Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace may have dissapointed millions of fans but it had a couple of really decent characters that deserved to survive beyond the end creditsl. In Qui Gon Jinn. Liam Neeson captured the Jedi as we always imagined they would be at their height of power; wise, skilled with a lightsaber and always in control of a situation. Qui Gon played a huge role in the Star Wars sage despite appearing in just one film. He rescued Anakin Skywalker from a life of slavery and set him on the path to becoming Darth Vader. The trouble with killing Qui Gon so early is that we never got such an interesting Jedi again. He wasn't afraid to oppose the council without every straying near towards the dark side. He had the ability to identify the motives of every character he met from Boss Nass and Watto, playing on their desires to his own agenda. He commanded the room at all times and he was the only Jedi to truly realise that his order needed to change before it died off completely. His death might have been tragic, but it denied us of a character that could have played a crucial role in the events to come. Imagine if it was Qui Gon who lost his hand to Anakin and was then killed by Palpatine instead of Mace Windu. Given the events of the first film that would have been a truly shocking and tragic moment in the Star Wars trilogy.