History Characters / StarWarsQuiGonJinn

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!All spoilers regarding the Skywalker Saga and ''The Clone Wars'' are unmarked. Examples relating to Disney's films and EU can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.
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Tropes specifically applying to the characters based on their appearances in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' can be found '''[[Characters/StarWarsTheatricalLegends here]]'''.

To return to the Character page for ''Franchise/StarWars'', go '''[[Characters/StarWars here]]'''.
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[[header:Master Qui-Gon Jinn]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/qui_gon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Remember, concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. Trust your instincts."'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Homeworld:''' Coruscant

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/LiamNeeson, Jonathan Davis (''Dooku: Jedi Lost'')
->'''Voiced by (Latin American Spanish dub):''' Creator/SalvadorDelgado
->'''Voiced by (French dub):''' Samuel Labarthe
->'''Voiced by (Japanese dub):''' Masane Tsukayama
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[AudioPlay/StarWarsDookuJediLost Dooku: Jedi Lost]]'' | ''[[Literature/StarWarsMasterAndApprentice Master and Apprentice]]'' | ''ComicBook/StarWarsMarvel2015'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAgeOfRepublic Age of Republic]]'' | ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' | ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''[[note]]voice cameo only[[/note]] | ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars The Clone Wars]]'' | ''Literature/FromACertainPointOfView'' | ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''[[note]]voice only[[/note]]

-->''"There is always hope, my friend, though it often comes in forms not looked for. The key is knowing how to see it and seizing that opportunity."''

Qui-Gon Jinn was a venerable if maverick human Jedi Master who mentored the Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi. Discovering the young Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine, he came to believe that the boy was the Chosen One of an ancient Jedi prophecy; it was at his dying request that Anakin was trained to become a Jedi. Following his death, he became one with the Force and communed with Yoda during the Clone Wars.
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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:A-F]]
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Downplayed, as he was played by Creator/LiamNeeson in ''Legends'' as well. However, in ''Legends'', he apparently had a reputation to be a sort of dingy Jedi hippie, with Masters Windu and Tholme even claiming that he stank. None of this is mentioned in the canon.
* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The de-canonization of ''Legends'' softens his more extreme ideas, making him just a relatively unorthodox Jedi with good intuition in the canon, and even though he doesn't always see eye-to-eye with the Council, they have much respect for him. In ''Legends'', he was essentially a heretic whom many other Jedi masters disliked and who was often called a Gray Jedi for his very personal ideas about the Force and the Order. Notably he was actually offered a seat on the Council, something that would have been inconceivable in ''Legends''.
* AgeLift: In ''Legends'', Qui-Gon was sixty years old upon his death. In canon, he was forty-eight years old[[note]]He was forty years old in ''Master and Apprentice'', which takes place around eight years before ''The Phantom Menace''[[/note]], which is how old Liam Neeson was while filming ''The Phantom Menace'' (he was originally PlayingGertrude).
* AllLovingHero: Qui-Gon shows no contempt for any living creature, not even for the ever irritating Jar Jar Binks[[note]]aside from minor annoyance[[/note]], the scummy slave-trader and gambler Watto, or even the ruthless Sith Lord Darth Maul.
* {{Ambadassador}}: At the start of ''The Phantom Menace'', he and Obi-Wan are sent to negotiate with the Trade Federation. He and Obi-Wan luckily have their lightsabers with them when the Federation prove themselves in no mood for negotiations.
* TheApprentice: He was the Padawan learner of Count Dooku when the latter was still part of the Jedi Order.
* AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: According to Yoda at the end of ''Revenge of the Sith'', Qui-Gon managed to retain his consciousness and achieve immortality after his death. In ''The Clone Wars'', it is revealed that he learned this from the Force Priestesses.
* BadassBaritone: Liam Neeson's deep, husky voice only adds to Qui-Gon's commanding presence.
* BadassBeard: He has a quite full chin-strap and mustache.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: He's a maverick by Jedi standards, preferring to live in the moment rather than to fulfill one's own supposed destiny. His teachings still shape Obi-Wan into a wise and legendary Jedi Knight, and it's his defiance of the dogmatic Jedi Code that allows him to retain his consciousness after death.
* TheCameo: In ''Attack of the Clones'', his voice can be heard when Yoda is sensing Anakin's slaughter of the Tusken Raiders. Likewise in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', as his voice joins a chorus of other Jedi urging Rey to rise up.
* TheCassandra: His belief that the Sith have returned and that Anakin is TheChosenOne are initially dismissed by the Jedi Council, but [[CassandraTruth turn out to be true]].
* CharacterDeath: He gets gutted by Darth Maul on Naboo. Though he was able to retain his consciousness after death and commune with the living, an ability he learned from the five Force Priestesses.
* TheChooserOfTheOne: When he meets Anakin and sees what he's capable of, Qui-Gon is convinced that he has found TheChosenOne of Jedi prophecy.
* CombatParkour: Subverted. Qui-Gon's chosen style, Ataru, is known for its acrobatics, but at his old age, he tends to refrain from performing them in duels, relying mainly on fast pace sequences of wide, open attacks, and occasional bare-handed strikes.
* CowboyCop: The Jedi are galactic peacekeepers and, in addition to needing to adhere to their own rules and codes, they also need to maintain a projection of trust to others (particularly the Republic Senate). Qui-Gon ''just doesn't care'' about things like that. While he's a very gentle and kind man, he does whatever he wants to if he feels it's right and is rather infamous for routinely disobeying orders. Despite being one of the greatest masters, it's this trait that prevented him from earning a seat on the Council, which he again doesn't seem too broken up about.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Like Yoda, Jinn specialized in the [[FantasticFightingStyle Ataru lightsaber form]] as mentioned above, a fast-paced and physically taxing form utilizing acrobatics to overwhelm an opponent's defenses. As such, prolonged combat, confined spaces, and compromised defense were the form's weak points which [[HeroKiller Darth Maul took full advantage of]], as well as Jinn's [[OldMaster advanced age lessening his stamina]].
* DeadPersonConversation: Qui-Gon appears in front of both Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mortis in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E15Overlords Overlords]]" and "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS3E17GhostsOfMortis Ghosts of Mortis]]". He is able to speak to Yoda in "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS6E11Voices Voices]]", despite being dead for more than a decade. Yoda later convenes with him again around the time of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', and teaches Obi-Wan to do the same between the Prequel and Original Trilogies.
* DeathByOriginStory: ''The Phantom Menace'' is an OriginsEpisode for both Anakin and Obi-Wan. He is a significant figure in both of their lives, and is dead by the end of the film.
* DecoyProtagonist: He serves the role as this in ''The Phantom Menace''. He gets top billing, takes up a sizable amount of space on the poster, and has the most influence and screentime out of the heroes in the film, but it's all to set up Anakin and Obi-Wan as the true protagonists of the Prequel Trilogy.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: After being gutted by Darth Maul, he lives long enough to die in Obi-Wan's arms.
* DoomedByCanon: No, Qui-Gon. You are not going to train Anakin, since Obi-Wan called Anakin his pupil in ''A New Hope''.
* DueToTheDead: The Jedi and Naboo hold a funeral for him after his death, [[VikingFuneral cremating him]] as is traditional for Jedi. In ''[[Literature/StarWarsQueensShadow Queen's Shadow]]'', it's also mentioned that Padmé Amidala lights incense for him every year on the memorial day for those killed during the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo.
* EccentricMentor: Qui-Gon was a little eccentric with his tendency to befriend what Obi-Wan sarcastically called "pathetic life forms", and Obi-Wan was seen as one as well in old age.
* EnergyBeing: Because his training to do so wasn't complete, he can't normally manifest himself as a spirit, but on a planet sufficiently strong in the Force, he can appear as a "flock of light".
* FeelingTheirAge: His age proves his downfall. Qui-Gon is in his late forties by the time of ''The Phantom Menace''. Combined with his use of the aggressive and exhaustive Form IV lightsaber style, he tires if a fight drags on too long, which proves his undoing against the much younger Darth Maul.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Qui-Gon is noted for having much compassion for all living things.
* {{Foil}}: To Anakin Skywalker. Both of them are are powerful Jedi who prefer to be {{Cowboy Cop}}s and fight for what they think is right, rather than what the Jedi Code teaches. However, while Qui-Gon is a selfless AllLovingHero who takes little pride in his accomplishments, Anakin shows contempt for certain enemies and beings who go against his morals (i.e: slave drivers and Tusken Raiders), and is a very proud Jedi who gets upset that he’s denied the rank of Master due to his arrogance.
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[[folder:G-O]]
* GoodCounterpart: He's this to Palpatine for a multitude of reasons:
** While Qui-Gon is not above using the Force to cheat and manipulate others, he doesn't do it for selfish reasons, and he refuses to do so when they recruit the Gungans, noting that the Gungans should decide for themselves whether they participate in a battle that could kill many. Palpatine, on the other hand, explicitly manipulates others into war with each other, and doesn't care in the slightest about how many innocents are killed until he gets what he wants.
** Qui-Gon tells Anakin about how one can learn the will of the Force by listening to the Midi-chlorians and this trait allows him to retain his identity after death, while Palpatine tells him about how Darth Plagueis used the Midi-chlorians to impose ''his own'' will on the Force, to create life, and bring back others from death.
** Qui-Gon and Palpatine are also both {{Immortality Seeker}}s, but while Palpatine seeks it by twisting the natural ways of the Force to remain physically immortal (as the Sith believe that [[CessationOfExistence consciousness ceases after death]] and will do anything to avoid it), Qui-Gon actually achieves it by embracing said natural ways of the Force, allowing him to become one with the Cosmic Force, retain his consciousness and communicate with the living after death.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Arguably the kindest Jedi in the Order, but is more than willing to rip through armies of Battle Droids, use the Force to trick people into doing what he wants, or threatening to send Watto to the Hutts when the latter tries to get out of honoring their agreement.
* TheHero: Of ''The Phantom Menace,'' being the character who the audience spends the most time with and advances the story.
* TheHeroDies: He's killed by Darth Maul in the FinalBattle in ''The Phantom Menace''.
* HonorBeforeReason: Despite the Jedi Council's very clear and valid apprehensions towards making Anakin a Jedi, Qui-Gon is as determined as any to see the boy be trained.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The long, grueling duel with Darth Maul takes its toll on Qui-Gon, allowing Maul to catch him off guard and mortally stab him in the gut.
* JediMindTrick: He uses this on Boss Nass to save Jar Jar's life and get them a transport to Theed. He later tries, and fails (due to Watto's species being immune to mind tricks), to do the same on Watto to haggle over a needed starship hyperdrive.
* LaserBlade: He wields a green-bladed lightsaber.
* TheLastDJ: Obi-Wan believes Qui-Gon would've been on the Jedi Council long ago if not for his tendency to do things his own way rather than by the Jedi Code; needless to say, Qui-Gon doesn't seem to mind.
* LastRequest: His final request is for Obi-Wan to train Anakin in his place after he dies.
* LooksLikeJesus: Due to his long-hair, beard, and AllLovingHero personality, he has a great resemblance to the popular image of Jesus. He even wears robes as part of his Jedi outfit.
* MartialPacifist: He's the epitome of this, especially when his mid-battle meditation contrasted against Darth Maul's animalistic, restless pacing while the two were separated by a forcefield.
* MasterSwordsman: It comes with being an experienced Jedi Master, which lets him fight one-on-one against Darth Maul and his double-bladed lightsaber. His skills only help him for so long, though...
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: His first appearance as a spirit adviser on Mortis in ''The Clone Wars'' was ambiguous enough that Obi-Wan and Anakin wrote it off as a hallucination of some sort (the fact that Mortis was an EldritchLocation helped). His second appearance as one to Yoda in ''The Clone Wars'' erases that ambiguity.
* MeditationPowerUp: He does so during one of the gaps in his fight with Darth Maul, thanks to some opportunely closed laser shields. Unfortunately for Qui-Gon, it doesn't help him much.
* MentorArchetype: To Obi-Wan and Anakin during ''The Phantom Menace''. He becomes the one who teaches Yoda the way of retaining one's identity upon death, and manifesting as a Force spirit.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: He, as the mentor in the StudentAndMasterTeam against Darth Maul, does not survive the fight.
* NiceGuy: Qui-Gon was a laid-back, friendly AllLovingHero.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Using his dying moments to beg Obi-Wan to train Anakin was a plain ''bad'' move on his part. Obi-Wan was a freshly knighted and grieving man with no experience as a mentor, making him very ill-suited for the unique challenges teaching Anakin would bring; this was one of the many factors leading Anakin down the path to becoming Darth Vader.
* OldMaster: In ''The Phantom Menace'', Qui-Gon is the first maverick master seen on-screen (chronologically), at odds with the Jedi Council but respected nonetheless. He trained Obi-Wan and was the person most accountable for introducing Anakin Skywalker to the way of the Jedi, [[GoneHorriblyWrong all things considered]].
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Despite his inability to manifest himself under normal circumstances, he was able to appear in front of Obi-Wan and Anakin on Mortis, most likely because the planet was such a strong conduit of the Force.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P-V]]
* ParentalSubstitute: He has served as one to Obi-Wan for as long as they've been training together. He also acts as one to Anakin, who grew up (and was actually [[MysticalPregnancy born]]) without a father.
* PassedOverPromotion: His [[CowboyCop Cowboy Jedi]] antics prevent him from getting a seat on the Jedi Council. Not that he seems to mind much.
* PragmaticHero: Being a Jedi doesn't stop him from manipulating Boss Nass into providing a transport to the capital of Naboo, trying to swindle Watto out of a hyperdrive generator, cheating at gambling to free a slave, or subverting the authority of the Jedi Council to ensure that Anakin is trained as a Jedi.
* SacrificialLion: His death at Darth Maul's hands shocks the Jedi into realizing the Sith have returned and dark days are on the horizon.
* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: On hearing that the Jedi Council won't let Anakin become a Padawan, Qui-Gon tells them that he will take on the boy as his apprentice, stating that Obi-Wan is ready to face the trials to become a Knight. This is against Jedi protocol, since no Jedi can have more than one apprentice at once, and it's up to the Council to decide when a Padawan is ready to face the trials.
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: His tendency to do this has brought him at odds with the other Jedi, respected as he is. The most influential example by far is when he decides to have Anakin trained as a Jedi despite the Council explicitly telling him no, even attempting to train Anakin himself despite already having Obi-Wan as an apprentice and no Master can have more than one apprentice at a time.
* SecretSecretKeeper: He knows handmaiden Padmé is [[QueenIncognito actually Queen Amidala]]; he's unsurprised and gives a knowing look to Obi-Wan when she publicly reveals her identity – presumably, he keeps the secret for her own protection. [[{{Troll}} He also takes the opportunity to rile her up a bit when she complains about his riskier plans, saying that he's sure the Queen will approve of his decisions]].
* SpiritAdvisor: To Obi-Wan and Anakin during the Mortis arc. Later to Yoda as well, leading him on a journey to increase his understanding of the Force and the secrets of immortality. During Obi-Wan's exile on Tatooine, Qui-Gon continued to guide him and taught him how to join the Living Force after death.
* TheStoic: No matter the situation, Qui-Gon remains calm and collected, aside from chastising Jar Jar for the latter's stupidity in their first encounter.
* TakeUpMySword: He dies before he has a chance to properly train Anakin and tells Obi-Wan to take his place as Anakin's Jedi Instructor.
* TheUnfettered: A rare heroic example of an unfettered character; when Obi-Wan tries to call him out on his more questionable actions, he simply says, "I will do what I must," without hesitation.
* UnintentionalBackupPlan: Qui-Gon's original plan is for Anakin to be trained as a Jedi and bring balance to the Force. This seems to fail when Anakin falls to the dark side. In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', however, Anakin does bring balance to the Force by destroying the last of the Sith (including himself).
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His determination to have Anakin trained as a Jedi spells doom for the Jedi Order and decades of conflict for the rest of the galaxy. It's not entirely his fault, though; if he'd lived to train Anakin on his own, it would have been more difficult for Palpatine to subtly manipulate Anakin towards the dark side, as Anakin would have been mentored by the master who was the closest thing to a father he had ever known and also knew what he was doing rather than a grieving and inexperienced Obi-Wan.
* TheVoice: Since he hadn't completed his training to become a Force spirit when he died, this is the only way he can manifest in most places. He can appear as a cloud of glowing lights in places strong with the Force like Dagobah, but he can only do the proper Force spirit manifestation in vergences like Mortis and the Wellspring of Light.
[[/folder]]
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* DecoyProtagonist: Of ''The Phantom Menace''. He gets top billing, takes up a sizable amount of space on the poster, and has the most influence and screentime out of the heroes in the film, but it's all to set up Anakin and Obi-Wan as the true protagonists of the Prequel Trilogy.

* AgeLift: In ''Legends'', Qui-Gon was sixty years old upon his death. In canon, he was forty-eight[[note]]He was forty years old in ''Master and Apprentice'', which takes place around eight years before ''The Phantom Menace''[[/note]], which is how old Liam Neeson was while filming ''The Phantom Menace'' (he was originally PlayingGertrude).

* AdaptationPersonalityChange: The de-canonization of ''Legends'' softens his more extreme ideas, making him just a relatively unorthodox Jedi with good intuition in the canon, and even though he doesn't always see eye-to-eye with the Council, they have much respect for him. In ''Legends'', he was essentially a heretic whom many other Jedi masters disliked and who was often called a Gray Jedi for his very personal ideas about the Force and the Order.

** Qui-Gon and Palpatine also both {{Immortality Seeker}}s, but while Palpatine seeks it by twisting the natural ways of the Force to remain physically immortal (as the Sith believe that [[CessationOfExistence consciousness ceases after death]] and will do anything to avoid it), Qui-Gon actually achieves it by embracing said natural ways of the Force, allowing him to become one with the Cosmic Force, retain his consciousness and communicate with the living after death.