In England and Wales 390, 127 people ( almost 0. 8 %) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing Sikhism, Judaism, and Buddhism, and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the countries.

In the 2001 Census 2. 6 % of the population of Brighton claimed to be Jedi.

John Pullinger, Director of Reporting and Analysis for the Census, noted that many people who would otherwise not have completed a Census form did so solely to record themselves as Jedi, so this joke helped to improve the quality of the Census.

They requested that it be renamed the " UN Interstellar Day of Tolerance " and cited the 2001 Census showing 390, 000 Jedi in England and Wales.

One of the enduring influences the Star Wars saga has had in popular culture is the idea of the fictional Jedi values being interpreted as a modern philosophical path or religion, spawning various movements such as the controversial Jediism ( religious ) and the Jedi census phenomenon.

* Jedi census phenomenon

Jedi census phenomenon, 2001

The Jedi census phenomenon is a grassroots movement that was initiated in 2001 for residents of a number of English-speaking countries, urging them to record their religion as " Jedi " or " Jedi Knight " ( after the quasi-religious order of Jedi Knights in the fictional Star Wars universe ) on the national census.

The inclusion of the question enabled the Jedi census phenomenon to take place in the United Kingdom.

# REDIRECT Jedi census phenomenon

# REDIRECT Jedi census phenomenon

* Jedi census phenomenon

( See: Jedi census phenomenon ).

Category: Jedi religion

It is believed the majority of self-reported Jedi claimed the religion for their own amusement, to poke fun at the government, or as a protest against the inclusion of the religion question on the census form.

In the 2001 census, 21, 000 Canadians put down their religion as Jedi Knight.

The 2011 census preliminarily recorded 15, 070 people answering the voluntary question on religion as belonging to the Jedi religion, described by the Czech Statistics Office as " the moral values of the Jedi knights ".

On the other hand many people encouraged others in discussions and then media to fill the Jedi religion prior 2011 census ( as a form of protest against range, overall cost and obligatory filling of the census ), which is probably the cause.

In a May 2012 review of the 2011 census, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee asked the Central Statistics Office about the reliability of self-reported answers, instancing people listing Jedi as their religion.

New Zealand had the highest per capita population of reported Jedi in the world that year, with 1. 5 % marking " Jedi " as their religion.

If Jedi were counted it would have been the second largest religion in New Zealand.

There was a fall in the number of New Zealand Jedi five years later, with some 20, 000 people giving this as their religion in the 2006 census.

File: Jedi_census_phenomenon_2001. pdf | The 2001 census of England and Wales showing the distribution of respondents who described their religion as " Jedi.

In Scotland 14, 052 people stated that Jedi was their current religion ( 14, 014 " Jedi ", 24 " Jedi Order " and 14 " Sith ") and 2, 733 stated that it was their religion of upbringing ( 2, 682 " Jedi ", 36 " Jedi Order " and 15 " The Dark Side ") in the 2001 census.

The Jedi are first introduced in the 1977 motion picture Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope as an order of warrior monks who serve as " the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy " and embrace the mystical Force.

In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace ( 1999 ), Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn ( Liam Neeson ) discovers nine year old Anakin Skywalker ( Jake Lloyd ), whom he believes to be the " Chosen One " of Jedi prophecy who is destined to bring balance to the Force ; the boy is eventually paired with Qui-Gon's apprentice, the young Obi-Wan Kenobi ( Ewan McGregor ), who promises to train him.

* Padawan: A Youngling who successfully completes training then undergoes Padawan training under the tutelage of a Jedi Knight ( or Jedi Master in some cases ).

Gray Jedi is the term that refers to Force Users in the Expanded Universe who have left either the Jedi Order or the Sith and do not believe that there is a strict division between the light and dark sides of the Force.

The US Army had a group of officers in the early 1980s who promoted maneuver warfare tactics, and who were derisively known as Jedi by more conventional officers who were satisfied with attrition tactics and methods.

The 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats stars Ewan McGregor as a reporter named Bob Wilton who follows a former soldier ( George Clooney ) who claimed to be a " Jedi warrior ", a nickname for psychic spies in the US military.

As with the previous game in the series, the player controls Kyle Katarn, a former Jedi who cut his link with The Force after almost succumbing to the Dark Side.

There are four main antagonists: Desann, a former Jedi who killed a fellow student before leaving the Jedi Order ; Tavion, Desann's apprentice ; Galak Fyyar, one of the leaders of the Imperial Remnant ; and Reelo Baruk, a crime lord posing as a " respectable garbage collector " on Nar Shaddaa.

Having forsaken the ways of the Jedi, Kyle is easily bested by Desann, who orders Tavion to kill Jan.

After Padmé dies in childbirth, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda decide that they must hide the Skywalker children from their father, former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who has recently turned to the dark side of the Force and become the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Their troubles are not yet over, however ; when the Vong unleash the deadly voxyn, Leia is targeted by a Voxyn master slayer who has already killed many Jedi.

In The Joiner King, Han and Leia follow various Jedi who had disappeared into the Unknown Regions, and discover Raynar Thul is alive and had been taken in by a nest of Killiks.

During the Legacy of the Force series, set some 35 years after Return of the Jedi, Leia supports Han, who feels allegiance to his native Corellia, even though she remains a Jedi Knight.

Finally, when the newly located Galactic Senate on Mon Calamari sets out to vote for a new Chief of State, Calrissian and Talon Karrde provide " incentives " such as silence, money, and blackmail to convince a group of corrupt senators to vote for Cal Omas, who supports the Jedi.

In the comic book series Star Wars: Legacy, set 133 years after Return of the Jedi, Luke appears as a Force ghost to his descendant Cade Skywalker, who has renounced his connection to the Force.

Qui-Gon's life prior to Episode I is mainly detailed in the Jedi Apprentice book series.

The Star Wars: Legacy comic book series, set 130 years after Return of the Jedi, explains that, during a civil war, the New Galactic Empire known as the Fel Empire declares war on the Galactic Alliance, the successor state of the New Republic.

* Star Wars Jedi Quest 8: The Changing of the Guard, the eighth book in the Star Wars Jedi Quest series by Jude Watson

* The Unifying Force ( 2003 ) was the final book of the New Jedi Order series.

According to an ongoing comic book series from Dark Horse called Star Wars: Legacy, which takes place 125 years after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Cade Skywalker, son of Kol Skywalker and a direct descendant of Luke Skywalker, is the last surviving Skywalker of his time.

The comic book series Star Wars: Republic explains that exiled Jedi Sharad Hett and his son A ' Sharad Hett lived among the Tusken Raiders for many years.

* Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic, a 1990s comic book miniseries

In the Dark Empire II comic book, a pre-Order 66 Jedi, Kam Solusar, is depicted.

He is a major antagonist in the Jedi vs. Sith comic book series, and the protagonist of the novels Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Darth Bane: Rule of Two and Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil.

The Lost City of the Jedi is the second book of the Jedi Prince series by Paul Davids and Hollace Davids, and was released in June 1992.

* The cover art for Uncanny X-Men # 141 was subject of an homage in a Star Wars Insider cover with Obi-Wan Kenobi standing in front of a wanted poster with Jedi Knights instead of mutants, and for the cover of a " Myriad Universes " Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book where Captain Picard and Wesley Crusher stood in front of a poster featuring Starfleet officers.

Beside the journals of Princess Leia, Queen Amidala ( 1999 ), and Darth Maul ( 1999 ), Watson is the author of three series that comprise about forty books: Jedi Apprentice ( except for the first book ), Jedi Quest, and The Last of the Jedi.

Cameo appearances in the movie include Kevin Smith ( filmmaker and comic book writer ), Hugh Hefner ( originator of Playboy ), Stan Lee of Marvel Comics, Lloyd Kaufman ( filmmaker and president of Troma Films ), actor Bruce Campbell, Peter David ( comic book writer ), Paul Dini ( comic book and animated series writer ), Bruce Timm ( comic book and animated series writer ), David Prowse ( who played Darth Vader opposite Hamill in Star Wars ), actor Peter Mayhew ( who played Chewbacca alongside Hamill in Star Wars ), actor Jeremy Bulloch ( who played Boba Fett alongside Hamill in The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi ), actor and voiceover performer Edd Hall, special effects designer Greg Nicotero, and Matt Groening ( creator of the comic Life in Hell and animated TV series The Simpsons and Futurama ).

However, in the comic book series Tales of the Jedi: Golden Age of the Sith and Tales of the Jedi: The Fall of the Sith Empire, there is a Hutt character named Aarrba who is sympathetic to the main characters, Gav and Jori Daragon.

Ghost of the Jedi is the fifth book in the Galaxy of Fear series by John Whitman set in the Star Wars galaxy shortly after Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.