Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda

Qui-Gon Jinn serves as the mentor character to both Obi-Wan and Anakin. We see this relationship between him and Obi-Wan as soon as they're introduced.

"Don't center on your anxieties, Obi-Wan. Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs," Qui-Gon teaches his apprentice. And although he isn't allowed to officially teach Anakin, he does sprinkle lessons about the Force during their time together and orders the youth to watch him and be mindful.

As we'll see in later films, both Anakin and Obi-Wan represent the generation to follow Qui-Gon's and several of the conflicts he begins in this film reverberate into their future, making his lessons important.

But Qui-Gon has his own lessons to learn. Defiant against authority, he'll do what he thinks is right regardless of what others believe. Yoda and the Jedi Council serve as mentors to Qui-Gon, attempting to show him a truth about Anakin he is unwilling to contemplate. Sure, he doesn't take their lessons to heart but it's not for their lack of trying.