Ki-Adi Mundi!!!

We all remember the pale guy with the huge forehead right? NO, I'm thinking of Ki-Adi Mundi and not Palpatine! (shame on you, Palpatine's forehead isn't THAT impressive)

What do we know of this bizarre looking creature? He looks like a human, except that he built another top floor for his ostensibly large brain! It is stated somewhere, if my recollection serves me right (I only have a normal sized forehead), that he was not a Master - only a Knight, but he was still on the council!!

Was he very wise? Nothing in the movies suggests it. He is as blind as the other Jedi - take his theories on Dooku as evidence 1.
Was he a very powerful Jedi? Hmm, he did survive Geonosis and he did manage to block one or two blaster shots - but not impressive really!

So why is he the, more or less, only non-prominent Jedi we, slightly, get to know? What is so special about him?
Can someone please explain (yes, I've read Wookiepedia and the SW databank )

 

Ki Adi Mundi was a Jedi Master. He was an interesting character and I would have loved to learn more about him in the films, but there just wasn't enough time. So basically everything we know about Ki Adi Mundi is from the EU and I found it perticulary interesting that he was allowed a wife and children due to his species low birth rate. And I believe his wife died during the Clone Wars be he was able to come to terms with it, he seems to be a foil character of Anakin Skywalker. As for your comment about Mundi not knowing about Dooku, it was symptomic of a larger problem of an arrogant Jedi Order.

 

Thanks!
I agree that Ki-Adi, along with Mace, in a way symbolizes the Jedi-Order - blind and arrogant. I too would love to see more of him, but as you said there just wasn't time.
Was he powerful though, or was his strength his wisdom, which sadly enough doesn't come off as all too great in the films...

 

Ki-Adi-Mundi was actually made a Jedi Master before TPM, it was a retcon, by my guess, because of ROTS and Anakin being the only Knight to ever be on the Council. Anyhow, Ki-Adi really has a great history in the EU. In the EU Ki-Adi was found by the Dark Woman and taken to Coruscant to be trained. Upon arriving at Coruscant, Yoda himself took Ki-Adi as his own Padawan, not like the Bear Clans, Ki-Adi was his actual Apprentice.

And yes, Ki-Adi's family was killed during the Clone War, and he had one bond wife, and four honor wifes. He also had seven daughters, I bet he had a great life, if you catch my drift. Anyhow, it was because of the low Cerean birthrate, but he was a lucky *******. lol

 

He wasn't a master because he hadn't taken on a pAdawan yet.

 

He is a jedi master.. in the movies. When looking in the Star Wars visual dictionary it states Ki-Adi Mundi is the only jedi knight on the council.

But lets remember; a book is not the movie and therefore whatever the movie states has to be the real thing because Lucas did it.

He may have made some mistakes but he did it.

For example theres like three times Anakin is thought to be a jedi knight. Clone wars he's awarded on Coruscant by yoda and the council, in Jedi trial its because he takes general over his first battalion, and in the clone wars theres Ani's trial in that cave with the vader painted face and stuff.

They make little mistakes like that all the time. So when Anakin says in the movie that its insulting to be a knight on the council it is insulting cause in the script Ki-Adi is a master.

 

Actually, the truth is - as stated on his Wookieepedia article - that ol' Conehead was in the process of becoming a Jedi Master when he was given a place on the Council, following the untimely death of Micah Giett. Presumably there's not always a fixed way of becoming a Master, just as there are always exceptions with the Jedi Trials - such as Anakin's knighting in Clone Wars.

And while Ki-Adi's good and all, he got completely owned by the Galactic Marines not only because they shot him to bits, but also because one of the clone troopers actually dodged a deflected shot before Conehead got plugged. The poor guy.

 

No doubt they owned him, but he was the only Jedi to react at all. He sensed them turning, but was too late to act. I wonder if Yoda or Mace would have survived...
Does anyone believe he could've done better against Sideous than the possee?

 

I doubt Mundi would have done any worse. I even doubt that I would have done any worse than the posse.

 

I love his death scene...he's leading his troops into battle and turns around to see them all pointing their blasters at him...just the look on his face as he tries to figure out what going on and then suddenly realises...heart wrenching stuff.

 

Yes, it quite sad - in my opinion the saddest death of Order 66. Mace's death was prior to it, so it doesn't count!

Touché!

In my opnion Lucas should have used TPM to show us more of the Jedi - and IMO they should have used Mace and Ki-Adi for that purpose - instead of using heaps of time on a pod-race, which IMHO isn't all that great! It would be nice to see how other Jedi than the line of Yoda - Dooku -Qui-Gon - Obi Wan Kenobi - Anakin - Luke are.

 

According to the EU, didn't Ki-Adi-Mundi have at least two apprentices at one time or another? He trained former Tusken Raider A'Sharad Hett and even briefly took over Anakin's training when Obi-Wan was presumed dead during a Clone Wars battle on Jabiim.

Anyway, there's no doubt that Ki-Adi-Mundi was one of the most interesting characters in the PT. One of the most moving parts in the entire Star Wars saga is his death scene as Order 66 comes into effect. The look of hopelessness and betrayal on his face, coupled with his desperate last stand embodies for me the sheer evil of Order 66. Lucas couldn't have started the grim sequences of Jedi deaths with a more fitting scene.

Overall, Ki-Adi-Mundi rocks and I do think he would have done slightly better than masters Fisto, Tiin, and Kolar. I'd have loved to see Mace and Ki-Adi tag team Palpatine for awhile. That would have rocked!

 

Let's chew on this: Ki-Adi is the one in ROTS who nominates Obi-Wan to take on General Greivous on Utapau. Just another example of how the Jedi contributed to Anakin's fall, albeit unwittingly.

 

Yes, but without Anakin's jealousy and fear that wouldn't have been a bad choice.

 

Actually, Obi-Wan was probably the best choice to fight Grievous, as Mace described the ROTS novelization. But just the fact that Ki-Adi knew Anakin had just been rejected for the job and then he turns around and nominates his former master? He has to realize that Anakin wasn't going to take it well. But then again, we never get to see if Ki-Adi knew of Anakin's instabilities. It's likely that he just ignored him or misread his actions, like most of the other jedi.

 

Palpatine knew Anakin wasn't going to be sent to hunt Grevious on Utapau because he knew that the Jedi Council was using Anakin to spy on him. So he would have to remain on Corcuscant. Knowing this, he requested Anakin to lead the attack, so when Anakin would be rebuffed, it would further alienate his relationship to the Jedi Council and create feelings of jealously toward Obiwan. Palpatine knew that the Jedi would select Obiwan to hunt grevious because his fighting stlye meshed well with Grevious's. With Obiwan gone Palpatine continued his mind games until he revealed him a Sith Lord to Anakin.

 

That's why I believe that Ki-Adi and Mace together personifies the Jedi of that era. Neither can deal with the true problems, and so they go in search of other problems. I find it bizarre that they figured GG to be the greatest fear, when they should've realized that it was the Sith Lord. Even a youngling should be able to figure that much out. Ki-Adi suggests that it was OBW that should fight GG. It was also Ki-Adi who proclaimed that Dooku was not a threat - it wasn't in his nature. Those two statements are both of consequential characters. Both create fatal consequences for the Jedi, and ironically enough they come from the archetypal PT Jedi...

 

Mundi and, to a lesser extent Koon, were the only minor-role-Jedi deaths that struck a cord with e in the montage.

 

pretty cool stuff about him in the comics. the first six issues of star wars ongoing series.

he dies like a punk!

 

I guess that Lucas also wanted something visually cohesive to represent the Jedi Council: Yoda is the wise old goblin-like saga, Mace is the straight-laced monk figure and Ki Adi Mundi is the ponderous old wizard. Obviously, the rather sexy shape of his head represents a wizard's hat, and the devilishly kinky white beard completes the picture.

Or something.

 

Unfortunately yes, he dies like a punk - but wouldn't most?
I believe Lucas intentionally had him killed by order66 as the only Jedi we get to know except the four big-shots. It makes for a more emotional scene when it kills one of the great Council members. Unfortunately I would rather wish he could be in the possee putting up a good fight against Sideous

 

He was an interesting character and I would have loved to learn more about him in the films.

^^

As is the tale of almost every non main character in the PT. Unfortunately we either have to read up on EU or go here, I would have liked more of the Jedi but I can't complain I guess.

 

I've never liked live-action Ki-Adi Mundi. There's something so prissy and indifferent and off-putting about that guy...he reminds me a lot of a male alien version of that librarian character, Jocasta Nu, another Jedi who makes me grit my teeth and whom I'd like to smack sometimes with a rolled-up newspaper. However, as others have already pointed out, there's a purpose behind the character's apparant haughtiness and I suppose that's why I found myself thinking that Ki-Adi got what he deserved when he was caught flat-footed and mowed down by his own clone troopers. I just don't have much sympathy for smart people who insist on remaining oblivious to what's really going on around them. I thought he typified a lot of what was wrong with the Jedi Order by the time of ROTS.

On the other hand, I'm remarkably fond of the character as portrayed in the Clone Wars animateds--he just seems so much livelier and more likable there, more of a leader! I would have felt bad watching the animated Ki-Adi Mundi get killed off...by Grievous or anyone else.

PS: Even though I dislike the live-action character of Ki-Adi, I quite admire the actor who portrays him. It's hard for me to believe the same guy also plays one of my favourite SW scumballs, Nute Gunray. He sure does a great job at differentiating the roles.

 

Interesting post!
I didn't know that Ki-Adi and Nute was played by the same actor. Good job! (Not in OBW's words)

Ki-Adi does typify or represent the Jedi Order by the time of the PT. He was powerful I believe, but he was also oblivient to what was really going on. Although Mace and Yoda were also blinded from the truth, they were at least onto something. But I still maintain that it is Ki-Adi and Mace who personifies the Jedi Order of the PT. Unfortunately we didn't get to know either character all too well. It's a shame when you consider how other films can introduce several characters and we get to know plenty about them (take Pulp Fiction as an example) As I said above, I think Lucas spent too much time on introducing Anakin, and the pod-race, in TPM instead of dedicating more time to introducing the Jedi - and not just the line we already knew from Yoda down to Luke....

 

Here's the OS bio on him if anyone is interested: