Star Wars: Who Was the First Jedi Ever? Meet the Prime Jedi

The Jedi Order is arguably the most important group in the entire Star Wars galaxy because it has been around for at least 25,000 years and has been involved in making sure that the galaxy was at peace because that was the job of the Jedi Order. As mentioned, this order has been around for thousands of years, yet we don’t know a lot about the history and origins of the Jedi Order in canon. So, who was the first Jedi ever?

Not yet named in the canon, the first Jedi in history is called the Prime Jedi. The Prime Jedi was the first to understand how to use the power of the Force. As such, he used this power to establish the Jedi Order and create the very first Jedi Temple on the hidden planet of Ahch-To.

At this point, we don’t know a lot about the Prime Jedi because the Disney acquisition rewrote the entire Star Wars canon. The older stories about the Jedi Order were regarded as Legends. Nevertheless, we know that Disney is set to explore the story of the first Jedi and how he was able to establish the Jedi Order and turn it into a peacekeeping faction.

The Prime Jedi’s origins

One of the things that we know about the Jedi Order is that it is seemingly essential to the survival of the Star Wars galaxy because the Jedi have to be around to ensure that the peace in the galaxy is protected. After all, the Jedi Order exists to serve as the peacekeeper of the entire galaxy, and that’s why the Jedi have always been there to fight tyranny and oust whoever wanted to plunge the entire galaxy into darkness.

The Jedi Order has existed for thousands of years, ensuring that different people around the galaxy were safeguarded from wars, tyranny, and oppression. That is why the Jedi Knights have been essential to the galaxy’s history. And we know that the Jedi Order has been safeguarding the galaxy’s peace for at least 25,000 years since the first Jedi established the Jedi Order.

However, in the current canon, the first Jedi in the galaxy’s history is yet to be named. But we know that he is often called the Prime Jedi because he was the first person ever to wield the Force. He probably wasn’t the first to be born with the ability to use the Force, but he was probably the first to understand how to harness this cosmic energy and use it to help people in need.

There’s also a good chance that the Prime Jedi was the one who built the Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, which was the very same planet that Luke Skywalker retreated to when he went into hiding after the fall of his own Jedi Order. In the events of ‘Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,’ the mosaic stones in the chamber of the Ahch-To temple actually depict the Prime Jedi, as the mosaic represents something similar to the yin and the yang symbols in the sense that there is a light side and the dark side. 

In that regard, there’s a good chance that the Prime Jedi also understood that the existence of the dark side was unavoidable and that those who practiced the Force also needed to accept their dark side while embracing their light side. As such, it is possible that the very first Jedi also used the dark side to some extent but never forgot the importance of using the light side of the Force.

We also know that the Prime Jedi was likely the one responsible for establishing the Jedi Order, as he was the one who built the first Jedi Temple. It is also possible that he created the Jedi Code that governs how the members of the Jedi Order should use the power of the Force.

Many of the rules that the Prime Jedi created were likely codified and written in the sacred Jedi text, but some of these rules are likely antiquated already because Yoda, in ‘The Last Jedi,’ told Luke that he shouldn’t stick to what the sacred texts say. Of course, we know that Rey stole the sacred texts and used these as the foundation of her mastery over the Force and in the rebuilding of the Jedi Order.

Aside from the fact that we know he is called the Prime Jedi and was the very first person to utilize the power of the Force, not much is known about this person in the Star Wars canon. But we also know that the Prime Jedi wielded a lightsaber, which is kind of odd because no one would think that he had that kind of technology 25,000 years ago. Still, this was depicted in the Jedi Temple on Ahch-To, as the canon has now changed the storyline involving the history of the lightsaber, which the Legends stories say was only invented thousands of years after the creation of the Jedi Order.

Of course, speaking of the Legends, there are completely different stories regarding the origin of the Jedi. Instead of only one Prime Jedi, the Jedi Order was established by four founders named Cala Brin, Garon Jard, Rajivari, and Ters Sendon. They all came together to form the Jedi Order in a manner that’s similar to how the four founders of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came together to establish the school.

And the Legends also allowed us to see that each founding Jedi’s different specialties and beliefs contributed to the different branches of beliefs in the Jedi Order.

Unlike in the canon, the Legends say that the Jedi Temple originated on Tython, the same planet where Din Djarin and Grogu went to when they wanted to contact any remaining Jedi in the galaxy. In that regard, the changes that the canon introduced regarding the creation of the Jedi Order are very much different compared to the story behind the creation of the Jedi Order in the Legends.

The dawn of the Jedi will be explored in canon

As you can see, not much is known about the creation of the Jedi Order and the identity of the Prime Jedi as far as the canon is concerned. But while that may be true, the good news is that Disney and Lucasfilm are going to go back 25,000 years into the past to explore the story behind the creation of the Jedi Order.

Announced in the 2023 Star Wars Celebration event, a film depicting the creation of the Jedi Order and the life of the Prime Jedi is currently in production, along with two other films introduced during that event. 

In that regard, the Star Wars canon is going to allow us to see what led to the creation of the Jedi Order and how the Prime Jedi discovered how to use the Force. And this might shed some light on the mysteries behind the Force, which originates in the canon side of Star Wars.

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