Jedi-like groups in other worlds?

[schneefink]

I'm trying to get my thoughts about the Jedi in order. (I finally have a Star Wars icon, even!) For comparison I'm looking for other canons that have people with special powers that are sometimes born among the population and whose existence is general knowledge.

So far I have:
- the telepaths in Babylon 5
- the mutants (or other super-powered people, but mutants fit best) in X-Men/Marvel and other superhero stories
- benders in Avatar:tla and LoK, though they're a bit more wide-spread
- chakra users in Naruto
- wizards and witches and magicians in several fantasy worlds: right now I can only think of Tortall and Emelan, but I know I'm missing some obvious ones, even excluding the many I don't know. Uprooted qualifies.

Which other groups/worlds can you think of?

Comments

[devon]

Bene Gesserit in the Dune series? There is training, like Jedis have, but I think they have to be born with the talent. All the ruling/noble families know about them, but I'm not sure if people on "rural" planets know about them.

[schneefink]

Possibly, I don't remember much about them. Don't they keep the majority of their talents/abilities hidden? Probably a smart move.

[skygiants]

Heralds of Valdemar! Very Jedi-esque; telepathic powers AND a divine message that announces to the world that they're the best and specialist and most altruistic people there are.

[schneefink]

The people with the white not-horses, right? I only know them from crossovers.
So the fact that they are Chosen is seen as proof that they are good people? Convenient.

[skygiants]

ISN'T IT JUST. The white horses only choose people with the right mindset, see. A very HEROIC mindset.

[beatrice_otter]

I wouldn't downplay the religious aspect of the Jedi, though--that makes them like the Bene Gesserit from Dune and unlike, say, the PsiCorps.

[schneefink]

I mostly got the impression that the Jedi order was a pretty low-key religion. They don't really have a lot of strong beliefs (that I'm aware of), and I could imagine that they're pretty flexible. They also seem to value "be a good person" over "follow the religion."
I'd love to hear your thoughts on that :)

[beatrice_otter]

And yet, it's strong enough that Vader is publicly known (and scorned for) his devotion to it.

If you listen to Yoda, there's a whole lot of theology being crammed into the lessons. It's not just "this is how you use the Force, this is what it is and why it is and the nature of Good and Evil (and how those apply to the Jedi) and all sorts of things.

[schneefink]

Yes, but the reason why people don't take Vader's devotion to the Force seriously is because they don't believe the Force exists and they think it's just superstitious nonsense. It's likely that after the end of the Jedi after a while people only remember the lightsabers. Palpatine might even have encouraged that: better to have extra tricks up his sleeve that people don't know (much) about.

Yoda is certainly religious, and in my estimation Qui-Gon as well. But Obi-Wan seemed less so, for example, and Anakin also doesn't seem like the religious type. The Jedi also don't seem to attempt to spread their religion beyond the members of the Jedi order.