Why Mace Windu's Controversial Lightsaber Form Was Once Banned by the Jedi Order

Mace Windu‘s lightsaber form was so controversial, it was once banned by the Jedi Order. There are seven main lightsaber forms, and there’s a sense in which each Jedi tends to choose one that compensates for a certain weakness; Yoda’s agile Ataru is a way of working around his small size, for example.

Yoda was not alone among the members of the Jedi Council. There’s a good reason for this; only the wisest and most skilled Jedi Masters wind up on the council, and many of them prove themselves through facing adversity or dealing with their own limits and restrictions. A classic example is Mace Windu, the Master of the Order.

Mace Windu Created A New Lightsaber Form Called Vaapad

Mace Windu was strongly aware of a personal weakness, a vulnerability to the darkness he sensed roiling inside himself. This ultimately led him to create a new lightsaber form known as Vaapad to help him, named after a creature from the planet Sarapin.

Vaapad was unlike other lightsaber forms favored by the Jedi. Most Jedi are trained to master their emotions, but Vaapad pracтιтioners draw upon them, channeling their anger and pᴀssion into aggressive attacks.

As the Star Wars: Force & Destiny sourcebook Knights of Fate observes, “[The Vaapad pracтιтioner] fights with controlled fury, laying about with a combination of frenzied, rapid strikes and powerful blows.“

Mace Windu’s Vaapad Drew On A Form Forbidden By The Jedi

Mace didn’t create Vaapad from scratch, through; he refined techniques from Form VII, Juyo, meaning Vaapad is seen as a variant of that form. It’s believed Juyo dates back to the earliest days of the Jedi Order, with a handful of unusual techniques rejected because they were considered too aggressive and dangerous.

Juyo was sometimes practiced in the open, and sometimes in secret. It became known as the Ferocity Form, and was finally recognized by the Jedi Council during a time of conflict with the Sith four thousand years before the Skywalker saga. It became commonly used by both Jedi and Sith.

The dangers of Juyo became clear during this Great Sith War, with many Jedi who practiced Form VII either falling to the dark side or coming perilously close to doing so. When the Great Sith War ended, less than a century after the Jedi Council first recognized Juyo, the form was banned.

Many saw Form VII’s focus on channeling inner darkness as a fundamental breach of the Jedi Code. Still, the restrictions on Juyo gradually eased; the Jedi Council agreed to allow selected Jedi to practice it (and some defied the Council, of course). Mace Windu was the latest approved pracтιтioner.

Ironically, the potential darkness of Juyo likely explains why Mace Windu was the only Jedi Master who came close to defeating Palpatine himself – because, like the Sith, he knew how to channel the darkness.