The Jedi are masters of the force. The
Force is a powerful non-visible "substance" that
surrounds and binds all living things
in the SW universe. The Jedi master this "substance"
as they battle evil and goodness, depending
on their affection. When a jedi of the Light
side may protect the innocent and destroy
the evil, the jedi of the dark side willfully seeks out
to destroy all Jedis of the light.
The Jedi order was thousands of years
old before the corrupeted Emperor Palpatine ordered
the destruction of all Jedi. The only
remaining Jedi was darth Vader (ex-Anakin Skywalker) who was taken as apprentice
by Palpatine. One-by-one each Jedi was
destroyed and the whole culture was lost. In the
final battle between Luke Skywalker and
Darth Vader, Luke becomes a Jedi andbrings back the
ancient culture. This leads into thedeath
of Palpatine and the return to the light side by Vader.
The Lightsaber
In essence a blade of pure energy capable
of cutting through almost anything, the lightsaber is the
noble yet powerful weapon which the Jedi
Knights have masterfully wielded for thousands of years.
Although each lightsaber is unique, the
weapon's basic design remains the same. The handle, twenty-four to thirty
centimeters
long, holds a power cell as well as one
or more crystals - seldom more than three - whose purpose is to focus the
energy
released by the power cell into a tight,
blade-like beam. The blade's color depends on the nature of the jewel it
springs from,
and while its length is fixed in the case
of a single jewel lightsaber, lightsabers equipped with multiple crystals
can have their
length varied by rotating a knob which
allows the focusing crystal activator to subtly modify the refraction pattern
between the gems.
Pictures of Jedis and Lightsabers
Luke Skywalker and Darth
Vader
A
lightsaber