Saga Lucas' original Jedi plan

One of the things which changed most between the trilogies is the idea of the Jedi. During the original trilogy, Luke's costume in RotJ was what a Jedi wore. The Jedi were more mysterious, and more subtle. Creeping around with hoods up, using mind tricks, and so on.

For Episode I, Lucas intended to continue with this. Here is some concept art of what the Jedi were going to look like:








Then Lucas decided that he wanted the Jedi to be instantly recognisable to viewers, and so made them look like Ben Kenobi in the original trilogy. The effect of this is to make old Ben look even more ridiculous in A New Hope; even though he's supposed to be hiding from the empire, he changes only his first name, and still wears his Jedi robes for twenty years.

The Jedi in the prequels are also conceptually different. They are more similar to (superpowered) warrior monks, whereas in the OT they were sly wizards and then swashbucklers. In the OT the Jedi were also uber-confident - note Luke and Ben's supreme calmness even facing certain death, and even telling their enemies of their own imminent demise. In the prequels, the Jedi are perhaps more human in their emotions, showing anger, surprise and panic.

What film were those made for?

Looks like TPM/AOTC.
I look at the Jedi Knight/Master in those drawings and instantly think of Vos.

They were done by Doug Chiang during pre-production of Episode I.

I think the notion is that the Jedi—some of them, anyway—wear peasant robes.

That was an explanation thought up for the Episode I visual dictionary to explain why the Jedi all dressed like Tatooine residents.

Ah. Wouldn't that suggest, then, that peasants on other planets wear similar garbs? We haven't seen any non-Tatooine peasant AFAIK.

I think the idea of peasants in the Star Wars universe is more OT than PT, what with the 50's diner and Coruscant and so on.

The Jedi wearing peasant robes isn't a bad idea, the samurai did the same. But the original idea is quite fascinating.

As an aside, I'm not entirely sure that you're right in suggesting that dressing the Jedi in ANH Obi-Wan robes is a PT thing. Yoda wears similar robes in ESB, as does Anakin in the Force ghost vision at the end of ROTJ.

But I agree that having the Jedi dress like Luke in ROTJ is very interesting.

Yes, they were going for consistency. There was more variety in the PT robes anyway (Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli from the movies, Ahsoka from TCW).

It's interesting Obi-Wan here has a Japanese look to him. Going back to GL's wish to hire a Japanese actor to play Kenobi in ANH?

The green alien is also present. George likes to recycle his old ideas.

I like the idea of the Jedi body armor (makes since, since they're a blend of the Samurai and medieval knights).

I think the black should have been reserved for Anakin (and it mirrors Luke's progression through the OT). But other than that, cool designs and I hope they're going to be recycled in ST.

And Ben and Yoda's as well.

I'm not sure where that comes from. Although they seem to be portrayed that way in TPM as well.

Or maybe Ben is actually wearing Jedi robes.

As was said on this thread, Jedi robes are a symbol of their humility, as they are supposed to look like the more basic and common robes worn by the poor and simple people.

Source? The Jedi were always (both in the OT and PT) portrayed as warrior monks. The difference being that in the prequels they were in their prime, and thus have a more active role.

Did Qui-Gon, Yoda, and the like shown all those emotions? Or just Anakin? And why forget Luke's emotional reactions?

Or even AOTC (Obi-Wan's investigation).

Did Qui-Gon, Yoda, and the like shown all those emotions? Or just Anakin? And why forget Luke's emotional reactions?[/quote]

When TPM came out, folks complained the Jedi were too reserved.

Reminiscent of his sneaking around in Death Star.

I think Obi-Wan's sleuthing was one of the shining moments of Episode II. It was very old school. Very Maltese falcon.

To be fair, the Jedi in the OT don't have much choice but sneak around, being the hunted group. Ironically, it doesn't end well for Obi-Wan on the Death Star or even for Luke on the Cloud City. Only when Luke comes out in the open he gets a chance to set things straight.

As for the old Order, they're the keepers of the peace. Which means they need to investigate suspicious activity (here's your sneaking around) and keep various entities in line (using "aggressive negotiations" when necessary). The Jedi in TPM do both of these things. It's when they're forced into an unfamiliar role of the military leaders things start to fall apart.