A Force bond, also known as Force-bond, Force chain, Jedi kinship, or simply bond, was a link through which two Force-sensitives could influence each other. Common between Jedi Masters and their apprentices, it allowed the communication of feelings, thoughts and images across distances and granted greater coordination in battle. Through such connections, the Force easily flowed, sometimes allowing one's will to bolster the strengths of the other, or possibly to draw upon their strengths.
Force bonding was the innate ability to form connections in the Force. The degree to which that was possible varied depending on the Force-sensitivity of the people involved, meaning that the stronger they were in the Force, the stronger the connection would be. While most life had a marginal ability to form connections, some were said to have a special predisposition to it.
The formation of Force bonds between a Jedi Master and a Padawan typically occurred slowly over time, requiring them to grow together and understand each other. More powerful bonds were known to occur between relatives, exerting great influence. Jedi traditionally separated children from their parents, so that one's development as a Jedi in the use of the Force would not be adversely affected. It was also said that moments of death, or near-death, might cause such bonds. Furthermore, connections were known to occur when one was made to open to the Force, or imbued by a powerful wielder of the Force.
Master Ell
Force bonding was said to manifest itself in such techniques as Jedi battle meditation, the ability to demoralize or inspire the minds of others, or in the practice of feeding upon the Force. According to HK-47, Darth Revan speculated that many Jedi did not fully form such connections because of their discipline, because they were forbidden to open their lives to the passions around them, and therefore few of them even realized the extent to which it was possible. Some wielders of the Force had a talent with bonding, forming strong connections easier than most, even to those who could feel the Force only faintly. Some could use their bonds to communicate knowledge.
According to Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell, who was one of the most experienced and knowledgable of the Jedi Order on the subject of Force bonds, a bond was not easily broken by choice and could not be truly removed. One of the party's feelings would have to change or they would have to die, but that would leave an emptiness or a wound in the Force.
Bastila Shan supporting the Sith fleet in 3956 BBY during the Battle of Rakata Prime
It was rumored that Revan studied Force Bonding deeply during his many apprenticeships before leaving for the Mandalorian Wars. As Darth Revan, he used the Force to rip the Rakata language from the minds of the Rakata of Lehon and make them understand Basic so they could help him find the Star Forge.
Bastila Shan and Revan developed their bond with each other when she used the Force to preserve his life following Malak's betrayal, two years after the beginning of the Jedi Civil War. She used their bond to draw out Revan's lost memories so he would lead the Jedi to the Star Forge, though in doing so she was also affected by his dark taint. During the Battle of Rakata Prime, enhanced by the power of the Star Forge, Shan's battle meditation could touch the minds of the two enormous star fleets commanded by Admirals Varko and Forn Dodonna.
Meetra Surik had an unusual, innate ability to easily form Force bonds with others, especially with those who were themselves strong in the Force. Even as she learned the ways of the Jedi at the enclave on Dantooine, her talent excited considerable interest amongst the Council in charge of the training facility. Although she remained largely unaware of her gift, it troubled some of the Jedi Masters because it allowed her to powerfully influence those around her. Vrook Lamar was particularly disapproving of Surik, and even prone to take action against her, but his point of view did not convince higher-ranking Council member Vandar Tokare who did not believe her to be dangerous.
Kreia
When Surik returned to Republic space after years of seclusion, she met Kreia on Peragus in 3951 BBY. Kreia taught Surik to hear the Force again after a decade of deafness, causing them to develop their bond. In this instance the bond was intended to occur, and took much less time to take root due to Surik's special predisposition. The strength of their bond seemed difficult to believe to most of the Jedi Masters of the High Council, especially for the fact that the bond had supposedly twined their lives, the death of one being lethal to the other.
As Surik traveled to Onderon, Dantooine and Nar Shaddaa, she inquired of Masters Kavar, Lamar, and Zez-Kai Ell of any possible way to remove the bond, but none of them could provide her with a satisfactory answer. Her bonding had gotten stronger and hungrier, and she quickly drew other Force-sensitives to her company. She led by example of something to uphold or something to fight against, and they echoed her, either fighting or surrendering their fights, and followed her without hesitation. Knowing about her talents, Jedi Master Atris went as far as warning her handmaidens when Surik first came to the Telosian Jedi Academy, fearing that her companions would fight for her. While the Council concluded Surik was dominating them with teachings of the Sith, companions such as Mical and Visas Marr argued that it was their ignorance and isolation that made them see doom where they saw a hope for all life, and that her talents did not stem from the Force, but from her being herself, a natural leader.
Kreia often taught Surik across great distances using Telepathy. Their bond allowed Surik to understand just as much as if her Master were before her. Surik herself, who was seemingly just a quick learner, in actuality used her own bonding ability to feel what she wanted to learn in the person that held the knowledge. She searched for Jedi Masters to teach her forms of lightsaber combat and Force combat, amazing them with the speed at which she learned.
Ell asserted that if she could not alter the kinship out of which the bond was born, the only way to break it was to turn away from the Force, as Surik did on Malachor V, thus creating a wound in the Force. Kreia sought to influence Surik to pursue this outcome deliberately, as opposed to the chance of something to happen that would affect Kreia's hold over Surik, but that eventually happened when Kreia fell to the dark side.
The twin Sith Lords of the Dyarchy Quillan and his sister Dromika had a unique connection in the Force, while the twins were separated physically in body, they were conjoined through the Force which made them one inseparable being. They regarded all other agencies outside themselves including both sentient beings and droids as "aspects." Dromika was the only person able to contact Quillan since she shared the same Force plane that he dwelled within. She became an intermediary for her twin brother to communicate with other sentient beings. Unlike other Force bonds, Quillan was unable to communicate with his sister telepathically across great distances, since he had never trained to do it.
According to the Dyarchy's regent Saaj Calician, Sith scholars or physicians didn't understand the level of connection the twins had. The connection was so strong that no form of science or Sith alchemy could separate them.
Darth Nihilus took this practice to unmatched levels, able to touch all life on one planet, to form and consume connections with countless people at once.
Force-sensitives Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos form an immediate Force bond.
The Force bond between the young Padawan Quinlan Vos and the Force-sensitive child Aayla Secura was virtually instantaneous upon their first meeting when the former saved the latter from a Hutt's rampaging wampa guard.
Gorc and Pic were transformed by Blackhole into mutated Sithspawn. Though born as separate species with separate lives, Gorc and Pic became symbiotically linked through the Force. The process created a Force bond which enhanced their ability to fight as a team and they soon became known as the "Brothers of the Sith." When Kyle Katarn killed Gorc, Pic felt as if half of him had died and he lost all his combat discipline. Jem Ysanna and Luke Skywalker also shared a Force bond.
Meetra Surik's survival of Kreia's death, seen by some fans of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords as a plot hole, was initially supposed to be explained by Jedi Master Lonna Vash until her lines, as well as the rest of the droid planet M4-78, were cut from the game due to deadline constraints. The generally accepted explanation is that Kreia simply lied to the Exile in order to manipulate her, or that the final confrontation between the two broke the bond and was intended to do so.
In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the Force bond between Revan and Bastila is, like Bastila's Battle meditation, merely a plot device which has no implementation in the game mechanics. However, in KotOR II the bond between the Jedi Exile and Kreia is represented by a special Force power, Force Chain. When Kreia is in the Exile's party, positive Force powers cast on one of them affect the other, even bypassing normal limits on being affected by such a power. However, they do not share any negative effects, be it direct damage or Force powers.