Star Wars 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Force Ghosts

Star Wars: 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Force Ghosts

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1 Star Wars: 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Force Ghosts

Though Force ghosts have appeared in Star Wars often, there are many things about them that even the biggest fans don’t know.

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The Star Wars fans rejoiced when they discovered that Luke’s mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t really gone when he reappeared as a Force ghost. Moments after Darth Vader cut him down, he disappeared into a pile of robes. This was a magic trick that not even Vader was prepared for. We all remember how Luke was gobsmacked by all of this, as he just stood there while Stormtroopers with terrible aim shot blaster-fire all around him.

However, then Obi-Wan’s disembodied voice sounded off in Luke’s head: “Run, Luke! Run!” Many were wondering what was going on. Was Obi-Wan really gone, or was he… something else?

Thus began the introduction of Force ghosts in the Star Wars universe. Fans loved that Obi-Wan had seemingly turned full-on guardian angel for Luke, even if they didn’t fully understand it. Yes, running from Stormtrooper fire was obvious advice, but Luke needed to hear it – and as it turned out, Luke needed to hear a lot of things from Obi-Wan’s spirit. Luke heard from Obi-Wan when he was about to pass away from hypothermia in the snow, when his X-Wing got stuck in the swamp, and when he was about to confront Vader.

Yoda partially explained the true nature of all living things in The Empire Strikes Back by saying, “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.” In this way, he hinted that we all have the possibility to live on.

With that said, here are the 20 Things Only True Fans Know About Force Ghosts In Star Wars.

20 Only Light Side Force Users Are Able to Project a Force Ghost

In the official Star Wars canon, only Jedi or practitioners of the light side of the force are able to project Force ghosts. Ordinary people without the Force, even the good guys, are unable to do it. It seems like the actual projection of an identity, a form, and a voice from beyond the veil requires a significant amount of focus.

This kind of focus requires a calmness of mind that is only available to those who know how to use the light side of the force.

So, unfortunately, we won’t be seeing a Force ghosts of Han Solo anytime soon unless he was secretly practicing the Force. However, fortunately, we also will never see the luminous version of Jar-Jar Binks, either. We think most fans would call this a win.

19 Anakin Received a Crash Course on Force Ghosts When He Passed Away

If only practitioners of the light side of the Force and Jedi can become Force ghosts, then how did Vader earn the same privilege after he passed away? In one of the original versions of the Return of the Jedi script, Yoda explains that if Darth Vader passes and never turns to the light side, then his identity and consciousness will fade away forever.

However, if he turns to the good side, he will “pass through the Netherworld” first, and then Yoda and Obi-Wan would have a chance to “rescue” him and teach him how to project a Force ghost from the other side. Notably, Vader’s Force ghost appeared as young Anakin, the “good” version he identified with before he passed away.

18 Some Force Ghosts Can Wield Force Powers

In The Last Jedi, we see Yoda return as a Force ghost. When Luke threatens to burn down the Force tree, Yoda’s Force ghost does him one better by summoning lightning to strike the tree before Luke can get to it. This was a rare time when we s Feeorce ghosts actually use the Force to influence the physical world. So why didn’t Force ghosts intervene during key moments, like when Luke confronted Vader?

There seems to be an unwritten law about Force ghosts being unable to interfere too much with people confronting their own destiny. As Obi-Wan once said to Luke, “If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere.” So it makes at least a bit of sense that Yoda could burn down the Force tree, as it did not affect anyone’s destiny.

17 Sith Are Unable to Become Force Ghosts

The Sith never learned how to be Force ghosts, and are seemingly unable to. It may be that the focus on passion, anger, and power is not enough to project a Force ghost. As Qui-Gon’s Force Ghost put it, “it is a state acquired through compassion, not greed.”

This doesn’t mean their living energy can’t linger in some form, however.

After the Emperor was thrown down a shaft in Return of the Jedi, his life energy dissipated in a massive blast of bluish-white light. One Sith Lord, a mysterious voice known only as The Presence, was also able to bind her own energy and part of her identity to a Sith Holocron after she passed. In Star Wars Rebels, Ezra Bridger encountered her as a voice from the Holocron that attempted to lure him to the dark side of the Force.

16 Qui-Gon Jinn Learned the Practice From Force Priestesses

In one of the Clone Wars episodes, Yoda is deep in meditation when he unexpectedly contacts Qui-Gon’s spirit as a disembodied voice. At first, the Jedi believe that Yoda is ill. Qui-Gon instructs him to escape to Dagobah, then later, to a planet that is the “Origin of All Life.” It is there that Yoda meets the enigmatic Force priestesses.

After Qui-Gon passed on, he picked up the Force ghost ability from the Force priestesses while in the “Netherworld” of the Force. However, Qui-Gon’s training was incomplete. He could mostly only appear as a voice unless the location was powerful in the Force. Qui-Gon leads Yoda here so that the priestesses will also train him to become a Force ghost.

15 Yoda Learned How to Become a Force Ghost from Qui-Gon Jinn’s Ghost

Qui-Gon’s Force ghost introduced Yoda to the concept of the Living Force and the Cosmic Force, and how they relate. He directed Yoda to Dagobah, where he experienced a horrifying vision of Order 66. Qui-Gon later guided Yoda to the planet of the Force Priestesses, who would complete his training by putting Yoda through a series of trials.

One of Yoda’s most challenging trials was facing the dark version of himself, a dark twin. Yoda at first renounces him, denying that the darkness is a part of him. Dark Yoda retorts: “know your true self, or I will devour you.” After a fight, Yoda prevails, stating, “Part of me, you are. Control over me, you have not.” The trial implies that one must know even the darkest parts of oneself in order to project a Force ghost.

14 Only Force Users Can See A Force Ghost

When Luke first experienced Obi-Wan’s spirit, it was on the Death Star, when he told him to run. He heard it again while speeding through the trench in his X-Wing. In both of those cases, however, he could only hear Obi-Wan, and could not see him.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke sees Obi-Wan’s apparition and is finally able to reply to him and ask questions.

In the new novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, Obi-Wan explains that Luke can now see him because his training in the Force has made him more advanced. At the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke can see the Force Ghosts of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin together. However, Leia cannot – even though she is Force-sensitive. With sufficient training in the Force, however, she may be able to see Force ghosts eventually.

13 Jedi Make Their Physical Bodies Disappear Before Becoming Force Ghosts

In order to become a full-fledged Force ghost, a Jedi must transmute the physical matter of their body into pure energy at the time of their demise. In nearly all cases where Jedi become Force ghosts, they will their body to disappear before passing. We see this with Obi-Wan during his final duel with Darth Vader. We see it again when Yoda vanishes before his demise. Most recently, we see it in The Last Jedi, when Luke disappears right after pulling off one of the most impressive Jedi magic tricks ever seen.

Qui-Gon meditated before Darth Maul destroyed him, but he did not vanish. Later, Qui-Gon’s spirit voice admits to Yoda that he did not complete his training, so he was unable to appear as a full Force ghost.

12 Darth Vader’s Body Disappeared When He Became a Force Ghost

It has been established that only those who use the light side of the Force can become Force ghosts and those who become Force ghosts must make their bodies disappear when they pass. This makes Anakin’s Force ghost a bit more interesting, as he was a Sith at the time of his passing and his body didn’t disappear immediately after.

However, Darth Vader turned to the light side of the Force right before he passed, becoming Anakin again. According to the novelization of Return of the Jedi, Anakin did make the organic part of his body disappear underneath his suit. This means that later, when Luke burned Darth Vader’s body on a funeral pyre on Endor, he was really only burning the suit. In effect, this means that he was not actually cremated, but the suit – as a symbol of evil – was burned away.

11 Force Ghosts Can Influence Solid Objects

Though they seem transparent and not solid, Force ghosts can indeed influence physical objects. Yes, sometimes they can wield Force powers as a ghost, but they can also do simple things to interact with the physical world. For example, they can walk on solid ground or sit down on a solid log or rock, as both the Force ghosts of Yoda and Obi-Wan do. They can also choose to be under the influence of the same gravity as living beings.

In The Clone Wars, when Qui-Gon first appeared to Yoda as a voice, he blew out all of the candles in the room and lifted Yoda into the air.

Most of the time, however, Force ghosts appear to be motivated by a desire to simply communicate wisdom to the living.

10 Force Ghosts Cannot Be Harmed By the Living

Once a Jedi passes into the afterlife and comes back as a Force ghost, there is nothing in the physical world that can harm them. They exist as an apparition that is one with the “Living Force.” Only Force users can see Force ghosts, so it is conceivable that if all Force users are wiped out, there would be no one left to affect any Force ghost. However, even then, the Force ghosts would not be harmed – they would just be unseen and unheard.

However, a total extinction of Force users is highly unlikely. A generation after Order 66 was executed, new Force users are popping up all over the galaxy. We can see that there are still many Force users in the recent movies. For example, Kylo Ren and Rey are powerful with the Force, and we also see young children who also show signs.

9 8. Becoming a Force Ghost is a Skill (Not Every Jedi Becomes One)

If every Jedi became a Force ghost, they would be everywhere. In the Star Wars expanded universe, there are several sources that explain that becoming a Force ghost is an ancient discipline that became lost over the millennia before it was rediscovered. In the modern Star Wars universe, we do not know if this is still canon or not.

What is known is that Yoda had no idea that this was possible until Qui-Gon contacted him from the afterlife. If Yoda didn’t know, then it’s almost certain that the rest of the Jedi Order didn’t know either. Because of this, everyone who perished around the time of Order 66 will probably not be returning. Favorites like Mace Windu, Ki-Ad-Mundi, and those poor younglings will not come as spirits, as they likely never learned how to.

8 Obi-Wan Learned how to become a Force ghost from Qui-Gon Jinn’s Ghost

At the end of Revenge of the Sith, Yoda told Obi-Wan that he would teach him how to speak with Qui-Gonn’s spirit. After Order 66, Obi-Wan went into exile on Tatooine. Keeping watch over young Luke from a distance, Obi-Wan had years to further develop his Force abilities and the new training that Yoda had provided him with.

According to The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader, it was here that Qui-Gon appeared to Obi-Wan, imparting him with many lessons.

One of the things that Qui-Gon specifically told him involved Darth Vader and how he would never again set foot on Tatooine again. He also told him that Luke would eventually confront his father. It is heavily implied that Obi-Wan learned some of the secrets about how to become a Force ghost from Qui-Gon.

7 The Appearance of a Force Ghost Varies

Some Force ghosts look exactly as they did before they perished. However, the appearances of other Force ghosts vary. Darth Vader’s ghost appeared as his young, uninjured human form. In the original version of Return of the Jedi, though, he looked the same age as when he perished, but he appeared as a healthy man who didn’t need his suit. Later, Lucas retconned this element so that he appeared as his younger self before he turned to the dark side.

Some Force ghosts appear with injuries that they had in life, even though they cannot technically be injured as a ghost. Sometimes, they appear as a milky blue apparition. Other times, though, they appear in full color as if they are still alive, with just a slight glow around them. The form that they reappear as seems to be connected to the form that they identified with before their passing.

6 Force Ghosts Can Pass Through Solid Objects

Force ghosts aren’t bound by the traditional rules of space and time. They can seemingly appear wherever they want at will, whether it be beside a speeding X-Wing fighter or on a remote icy planet. Similar to most mythological ghosts, they are mostly intangible and can pass through solid objects.

Theoretically, they wouldn’t necessarily have to walk through a wall to get to another room – they could just appear there if they wanted to. They also seem to have the choice to be partially solid or at least have the illusion of being solid. For example, they can walk on the ground or sit on a surface. However, if one were to throw an object at a Force ghost, it would simply pass through them. They are just spirits, after all.

5 Instead of Walking, Some Force Ghosts Hover Or Drift

Physical movements aren’t the same for Force ghosts. While walking may seem second-nature, even as a spirit, Force ghosts can drift or hover if they want to. For example, Obi-Wan appeared to hover slightly above the ground when he appeared to Luke on Hoth. Also, there was room for someone in Luke’s X-Wing cockpit during the Battle of Yavin, so Obi-Wan was probably hovering slightly above him.

Should a Force ghost want to scare someone, they could easily make themselves hover about the room and act intimidating. However, this would go against the nature of Force ghosts, as they usually appear in order to provide another Force user with wisdom.

4 Force Ghosts Can Bind Themselves To A Living Person As A Guardian Spirit

After his demise, Obi-Wan reappeared as a Force ghost in order to help Luke. Some might even say that he took on the role of guardian angel. This is common — the reason why most Force ghosts appear in the first place is to provide guidance or wisdom to the living. Sometimes they even help with training, as Qui-Gon’s Force ghost did with Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan’s Force ghost helped Luke to destroy the Death Star that threatened the entire galaxy.

He also directed Luke to train with Yoda and warned him against confronting Darth Vader before he was prepared. When he felt that Luke was ready, he finally revealed Luke’s true parentage and confirmed that Leia was his sister. Obi-Wan behaved much like a wizard or fairy godmother, giving key pieces of advice to Luke so that the hero could prepare for his journey.

3 Force Ghosts Are Created Through The Interaction of the Living Force and the Cosmic Force

Obi-Wan Kenobi explains the Force as “An energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.” This is all true, but it is only part of the story. As the spirit voice of Qui-Gon explained to Yoda on Dagobah, “I am a manifestation of the Force. A Force that consists of two parts. Living beings generate the Living Force, which in turn powers the wellspring that is the Cosmic Force.”

Qui Gon goes on to say that “All energy from the Living Force from all things that have ever lived feeds into the Cosmic Force, binding everything, and communicating to us through the Midi-Chlorians. Because of this, I can speak to you now.” Therefore, it is the living who empower those who have passed to live on as a spirit.

2 Force Ghosts Can Also Manifest as Voices

Some characters are only able to hear Force ghosts, however, this is due to several reasons. The first is that the Force user listening is not sufficiently trained to view a full apparition, and therefore can only hear the voice. The second possibility is that the now deceased was not sufficiently trained in the discipline of projecting a Force ghost from the afterlife, as was the case with Qui-Gon’s spirit voice.

The third possibility revolves around the fact that a Force ghost can choose to communicate as a voice. This might come in handy if one is talking to a pilot who needs to stay focused in combat. Even if Luke had had the capability of seeing a full Force ghost in A New Hope, Obi-Wan would have probably preferred to appear as a voice in the cockpit.

1 Force Ghosts Can Interact With Other Force Ghosts

Return of the Jedi had an epic ending. With the second Death Star gone and the Emperor and Darth Vader destroyed, the rebels on the forest moon of Endor held a huge celebration. Dancing Ewoks hugged the soldiers of the rebellion and played celebratory music. Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy, Lando, and the droids were all reunited.

As Luke looked into the distance, he saw the ghostly forms of his mentors and the human form of his father also smiling their approval. Obi-Wan’s Force ghost had his hand on Yoda’s shoulder, as Annakin stood next to them. The spirits can interact with one another on this plane.

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Can you think of any other interesting facts about Force ghosts in Star Wars? Let us know in the comments!

Gary Gunter is a writer, actor, and producer living in Los Angeles. He has the loudest laugh in the room and believes in living a life just weird enough to work. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter @LaughingGary

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-force-ghosts-hidden-trivia/

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