Qui-Gon Jinn

Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers

He is a major character in The Phantom Menace, where he and Obi-Wan are sent to Naboo to broker a resolution in a dispute between that planet and the Trade Federation. After rescuing Queen Amidala and escaping to Tatooine, they meet Anakin Skywalker, at the time a young slave boy with an extraordinary talent for pod racing that Qui-Gon discovers is due to his alignment with "The Force".

After Skywalker uses his talents to win a pod race, and thus his freedom and the parts necessary to continue to Coruscant, after political maneouverings there the party returns to Naboo to battle the Trade Federation and the mysterious Darth Maul. Qui-Gon is fatally injured in a duel with Darth Maul, and as he dies he makes Obi-Wan promise to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi.