The Phantom Menace (1999)

Introduced in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Mace Windu is depicted as one of the leading members of the Jedi Order, second only to Yoda.^[1] The maverick Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn comes before the Jedi High Council and requests that Anakin Skywalker be trained, believing that the boy is the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy. Windu and the other Council members decline, deeming Anakin too old and full of fear. After the corrupt Trade Federation is defeated and Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats the Sith Lord Darth Maul, who killed Qui-Gon, Windu realizes that the Sith have returned, and he and the Council reluctantly allow Obi-Wan to train Anakin in Qui-Gon's stead.^[6]

Attack of the Clones (2002)

In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, set 10 years after the previous film, Windu initially refuses to believe that the assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala on Coruscant was authorized by former Jedi Master Count Dooku, now the leader of a galactic Separatist movement. After Obi-Wan is captured on Geonosis while investigating the Separatists, Windu leads a cadre of Jedi to rescue him, Padmé and Anakin from being executed at Dooku's order. In the ensuing battle, Windu kills bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template for the Republic's army of clone troopers, before he and the other Jedi lead the Clone Army to victory in a battle with Dooku's forces. At the end of the film, with the Clone Wars begun, Windu resolves to keep a closer eye on the increasingly corrupt Galactic Senate.^[7]

Revenge of the Sith (2005)

In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, set three years after the beginning of the Clone Wars, Windu and the other members of the Jedi Council are concerned that the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine, may not relinquish his emergency powers when the Clone Wars end. Their suspicions only grow when the Senate grants Palpatine a vote on the Jedi Council by appointing Anakin as his personal representative. The Council makes Anakin a member, but Windu notifies Anakin that they do not grant him the rank of Jedi Master, infuriating the Jedi Knight and diminishing his trust in the council. Further, the Council orders Anakin to spy on Palpatine.

After Obi-Wan kills Separatist leader General Grievous, Palpatine reveals to Anakin that he is the Sith Lord the council had been searching for. Anakin informs Windu that Palpatine is Darth Sidious, the mastermind of the war. Telling Anakin to stay behind, Windu and three other Jedi Masters (Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin) try to arrest Sidious, but the Sith Lord easily cuts down Windu's companions and then duels him one-on-one. Windu gets the upper hand and subdues Sidious just as Anakin arrives. Anakin, needing Palpatine to teach him the power to prevent his wife Padmé's death, pleads with Windu to spare Sidious, remarking that killing an unarmed opponent goes against the Jedi way. Windu counters that Sidious is too dangerous to be kept alive and prepares to summarily execute him. However, Anakin intervenes on Sidious' behalf, disarming Windu by severing his right hand. Sidious kills Windu with a blast of Force lightning, sending him falling to his death out of his office's window.^[8] Sidious later uses Windu's death to brand the Jedi as traitors of the Republic and to initiate Order 66, which results in the vast majority of the Jedi being killed by clone troopers.^[9]

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Samuel L. Jackson makes a vocal cameo as Mace Windu in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. During the battle between Rey and a resurrected Darth Sidious, Windu's voice is heard by the former, encouraging her to fight back and finally destroy the Sith.

The Clone Wars (2008)

Windu plays a supporting role in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, set shortly after the beginning of the Clone Wars. He is depicted as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic, like all other Jedi Masters. Samuel L. Jackson reprised his role from the prequel film trilogy.^[10]

Shatterpoint

Mace Windu is the central character of Matthew Stover's 2004 novel Shatterpoint, taking place six months after Attack of the Clones. Stover based the novel on both Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness, and its 1979 film adaptation Apocalypse Now. George Lucas wrote the prologue to the novel, and Jonathan Davis reads the audiobook version.

Windu's former Padawan and fellow Jedi Master Depa Billaba has been sent to Windu's homeworld, Haruun Kal, to start a revolution against the Separatist-allied government. Evidence is discovered that Billaba has fallen to the dark side of the Force. Since Windu taught her a special lightsaber combat form, he is sent by the Jedi Council to find her.

After a fight, he puts Billaba under arrest, and calls a Republic cruiser. It is attacked by vulture droids and deploys gunships, which battle the droid starfighters with the assistance of clone troopers. Some of the landing craft make it to the surface, and the cruiser defeats the Separatists. Windu uses the gunships to destroy the droid fighters that followed them, then orders the clones to take out a nearby droid control station. The Separatists are forced to surrender to the Republic, and Billaba falls into a vegetative coma. A Republic force stays on the planet to police the unrestful local tribes.

The novel explores Windu's unique talent of sensing "shatterpoints", faultlines in the Force which allow him to exploit his enemies' weaknesses. It also explains that Windu is the creator and sole master of a style of lightsaber combat called Vaapad, in which the user skirts dangerously close to the dark side by enjoying the thrill of the fight. All others who attempted to master the form either gave in to the dark side or were unable to properly master the technique. Stover later referenced Windu's unique lightsaber-fighting abilities in his novelization of Revenge of the Sith. Vaapad was also acknowledged in the 2010 reference book The Jedi Path.^[17]