This Legends-Era Star Wars Tale Showed Qui-Gon Jinn Was a Remorseless Killer

Qui-Gon Jinn is the epitome of what a Jedi should be in the Star Wars galaxy. He’s unmoved by the whims of the Senate or the Jedi Council, he listens intently to his feelings without suppression or guilt, and he is a loyal servant to the will of the Living Force. Qui-Gon was the best of them, and his short time in Star Wars canon was enough to make that sentiment utterly and unquestionably clear. However, there is a darker aspect to following the will of the Living Force than many fans may know, even for a light side wielding Jedi, and Qui-Gon proves it by being a remorseless killer (in Legends, anyway).

Qui-Gon Jinn made his debut in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace before dying at the end of that very same film. During the movie, Qui-Gon and his padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, acted as negotiators during a trading dispute on Naboo before being forced to flee to the nearby world of Tatooine, where they met and eventually recruited Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon took Anakin in as his new padawan before he died, and he did so after he saved the life of Jar-Jar Binks, effectively adding the Gungan to Qui-Gon’s little found-family. However, at the end of the day, Qui-Gon wasn’t afraid to fight a supposed Sith Lord to the death. Qui-Gon could save a life as quickly as he could try to take it, and this duality is why Qui-Gon was such a legendary Jedi. Though upon reading one Star Wars tale, that point is even more pronounced – and infinitely more brutal.

Qui-Gon Jinn Commits Brutal Murder In The Name Of The Living Force

In the Star Wars Tales #1 story titled “Life, Death and the Living Force” by Jim Woodring, Robert Teranishi, and Christopher Chuckry, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are on a mission before the events of Episode I on a mountainous jungle world. While Obi-Wan is nearly killed by one of the indigenous predators, Qui-Gon is busy saving an alien whose species is known for being deceitful and selfish. Qui-Gon offers him food, drink, and shelter, and the alien repays him by alerting some of the other members of its species to attack the Jedi’s camp with the intention of robbing and killing them. In response, Qui-Gon struck down the creature he just saved, and he did so without blinking an eye.

Qui-Gon’s willingness to kill someone even after he saved them was baffling to Obi-Wan, and he asked his master why he would do something like that. Qui-Gon knew the alien would betray him, yet he nursed him back to health anyway, only to kill him later that night when the alien obviously attacked. To Obi-Wan’s questions, Qui-Gon answered that his goal in life, and that of all Jedi, was to follow the will of the Living Force, and do as it guides. Earlier that day, Qui-Gon knew he had to help the creature in need, and upon his inevitable betrayal, it was his destiny to strike down the alien in order to preserve his own life. According to Qui-Gon, following the light side of the Force doesn’t mean pacifism, it means listening to the cosmic current surrounding them and doing what it says no matter the situation, even if it means committing murder.

In fact, later in this very story, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon track and kill a beast that’s cosmically linked to the dark side of the Force, despite the fact that it didn’t try to harm them first. They went into its lair and killed it in cold blood. This didn’t feel right to Obi-Wan, but Qui-Gon explained that they didn’t act on what was right or wrong, simply what was the will of the Force. That’s why Qui-Gon Jinn was such an elevated Jedi, why he wasn’t influenced by the Senate or the Jedi Council, and why he was such a remorseless killer in Star Wars’ Legends continuity.