Jedi Master

"Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters."

- The force spirit of Jedi Master Yoda, sharing wisdom with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker

Jedi Master was a rank in the Jedi Order given to powerful Jedi, many of whom were leaders within the Order. Throughout the history of the Jedi, only Masters served on the Jedi High Council until Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, was appointed to the Order's highest governing body as a representative of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine.

History
"You are on this Council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master." "What? How can you do this? This is outrageous! It's unfair!"

- Anakin Skywalker is denied mastery

Yoda was one of the oldest Jedi Masters, having lived approximately 900 years before his death. Over the course of his 800-year-long career as a Jedi Master, Yoda trained no less than 20,000 Jedi.

The Jedi High Council was made up of twelve Jedi Masters, one of which bore the title of Grand Master, who had the power to grant Jedi Knights the title of Master, in consensus. Other prominent Jedi Masters who also sat on the Council included Mace Windu and Shaak Ti.

Many Jedi Masters took on apprentices to train in the ways of the Force, such as Depa Billaba and Luminara Unduli.

After serving as a Jedi Knight for three years, Anakin Skywalker advanced to the point in his training that he felt he deserved the rank of Jedi Master, though the Council did not agree. When Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine appointed Skywalker to the Council as his personal representative, the Council reluctantly agreed, hoping to use him as a means to spy on Palpatine. However, the Council did not grant Skywalker the title of Master. Skywalker took this as an insult, as no Jedi in the history of the Jedi Order had ever been placed on the Council without receiving the rank of Master.

Years after the Jedi Purge and the Galactic Civil War, Luke Skywalker attempted to train his own generation of Jedi and was considered a Jedi Master.