The following comes from the back of the Qui-Gon Jinn action figure (courtesy of Sir Steve's.):

A wise and powerful Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn discovers young Anakin Skywalker, proving to be a pivotal event to the future of the Jedi and to the entire galaxy for generations to come. Qui-Gon Jinn comes equipped with a Lightsaber.

Official word on Liam Neeson's character is that he will be a well-respected Jedi who will be a mentor to Obi-Wan Kenobi. The CD "Behind the Magic" revealed that Liam Neeson's character mentors both Obi-Wan and Anakin to some degree. The character will be wise and noble, and Neeson's large stature and gentleness will aid him in the role (Star Wars Insider #34).

From Entertainment Weekly Jan 22-29, 1999 (scanned by T-Bone.)

While his name has yet to be officially revealed, Lucasfilm registered the domain names Qui-Gon.net, quigon.net, quigon.com, and qui-gon.com. "Qui-Gon Jinn is also registered in the US Trademark Database by Lucasfilm.

The official web site refers to this character as a venerable Jedi Knight. For those of you without a large vocabulary here is the American Heritage Dictionary's definition of "venerable":

adj. 1. Commanding respect by virtue of age, dignity, character or position. See synonyms at elderly. 2. Worthy of reverence, especially by religious or historical association. 3. Venerable. Abbr. Ven., V. a. Roman Catholic Church. Used as a form of address for a dead person who has reached the first stage of canonization. b. Used as a form of address for an archdeacon in the Anglican or Episcopal Church.

Delta Source: SPOILERS! Highlight the area below to uncover them!

Delta was the first to tell us that Qui-Gon Jinn is the name for this character (at least that's what he was called in Tunisia). Delta told us that some of Qui-Gon's scenes in Tunisia included Anakin's pod race, a fight with Darth Maul (see the French Premiere photos), and a scene in Watto's Junkyard.

The Imperial Droid also said that Qui-Gon Jinn was Liam Neeson's character's name. But the Imp Droid went further and told us that the character is actually Anakin's father, as many people had speculated based on the similarities between the French Premiere photos and a scene from the first draft of Star Wars. Other of our sources say he ISN'T Anakin's father. We'll see.

Prequel Watch's True Fan: SPOILERS! Highlight the area below to uncover them!

A while back True Fan told us what this character's costume would look like, and the French Premiere photos proved him right. True Fan also told us that this character would have a shade of grey philosophy on the Force. That meaning he wouldn't view it from simply a Light versus Dark perspective. Qui-Gon, who we now know is Anakin's father will have a hand in causing the rift between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Will it be a direct hand or an indirect hand? We don't know at this time.

In that first draft at the very beginning, Anakin's father and Anakin are on a desert planet and go to face a Dark Jedi in a duel. They play out a scene VERY similar to the one seen in the French Premiere magazine. Anyway, thanks to Jay Majer for reminding us of this.

Just for your reading pleasure, here's the section of the script we are referring to. It is from the rough draft of Star Wars written in May of 1974:

" With the aid of the electrobinoculars, Deak watches the running lights of the starship flash on and off. Suddenly, something huge moves in front of his field of view. Before either of the two young boys can react, a large, sinister SITH warrior in black robes and a face mask looms over them. He carries a long lazer- sword which cuts young Deak down before he or his brother are able to raise their weapons. The startled Annikin backs away in horror, then settles down and ignites his lazersword, which creates an eerie red glow. He stumbles over rocks as he attempts to avoid the charging SITH knight. The evil warrior swings his mighty lazersword, but Annikin manages to deflect the intended death- blow.

Finally, Annikin is able to assume a defensive stance, and the two warriors stand, sizing up each other. The black knight is at least seven feet tall, and dwarfs the young JEDI. They stand for a few moments, almost frozen, then in a flurry of blows, lazerswords clash with the sound of electric snapping and popping. Annikin is barely able to hold his own against the experienced knight. Many blows are exchanged before the SITH warrior is able to back Annikin up against a deep crevasse. Annikin stumbles and almost falls over the cliff to his death.

The black knight suddenly senses something behind him and whirls around to face Annikin's father, Kane Starkiller, a Jedi Bendu master. The Sith warrior raises his lazersword, but is cut in two before he can bring it down again. Kane moves to the fallen black knight, and studies him carefully. Annikin, still a little wobbly from the whole experience, attempts to stand. Kane sees his dead son Deak, and goes to him. He lifts him into his arms and begins to weep. Annikin stands bewildered, watching his father cradle his dead brother.

That's it. But just wondering, could Liam Neeson be playing Anakin Skywalker's father? Hmmmm.

NAME ORIGIN SPECULATION: Then here's some interesting speculation on the origin of the name "Qui-Gon Jinn" from Wayne Hopwood.

In the latest issue of Monday magazine (a free weekly newspaper delivered in Victoria, B.C. Canada) there is an article in the health section titled, "Qi-gong beyond the hype". It is about an Asian form of alternative healing, Qi-gong, involving breathing and other yoga-type exercises.

Here's where the parallel (to Qui-Gon Jinn of course) gets really blatant. The article reads:

"What is qi? 'Think of it as life force or energy.... Qi is everywhere. Everybody owns the qi themself.'"

Replace "qi" with "the force" in that sentence and you get what sounds like a sermon from that damn fool Obi-wan.

The article goes on to discuss the healing aspects and the controversy surrounding qi-gong. But I think this is far beyond coincidence, particularly in lieu of Mr. Lucas' apparent interest in life-force type of religions from the far East.

Well, that sounds as good as any theory we've heard so far! Thanks for the speculation and keep it coming!

We also received this email concerning the possible origin of Qui-Gon's name...

"I was reading through my email the other day and came across this (I subscribe to an Amazon.com newsletter about Eastern religion):

"The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing"

by Ken Cohen

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345395298

Qigong (ch'i kung) is the modern incarnation of a Chinese energy art that goes back over 2,000 years. With superior scholarship and scientific acumen, "The Way of Qigong" covers the entire range of theory and practice, including relaxation, meditation, massage, therapeutic touch, and postures. Qi (ch'i) means "life energy," and the goal of qigong, master and Chinese scholar Ken Cohen tells us, is "to train the mind to send qi where it is needed." In this encyclopedic work, Cohen teaches us not only how to do qigong, but what it means and how it benefits us, from what kind of tea is best in the summer to how to have better sex. Cohen is at his best when reducing arcane Chinese theories to plain English, and as a result, "The Way of Qigong" is as interesting as it is useful.

Qigong sounded very similar to Qui-Gon so I thought I should let you guys know. If you think it useful, maybe you should get the book...Hope this was helpful..."

-Anonymous

One of our sources said that Neeson's character was named Talkron, which proved incorrect.

Harry Knowles says that his sources know who Liam Neeson's character is. They are saying it is a guy tentatively called 'BOSH'. Bosh is apparently the 'good version' of Vader who leads the Jedi Knights. Apparently he is a student of Yoda (Yoda has retired from fighting). (Kind of a reverse of the Vader/Palpatine relationship).

Harry Knowles' Galahad: Galahad claims that the scene that introduces Liam Neeson's character will be as follows:

A certain Tatooine village is attacked by Krayt Dragons in the night. Just as certain doom seems eminent for the villagers the Neeson Jedi appears and like a knight of legend and slays the lead dragon. Galahad said that the Krayt Dragons may be replaced with Sand People if the cost of doing the scene with the dragons would be too high.

Bail Organa: This character will not be Bail Organa, as was reported by the Internet Movie Database (among others). That whole Bail Organa thing never made sense anyway; Bail Organa would have never survived Vader and Palpatine's Jedi Purge were he a Jedi. He would be too easy to track down--and he certainly wouldn't have been allowed to maintain his seat in the Imperial Senate.