Juyo and Vaapad

Mace Windu demonstrating
the Vaapad fighting style.

In my own writing, I like to create my own metals, my own magic systems, and my own races. I suppose that fighting styles are up there too (demons do not go quietly into the night). Here's one from the Clone Wars that caught my eye and probably answers the question that always nagged me: Could Mace Windu defeat the Emperor if Anakin hadn't been a douchebag? The answer is "Yes" because Mace Windu was not only one of the most powerful Jedi, but also the creator of the Vaapad fighting style.

Juyo/Vaapad, a.k.a. "The Way of the Vornskr" is the seventh of seven forms recognized as canon for lightsaber combat by the Jedi Council of the Old Order. Juyo itself was described as the most vicious form of lightsaber combat and was said to involve significant internal focus on the part of the user. Members of the Sith, such as Darth Maul, employed Juyo without reservation. You guys remember how awesome Darth Maul looked, right? Well that's Juyo.

Mace Windu created the style Vaapad from Juyo. He explained it as a state of mind rather than just a fighting style, allowing the wielder to channel his own inner darkness into the duel, and accept the fury of the opponent.

"Six there were for generations of Jedi. The seventh, is not well-known. Powerful form it is. Deadliest of all. But dangerous it is, for its master as well as its opponent. Few have studied. One student alone, to mastery has risen."
                                                          --Yoda

Here's a clip from the 2003 Clone Wars that shows Mace Windu

just being completely awesome. The animation is poor but it's 

really fun to watch. You can kind of see the makings of the 

C.G.I. Series that aired on Cartoon Network years later.

Witnesses of a true practitioner of Juyo say that it is filled with both fury and malignant grace. Skilled combatants of Juyo were said to be able to eviscerate a lone enemy. It's use was controversial among the Jedi Order as many felt it violated the "there is no emotion, there is peace" tenet of the Jedi Code. Have a great Thursday and may the Force be with you.

Was Mace Windu More Powerful Than Yoda?

I purchased Star Wars: The Clone Wars seasons one and two on blu-ray disk and started watching them over the weekend. Done by Cartoon Network, these are quite simply, incredible. I mean, the dialogue could be a little better and is pretty much dumb-downed for a "young adult" audience but it's more than made up by the amount of detail and animation that is shown on the screen. 

Example, I can see reflections on chrome lightsabers that adjust with body movement! In one battle, Luminara Undulee (one of the Jedi Masters and probably my favorite amongst the minor characters) got burned by a steam vent while in a duel with Asagi Ventress (she's the Sith apprentice to Count Dooku) and I could see that one of her eyes was a little red and inflamed.  I thought to myself...wow...they really put detail into this. I mean, even on the clone troopers you can see different scarring and dirt on the armor and helmets.

So yeah, it got me thinking about Episode III: Revenge of the Sith--it's the movie that brought everything full circle in the Star Wars universe and gave us Luke and Leia, showed us how Yoda and Obi-Wan learned how to become force ghosts etc.  It also caused me to contemplate the burning questions which I present to you, my fellow nerds of the blogosphere. 

Was Mace Windu more powerful than Yoda?

Here's all that I know from watching the movies.

1. Palpatine threw Force lightning at Yoda during the initial part of their fight, whilst doing his typical villain monologue. Now. This should've given enough time for Yoda to prepare. Yoda was nailed by the lightning and sent flying across the room, and was knocked temporarily unconscious.

2. Yoda got up and "Force-pushed" Palpatine across the room, where he flipped over his desk. Palpatine got RIGHT BACK up. I believe his endurance is greater than Yoda. Their both old men, though.

3. Palpatine (remember, he said in the movie "all who gain power are afraid to lose it" - he didn't know if he could take Yoda. So what did he do? He tried to run. Yoda was quicker to the door and confronted him. Realizing he couldn't escape - he STOOD and FOUGHT. Notice he did NOT try to escape after that.

4. Palpatine HELD OFF YODA. Yoda went on the offensive. He was looking to KILL Palpatine - NOT vice versa. Well, Palps was on the defensive. Yoda was on the offensive. YODA was the one looking to cut Palpatine. And he didn't succeed.

5. So the fight went into the Senate Chamber. Palpatine switched to the offensive. He was chucking Senate pods left and right at Yoda. Yoda's pretty agile - and dodged them all. Then he threw one back - but had a difficult time doing so. Palpatine was laughing - notice this. At the time, he wasn't taking Yoda seriously. His mistake. Palpatine lept out of the way just as the pod closed in on him.

6. Yoda pursued Palpatine and closed in on him - but Palpatine also went on the offensive and fired Force lightning. They were both closing on each other. Yoda was holding Palpatine's lightning at bay - and Palpatine was continuing to hurl it - and both were struggling to keep these feats up. Yoda threw the lightning back at Palpatine who flipped over the Senate pod. Yoda is obviously much smaller than Palpatine - and went flying in return.

Now.

Previously in a battle with Mace Windu, Palpatine killed three Jedi Masters in three seconds. This is an impressive feat that I'm reminding you of before you come to a decision. Do remember that even the book and EU material states these three - such as Kit Fisto - to be excellent duelists and worthy of their title as Jedi Masters. So. Basically - he took down THREE Jedi Masters - the equivelant to a Sith Lord - and cut them down in three seconds. By himself.

Maul couldn't do this. Dooku couldn't do this. And Anakin couldn't do this.

I don't have proof that Palpatine orchestrated the fight between him and Mace. All I know is, Palpatine's manipulations and skills at orchestration are far greater than Yoda or Mace could ever dream of. So maybe he purposely lost to Mace. Or maybe he didn't.

But if he didn't, Mace Windu beat Palpatine and had him on the ground and withstood a full volley of force lightning by himself. The only reason Mace Windu lost was because Anakin walked in and backstabbed him.

So what do you guys think? Is Mace Windu more powerful than Yoda?