Summary

• Jedi Force Ghosts are a significant part of the Star Wars franchise, expanding the lore and appearing in various tie-ins.
• Qui-Gon Jinn learned to become a Force Ghost by training with Force Priestesses and mastering the ability to appear after death.
• Jedi must be fully committed to the light side to perceive Force Ghosts, while the Sith cannot become true Force Ghosts but can cheat death.

Star Wars canon has revealed more about Jedi Force Ghosts while maintaining a sense of mystery. Force Ghosts have been part of Star Wars since the beginning when Darth Vader cut down Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope. Vader was visibly confused when Obi-Wan's body disappeared, and tie-in books and comics have expanded on this by revealing what Vader sensed through the Force. At the moment of Obi-Wan's death, as the aged Jedi Master became one with the Force, his presence drowned out everything else around Vader. Little wonder the Sith Lord was so shaken, with the comics confirming he later realized what this meant about Obi-Wan's fate.

Force Ghosts have become part of the Star Wars franchise's lore, expanded upon in movies, numerous canon tie-ins, and even the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ TV show. Some of the greatest Jedi returned as Force Ghosts: Qui-Gon Jinn, Yoda, Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, and Leia Organa. Force Ghosts maintained the Jedi Order after Luke exiled himself to Ahch-To, with Leia receiving wisdom from Obi-Wan - wisdom she no doubt appreciated all the more given her past with the Jedi Master. Yoda's Force Ghost appeared to Luke towards the end of his life, offering typically cryptic teachings and proving at last that Force Ghosts can manipulate the physical world.

How A Jedi Becomes A Force Ghost

A Jedi must receive special training to become a Force Ghost

Star Wars has hinted at the "netherworld of the Force," an afterlife in which beings retain their consciousness. The ancient Sith planet Exegol was a Force vergence where the boundary between life and the netherworld was thin, explaining why Palpatine could be resurrected and Rey could receive support from the voices of long-dead Jedi in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Those who died and passed into this netherworld of the Force generally could not affect the material world. However, some individuals can train during their lives to become Force Ghosts, retaining the ability to influence the galaxy after death.

The precise nature of this training remains something of a mystery. What has been confirmed, however, is that the heart must be pure for a Jedi to become a Force Ghost. Matt Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith includes an extended scene in which Qui-Gon Jinn's Force Ghost speaks to Yoda, written after consultation with George Lucas. According to Qui-Gon's Force Ghost, this power "comes only by the release of self, not the exaltation of self. It comes through compassion, not greed. Love is the answer to the darkness."

How Qui-Gon Jinn Learned To Become A Force Ghost

Qui-Gon was the first to learn the secret in thousands of years

Qui-Gon Jinn was a maverick among the Jedi, lacking the arrogance to believe his Order understood all the mysteries of the Force. He was willing to go to other Force cults to learn and - as revealed in Star Wars: The Clone Wars - sit at the feet of the Force Priestesses. These beings were connected to the metaphysical nature of the Force, representing the connection between the Living Force of mortal beings and the Cosmic Force of the universe.

The Force Priestesses taught Qui-Gon how to become the first Jedi Force Ghost of modern times, although it is possible that the past Jedi had known the techniques but had become lost throughout millennia - perhaps because of the Jedi-Sith schism. By the end of the Clone Wars, he had learned how to manifest physically at certain Force vergences, and by Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 6, he had mastered the ability to appear after death.

How A Jedi Sees A Force Ghost

Not every Jedi can see a Force Ghost

It seems a Jedi needs to be fully committed to the light side to perceive a Force Ghost. This would explain why Obi-Wan could not talk to Qui-Gon's Force Ghost during the first decade of his self-imposed exile on Tatooine; his emotions were too raw, he was filled with regret, and he had lost faith in the Force. It was only when he learned to trust the Force again that he defeated Darth Vader and, subsequently, saw his old master.

There's also a parallel between Luke's increasing commitment to the light side of the Force and his interactions with the Jedi Force Ghost. It was only after Return of the Jedi, where he refused to fall to the dark side and instead redeemed his father with his love, that he could see three Force Ghosts at his side. This makes Rey's inability to sense Force Ghosts through Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker particularly interesting. She was still divided, torn between the light and the dark, and it was only at the end of the film -after fully committing herself to the light - that she saw Luke and Leia.

There are, however, some exceptions to this principle - suggesting a Force Ghost can push through to manifest before those who are not devoted to the light. The Star Wars anthology book Stories of Jedi & Sith features a short story in which, immediately after his death, Yoda's Force Ghost manifested in the presence of Palpatine himself. It's essentially a rematch between Yoda and Palpatine, albeit a philosophical one rather than a battle, with Yoda demonstrating that he has achieved what the Sith cannot. Another story in the anthology suggests Qui-Gon Jinn appeared to Darth Maul hoping to redeem him.

How A Force Ghost Helps Bring Balance To The Force

Other Force-sensitive cultures had unique views on Force Ghosts

Timothy Zahn's novel Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good offers a tantalizing hint that Force Ghosts are crucial to balance in the Force. Set before Grand Admiral Thrawn's exile to the Empire, it tells a story in which the Chiss encounter a mysterious race of Force-sensitives who possess the ability to become Force Ghosts. Their world has suffered terribly due to war, and their leader, the Magys, believes she can best help restore balance by leading her people into killing themselves to become one with the Force (or, as they call it, the Beyond).

This is not positioned as an act of surrender but rather as one of hope, for the Magys believed she understood the purpose of Star Wars' Force Ghosts. "Our world has been torn and scarred," she explained, "but perhaps it can be healed. We will join the Beyond and make the attempt." An act of genocide committed on the Magys' world tainted it with the dark side, but she believed the best counter would be to become one with the Force and work to put it right. This would certainly fit with the role taken on by the Jedi Force Ghosts seen in the main Star Wars saga.

Why Sith Cannot Become Force Ghosts - But What They Can Do Instead

Jedi accept death as natural while the Sith attempt to cheat it

The Sith cannot become true Force Ghosts; only a person who has aligned their spirit with the light side of the Force can do so. Rather, Sith Spirits can cheat death through a technique known as essence transfer. This allows a Sith to avoid the netherworld of the Force by binding their spirit to an object, a physical location, or even another host body.

Luke Skywalker encountered some of these Sith spirits in Adam Christopher's novel Shadow of the Sith, and they were every bit as unnatural as Palpatine would later claim, registering as an absence in the Force rather than a presence in it. Palpatine learned he could only possess the actual body of a person who was under the influence of the dark side at the moment he died.

This would explain some scenes in Return of the Jedi, in which Palpatine apparently wanted Luke Skywalker to kill him in anger. Palpatine's body would already have been coming to the end of its natural lifespan, its deterioration accelerated by the corrupting influence of the dark side, and he would have loved the idea of possessing the son of the Chosen One. Luke refused to kill Palpatine in this way. Worse still, from Palpatine's viewpoint, Darth Vader betrayed him not out of selfish ambition but out of love for his son, meaning he was restored to the light as Palpatine died, so even his body could not become Palpatine's host.

The Emperor was thus banished to the netherworld of the Force, from which he was rescued by the Sith cultists at Exegol, and his spirit was then implanted into a clone body. This proved insufficient to contain the Emperor's spirit, and he tried the same essence transfer trick with Rey in The Rise of Skywalker - but his granddaughter also refused to kill him out of anger and hatred. This time, there was no coming back from the defeat.

How Anakin Skywalker Became A Unique Force Ghost

Anakin's Force Ghost experience was different from the other Jedi

While it's unclear exactly how Anakin became a Force Ghost, Lucas suggested he accomplished this feat “because of Obi-Wan and Yoda," hinting the two helped him. This matches Ryder Windham's novel The Rise & Fall of Darth Vader. There, Anakin awoke in the netherworld of the Force after his death, with Obi-Wan offering to teach him one last technique. The novel was branded non-canon after Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, but the principle likely still stands. While some theorize Anakin must have had his own encounter with the Force Priestesses, Lucas clearly intended there to be an unbroken chain between Qui-Gon Jinn and Anakin.

The Star Wars Special Editions edited Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker into the Force Ghost scene at the end of Return of the Jedi. This was a critical alteration because, in Lucas' view, Anakin Skywalker had really died when he fell to the dark side, replaced with Darth Vader. The redemption of Darth Vader saw Anakin reborn. Obi-Wan was more correct (in strictly metaphysical terms) than he knew when he lied about Anakin's fate to Luke, for the Force itself shared his "certain point of view." The return of Christensen's younger Anakin as a Force Ghost is best seen as deeply symbolic.

Ahsoka also suggests that Anakin's Force Ghost somehow embodies the light and dark, as he alternated between his two personas in the World Between Worlds. This would align with Anakin's experience on Mortis in Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3, where he could control beings who embodied the light and dark sides of the Force. It also reflects Anakin's experience in life, living half of it as a Jedi and the other half as a Sith.

How A Sith Can Trap A Force Ghost

Some Sith could influence Force Ghosts

Ominously, there have been several hints in Star Wars canon that the Sith can trap Force Ghosts. George Mann's Dark Legends is a book of in-universe myths, although Lucasfilm has stressed there's an element of truth to them all. In one of these short stories, "The Gilded Cage," a group of Nightsisters attempt to trick a Sith Lord into confronting a Jedi Force Ghost, hoping he will be destroyed. The Sith sees through their trick and performs a stolen binding ritual to trap the Force Ghost.

Shadow of the Sith suggests Palpatine did something similar with Anakin Skywalker's Force Ghost on Exegol, explaining his absence from the sequel trilogy. Presumably, Anakin broke free of these restraints in The Rise of Skywalker, allowing him to add his voice to the chorus of Jedi encouraging Rey in her final battle against Palpatine. Hopefully, future Star Wars stories will help explain exactly what happened, how Palpatine trapped Anakin Skywalker, and how he escaped whatever imprisonment he was in at this crucial last second.

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  Star Wars

  Created by:

  George Lucas

  TV Show(s):

  The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions

  Character(s):

  Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Kylo Ren, Emperor Palpatine, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu

  Movie(s):

  Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order

  First Film:

  Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

  Cast:

  Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal

  Video Game(s):

  Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords, Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2017), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed , Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor