History WMG / ThePhantomMenace

When fighting Darth Maul, Obi-Wan is hanging in the [[NoOSHACompliance random bottomless pit]] while Darth Maul is standing [[IHaveTheHighGround on the high ground]]. Obi-Wan jumps up out of the pit, lands behind Darth Maul, and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe slices him in half]]. When he fights Anakin, Obi-Wan finds the tables turned; now ''he'' has the high ground, and Anakin could pull the same maneuver and kill him. But Obi-Wan is ready for it. ''That's'' what he meant when he said, "Don't try it."

Something already talked about, but more in-keeping with the apparent treatment of him being TheFool rather than a mastermind. Gungans are an insular society and likely haven't heard of the Force, so any force-sensitive traits are either seen as some sort of unusual superpower or mistaken for luck/clumsiness. Jar Jar Binks is force-sensitive, but since he never went any training and is kind of an idiot these are initially limited to increased flexibility and agility. The clumsiness he was banished for is because [[PowerIncontinence he caused some chaos by unintentionally using the Force]]. has His abilities as TheBeastmaster in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' is an application of [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Taming_beasts animal kinship or beast control]]. At that point while he hasn't undergone any training, Jar Jar ''has'' gained some knowledge about the Force and the Jedi from his political career so he has tried to get some MundaneUtility from his Force sensitivity. Unfortunately for the Gungan, [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith the rise of the Empire]] meant that it's better to not be public about his abilities.

When fighting Darth Maul, Obi-Wan is hanging in the [[NoOSHACompliance random bottomless pit]] while Darth Maul is standing [[IHaveTheHighGround on the high ground]]. Obi-Wan jumps up out of the pit, lands behind Darth Maul, and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe slices him in half]]. When he fights Anakin, Obi-Wan finds the tables turned; now ''he'' has the high ground, and Anakin could pull the same maneuver and kill him. But Obi-Wan is ready for it. ''That's'' what he meant when he said, "Don't try it."

* It's all part of Plagueis' experiments (somehow). Plagueis created ''Shmi'', not Anakin, and did so in a way that she became a perfect vector for powerful Force potential in her son (think Christianity's Immaculate Conception [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]-]). Plagueis maneuvered Qui-Gon into becoming the father in his continuing experiment, whether by engineering a relationship or just procuring his genetic material. This makes Anakin directly descended from both Jedi ''and'' Sith, and gives a new take on the prophecy that he would "bring balance to the Force". It also means that HistoryRepeats, as [[spoiler:his son and grandson are light and dark, just like his father and "grandfather"]].

[[WMG: [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready Palpatine is actually a bad guy.]]]]

[[WMG: Gungans are related to [-{{THE HYPNOTOAD}}-].]]

Shmi says he doesn't, and ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' is canon in its description of Darth Plagueis creating Anakin from whole cloth through his experiments with midichlorians. But it's easier to assume Anakin was conceived sexually like everyone else. Shmi might not want to admit it -- she may have been raped (she's a slave, so it's not like anyone would be held to account for it), or the father may just have been an unsavory character she doesn't want to acknowledge. Anakin's father [[IHaveNoSon may as well not exist]] -- it's not like he was around to raise him. Shmi may even have been offended by the Jedi asking who the father is (how is it their business?) and decided to fuck with them. Alternatively, she had heard that Jedi were celibate, and thought Qui-Gon might think less of her if she admitted that the father was either a rapist or some one-night stand.

Shmi says he doesn't, and ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' is canon in its description of Darth Plagueis creating Anakin from whole cloth through his experiments with midichlorians. But it's easier to assume Anakin was conceived sexually like everyone else. Shmi might not want to admit it -- she may have been raped (she's a slave, so it's not like anyone would be held to account for it), or the father may just have been an unsavory character she doesn't want to acknowledge. Anakin's father [[IHaveNoSon may as well not exist]] -- it's not like he was around to raise him. Shmi may even have been offended by the Jedi asking who the father is (how is it their business?) and decided to fuck with them.

* In the ExpandedUniverse, Maul left at least one reliable living witness: [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Maul "In 0 BBY, Darth Vader encountered and defeated a clone or dopplegänger of Maul created by the Secret Order of the Empire, possibly under orders from Palpatine."]] Not even the real thing -- a "clone or doppel&aum;nger"? That smacks of a setup.

Creator/GeorgeLucas is not very original. Or perhaps he didn't ''want'' to make the prequel trilogy, but outside forces made him do it, and he decided to do a stealth pisstake on his own creation, which had been reduced to "the soich for more money".

* He can't use the JediMindTrick on Watto. Now, Watto explains this by saying it doesn't work on him, but how would he know that? It's doubtful he's run into many Jedi on Tattooine, out in the galactic boonies where slavery is still legal.
* He does sense the Force in Anakin, but he needs some midichlorian-reading help to see exactly how strong he is. Armed with this information, he tries his damnedest to sell the idea of training him to the Jedi Council. The Council, and even Obi-Wan, insist that this is a horrible idea; they say it's because he's too old and attached to his mother, but their assessment of Anakin might be much less optimistic than Qui-Gon's, or they can sense evil in him that Qui-Gon couldn't.

Sub-WMG: Qui-Gon's the father. And he wiped Shmi's memory, which is why she ''thinks'' there's no father.

Alternatively, she might still have been the result of Plagueis' experiments with the Force, but there is still a ''biological'' father to provide genetic material. It could be Plageuis himself, or it could be some other hapless victim who doesn't even know he's a father. But there ''is'' a father. Shmi might not have conceived Anakin sexually, but it's just like being a surrogate. Maybe it didn't work like how regular human artificial insemination works -- like, maybe she's a mutant of some sort -- but it would be problematic for there to be no genetic material from a father, if only for genetic reasons.

[[WMG: Jar Jar Binks is actually a Troll on the likes of which the galaxy has never seen.]]
Given his position of senator in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', he may actually be smarter than he looks. Far from being clumsy, Jar Jar is a massive Troll. He acts like a TooDumbToLive klutz because he knows that [[IdiotHoudini stupid people are less looked down on whenever they cause chaos.]] The guy's true nature is a master of ItAmusedMe, screwing around with his fellow Gungans ForTheLulz. Indeed, he actually had an inkling on who Palpatine was, but played the part of a supposed UnwittingPawn in his grand attempt to troll the galaxy: by letting Palpatine take over via preventing anyone from finding out. His controversial cameo at ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' shows that his massive trolling worked out for him. And guess what? He has MediumAwareness. Jar Jar acts the part of TheScrappy because '''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou he's trolling YOU.]]''' [[TookALevelInBadass His apperance]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap in]] ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' is what happens when he's not messing around.

As part of his plan to get Anakin in the Jedi Order. The Jedi seemed quite paranoid about having Anakin, given [[CrapsackWorld his world.]] Qui-Gon's maverick practices and rash nature would have also bothered the Jedi Council. Palpatine, realising that only someone like him would want Anakin to be a Jedi, used his position as Senator of Naboo to give Qui-Gon an influential position. [[MagnificentBastard All part of his plan.]]

He goes on and on about the corruption in the Senate, and we're to expect he's exempt from it? And the way he seems to interested in Anakin is vaguely creepy. [[ComicallyMissingThePoint And do we ever see him and Darth Maul in the same room? I THINK NOT!]]

[[WMG: Midichlorians are an antiquated theory.]]
* As recently as 1921, scientists believed in 4 humours of the body. Once science advanced, we realized the blood has nothing to do with personality. Phantom Menace, being a prequel, means that the theory of midichlorians is in the same vein. Later on, they realized that of course there were no such thing and that the Force is actually all around them.

[[WMG: The fate of Jar-Jar Binks in the Original Trilogy.]]
Jar-Jar Binks, as the Empire grows more totalitarian, becomes a more minor figure. Disgusted with what galactic politics has done, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Jar Jar retires.]] By the time of the Original Trilogy, [[TheAtoner he starts working for the Rebellion]], using his connections to help their cause. Eventually he is found on Naboo and is arrested on counts of treason. Though initially sentenced to death, he's gained enough friends that it's commuted to life imprisonment. After the Emperor dies and the Empire is devastated, Jar Jar Binks is released from captivity. With a sigh of relief that the dictatorship he helped start is over, and a smile that he played at least a small part in trying to stop it, Jar Jar Binks bellows in celebration: [[HeartWarmingInHindsight "Mesa free!"]] Thus, Jar-Jar is [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap redeemed in the eyes of fans]], [[TakeThatScrappy suffers for his crimes without being too cruel]], [[AlasPoorScrappy gains sympathy]] and becomes a more important and well-rounded character all at once.

They're [[DirtyCoward total cowards]], so the question remains of why they didn't squeal everything to the Republic ([[WebVideo/RedLetterMedia Palpatine's behind it all!]]) Being [[MagnificentBastard Palpatine]], he made sure Maul spent some time manhandling them. When Maul [[spoiler:apparently]] died, they tried to get away with it. Sidious called and said "Your tongue's slipping Nute", uses his Force Choke on him and made it clear he'll melt the Trade Federation down into a Battle Droid if he squeals.

[[WMG: Jar Jar Binks is a Force adept and Sith ally]]
No, seriously, read this:
-->[[https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/3qvj6w/theory_jar_jar_binks_was_a_trained_force_user "Jar Jar Binks was a trained Force user, knowing Sith collaborator, and will play a central role in The Force Awakens"]]

Every time he goofs off and screws up and somehow ends up winning the fight after all? Master-level Force physical skills blended with ObfuscatingStupidity. His remarkable rise (to general, then Senator)? Notice the hand motions--he was using Force mind control at key moments. As he did when he convinced the Senate to give Palpatine emergency powers--because ''he was Palpatine's ally all along.''

[[WMG: Gungans are related to THE HYPNOTOAD.]]
Compare the look of Jar Jar Binks' eyes to that of the Hypnotoad. Both have red and yellow eyes. It suggests that somewhere they had an evolutionary ancestor (which explains the differences between each species of amphibious animals). Plus in the case of Jar Jar, that level of mind control powers would help him be a better Sith (if one believes he is a Sith lord) while having a species related excuse masking the tell tale signs of a sith.

[[WMG: Darth Maul was a RedHerring for Jar Jar Binks.]]
An extension of the "Darth Jar Jar" theory. Darth Maul [[EnsembleDarkhorse is well-regarded]], and comes off as an intimidating presence. In the grand scheme of things, he was an AntiClimaxBoss. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter Why go to all the trouble of hyping Maul, only to take him out in the first movie?]] To subvert expectations. Lucas planned Jar Jar to take his role, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass who would surprise us by being]] ''far'' deadlier than [[FakeUltimateMook the "terrifying" Darth Maul.]] [[TheDogWasTheMastermind It'd be a legitimate twist if it's this silly Gungan]] who's TheDragon, and a parallel to Yoda while retaining Palpatine's BigBad status. As with the Darth Jar Jar theory, it was cut because of fear that Jar Jar Binks would be a ReplacementScrappy for Darth Maul.

[[WMG: Qui-Gon Jinn is Anakin's long-lost father.]]
And Darth Plagueis is actually Shmi's parent(before you ask, we don't know [[BroadStrokes how much of the Plagueis novel is still canon]]). Forty years ago, Plagueis immaculately conceived Shmi, using her as a vector for powerful Force potential. This is a parallel to the actual immaculate conception, which refers to God engineering the Virgin Mary to be free of Original Sin. Now, while Jedi are against romances, Qui-Gon is repeatedly shown as a maverick, so he could've easily chosen to have an illicit affair behind their back. About twelve years before "The Phantom Menace", he had a MayDecemberRomance with the late-twenties Shmi, who wasn't sold into slavery yet. Qui-Gon left without knowing she was pregnant, which made Shmi bitter. Only Shmi ever found out, and claimed "there was no father" to hide her shame/bitterness at Qui-Gon/protect young Anakin. By extension, this makes Qui-Gon Jinn the paternal grandfather of Luke and Leia, and [[spoiler:the paternal great-grandfather of Kylo Ren.]] Anakin never figured out his paternity, or at the least didn't figure it out until he was Vader(where it no longer mattered). He did, however, inherit his father's rebellious and anti-authoritarian traits, and like him died at the hands of a Sith. If true, this gives a new take on "balancing the force"; he's the son of a Jedi, his mother is a direct result of the Sith, and overthrows both. It also means that HistoryRepeats as [[spoiler:his son and grandson are light and dark, just like his father and "grandfather."]]

[[WMG: Jar Jar Binks has a Gungan version of high-functioning autism or Aspergers, and he is the first Gungan to ever have this disorder.]]

First off, Jar Jar Binks acts very childish in this movie, and some people on the autism spectrum act childish. In some parts of the film, he is seen mouthing what other characters are saying: this might represent a Gungan form of echolalia or scripting (when people repeat words they hear, usually from TV shows or movies). Finally, just like most people on the autism spectrum, Jar Jar has some sensitivities: he hates gross things like stepping in poop and being farted on, hates the heat on Tattooine, and is very sensitive to going underwater, as he screams and panics when he is in the Bongo. Boss Nass had never seen a Gungan have the same type of disability as Jar Jar, and he hated how he did not act like a normal Gungan, so he exiled him from Otoh Gunga.

After the events of the movie, some other person on Naboo discovered Jar Jar's disability, and realized that although he had this disability, Jar Jar had the potential to do great things...and that's how he became a Gungan representative in the Senate.

In addition, some people with autism do not understand that they are making a bad choice someone explains it to them. This is why Jar Jar didn't think twice before [[spoiler: giving Palpatine emergency powers]] in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', although a majority of the people in the Senate didn't know that [[spoiler: Palpatine was really a Sith Lord]]. Later on, people realized Jar Jar's mistake, and were able to advise him on making better choices. This is seen in the comic "Failing Up with Jar Jar Binks", where Jar Jar at first decides to approve a bill involving taxes on trade routes, but the two people who are with him at the time say that voting "Yes" on the bill would be "political suicide", and they advise him on making an amendment, which confuses him, and they have to advise him to vote no. In that same comic, Jar Jar claims that play rather than deal with his responsibilities, and some autistic people prefer a life filled with the freedom to do what they want instead of a life of working, but it takes them a while to realize this is not possible.

Palpatine wanted an animalistic, combat-savvy, dreadfully deadly apprentice to function as the military commander of the Separatist movement, and that would have been Darth Maul, with some other character assuming the "Count Dooku" role as the Sep's civilian leader and "face." When Maul was killed, Palpatine scrambled to find a new apprentice, and lucked into Count Dooku, who would perfectly play the leader of the Separatist movement. He just needed the appropriately vicious General, the Techno Union obliged by creating Grievous.

[[WMG: A reason for Anakin's Pod running at the Speed of Plot]]
Anakin's pod was supposed to be incredibly fast, I get that. He catches up from a massive deficit, yet can't seem to get past Sebulba... who had a lead from the beginning of the race. Why? How? Simplest reason is shown right on the screen. Sebulba pisses away most of his time cheating. But it's not just for the whole DastardlyWhiplash plot stupidity: He's racking up points with Jabba. One of the things that I believe was in the novelization, is that Jabba gives a bonus to the most impressive cheater. Sebulba's trying to win, but also rack up some extra cash. This does end up backfiring on him of course, but at least it makes some sense, with Sebulba's greed getting the best of him rather than him just being stupid and Anakin having plot armor.

[[WMG: Obi-Wan took his duel with Darth Maul into account when fighting Anakin during ''Revenge of the Sith'']]
Specifically, he remembered his own actions, and knew how to counter them.

[[WMG: The human-Gungan racism is a source of the Empire's FantasticRacism.]]
Palpatine was from Naboo after all, and relationships between humans and Gungans was already tense. There might have been more hostile conflict when Palpatine was a young man, or both sides looked down on each other long enough that he grew up in a prejudiced household. While his natural sociopathy and superiority complex makes him think less of everyone else, his main experience being the Gungans made him look down on non-humans even less. You could argue that fellows like Mas Amedda suggest he was just using human chauvinism, but racist people can still get along with those they're racist against because they feel YouAreACreditToYourRace. Palpatine felt that to aliens he found useful and alien music because the closest he has to a humanizing trait is being WickedCultured and AManOfWealthAndTaste. Had the Naboo and Gungans been on good terms, Palpatine may have been less inclined to promote FantasticRacism in the Empire since [[PragmaticVillainy it would be more beneficial to promote useful aliens]].

[[WMG: The JediMindTrick would have worked on Watto if Obi-Wan had done it.]]
Force users seem to have certain aptitude skills. For example, Palatine and Dooku use force lightning but no one else seems to unless reflecting their attacks, Yoda is seen lifting much heavier objects with the Force than other Jedi, etc. Obi-Wan is much better at using the mind trick than Qui Gon and other Jedi because he either has a natural talent for it or it was his choice to master that particular technique during his training. Qui Gon only attempted to use it because, in that situation, no other technique would have kept the group's cover.
[[WMG: Jar-Jar isn't a sith-lord, Phantom Menace edition.]]
The reason this troper is being defensive about this is that she suffered a tragic loss in an AdaptationalVillainy related accident...uh, that's neither here nor there though. Just a bit of background. So every single supplementary material has plenty of evidence that points against Jar-Jar's alleged sith lord status, but since DeathOfTheAuthor runs rampant in this fandom and even including the prequels is stretching it for some factions, let's stick to those.
Right. First of all Jar-Jar being force sensitive is like Russel's Teapot: It can't be proved one way or the other.
Every tangential idea permitting it can be countered with an equally non-tangential counter.
[[WMG: Jar-Jar is neither stupid nor pretending to be]]
He's just suffering from suddenly being shoved into a culture he's totally unfamiliar with, further alienated from by the fact that he's been living completely alone from an unspecified amount of time, and suddenly has to readjust to being with others again. And that's not even getting into the language barrier. If you don't believe in the disorienting power of the language barrier, look no further then ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest''

Getting deeper into it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb are Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. It's fair, as Qui-Gon was, to be irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Like a stampede (and a homicidal robot coming running directly at you). Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals to protect those people. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Shmi did the same. It's honestly hard. likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentor's unconscious prejudices, as there is at least one shot of a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable as a result. And considering he hadn't even been ''present'' for Jar-Jar's unhelpful, albeit completely understandable fear of the droid (and ''stampede'') and thne there was the "pathetic life form" comment, combined with everything else...(Speaking of Obi-Wan, he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ''do'' improve, as this first impression is moved on from by the time they reach Tatooine but by then, Jar-Jar is on an alien planet cementing his FishOutOfWater status.

[[WMG: Qui-Gon deliberately abandoned Shmi]]
Think about it, in the normal course of events Force-sensitive children are taken from their families to be raised by the Jedi Order, and have no further contact them (as that would constitute an emotional attachment). Qui-Gon had no particular reason to abide by the terms of his agreement with Watto, who had been repeatedly trying to swindle the Jedi. Likewise, as a law enforcement officer from the Republic, which specifically outlawed slavery, he had no real reason to respect a slave owner's claim to sapient chattel. Queen Amidala's royal transport almost certainly had the technology to jam any attempt to signal the kill implant that was in Shmi's body, and since they were trying to be stealthy anyway blanket jamming of transmissions would not have been an issue. Qui-Gon could have easily slipped her off Tatooine and once they had returned to Republic territory any legal complaint Watto could try to make would fall on deaf ears.

Yet Qui-Gon doesn't do this. Why? Because Shmi would be problematic to Anakin's Jedi training, as neither she nor Anakin would voluntarily separate from each other. He knew that pitching a boy Anakin's age to the Jedi Council would be hard enough. But a boy who came with a mother that was likely to remain a prominent figure in Anakin's thoughts would just be untenable. So Qui-Gon left Shmi in slavery simply to remove the element of choice from the matter. By not making freeing her an option, he could insist that Anakin had to come along without her. It was a cold-hearted, pragmatic decision.

Think about it; Anakin was afraid to lose his mother. As Yoda said, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, that is the path to the Dark Side." The only reason he let Anakin become a Jedi was because he knew it was his destiny.

Sidious was a patient man, but he was a Sith, and Sith, by their very nature, want to be DrunkOnTheDarkSide. He wanted to take out Jedi, but he quite obviously couldn't show himself to the Jedi just yet. So he reconciled his bloodlust by cloning himself and adding super-cool makeup (i.e. horns, tattoos). If you accept the ExpandedUniverse as canon, this would be in character, as in the EU, Palpatine created LOTS of clones of himself. As a bonus side effect, the resulting clone would look like a Zabrak, eliminating any human resemblance. Maul also used a double lightsaber, giving further proof that Maul was a Palpatine clone- [[{{TooDumbToLive}} no sane being would use such a dangerous weapon.]] But Palpatine/Sidious had his own body,[[{{WhatMeasureIsAMook}} and did not care if another clone died]].
* Unlikely, since Palpatine was human and Maul was a zabrak.
[[WMG: Midichlorians are a species of microscopic Mushi that allow manipulation of the LifeStream.]]
Really, with all the various [[Manga/{{Mushishi}} Mushi]] running around granting BlessedWithSuck superpowers to their hosts it's pretty obvious.

[[WMG: There was no Darth Maul.]]
Think about it. He had no impact on the events of Episode I other than killing Qui-Gon. And Obi-Wan was the only surviving eyewitness of that fight. It was explicitly stated that Qui-Gon was disobedient of the Jedi Council. So, obviously, the Council had Obi-Wan assassinate Qui-Gon when his back was turned.\\
Fast-forward to Episode III. Obi-Wan, despite being noticably younger than the other masters, is on the Jedi Council. Why? Because he removed a thorn from their side. Everything about Maul in ''TPM'' was just apocrypha or Jedi propaganda.\\
But what about that throwaway line about Qui-Gon teaching Obi-Wan about Force ghosts, you say? Yoda already knew the technique and had taught it to Obi-Wan, and the line was just part of their cover. It must not have been to hard to learn once you had the idea, since Vader apparently knew it in Episode VI.\\
Besides, if the prequels are any indication, Palpatine burned through apprentices at a rate no other Sith Lord could dream of. What's one more or one less?
* In the ExpandedUniverse, Maul left at least one reliable living witness: [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Maul "In 0 BBY, Darth Vader encountered and defeated a clone or dopplegänger of Maul created by the Secret Order of the Empire, possibly under orders from Palpatine."]] However: Clone? Doppleganger? This smacks of a setup.
** And in the movie, Anakin and everyone in the cockpit of Amidala's ship saw Qui-Gon's first fight with Maul. Then Padme and a large number of soldiers saw Maul in the palace on Naboo, before the lightsaber fight started. If this mysterious black-robed figure was not really a Sith, he was a good enough impersonation of a Sith to fool Qui-Gon.
* Maul was like Asaji Ventress, just a random moron that thought he was a Sith. Sidious just used him as a tool.
** Wrong. Maul was a full fledged Sith Lord despite his tendency to act like a stupid wild dog. He was Palpatine's first apprentice, and the one ''who he trained from birth''.
** The clue's in the name: Maul mas intended as a blunt object to use against Sidious' enemies, never intended to be his successor. The man does tend to burn through the apprentices in these movies.
*** In the old Legends continuity Maul technically was not a true Sith Lord since in it Sidiou's mentor Darth Plagueis was still alive until shortly after Ankain reached Coruscant, when Sidious decided to do away with his one time mentor.
** All of them he viewed merely as pawns in his plan to convert Anakin to the Sith. He had been plotting to take Anakin as his apprentice since before he killed Darth Plagueis (who had created Anakin to replace Palpatine as ''his'' apprentice)
* I'd buy this if Maul hadn't also been witnessed in the Theed hangar by the Queen and her entourage, as well as Anakin. Not to mention Sidious and the Neimoidians also saw and interacted with him.
** Well, how about this: Darth Maul was real, but was Sidious' fall guy, whose unbeknownst purpose was to distract the Jedi from Sidious himself. Unbeknownst to Sidious, he also became the scrapegoat for Qui-Gon's slaying. After the two Jedi killed him, Obi-Wan took out Qui-Gon, and even had a cover-up to pin it on.
* Obi-Wan being on the council in Episode III can be explained through a combination of him being something of a prodigy[[note]]Despite his age he does seem to be one of the stronger Jedi, as evidenced by how easily many of them get mowed down in Episodes II and III[[/note]], and the Clone Wars whittling down the Jedi's numbers to a point where there weren't many older masters left.
* [[spoiler:Jossed in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': Darth Maul is back with a vengeance, and [[TookALevelInBadass definitely makes up for his previous appearance.]] ]]

Taken from the Star Wars Technical Commentaries, source of the Endor Holocaust theory. Alternatively, increased Force sensitivity and Midichlorian presence are caused by some other factor, but have nothing else to do with each other. Jedi use Midichlorians count to measure Force potential because of the correlation, not a cause-and-effect relationship. Midichlorians are just benign microorganisms, possibly ones drawn to the Force, that do nothing else.

It's a side-effect of using the Force, which rearranges organic molecules into certain patterns inside the Force-using organism. This would explain why the exact same subcellular organelles could be found in completely unrelated lifeforms who evolved on different planets.
* According to Wookieepedia that's the Jedi theory!
** WP is a fan Wiki, don't forget. The popular theories get on it, not guaranteed Canon.
* If the Midichlorians are created directly by the force, Anakin's remarkably high midichlorian count could hint to an explanation as to how Anakin could have been conceived without a father, especially given Palpatine's implications in ''Revenge of the Sith''.

[[WMG: The people of Naboo were really brutal to the Gungans]]
This is why the Gungans were so hostile towards the surface society - the humans liked to harass and torment them. There were even pogroms against them, now and then. Padme wasn't horrified by Anakin's slaughter of Sand People because slaughtering some non-humans who'd wronged a human didn't strike her as that ''bad''.
* Since Palpatine is from Naboo, this would also explain why TheEmpire is so xenophobic in the [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Expanded Universe]].
* After having seen the Gungans, who WOULDN'T want to commit mass genocide against non-human creatures?
* It is interesting to note that the Gungans had a large army, which is a bit mysterious considering that they didn't have seem to have any enemies in their underwater home. Relations between humans and Gungans might indeed have been violent in the past.
** Nah, that "army" is actually the fishing club, repurposed for war. After all, we've seen what the local sea-life is like.

[[WMG: Midichlorians are actually a unit of measurement, like... oh, say, a Rad or something.]]
Thus, when they're talking about Midichlorian counts, they're basically waving a Jedi Geiger-counter at the subject and seeing how much Force radiation he's emitting.
* I figured it was a count of ''active'' midichlorians. Inactive, they aren't detectable. They're a dormant "junk DNA." Activate them, and that's when the problems start. Worse, they're present in everyone. Some of them are active at birth, some get activated later on through accident or direct intervention. This makes Force Sensitivity a much more common trait than either saber-swinging faction will ''ever'' admit to - the Sith wouldn't bully the sheep with impunity if they could fight back, and the Jedi would fear that the rabble wouldn't have enough sense not to abuse it. When times are good, both factions can cherry pick among recruits they can best control. When times are bad, they make do with what they have. This is how Exile and Luke were able to assemble and train a fair amount of Force users in a relatively short time, and how Revan could get Dark Jedi on every damn street corner during the Jedi Civil War.

They aren't microbes independent of the body, but a part of a creature's own physiology; a network of cells that allows a living creature to interact with the force.
* Like an extra lining for the liver?

This is why, for example, force ability can be passed to children. Then there's the "Midichlorian Count" thing. A body's Midichlorian System can be stronger/weaker innately, just as different people have stronger/weaker eyesight. Or it can be strengthened with use, like a muscle, which is why trained force-users are so strong, they exercise and hone their Midichlorian System until they can use lots of Force at one time.
[[WMG: The story of ''Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'' was at least partially inspired by ''[[Film/{{Spaceballs}} Spaceballs]]''.]]
I know this theory sounds somewhat off because Spaceballs itself was a parody of the ''original'' three Star Wars movies (and their merchandising), but considering the storyline, there are some striking resemblances to ''Episode 1: The Phantom Menace''. '''Both''' films begin with an idyllic world of peaceful people who is attacked by bureaucratic morons with superior techology. Eventually, the heroes of the film enter the scene and rescue an important female member of the Royalty of the attacked planet from the attackers who want to capture her. However, they are forced to ditch on a desert planet, where they get some help from the natural inhabitants. Then, after a short visit to the home planet of the BigBad, they return to the princess' planet just in time to save it from the attackers. If you consider all this, it's not completely out of the realm of possibility that George Lucas got some inspiration from the parody.
[[WMG:The bad guys are the "Trade Federation" and they are repeatedly referred to as "TheFederation."]]
Anyone else think this is a subtle jab at ''Franchise/StarTrek''?
* What do you mean "subtle"?
* Particularly since the main race of the Trade Federation is the Neimoidians (Nimoy-dians), who in an earlier draft of the script were referred to as "Shatnerians".

[[WMG:The "baseless" accusations against Valorum secretly came from Palpatine.]]
This is [[MagnificentBastard Mr. Everything That Has Transpired Has Done So According To My Design]] we're talking about here-- you think there was any part of his scheme he didn't plan? He just let a scandalous rumor about Valorum into the grapevine and then just sat back and watched him be weakened.

** This is canon. It is detailed in Cloak of Deception.

[[WMG: Midichlorians are a specific variety of Mitochondria.]]
Specifically, Mitochondria let you enjoy delicious oxygen, [[NamesTheSame Midichlorians]] let you enjoy delicious... the Force.
** Wait... then ''[[Literature/AWrinkleInTime A Wind in the Door]]'' is set in the Star Wars universe? Are you saying Charles Murry and Proginoskes are ''[[CrazyAwesome Jedi]]''?
*** Charles is no such thing, as he's never been trained. Proginoskes, on the other hand, is totally a padawan on his first solo mission.
** Confirmed by WordOfGod. Lucas explicitly based the Midichlorians on Mitochondria, and Qui-Gon's description of them supports this.

[[WMG: Midichlorians are mini versions of force ghosts]]
It is established that only a few Jedi have learned how to come back as Force ghosts, so what happens to everyone else? My theory is that the force preserves them as beings of pure consciousness, condensed into a state so small that they can only be seen through a microscope.

[[WMG: Midichlorians are victims of revisionism]]
I thought of this as an in-universe explanation as to why they're not mentioned in the original trilogy. Midichlorians measure how much The Force is with a Jedi. I'm thinking that after this one particular Jedi whose midichlorians were off the charts took over the galaxy with Palpatine, Obi Wan and Yoda were afraid that correlation might imply causation. They decided they'd rather not know anyone's count and explained The Force from then on as an intangible energy in the hope that midichlorians would one day be considered quackery.

[[WMG: AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Qui-Gon Jinn is one ''sketchy'' mother who has ''no'' business screwing around with any young’un’s life, much less galactic intrigue.]]
[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvp1r2UpiQ Qui-Gon Jinn is the Phantom Menace]]. He endangers the Republic, or rather the entire galaxy by just not having a coherent plan--or coherent ''anything''. “Sure, okay,” you might say. “Fans like to pile on him for inadvertently setting the whole Empire thing in motion, and vouching for Anakin so that the Council would agree to his training.” The WMG is in this: If you analyze his actions in a critical light, it ''had'' to be intentional! He spends most of Episode 1 being totally feckless, using such questionable actions such as attempting to use the Force instead of diplomacy and explaining realistic-sounding plans to get through situations, staking the mission on an insane gamble with the pod race, bringing the kid to a war zone... oh, just watch the video, you’ll see more.

[[WMG: Qui-Gon Jinn is a terrible Jedi, both in practice and principle.]]
* His ''first line'' indicates this. They're in the heart of the enemy, and he states that he doesn't sense any danger.
* He can't use a mind trick on Watto. Watto explains this by saying it doesn't work on him, but how would he know that? It's doubtful he's run into many, or the slavery on Tatooine would probably have been abolished.
* He senses the Force in Anakin, and tries his damnedest to sell the idea of training him to the Jedi Council. The Council, and even Obi-Wan, insist that this is a horrible idea, either because they don't sense the Force in Anakin because it's not really very strong in him, or Qui-Gon is not in tune enough with the Force to sense Anakin's potential role as a threat.
* When his Force powers do work correctly, they're usually for corrupt purposes, as indicated in the video linked in the WMG above.
* That would explain why he's being sent off to unimportant little planets in the ass-end of nowhere rather than being on the Jedi Council.
* Consider that his mother %% Ermm what was the end of this sentence?

[[WMG: Anakin was NOT a virgin birth.]]
Shmi was a slave. Its possible that she was raped/was with someone who she would never would want to tell people about, so told people that he was a virgin birth.
** Or she just wasn't being literal. One possible translation is: "You're kidding, right? I had the kid inside me for ''nine freakin' months''. His dad took off\was a rapist. Forget him. That kid's mine."
*** I agree that she probably didn't mean it literally. "There is no father" does not necessarily literally mean that she didn't conceive him the old, it could just as easily mean that the biological father is not around for some reason (for any kind of reason - rape, sold away, died) and since there is no one to raise him with her, there is effectively no father.
** She could also be a [[ComicBook/XMen unique mutation]] that allows her to have virgin births.
** [[LukeIAmYourFather Darth Maul]]
* Or Anakin's father was a powerful force user who erased Shmi's memory.
** It was Qui-Gon. That's the real reason he was so interested in Anakin.
*** But he couldn't use the Jedi in Black trick to erase Miss Streetwalker's master's memory, who collected her usual nightly rent.
* EU says that Darth Plagus, Sidious's master, used midi-chlorians to create Anakin as the ultimate Sith. And I guess it worked. The EU also said that Anakin was created by the force because of Plagueis's experiments. In other words the Force backlashed at the two Sith Lords by causing their ultimate destruction.
** And Shmi was the surrogate mother.
** The EU is not canon tho.
** ''Literature/DarthPlagueis'' has all but been confirmed as canonical.

[[WMG: Shmi is the most powerful, force-sensitive being in the galaxy history.]]
(Palpatine mentions that the force can, in some circumstances, create life. He might be lying to get to Anakin, but it might be the truth.) Shmi was a kind, compassionate, reasonable, calm and composed person, just like a Jedi should be. But she was a slave on some backwater dump where no authority could get to her and aid her in developing her talents, and even if they would, the films never show a female human Jedi Knight so it's probable - and likely - that [[StayInTheKitchen nobody ever bothered with human females having talents.]] But as she lived her lonely, hard life on Tatooine, she wished more and more for something positive in her life, and so subconsciously she used the force to get herself pregnant.
* That would an extremely specific prejudice on the part of the Jedi.
* Furthermore, there are plenty of counterexamples in the ExpandedUniverse. Or even if you're a movie purist... remember [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jocasta_Nu that old lady in the library]]? Yoda also considered Leia a reasonable backup Jedi if Luke were to fail. This is not to mention the female members of the Jedi council of which two of them were female at the time of this movie. If you use the argument that they are not truly human from the Expanded Universe then there are plenty of human female Jedi to work with.

[[WMG: Jar-Jar Binks was the "hero of a thousand faces" in ''The Phantom Menace''.]]
Think about it: Jar-Jar is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI#t=2m12s one whose life sucked and who was rescued from certain death by mysterious strangers]]. He then goes along with the strangers on a voyage where he ends up helping them rescue a princess, gets assigned a ridiculous military rank in spite of having no battle experience, finds the strength within himself, and defeats the bad guys on the field of battle, then gets a heroes' celebration at the end. There's no other explanation. He's also the only character in the film who can be [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI#t=6m54s described without use of physical characteristics, wardrobe, job, or actor portraying him]].

[[WMG:Padmé is the "hero of a thousand faces" in ''The Phantom Menace''.]]
No one considers her because she's TheChick, but think about:

* RefusalOfTheCall ("I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.")
* Crossing the First Threshold (escape from Naboo)
* CantRefuseTheCallAnymore (Tatooine)
** The Shapeshifter: Qui-Gon
** The Goddess: [[GenderFlip Anakin]]
* Road of Trials (Senate)
** The Temptress: Palpatine
** LeaveYourQuestTest: Provided by Palpatine
* Night Sea Voyage/Crossing the Return Threshold (return to Naboo)
* Ultimate Boon (capturing the viceroy)
* Freedom to Live (Naboo is free)
* I am inclined to disagree - She has no real arc. She goes from being the leader of Naboo who sees war as a last course of action to being the leader of Naboo who sees war as a last course of action. Her worldview remains unchanged. She simply realizes that she's already in the middle of a war and acts accordingly. She presumably has had military/tactical training, as could be judged by her sharpshooting and knowledge of merc ops.
** Her arc ''is'' realizing that she's in the middle of a war. Before she thought the system worked and that they could avoid violence, but after seeing the corruption of the Republic, she realized that she had to take matters into her own hands.

Padmé declaring no confidence in the leadership of the Republic opened the eyes of many people to the Republic's inability to cope with anything, and they became persuadable to join a certain Count ten years later.

Padme would actually be in her twenties anywhere else.
** That only makes her love with Anakin even creepier...

[[WMG: Nothing in Star Wars happens after a shot in the end of the Senate scene.]]
In the movie ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'' there are many references to the Star Wars throughout. However, in one of the last shots of the senate in ''The Phantom Menace'' is a bunch of E.T's species. If Star Wars is fictional in E.T., but E.T. is non-fiction in Star Wars, then Star Wars from that point forward is in a paradox of not being possible, and in the great breach in logic, the series from that point can not exist, and it all is just spiraling out of existence.
* If the Milky Way galaxy and the Star Wars galaxy share one common species (humans), then it's possible that they share other common species as well -- the E.T.'s being just one example.

Considering all the time they spent together in the ship on Tatooine, he had to have picked up on it through the Force. When Padmé finally reveals herself in the swamp, almost everyone not apart of her security team is shocked. Except Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon obviously detects some sort of "Well, duh. I can't believe this a surprise to most of you," feeling from Obi-Wan, 'cause he gives him a dirty look.

[[WMG: The Phantom Menace is Jar-Jar.]]
Palpatine's convoluted plan could not have worked without Jar-Jar's seemingly random actions that get the heroes to exactly the right place to maneuver events in the way that best aids his political rise. This continues in the second movie, where his position as Senator was a reward for his service and to position him to grant Palpatine the power of a dictator. This would also explain why Jar-Jar is comparatively dignified in the second and third movies; his behavior in this one was a ruse to make him seem too stupid to pose a threat.
* Also, sometimes he demonstrates to be very coordinated (his agile dive into the water, his handspring when he gets up again after being knocked down). A little too much, for someone who was "banned for being clumsy".
This is also why he glomps Qui-Gon as soon as he sees him and then he constantly follows the Jedi around: he was probably following Palpatine's orders to stay close to some Jedi in order to manipualte the events.
* For a detailed exploration of this, see [[https://www.reddit.com/comments/3qvj6w this 2015 Reddit page]].

[[WMG: Jar-Jar is a competent Gungan.]]
...Just extraordinarily clumsy. He was shown to be among the Gungan commanders in the battle of Naboo (and was even addressed as "General Jar-Jar"--something which I doubt would be given to him JUST because he had interactions with the surface-dwellers on Naboo), and was with the group for the entire movie despite being extremely clumsy. If he is competent in SOMETHING, that would explain his presence--that he's not entirely useless. Why would the group bring Jar-Jar into the city on Tatooine? He was nothing but a liability due to his clumsiness. He had to have had an in-universe reason to be brought along. Furthermore, he was among the Naboo delegates in the future movies, so he clearly had earned some respect.
* The reason why Jar Jar [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap has improved]] in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''? He realized that he was extraordinarily clumsy, and decided to use it [[LethalKlutz against his enemies.]]

[[WMG: Sidious had a secondary purpose for his invade-Naboo-scheme.]]
The primary purpose was exploiting the situation for political gain - which would work regardless of whether the Trade Federation's plan worked out or not. The secondary purpose was to act as a test to decide if he should become the absolute ruler of the Galaxy through the Confederacy (or an analogous organisation of Separatists) or the Republic. If the Trade Federation had won, Palpatine would have aimed to rule the Galaxy as TheManBehindTheCurtain to the Separatist Council, Darth Sidious, rather than ruling openly as Emperor Palpatine of the Republic-derived Galactic Empire.

[[WMG: Qui-Gon and Maul were Working Together]]
In fact, they had some kind of suicide pact, hence Qui Gon's reaction to Anakin's claim that Jedi never die. Qui Gon had planned his death because both he and Maul were on the same side and were helping each other find the one to bring balance to the force; Maul just worked for Sidious as a cover. Qui Gon and Maul didn't trust Sidious; because the Prophesy was vague, they didn't want to take their chances with having Anakin around Sidious if Maul were to train him. Qui Gon also trusted Obi Wan with Anakin, but he couldn't have two apprentices. So, he decided to give up his life to have Obi Wan train him. However, he and Maul knew that if Sidious found out Maul would pay dearly for it and it would endanger their plans. Qui Gon knew that Obi Wan had an impulsive side to him that Obi Wan didn't want to admit to, so Qui Gon and Maul decided to use it to their advantage (the other reason for Qui Gon's death). Maul slaying Qui Gon would trigger Obi Wan's anger and this would bring about Maul's death. By dying, Maul would take his and Qui Gon's secrets with them.
* It probably also explains why Darth Maul just stood there and let Obi-Wan use the Force in order to retrieve a Lightsaber and [[BondVillainStupidity kill him rather than killing Ob-Wan when he obviously had the chance.]] Killing Obi-Wan was never part of the plan.

[[WMG: Jar-Jar is a character suggested by [[ExecutiveMeddling studio executives]].]]
They pressured George Lucas to add this horrid character in the movie because they think it should appeal to little kids.
* Because if anything explains the problems with ''The Phantom Menace'', it's Creator/GeorgeLucas ''not having enough'' influence over the project.

[[WMG: Midichlorian counts are not a popular practice, and Midichlorian theory is only really supported by Qui Gon.]]

* Apparently it's mainstream enough for Padme's personal starship to have a midichlorian detector onboard for some reason (presumably as part of a basic medical suite).

[[WMG: The story of Anakin is a story of George Lucas himself.]]
Lucas wanted to write a tragedy of himself being an independent filmmaker/artist who is corrupted by the dark side (aka. money). That is why Vader is promoted from being a decorated henchman to SPACE JESUS in Lucas' grandiose writing (albeit sloppy and incoherent). Anakin/Lucas then becomes the leader of a vast empire in which he never more has to discuss stupid and evil decisions with his peers.
** Jossed by the sheer fact that George Lucas cares about art first and foremost and telling it his way. If money were all he was concerned about, I-III would have been a simple, bland, crowd-and-fan-pleasing rehash of New Hope and Empire Strikes Back. Not the complex and subtly-layered Base Breaker we have now.

[[WMG: If Qui-Gon Had Survived Anakin would NOT Have become Darth Vader]]
For all his playfulness and childlike tendencies Qui-Gon was actually quite wise, as shown in the Deleted scene (kept in the novelization) where Anakin loses his temper and beats up Greedo, when the young Rodian accuses him of cheating. Qui-Gon shows Anakin how it is NOT possible to change someones mind through force, and he will just have to learn to deal with people who disagree with him. While Obi-Wan has wisdom as well his personality is too different from Anakin's to be a good teacher, whereas Qui-Gon has a sense of humor, and knows both when to take things in stride, and how to give good advice.
** Qui-Gon would also have understood, if not necessarily condoned, Anakin's feelings towards Padmé, taking away both the stress of secrecy from Anakin and a bargaining chip from Palpatine.

[[WMG: Jar Jar Binks was a serial killer.]]
Jar Jar bumbled around the Gungan city, causing fatal "accidents" on purpose for his own sadistic pleasure. The authorities eventually got wind of this of this and he was arrested. When Jar Jar was brought before the court his excuse for all the "accidents" was that he was "clumsy." Therefore his punishment was that he was exiled for "clumsiness."

Getting deeper into it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb are Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. It's fair, as Qui-Gon was, to be irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Like a stampede (and a homicidal robot coming running directly at you). Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals to protect those people. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Shmi did the same. It's honestly hard. likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentor's unconscious prejudices, as there is at least one shot of a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable as a result. And considering he hadn't even been ''present'' for Jar-Jar's unhelpful, albeit completely understandable fear of the droid (and ''stampede'') but still casually asks his mentor, "Why do I have the feeling we've picked up another pathetic life form?" as a joke, which is presented as acceptable but really ''isn't.''(Speaking of Obi-Wan, he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ''do'' improve, but by then Jar-Jar is on an alien planet cementing his FishOutOfWater status.

He's just suffering from suddenly being shoved into a culture he's totally unfamiliar with, further alienated from by the fact that he's been living completely alone from an unspecified amount of time, and suddenly has to readjust to being with others again. And that's not even getting into the language barrier. If you don't believe in the disorienting power of the language barrier, look no further then ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest''/

Getting deeper into it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb are Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. It's fair, as Qui-Gon was, to be irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Like a stampede (and a homicidal robot coming running directly at you). Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals to protect those people. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Shmi did the same. It's honestly hard. likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentor'' unconscious prejudices, as there is at least one shot of a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable as a result, and Obi-Wan demonstrates this with nobody else. And considering he hadn't even been ''present'' for Jar-Jar's unhelpful, albeit completely understandable fear of the droid (and ''stampede'') but still casually asks his mentor, "Why do I have the feeling we've picked up another pathetic life form?" as a joke, which is presented as acceptable but really ''isn't.''(Speaking of Obi-Wan, he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ''do'' improve, but by then Jar-Jar is on an alien planet cementing his FishOutOfWater status.

He's just suffering from suddenly being shoved into a culture he's totally unfamiliar with, further alienated from by the fact that he's been living completely alone from an unspecified amount of time, and suddenly has to readjust to being with others again. And that's not even getting into the language barrier. If you don't believe in the disorienting power of the language barrier, look no further then ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest''
* Getting deeper int it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb is Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. Qui-Gon is irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals are for. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Shmi did the same. Likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentors' unconscious prejudices. And there is at least one shot f a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable in a way that he doesn't go with his fellow humans. And considering he hadn't even been ''present'' for Jar-Jar's unhelpful, albeit completely understandable fear of the droid (and ''stampede'') but still casually asks his mentor, "Why do I have the feeling we've picked up another pathetic life form?" as a joke, which is presented as acceptable but really ''isn't.''(Speaking of Obi-Wan, he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ''does'' improve, perhaps Boss Nass's scathing speech about the Naboo's treatment served as a bit ofo a wake-up call for him.

* Getting deeper int it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb is Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. Qui-Gon is irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals are for. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Shmi did the same. Likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentors' unconscious prejudices. And there is at least one shot f a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable in a way that he doesn't go with his fellow humans. And considering he hadn't even been ''present'' for Jar-Jar's unhelpful, albiet completely understandable fear of the droid (and ''stampede) but still casually asks his mentor, "Why do I have the feeling we've picked up another pathetic life form?" as a joke, which is presented as acceptable but really ''isn't.''(Speaking of Obi-Wan, he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ''does'' improve, perhaps Boss Nass's scathing speech about the Naboo's treatment served as a bit ofo a wake-up call for him.

* Getting deeper int it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb is Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. Qui-Gon is irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals are for. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Schmi did the same. Likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentors' unconscious prejudices. (Considering he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems.) And there is at least one shot f a curious Obi-Wan suddenly forgetting about personal-space-etiquette and makes Jar-Jar visibly uncomfortable in a way that he doesn't go with his fellow humans That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon ''does'' improve, perhaps Boss Nass's scathing speech about the Naboo's treatment served as a bit ofo a wake-up call for him.

Force users seem to have certain aptitude skills. For example, Palatine and Dooku use force lightning but no one else seems to unless reflecting their attacks, Yoda is seen lifting much heavier objects with the Force than other Jedi, etc. Obi Wan is much better at using the mind trick than Qui Gon and other Jedi because he either has a natural talent for it or it was his choice to master that particular technique during his training. Qui Gon only attempted to use it because in that situation, no other technique would have kept the group's cover.

* Getting deeper int it, the only ones who deem Jar-Jar as dumb is Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and while they are the protagonists and mean well, they may not have been entirely fair to Jar-Jar themselves. Qui-Gon is irritated that Jar-Jar's panicking nearly killed the two of them. That's fair, but the tendency to panic does not make you ''unintelligent'', just untrained and unaccustomed to danger. Which most of any populace is. That's why there are trained professionals are for. Additionally, yelling at an individual for panicking has historically not helped the individual to stop panicking. That would be like a policeman yelling at a civilian for panicking because an armed robber is threatening them-when in reality policemen are ''trained'' to deal with that kind of person. so you wonder if Qui-Gon would have been so snippy if the human Anakin, Padme, Obi-Wan, or Schmi did the same. Likewise, Obi-Wan mellows out and becomes a wise and trustworthy individual in the future, but at present, he may have picked up on some of his mentors' unconscious prejudices. (Considering he is shown making a severe mistake of leaving one of his trackers on and letting the enemy follow him-notice Qui-Gon is much more patient and forgiving of his ''human'' apprentice, despite also being guilty of making a mistake that caused problems. That being said, it's possible that Qui-Gon ''does'' improve, perhaps Boss Nass's scathing speech about the Naboo's treatment served as a bit ofo a wake-up call for him.

[[WMG: The JediMindTrick would have worked on Watto if Obi Wan had done it.]]

He's just suffering from suddenly being shoved into a culture he's totally unfamiliar with, further alienated from by the fact that he's been living completely alone from an unspecified amount of time, and suddenly has to readjust to being with others again. And that's not even getting into the language barrier. If you don't believe in the disorienting power of the language barrier, look no further then ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest''

He's just suffering from suddenly being shoved into a culture he's totally unfamiliar with, further alienated from by the fact that he's been living completely alone from an unspecified amount of time, and suddenly has to readjust to being with others again. And that's not even getting into the language barrier.

Every tangential idea permitting it can be countered with an equally non-tangential counter.

Force users seem to have certain aptitude skills. For example, Palatine and Dooku use force lightning but no one else seems to unless reflecting their attacks, Yoda is seen lifting much heavier objects with the Force than other Jedi, etc. Obi Wan is much better at using the mind trick than Qui Gon and other Jedi because he either has a natural talent for it or it was his choice to master that particular technique during his training. Qui Gon only attempted to use it because in that situation, no other technique would have kept the group's cover.

They're [[DirtyCoward total cowards]], so the question remains of why they didn't squeal everything to the Republic ([[WebVideo/RedLetterMedia Palpatine's behind it all!]]) Being [[MagnificentBastard Palpatine]], he made sure Maul spent some time manhandling them. When Maul [[spoiler:apparently]] died, they tried to get away with it. Sidious called and said "Your tongue's slipping Nute", uses his Force Choke on him and made it clear [[CruelAndUnusualPunishment he'll melt the Trade Federation down into a Battle Droid]] if he squeals.

Palpatine was from Naboo after all, and relationships between humans and Gungans was already tense. There might have been more hostile conflict when Palpatine was a young man, or both sides looked down on each other long enough that he grew up in a prejudiced household. While his natural sociopathy and superiority complex makes him think less of everyone else, his main experience being the Gungans made him look down on non-humans even less. You could argue that fellows like Mas Amedda suggest he was just using human chauvinism, but racist people can still get along with those they're racist against because they feel YouAreACreditToYourRace. Palpatine felt that to aliens he found useful and alien music because the closest he has to a humanizing trait is being WickedCultured and AManOfWealthAndTaste. Had the Naboo and Gungans been on good terms, Palpatine may have been less inclined to promote FantasticRacism in the Empire since [[PragmaticVillainy it would be more beneficial to promote useful aliens]].

* It probably also explains why Darth Maul just stood there and let Obi-Wan use the Force in order to retrieve a Lightsaber and [[BondVillainStupidity kill him rather than killing Ob-Wan when he obviously had the chance.]] Killing Obi-Wan was never part of he plan.

For all his playfulness and childlike tendencies Qui-Gon was actually quite wise, as shown in the Deleted scene (kept in the novelization) where Anikan loses his temper and beats up Greedo, when the young Rodian accuses him of cheating. Qui-Gon shows Anikan how it is NOT possible to change someones mind through force, and he will just have to learn to deal with people who disagrre with him. While Obi-Wan has wisdom as well his personality is to differnt from Anikan's to be a good teacher, where as Qui-Gon has a sense of humor, and knows both when to take things in stride, and how to give good advice.

Considering all the time they spent together in the ship on Tatooine, he had to have picked up on it through the Force. When Padmé finally reveals herself in the swamp, almost everyone not apart of her security team is shocked. Except Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon obviously detects some sort of "Well, duh. I can't believe this surprise to most of you," feeling from Obi-Wan, cause he gives him a dirty look.

** ''[[Literature/DarthPlagueis]]'' has all but been confirmed as canonical.

** ''[[Literature/Darth Plagueis]]'' has all but been confirmed as canonical.

** ''Literature/Darth Plagueis'' has all but been confirmed as canonical.