The Jedi Order

"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Jedi Order and its sup-groups

The Jedi Order, later known as the Old Jedi Order and referred to as the Holy Order of the Jedi Knights, was an ancient monastic peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force, specifically the light side. The Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic, and became perhaps the most well known of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power. Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the millennia despite facing many trials. Most often these threats were engineered by the Sith, the most prominent group of Force sensitives who wielded the dark side of the Force.

Ranks of the Jedi council

Grand Master: was a title used in both the Old and New Jedi Orders to describe the recognized head of the Order. While separate from the title Master of the Order, which was used to describe the elected leader of the Jedi High Council, the positions were often filled by the same person.

The Jedi High Council: also known simply as the Jedi Council, was the primary Jedi Council of the Jedi Order during the rule of the Galactic Republic. The High Council met in the southwest tower of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.The High Council was a group of twelve wise and powerful Jedi Masters who were elected to guide the Order as well as to serve as an advisory body for the Office of the Supreme Chancellor. The Council was made up of five lifetime members, four long-term members, and three limited-term members. This organizational structure had evolved from the earlier assemblies of Jedi Masters, and during the Great Hyperspace War may have been nothing more than an "inner circle" within the assembly. The Council originally had no set meeting place, and met irregularly on planets such as Ossus, Alderaan, and Chandrila. With the relocation of the Order from Ossus to Coruscant, the Council was permanently established on that world.

Master of the Order: was a title used to denote the elected leader of the Jedi High Council during the last decades of the Old Republic, and was also used by the New Jedi Order. Even though the title was separate from the title of Grand Master, the positions were oftentimes granted to the same individual.

Jedi Master: The title of Jedi Master was the highest formal rank obtainable by a member of the Jedi Order. Reserved for those who had shown exceptional devotion and skill as well as balance in the Force and often combat, only individuals who had been given the rank of Master could sit on the Jedi High Council, with few exceptions (such as the case of Anakin Skywalker), or any of the three other Councils.

secondary councils and ranks

Council of First Knowledge: The Council of First Knowledge was made up of five Masters selected to oversee the Jedi academy and the proliferation of knowledge and its storage in the Temple Archives. Additionally, the Council personally accepted the responsibility of eradicating any trace of Sith teachings and their artifacts throughout the galaxy. Meeting in the circular Council Chamber at the Jedi Temple, membership on the Council was granted through appointment after a vote of all members. A single permanent member sat for life or until he stepped down, and was known as the Caretaker of First Knowledge for this Jedi personally oversaw the protection of the Holocron Chamber located in the spire. The other four Masters rotated out after serving a five year term. Members of the Council often served on one of the other Councils simultaneously, or had retired from the High Council and retained their membership.

Caretaker of First Knowledge: The Caretaker of First Knowledge was a title used to denote the leader of the Council of First Knowledge throughout the history of the Jedi Order. As leader of the First Knowledge Council, the Caretaker had direct oversight of the Jedi academy on Coruscant and its satellite facilities, and was tasked with the protection of the Jedi Archives and its Holocron Vaults deep within the Jedi Temple.

Council of Reconciliation: The Council of Reconciliation was made up of five Master Consulars tasked with negotiating with political factions both inside and outside of the Galactic Senate. Meeting in the circular Council Chamber at the Jedi Temple, membership on the Council was granted through appointment after a vote of all members. Two permanent members sat for life or until they stepped down, while the other three rotated out after serving a five year term. Due to the nature of the Council's dealings, variety in membership was needed, so that different Masters could lend their knowledge and expertise to a specific situation.

Council of Reassignment: The Council of Reassignment was made up of five Jedi Masters tasked with leading the Jedi Service Corps and the Councils that governed each branch. Meeting in the austere Council Chamber at the Jedi Temple, membership on the Council was granted through appointment after a vote of all members. Two permanent members sat for life or until they stepped down, while the other three rotated out after serving a five year term.Leading the Service Corps meant monitoring Jedi Initiates and their progress through the Jedi academy. If an Initiate failed to pass the Initiate Trials or the Force did not wish them to continue down the path of a Jedi Knight, the Council would step in and assign them to a branch of the Service Corps. Membership in the Corps was often viewed as a sign of weakness or failure; however, this was not the case. The Council would state that the work of the Corps aided galactic society just as a Knight would, however through use of other skills than wielding a lightsaber.

the Different Jedi Service Corps

The Jedi Service Corps was a group of organizations overseen by the Council of Reconciliation that was maintained as an alternative or a supplement to traditional mission assignments from the High Council. While the majority of the Corps was indeed made up of Initiates who had failed to pass the Jedi Initiate Trials, there were many Padawans, Knights, and Masters whose specializations brought them to the Corps.

Agricultural Corps:

The Agricultural Corps was the largest of these organizations. Members of the AgriCorps would use their Force powers to care for crops all over the galaxy, aiding in the feeding of several million citizens of the Republic. Working with the Republic Agricultural Administration, the AgriCorps spread the idea that the Living Force can overcome the horrors of drought and famine. Made up mostly of life-long members that had failed their trials, the AgriCorps had bases on Salliche, Taanab, and Ukio

Medical Corps:

In the Medical Corps, young Jedi learners who were not chosen as Padawans used their healing powers to tend for sick beings in the galaxy. Unlike the AgriCorps, the MedCorps maintained only a few dozen students and their instructors at any given time. Maintaining an infirmary in the Halls of Healing on Coruscant, MedCorps members worked alongside the Galactic City Medical Center's doctors and specialists as they helped treat citizens of the planet-city.

Educational Corps

This Educational Corps consisted of students who were still in training. Overseen by the Chief Librarian, the EduCorps members stationed at the Temple on Coruscant cataloged and translated data within the Archives.

Exploration Corps

The Exploration Corps was responsible for exploring the Unknown Regions as well as the study the history of the Jedi and the galaxy. With refueling centers on nearly every Republic Ordnance or Regional Depots, the galaxy was their territory for exploration. Working closely with the Republic Survey Corps and the Intergalactic Zoological Society, the ExplorCorps had the highest number of Knights and Masters working in its ranks.

Sects and other groups that have been apart of the jedi order

"I teach being good, doing good, and asking good questions. That's about it, really."

―Djinn Altis.

The Altisian Jedi

The Altisian Jedi were a splinter faction of the Jedi Order headed by Master Djinn Altis. They held several precepts frowned upon by the orthodox Jedi Order, including the taking of multiple apprentices by one master and allowing families.

You know us Corellian Jedi—notoriously contrary and bent on going our own way."

―Corran Horn.

Corellian Jedi

Corellian Jedi, or Green Jedi as they were known during the Cold War, were a reclusive sect of the Jedi Order serving the Corellian sector. Known for their distinctive customs and practices, the Corellian Jedi were highly independent from the Order's central governing body, the Jedi High Council. Holding the well-being of Corellia over that of the Galactic Republic, the Corellian Jedi often butted heads with their superiors within the Order over how certain situations should be handled and where their duty lay.

"A Dark Jedi, on the other hand, has much smaller ambitions. He—or she—thinks only of himself. He acts alone. The ultimate goal is not galactic conquest, but personal wealth and importance. Like a common thug or criminal, he revels in cruelty and selfishness. He preys upon the weak and vulnerable, spreading misery and suffering wherever he goes."

―Jedi Master Obba.

Dark Jedi

Dark Jedi, also known as "Fallen" Jedi, were Force-sensitives, frequently former Jedi, who chose to deny the light side of the Force or follow the dark side. Although "Dark Jedi" originally referred to a Jedi who had fallen to the dark side, it could also refer to uninitiated Force-sensitives who received no Jedi training but began their careers under another Dark Jedi. Others were simply dark-side users who did not follow the teachings of the Sith or other dark side organizations. In some cases, Dark Jedi also included "artificial" Force-sensitives who served the dark side, such as the Reborn and the Shadowtroopers. The first Dark Jedi was believed to be Xendor, who was the first member of the Jedi Order to fall. Other forerunners included Ajunta Pall and others who, after the Hundred-Year Darkness, were exiled from Galactic Republic space and became the ancient progenitors of the Sith Lords. Ultimately, the title became something of a blanket term for darksiders who could not be classified as belonging to any specific dark side organization.

Dark Jedi also became a term of note during the Great Sith War and the Jedi Civil War, where fallen Jedi served under the banners of Exar Kun and the duo of Darth Revan and Darth Malak, respectively. Thousands of years later, Sith Lords such as Palpatine would resurrect the term, with agents serving under him bearing the title. Those whom the Miraluka Jerec controlled came to be known as the Seven Dark Jedi.

"There were twelve of us, including several high ranking commanders: High General Ajunta Pall; Marchioness XoXann, commanding the Black Legions; Baron Dreypa, our fleet's sole remaining admiral; Karness Muur, whose Force-centered battle tactics had saved us from the trap at Fluwhaka; and I, Sorzus Syn, grower of living weapons and biological plagues."

―Sorzus Syn.

The Exiles

The Exiles was a term used in the Galactic Republic space which referred to the twelve Dark Jedi survivors of the Hundred-Year Darkness who were captured and banished into the Unknown Regions along with all their minions. They eventually went on to become the first Sith Lords. Former high ranking commanders during the War against the Jedi, the most powerful Dark Jedi among the Exiles were XoXaan, Remulus Dreypa, Karness Muur, Sorzus Syn and Ajunta Pall. In the Sith, they were known as Jen'jidai.

"Jinn always does things his own way, always sure he is right, always incredulous if we do not see it his way. Some think he is a gray Jedi."

―Tyvokka, on Qui-Gon Jinn.

Gray Jedi

The term Gray Jedi, or Gray, had two meanings. First, it was used by Jedi and Sith to describe Force-users who walked the line between the light and dark sides of the Force without surrendering to the dark side, and second, it described Jedi who distanced themselves from the Jedi High Council and operated outside the strictures of the Jedi Code. However, those who were considered to be true Gray Jedi met both qualifications and did not belong to any particular Force tradition. One example was Jolee Bindo, a former Jedi Padawan and a Gray Jedi that served the Old Republic.

The Gray Paladins

The Gray Paladins were a sect of Force-sensitives stemming from the Teepo Paladins. However, unlike Teepo and his followers who believed in immersing oneself in the Force the same way as the Jedi Order, the Gray Paladins held to the radical philosophy of minimal dependency on the Force. Gray Paladins were known to be active even after the rise of the Galactic Empire despite being targeted along with Jedi in Order 66 in 19 BBY. Laranth Tarak was one such Gray Paladin, and was a childhood friend and ally to Jedi Knight Jax Pavan.

"We five are part of a sacred trust, Zayne. A Jedi Covenant - to stand watch and make certain that a Sith War never happens again."

―Q'Anilia.

Jedi Covenant

The Jedi Covenant or also known as The First Watch Circle was a secret organization of Jedi headquartered on Coruscant in the time of the Old Sith Wars. It was established after the end of the Great Sith War by Krynda Draay, who felt that it was her failing for not sensing the fall of Exar Kun to the dark side. The Covenant's goal was to use Jedi Consulars as Shadows to search for a shatterpoint that might lead to the resurrection of the Sith, and then take any action necessary to prevent that. The Covenant hated the Sith with a passion, which in itself was an aberration of the Jedi Code. They believed that had such an organization existed before the Sith War, they could have recognized the threat posed by Exar Kun when he was still a Jedi.

"Behold the vengeful remains of Rur, High Shaman of the Order of the Terrible Glare!"

―Rur.

The Order of the Terrible Glare

The Order of the Terrible Glare was a splinter group of the Jedi Order, formed by dissident Jedi Knights during the Pius Dea Crusades. When the Jedi Order recused itself from the Galactic Republic during this time, these dissenters rallied to the Pius Dea cause, and abandoned Ossus in favor of Garn. Becoming a violent and dangerous cult led by shamans, the Order waged war against the Jedi before being destroyed at the end of the Crusades. The sole survivor, Rur, lived on in a computer and lured Jedi to Garn for thousands of years, taking vengeance on them one at a time. However, Rur was finally defeated by Luke Skywalker during the Galactic Civil War, which brought an end to this ancient Order.

The Potentium

The Potentium was the name of a sect of beings who had a particular way of viewing the Force used instead of the term "The Force."

"Do not heed the words of the Jedi Council. The Republic will fall if we do not act now. Already the Mandalorians have taken three systems along the Rim. They will only grow more powerful with time. Come stand with me. We will use our might to help the Republic in its time of need. Join Revan and I. Together, we will battle this menace."

―Malak (Vision to Meetra Surik).

The Revanchists.

The Revanchists, also known as the Jedi Crusaders, were a renegade faction of the Jedi Order who assisted the Galactic Republic during the Mandalorian Wars. In 3964 BBY, the movement was founded by the Jedi Knight Revan, who wished to take a more proactive role against the invading Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. Under Revan's leadership, the Revanchist Jedi went against the Jedi Council's wishes and participated in scouting missions on the Outer Rim. In the following year, Revan uncovered the truth of the Mandalorian's genocide of the Cathar people. Although the Jedi Council did not give the Revanchists their full support, they begrudgingly allowed the Revanchists to join the Republic Military under the banner of a Republic Mercy Corps.

During the war, the Revanchists, under the leadership of Revan and his friend and fellow Jedi Knight Malak, led the Republic to victory in numerous battles. In 3960 BBY, the Jedi ultimately defeated the Mandalorians at the war's final battle at Malachor V. However, most of the Revanchists that were not killed during the battle fell to the dark side of the Force over the course of the next year. These Jedi followed Revan and Malak, now the new Dark Lords of the Sith, under their new Sith Empire. The two Sith Lords declared war on the Jedi Council and the Republic, initiating the Jedi Civil War. Three years later, Darth Malak was defeated by Revan, who was redeemed by the Jedi Council, and Malak's Sith Empire was defeated at Rakata Prime.

The Teepo Paladins

The Teepo Paladins were a small group of Jedi Knights who followed the teachings of Teepo and believed that the use of blasters and other weapons in addition to lightsabers was acceptable. Because of this, the Teepos were censured by the Jedi Council an unspecified number of years prior to the Great Jedi Purge. The Teepos wore masks and other sensory-depriving devices when they engaged in combat as a means of increasing their connection with the Force. Teepo Paladins who held more radical views eventually formed their own faction, the Gray Paladins.