The Force

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship."

"The Force" is the name given to the metaphysical, spiritual, binding, and ubiquitous power that held enormous importance in the Galaxy, most notably for both the Orders of the Jedi and Sith. Known as the Way in ancient times, the Force was viewed in many different aspects, including, but not limited to, the light side, the dark side, the Living Force, the Unifying Force, the Cosmic Force, and the Physical Force. The first two aspects were concerned with the moral compass of the Force, as manifested by the conduct and emotions of living creatures who were themselves part of the fabric of the Force. The light side of the Force, harnessed by the Jedi, was the facet aligned with compassion, selflessness, self-knowledge and enlightenment, healing, mercy and benevolence, while the dark side of the Force, held by the Sith, was the element aligned with hatred, fear, covetousness, anger, aggression, jealousy and malevolence. The latter four aspects were defined by prominent Jedi philosophies: The Living Force dealt with the energy of living things; the Unifying Force, with the entirety of space and time; the Cosmic Force, with life after death; and the Physical Force, with anything within one's surroundings. Though the Force was categorized in this way, there were no specific abilities or powers that were only usable by a follower of a particular path of the Force; the Force partially existed inside the life forms that used it, and drew energy from their emotions.

Some beings, particularly the Sith, believed that the dark side of the Force was more powerful than the light, though it was possible that the dark side was just more tempting to those who used it (or desired to use it). Others thought of the Force as an entity capable of intelligent thought, almost as a sort of deity. Though the Force was thought to flow through every living thing, its power could only be harnessed by beings described as "Force-sensitive."

Force-sensitive beings were able to tap into the Force to perform acts of great skill and agility as well as control and shape the world around them. Sometimes this ability was described as having a strong Force "aura".

Manifestations of the Force

Manifestations of the Force, which were mentally-based abilities and tapped through the practitioner's thoughts, emotions, and willpower. These abilities could take all forms, and included telepathy, telekinesis, and enhanced physical and metaphysical perception.

• It can allow people to affect and some control over physical forces, such as kinetic energy, inertia, friction, pressure and even gravity, allowing them to be able to defy both of these and enhance force and momentum they create, with a variety of different effects and range.
• Such things allowed users of the Force to be almost completely unharmed by extreme impact, such as falling from great heights or being struck with great force or at high speed.
• It should be noted that anticipating the impact lessened its effects, allowing some users of the Force to not be stunned or even land on their feet with ease. This effectively enhanced the physical durability and recovery capability of a Force-user.
• Power over physical forces and momentum also allowed force users to partially defy gravity and other weight, allowing them to move and jump at unnatural speed and distance in seconds, though the speed only worked for limited times and was not constant while jumping could be done repeatedly to those who have mastered this ability.
• This effectively enhanced the agility of those who used it, giving the user acrobatic capabilities at unnatural levels.
• The vitality, health, stamina and endurance of a Force user was naturally enhanced to varying degrees and can even be temporarily boosted further by more powerful and skilled, notably allowing aged or crippled users to be able to temporarily transcend their physical weaknesses or to allow user or allowing a user to temporarily enhance their physical abilities beyond the limitations of their respective species.
• A skilled user can use techniques to control their physical condition to the point of controlling their ability to feel pain or putting themselves in a trance that simulates suspended animation.
• The Force could be used to bend the will of weak-minded beings and guide an adept's body.
• Users who were very good at using the Force could cease merely reacting to their surroundings and actually predict events in the very near future, such as the next blow in a duel. Guidance like this enabled Luke Skywalker to launch a proton torpedo into an extremely difficult target on the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin.
• The Force could also be used to induce mental or physical incapacitation, such as sedation or induced sleep. Qui-Gon Jinn used this power on Jar Jar Binks when traveling the dangerous underwater path to Theed. Qui-Gon placed a hand on Jar Jar's shoulder and asked him to relax causing the Gungan to almost lose consciousness. Obi-Wan, observing the extreme change in Jar Jar's behavior, told Jinn, his master, "You overdid it."
• This ability also allowed the Jedi Master Fay to pull away the thoughts of Asajj Ventress, causing her to faint. Further techniques could allow users to be able to subtly or fully manipulate the minds, emotions, memories, and willpower of their targets, with some Force users being able to enhance, decrease and drain it from their targets.
• Qui-Gon Force push

Qui-Gon Jinn using the Force against Trade Federation battle droids. In addition to enhancing their own skill, Force users were capable of channeling the energy of The Force directly into the world around them. Dark Side users generally used the Force for abilities that were malicious, immoral and unnatural, such as the technique of telekinetically choking, strangling or otherwise physically damaging their victims.

• The Sith were infamous for making heavy use of this ability to conjure Force-lightning, which would deliver copious and often times lethal amounts of electricity to the desired target. The Jedi preferred to use their abilities to heal and protect; closing wounds and shielding others with barriers of Force energy.
• Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn discovered that Jedi could achieve near-immortality through the Force by existing as a Force ghost after death.1
• Some Force users even learned how to transfer their spirit into another body. Palpatine used this technique in order to prolong his life, and evidence suggests the legendary Dark Jedi Set Harth, who fell to the dark side in the aftermath of the New Sith Wars, used this power to leapfrog his essence between hundreds of clone bodies, lingering in the physical realm up until the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and beyond. Later Callista Ming transferred herself to the body of a dying friend so that she could stay alive.
• Callista, unlike Harth and Palpatine, lost her ability to touch the Force in the process of transference.

Others, such as Darth Nihilus and the Jedi Exile, could use the Force to feed off other Force users. Nihilus' power could encompass entire planets and drain them of life, like the Miraluka colony world of Katarr.

• Some dark side users could use a different and weaker form of this technique to drain the strength of others into themselves, occasionally to fatal results.
• Darth Nihilus' ability to do this originated from a "wound in the Force", which is essentially a rip in the fabric of the Force itself.

Palpatine mentioned that the Force could help one cheat death, or create life, a secret mastered only by Darth Plagueis.

• Another Sith Lord, Darth Sion, used a more indirect method to cheat death. As he could call upon his pain to strengthen his will and allow him to rise up again as strong as he was beforehand, he was arguably immortal.
• The Force played a major part in the Jedi use of a lightsaber, in that their heightened awareness kept them from accidentally injuring themselves while using the weapon in combat, as the blade had no relative weight, making it difficult to judge its position.
• Similarly, the Force allowed a Jedi to use his/her lightsaber to deflect incoming blaster bolts. The Force also came into play during the construction of a lightsaber, both in assembling its intricate innards, and the initial charging of the power cell.
• Manipulating the Force entailed significant risks, however. When a person used the Force beyond their body's ability to sustain it, the individual could suffer physical damage, accelerated aging, or in an extreme case, certain death by burning their own body cells from the inside out.
• Palpatine, and Dorsk 81 are prime examples of excessive Force usage and the consequences. This naturally happened to those who relied on the Dark Side of the Force for their power.
• For most users, physical or mental fatigue, stress, or disorientation would subsequently weaken, nullify or invalidate the use of their power in the Force.
• In the event of exhausting or stressing their powers or themselves, physically or mentally, users have to wait a minimum length of time before they can use it again or refrain from using it until the user regains sobriety, willpower and calmness. Emotions could also affect the strength of a users abilities, which depending on the user, could add or detract strength.
• For Dark Side users, positive, non-aggressive and peaceful emotions would potentially weaken their strength, as strength in the Force can naturally be increased by raw, intense and aggressive feelings, but not without risk of being corrupted by the Dark Side.
• Such instances could hamper or limit the use of Force abilities, especially in combat, resulting in Force users resorting to physical combat especially with the use of a lightsaber.
• The ability is usually accompanied by motion of the eyes, hands or even the entire body, the latter being the most common way to use the power, which can can also limit use of the ability, especially when the user's mind or senses are strained or overwhelmed.

Quotes about the Force

"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." - Obi-Wan Kenobi