power of Vaapad was simple: it was a channel for one's inner darkness; and it was a reflecting device. With strict control, a Jedi's own emotions and inner darkness could be changed into a weapon of the light.



Vaapad was also described as "a superconducting loop," with the user on one end and the opponent on the other. It was able to take the powers of the opponent and reflect it back at them. In his fight with Palpatine, Mace Windu used the Chancellor's own speed and hatred against him, reflecting it back against the Sith Lord and using it as his own power. Also, when Palpatine unleashed his Force lightning on Mace, the Jedi was able to use his lightsaber, with the power of Vaapad, to reflect the lightning back at him.

The power of Vaapad was quite incredible: it was at once a form of lightsaber combat, a state of mind, and an actual tangible power. To use it required great mastery, discipline and, above all else, purity of heart and spirit. Vaapad users were intense, focused and introverted. There were even signs of pent-up hostility in them.

New information suggests that Mace Windu's creation of Vaapad was less a true "creation" of a form, and more a refinement of a form that, because of its difficulty, remained largely unused. Around the time of the Jedi Civil War, Juyo was already the lightsaber form relied upon by the greatest of the Jedi, indicating that Juyo was indeed a complete and effective form for millennia before Mace Windu finessed it with Vaapad, although it was also possible that the ancient Juyo masters and their skills became the casualties of war. It was believed that Vaapad died with Mace Windu, as he was the last Jedi to have mastered it (disregarding Depa Billaba, whose fate after the enaction of Order 66 is still unknown; although Quinlan Vos knew some of its moves, his proper training of Vaapad had never begun).

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Shatterpoint
 * Jedi: Mace Windu
 * Star Wars Republic: Trackdown
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (novel)