Star Wars – is one of the most famous names in American culture, to the point where it has almost become a religion. It has been around for quite some time (the first movie came out in 1977, 45 years ago). In Star Wars, there is a phrase throughout the film as well as novels and comics – The Force. So what kind of power is the Force? Let’s find out together.
[toc]
STAR WARS – THE FORCE
1. Origin
The concept of the Force was first introduced in 1977’s A New Hope when Obi-Wan Kenobi explained to Luke Skywalker what it was. According to that:
“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.”
Luke Skywalker
The Force is a mysterious and powerful energy field, but not everyone can use or feel it. Force can only be used or at least felt by Force-sensitive beings.
George Lucas explained in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace that in every living organism there are a number of cells that are midi-chlorians, if the number of cells is large enough the organism is Force-sensitive, but the thing is. That doesn’t mean all high midi-chlorians are knowledgeable and powerful when it comes to using it.
The proof is that Anankin Skywalker is Force-sensitive with extremely high midi-chlorians, higher than Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Order. Still, the truth is that Anakin’s ability to use Force or understanding is much inferior to Yoda.
Force is an energy field that can only be harnessed and used by Force-sensitive. And since it is a form of strength, practice to master it is a must. Using and feeling the Force in Star Wars is primarily through meditation. Through sitting meditation, the mind will be still and able to feel it around.
2. Forms of The Force
According to the Expanded Universe (EU or now known as Legends), the Force was formerly known as the Power of Cosmos by the Kwa (an ancient race that existed tens of thousands of years ago). The name Force was coined by the Je’dai (the predecessors of the Jedi), and they called the power that came from the Force “The Way”.
There are many different aspects of the Force, now there are 6 different sides that have been named (of course that is not all aspects, just the aspects of it that have names and are most common):
- The Light Side
- The Dark Side
- The Living Force
- The Unifying Force
- The Cosmic Force
- The Physical Force
In the above 6 types, the first 2 types: the light side and the dark side can be considered as the basic form, divided based on the emotions and philosophies of two factions: Jedi and Sith. The Jedi corresponds to the light side, a Jedi should be compassionate, selfless, humble, benevolent, and use the Force for good.
Sith, on the other hand, is worshipers of negative emotions: hatred, fear, anger, ambition, envy, brutality, and cruelty. The division between the light side and the dark side is very clear, so the first two forms of the Force are like two different philosophies and two different religions.
The following four forms are defined by prominent Jedi through the abilities each allows the user to achieve with the Force. The Living Force is abilities associated with living things.
The Unifying Force is abilities related to space-time. The Cosmic Force is an ability related to death and life. The Physical Force is an ability associated with tangible objects, whether living or non-living.
Despite such division of the powers of the Force, in fact, it itself is not clearly distinguishable. The most important thing is the Balance of the Force: good and bad, light and dark must always be in balance and neither side can completely destroy the other.
RELATED: Star Wars Universe: Learn About Lightsaber And The Lightsaber Forms
3. Abilities
As noted above, the Force grants its wielder extraordinary abilities. Typically, impacting objects freely without regard to mass or distance influences the minds of other beings and being able to make them do as they please, and feel the vibrations that occur. In the Force (as it is an energy field, of course, any fluctuations affect those who perceive the Force – a prime example is when Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star, Obi-Wan felt it ).
The Force also enhances the user’s tolerance to damage or enhances physical abilities such as jumping or landing from a height. Those are the basic abilities that a Force-sensitive person can have when learning how to use it. And if you dig deep, other abilities can be obtained, but those abilities are on a more “advanced” level.
For the Force wielding masters, they could even transform the energy from it and project it into their surroundings. For those who use the dark side, this ability is usually suffocating the opponent (Vader’s choking!!!), causing damage to the opponent (most often the lightning from the hand – Force Lightning).
That is with the Sith, and with the Jedi, of course, their purpose is not to damage the opponent. Jedi often use the Force to heal and protect themselves and others by creating a barrier. Even a Jedi, Master Qui-Gon, has discovered a possibility that allows a Jedi to return after being lost by creating a Force-ghost.
In addition, some people can also transfer their souls into another body (Palpatine a.k.a Darth Sidious used this method to prolong life). Another, Dark Jedi Set Harth, used this method to transfer his soul through hundreds of clone bodies. A Jedi called Callistar Ming also transferred his soul into the body of a dying friend, however after doing this, Callistar could no longer use the Force. Others, like Darth Nihilus and Meetra Surik “The Jedi Exile”, are able to use the Force to absorb the life of others.
Even Darth Nihilus can drain an entire planet of life! However, it is the most powerful form of this ability, which only Darth Nihilus can do, others can only drain the life and strength of one or more people.
Palpatine has also mentioned a Force’s ability to bypass death, or create life, a secret that only Darth Plagueis can do (Did you ever hear of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?).
Another basic ability of the Force is to aid its users in lightsaber combat. It is to enhance their senses to avoid hurting themselves (a lightsaber is a very dangerous weapon, and its blade has no weight so it is difficult to determine its drop point in battle). That is also the reason that lightsaber is almost exclusively used by those who can use the Force.
But of course, the use of Divine Power also caused physical and mental fatigue. If a person uses the Force excessively, beyond tolerance, it will cause quite severe damage, possibly even death. Therefore, it is not recommended to use it continuously for a long time, it takes a certain amount of time for the body to recover before continuing to use it.
The most influential factor in the ability to use the Force, of course, is each person’s emotions. That is why the abilities of the light side and the dark side are so opposite.
“A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack!”
Master Yoda.
“The power of the Dark Side comes with the power of the individual. The Force is within you. You must find a way to harness it. It’s not always me to teach you.”
Darth Bane
4. The Force Users
“The Force is a river from which many can drink, and the training of the Jedi is not the only cup which can catch it.”
Luke Skywalker
The above sentence sums up one thing: Everyone has the ability to use the Force, just need to find the right way. Indeed, while the Jedi and Sith are the most widely known users of the Force, that does not mean that to use it is to become a Jedi or a Sith. To be more precise, the Jedi and the Sith are the two most popular guilds of users.
In addition, the number of species or associations that can use the Force is very large, such as the Aing-Tii clan, the Kwa clan, the Krath clan, the Mandalorians Knights, and the Witches of Dathomir,… So to know Jedi and Sith are not the only two guilds that can use the Force, but because Jedi and Sith are the most popular, here we will also only learn about Jedi Order and Sith Order, corresponding to Light side and Dark side.
Jedi Order is the largest group of light side users. The Jedi Order is responsible for keeping the peace of the entire Galaxy. The Jedi Order was founded about 25,000 years ago on the planet Tython, and over time, gradually grew and became the right hand of the Republic when founded a few decades after the Jedi Order was founded.
Despite being so powerful, the Jedi Order has experienced two nearly wiped out twice, the first time was nearly 4000 years ago during the event of the First Jedi Purge, and the second time was 19 years ago during the event of the Clone Wars ending with both the Jedi Order and the Republic being wiped out.
Jedi Order represents the light side, all teachings, beliefs, and Jedi religion are encapsulated in the Jedi code.
People of the Jedi Order strive to live selfless, benevolent, and harmonious lives. They use the Force for the purpose of helping others, learning and protecting themselves, and maintaining balance – balance in themselves and balance in the Force. They tend to let things go according to “The Will of the Force”.
In the Jedi Order, strong emotions are said to be very dangerous and can cause a person to fall into the dark side. Therefore, the Jedi Order advocates minimalism, especially avoiding personal love – Jedi must not marry or fall in love because they believe that love is the most powerful emotion, and it will be able to make a person falls easily.
The Sith Order, in contrast to the Jedi Order, are dark side followers. Unlike the Jedi when the Jedi Order was merely a multi-racial society, the Sith Order is both a multi-racial society and the name of a species on the planets Korriban and Ziost.
The Sith Order was founded nearly 7,000 years ago by the Sith race and the fallen Jedi on the dark side. Over time, the Sith Order also gradually grew, even at one point becoming the Sith Empire – the Sith Empire and waged war with the Republic.
However, the Sith Order was also almost completely wiped out after the New Sith War (which took place over 1000 years, starting about 2000 years ago). And then Darth Bane, a Sith Lord, established the Rule of Two: at a time, only two Siths were allowed, one teacher and one student. This does not mean that only two people are allowed to learn how to use the dark side, but it means that only two people are allowed to bear the name Sith, the others who use the dark side are not called Sith.
If the Jedi Order has a Jedi code representing the light side, the Sith Order also has a Sith code, representing the dark side.
In contrast to the Jedi Order, the Sith Order worships strong, even negative emotions. The Sith always aim to achieve greater powers by all means. So the general tendency of the Sith is to be extremely brutal, strong, and callous. If the Jedi Order always wanted to destroy the Sith Order and the dark side, so did the Sith Order. The Sith Lords have always sought to obliterate the Jedi Order and rule the galaxy.
The Sith Lords always use the Force to attack enemies and find ways to increase their power. Perhaps the only thing in common between Sith and Jedi beliefs is their disapproval of love. For the Jedi, love is a dangerous emotion that can make a person fall, for the Sith, love is trivial nonsense, it can be said to a Sith: strength is everything!
lehoang2k