Office of the Chief
All-Departments Memorandum
December 12, 2409

Hey all,

There's been some confusion in the break room here at Headquarters the past few days as to just who is who and what is what over in the Order of Jedi Knights, and I was surprised to note, after a quick poke through the back issues, that I've never actually sent out a memo explaining the rank system and whatnot they're using over there. The problem is compounded somewhat by the fact that they sometimes use the same term in a couple of different ways, and if you don't have a crib sheet, it can be tricky to know which one they mean at any given point.

So here's a quick rundown, compiled by yours truly with some help from our colleagues on Alderaan.

Rank Structure of the Jedi Order

There are basically four ranks within the Order, though they don't correspond precisely to the formal ranks used by, e.g., Tac Div or the Space Force. That is to say, they reflect relative seniority within the Order and not necessarily a chain of command.

Novice - Master Yoda tells me this rank was traditionally called "youngling" in the old order, but back then, almost all Jedi joined the order as infants, toddlers at the oldest. Nowadays things aren't quite so linear, so the Jedi Council chose a name that would be less patronizing to those who joined later in life when they set down the reconstituted Order's ground rules back in '06. As the name suggests, novices have only recently joined the Order and are still learning the basics of the trade. They may or may not overtly manifest power over, or have useful control over, the Force. Novices aren't permitted to carry lightsabers and may not present themselves as representing Jedi authority - they have to have direct supervision if they're going into the field.

Novice is never capitalized (unless it's at the beginning of the sentence, of course!), and isn't used as a title of address. Jedi novices should simply be addressed by the appropriate title for gender, species, and/or language preference (Mr. Smith, Aklad Keromor, Noguchi-san).

Padawan - The second rank of Jedi used to be almost always teenagers, though nowadays we're seeing more adult padawans. (The word padawan, by the way, is from ancient Atlantean; it comes from that civilization's equivalent of Earth's age of chivalry and translates pretty directly to squire.) Padawans have developed enough of a rapport with the Force that they can no longer be considered novices, but haven't yet been deemed ready to take their trials for knighthood. They're required to carry lightsabers, and are expected to build their own at some point before the trials. Depending on the circumstances, padawans may find themselves operating on their own and representing the Order, but it's more customary to find them operating with a mentor (see below). (For those of you familiar with Katsujinkenryuu, this is roughly equivalent to the journeyman rank.)

As a general descriptive term, padawan need not be capitalized; only when used as a title of address (e.g. "Padawan Johnson").

Jedi Knight - In the old days, passing one's trials automatically carried with it a knighthood from the Atlantean crown - in Standard, it'd be more correctly rendered something like Jedi, Knight of the Empire of Stars. Today the term "knight" is symbolic. To become a Jedi Knight, a padawan usually has to face a series of trials, many of which are kept as closely guarded secrets by the Order. It's not unheard-of for a padawan who has survived and succeeded in some particularly dangerous field situation to have that ordeal taken into account in lieu of the trials; that's generally the Jedi Council's call. Jedi Knights may speak with the full authority of the Order, though some choose not to; they may operate as agents of the Council or on their own. They may also take (or be assigned, depending) a student, usually of padawan rank, to guide toward the trials.

Unlike members of many other knightly orders, Jedi Knights should not be addressed as Sir or Dame $FIRSTNAME. It's become customary for holders of this rank to be called simply "Jedi $LASTNAME". When used descriptively, the full phrase Jedi Knight should always be used, with Knight capitalized.

Jedi Master - The most senior and respected members of the Order are chosen as Jedi Masters based mainly on peer acclamation. It's customary for a Jedi Knight who has successfully guided a student through the trials of knighthood to be extended this honor, though that doesn't always happen (and, on the flip side, is not always necessary). A Jedi Master has little more formal authority than a Jedi Knight (unless a member of the Council), but in practice they command considerable moral authority. They may take on more than one student at a time, though this is considered unusual (and frowned upon by some of the more traditionalist Jedi).

Unsurprisingly, Jedi Masters should be addressed as "Master"; those with multi-part names generally choose one part to use in everyday conversation (for instance, Slaarti Pinarovic Teslure prefers "Master Slaarti", while Jason Lock prefers "Master Lock"). Again, when used descriptively, the full phrase Jedi Master should be used.

Roles and Forms of Address Within the Jedi Order

Now, here's where it gets a little sticky.

Long-standing custom provides for several different uses of the word master when describing or addressing a Jedi. For instance, it's considered correct and polite to address any non-novice member of the Order whose name you don't know as "Master Jedi", regardless of rank. Likewise, it's customary to extend the courtesy title of "Master" to any Jedi who has a personal student, even if he doesn't hold the rank of Jedi Master.

There are also two different uses of the word padawan within the Order. It denotes a rank, but in addition, a student specifically assigned to a particular teacher/mentor is commonly described as that teacher's padawan learner. These two usages almost always overlap, but it is possible for a Jedi holding the rank of padawan not to have a single assigned teacher, and thus not be anyone's padawan learner. The Jedi themselves sometimes get this one wrong, using the two terms as interchangeable, but there is a difference, and it is occasionally significant in practice.

Furthermore, it's become commonplace to refer to all followers of the Jedi ways by the blanket term Jedi Knights - the Order's own name does this - even though they don't all actually hold the rank by that name. It's more correct to just use Jedi, but in practice, not even the Jedi themselves do.

Now add to all this the fact that not all Jedi fit neatly within the tidy structure outlined above. The Order existed more in spirit than in name for many centuries before we set it up as a department of the IPO, and not everyone who considers himself a Jedi has "come in from the cold," as it were. And there are those who have established contact, but not joined the IPO (and thus placed themselves under the authority of the Council on Alderaan). There are even a few (I'm looking at you, Kyle Katarn) who joined the IPO but don't answer to the Council.

That's their preogative and I would never suggest that they be leaned on to join up or say they should be excluded altogether - but it does muddy the terminological waters a bit more, since the ronin Jedi (if you'll pardon the phrase) tend to make their own decisions as to who holds which rank. Indie Jedi (hmm, no, that just makes me picture Jedi music snobs) who take students on their own initiative often take to calling those students their padawans and themselves adopt the title of Jedi Master immediately, where a recruit of the more formal Order would spend some time as a novice, and Jedi Knights with padawan learners aren't uncommon.

Again, I'm not condemning this; it's just something to keep in mind if you should happen to run into a Jedi who isn't an IPO member out in the wild. Proceed carefully and try to avoid making embarrassing assumptions, is all I'm saying.

There! Now, in the usual manner of memos, that will either clear the whole thing up, or ensure that the confusion is so profound that no one will ever get it right again.

--G.

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