Zett Jukassa

"Get him!"

―A clone trooper chasing Zett Jukassa^[5]

Zett Jukassa was a human male Padawan of the Jedi Order during the time of the Galactic Republic. He was present in the Jedi Archives, the Order's library within the Jedi Temple on the planet Coruscant, in 22 BBY. Three years later, in 19 BBY, Order 66 was declared by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, leading to clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic attacking the Jedi Temple. As Jukassa attempted to flee the siege, he came across several troopers. Although he was able to incapacitate a number of them, Jukassa was slain in battle by Clone Sergeant Fox as Senator Bail Organa watched.

Biography[]

"No!"

―Bail Organa's reaction to Jukassa's death^[5]

Zett Jukassa was born in 29 BBY^[1] and, after being trained as a Jedi of the Jedi Order, he attained the rank of Padawan^[3] during the time of the Galactic Republic. Prior to the start of the Clone Wars,^[6] in 22 BBY,^[7] Jukassa was present in the Order's library, the Jedi Archives, located in the Jedi Temple on the Core Worlds planet of Coruscant. As Jedi librarian Jocasta Nu conversed with Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jukassa walked up to Nu, who then attended to him after finishing with Kenobi^[6] as Jukassa understood the importance of a Jedi's studies.^[4]

Zett Jukasa Order 66 — Jukassa fights clone troopers during the execution of Order 66.

In 19 BBY,^[2] Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, issued Order 66 to the clone troopers of the Grand Army of the Republic, labeling the entire Jedi Order as traitors to the state. As such, Jukassa and his Jedi brethren were forced to fight for their lives when the Sith Lord Darth Vader and the Grand Army of the Republic's 501st Legion stormed the Temple with orders to exterminate its inhabitants.^[5] Jukassa attempted to flee via one of the Temple hangars,^[8] but he ran into a group of clone troopers on the landing platform.^[5] The Padawan fought heroically against them^[3] with his lightsaber, executing a flip and killing several clones,^[5] as well as striking down Commander Appo,^[8] before being shot and killed^[5] by Clone Sergeant Fox.^[9] Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, who had arrived to investigate the disturbance at the Temple, witnessed the entire fight^[5] and was horrified by Jukassa's death.^[3]

In 18 BBY,^[10] Organa experienced nightmares about the night that he witnessed Jukassa die. In some versions of the dream, he was able to save the Padawan; in others, the clones shot Organa as well as Jukassa. When Organa learned of Jedi activity on the Outer Rim Territories moon of Raada, it filled his heart with dread as he remembered the night of Order 66.^[11]

Personality and traits[]

Appo Jukassa — Zett Jukassa wounded Commander Appo during the 501st Legion's assault on the Jedi Temple.

Though only a young Jedi at the time of Order 66, Zett Jukassa heroically fought back against the invading clone troopers^[3] with the courage and determination of a Jedi Knight. Jukassa was committed to protecting the Jedi Order. He was a human male and stood at 1.57 meters tall (5 feet, one inch).^[4] Jukassa had light skin, blue eyes, and he wore a Padawan braid in his brown hair.^[5]

Powers and abilities[]

During the night of Order 66, Jukassa used his lightsaber to overwhelm a group of clone troopers.^[5] As a formidable warrior,^[4] he was able to deflect blaster shots with his lightsaber, parrying several shots before being fatally wounded.^[5]

Equipment[]

Jukassa wore simple, gray Jedi robes and carried a blue-bladed lightsaber.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

"Jett really did well. He likes to play, so when we rehearsed with him we would have half an hour of playing and half an hour of rehearsing. I think he was keeping a whole load back. He actually nailed it in the first few days and he just wanted to come and play, because when he went on the set he did it in his sleep. There was no trouble at all for him."

―Nick Gillard on the performance of Jett Lucas^[12]

ZettJukassa-ChromeBlack2023 — Zett Jukassa was portrayed by Jett Lucas.

Jett Lucas, son of Star Wars creator George Lucas, portrayed Zett Jukassa^[12] in the 2002 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,^[6] as well as the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, where he was first identified in its credits.^[5] In a deleted sequence from Episode II, Jukassa walks by Obi-Wan Kenobi on a flight of stairs and nods at him. Around twenty takes of the scene were shot.^[13] The character's name was changed several times during production of Episode III; his alternate names included Titi Jukassa, Tado Jukassa, and simply Tado. Ultimately, it was decided that he would be known as Zett Jukassa.^[14] His scene for Revenge of the Sith—which was numbered 113—was filmed on Monday, July 28, 2003 on Stage 5 at Shepperton Studios. The set was raised and filmed on a bluescreen.^[15]

For the role, Lucas trained with stunt coordinators Nick Gillard and Kyle Rowling on how to use his lightsaber to fight against the digitally created clone troopers. Before they taught him more complicated moves, they began with basic techniques such as sword twirling. For Jukassa's flip, Gillard originally intended to have Lucas perform it in wires. While the scene was indeed recorded in that manner, Lucas was later asked to jump and pretend to land, with the rest being done digitally. George Lucas's direction for Jukassa was to act angry for the scene. Gillard, as well as Lucas's sister, Katie Lucas, thought that Jett did quite well in his portrayal of Jukassa.^[12]

In the Star Wars Legends continuity, Lucas chose for his character in Episode II to be known as Padawan Warpoc Skamini,^[14] though after the release of Episode III, the two characters were merged into one via a backstory^[12] revealed in "Order 66: Destroy All Jedi," a magazine article written by Daniel Wallace and published in the 87th issue of the Star Wars Insider magazine^[16] on April 17, 2006.^[17] Wallace did not remember where the Skamini name originated from.^[18] Jukassa's StarWars.com Databank entry confirmed that the two roles were still intended to be one character in the new Star Wars canon.^[3]