The Jedi Temple Guard functioned as a security force under the authority of the Jedi Order. Their primary responsibility was safeguarding the Jedi Temple situated on Coruscant, which served as the capital planet for the Galactic Republic. This role was a deeply rooted and respected custom within Jedi history. Temple Guards were Jedi Knights chosen from the existing Jedi ranks, embracing anonymity as sentinels as a testament to their lifelong dedication to the Order. Their identities were obscured by formal robes and a mask, and their position demanded absolute emotional detachment as a supreme calling. These Guards wielded lightsaber pikes—double-bladed lightsabers emitting yellow plasma blades—or similar hinged double-bladed lightsabers, and they operated under the command of the head of security, Jedi Master Cin Drallig. During the Clone Wars, Barriss Offee, a Jedi Knight, faced arrest by the Temple Guards for her treasonous acts directed against both the Order and the Republic.
As the Clone Wars drew to a close, the Jedi Temple's fall occurred, and the Galactic Empire ascended to power. Amidst these events, one Guard survived the Great Jedi Purge by swearing his loyalty to Darth Sidious. He subsequently joined the Inquisitorius—a group of Jedi hunters trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force by Sidious' Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. This former Guard then received the title of Grand Inquisitor.
During the Age of the Empire, the Grand Inquisitor took his own life after failing to defeat Padawan Kanan Jarrus. In response, Vader, acting on the Emperor's orders, dispatched additional Inquisitors to pursue the Jedi fugitive and his companions. When Jarrus ventured to the abandoned Jedi Temple on Lothal, he encountered spectral representations of several Temple Guards, including the Grand Inquisitor as he appeared when he was still a Jedi, through a Force vision. After successfully completing the Jedi Trials, the spectral figure knighted Jarrus, bestowing upon him the status of a fully recognized Knight of the Jedi Order, a position the Inquisitor once held before falling from the light side of the Force.
The Jedi Temple Guard stood as a long-standing and revered institution within the sacred grounds of the Jedi Temple, reporting directly to the security chief, Cin Drallig. These Temple Guards were anonymous Jedi Knights carefully selected from the ranks of the Order. Recognized as some of the most skilled warriors the Jedi Order could offer, they pledged their lives to protect the various Jedi temples until their end. The Guards concealed themselves within brown robes and masks designed to hide their identities, symbolizing the profound emotional detachment demanded of them.
The Jedi Temple Guard armor robes were constructed with layers of armorweave, providing a reliable defense against both blaster fire and lightsaber attacks. The masks incorporated a comlink along with a scanner embedded within the helmet. Temple Guards were equipped with lightsaber pikes—robust, double-bladed lightsabers that emitted a distinctive yellow blade. Some Temple Guards also used a single-bladed variant. Each lightsaber was specifically assigned to the guards to help maintain the anonymity of their ranks. Despite their primary role as protectors of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, they were authorized to leave the planet for missions beyond its borders.
The responsibility of safeguarding the Jedi Temple on Coruscant fell to the Jedi Temple Guards. During the Sith Wars, at least one Temple Guard participated in the Great Scourge of Malachor, a conflict against the Sith that spanned from approximately 5000 BBY to around 1032 BBY. The battle concluded with the activation of a superweapon within the Malachor Sith Temple, resulting in the annihilation of all Jedi and Sith present, leaving behind only their petrified remains. The Temple Guard's mask was left behind on the steps of the Sith temple for centuries.
In 382 BBY, during the High Republic Era, several Temple Guards accompanied Jedi Master Ela Sutan and three other Jedi on a mission to the planet Dalna. Their objective was to investigate the Path of the Open Hand cult, suspected of conducting a clandestine campaign against the Jedi. This mission occurred shortly after Jedi Knight Aida Forte and Jedi Master Creighton Sun were also dispatched to Dalna. Sutan's team, which included the Temple Guards, entered the cave systems beneath the Path compound, where they encountered significant resistance and blaster fire from the cult members. As the mission escalated into a battle known as the Night of Sorrow, Sutan contacted Sun to report their situation, explaining that they were unable to assist his team due to being pinned down.
During the Clone Wars, Temple Guards were present to respond to the aftermath of the Jedi Temple Bombing. Later, several Temple Guards intervened in a lightsaber duel between Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and the renegade Padawan Barriss Offee. After Offee was exposed for framing Ahsoka Tano, Temple Guards escorted her into custody.
During Order 66, Skywalker, now Darth Vader, attacked the Jedi Temple alongside clone troopers. As Skywalker and the clones approached the Temple, one of the Temple Guards recognized Skywalker, uttering his name in confusion before being killed by the fallen Jedi.
The Grand Inquisitor, a Pau'an who led the Galactic Empire's Inquisitors, was previously a Temple Guard and Jedi Knight. Approximately three years before the Battle of Yavin, spectral Temple Guards, including the Pau'an who became the Grand Inquisitor, appeared in Kanan Jarrus' Force vision at the Jedi Temple on Lothal. After dueling with him, the spectral form of the Pau'an Guard knighted him as a Jedi Knight. These spectral guards later hindered the Inquisitors known as the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister, enabling Kanan and his companions to escape into hyperspace aboard the Phantom.
A Temple Guard helmet was among the Jedi artifacts and treasures collected by Grand Admiral Thrawn and Grakkus the Hutt. Following Order 66, some of their equipment survived in private collections and hidden corners of the galaxy. A mask was displayed in Luthen Rael's Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest in 5 BBY.
At Dragon Con 2018, Henry Gilroy shared an idea suggesting that the Grand Inquisitor murdered the other Jedi Temple Guards during Order 66, facilitating Anakin Skywalker and the 501st Legion's access to the Jedi Temple.