Force spirits, alternatively referred to as Force ghosts, represented beings who had achieved immortality by maintaining their consciousness beyond the event of death. Upon the passing of living entities, they merged with the Force. However, through specialized training, deceased Force-sensitives possessed the ability to preserve their individual identities, thus enabling communication with those still living. The attainment of spiritual immortality resulted in the disappearance of a person's physical body at the time of their death. This understanding was exclusively accessible to individuals who had fully embraced the light side of the Force, exemplified by the Jedi who adhered to the Jedi Code, a doctrine centered on selflessness and sacrifice. Conversely, adherents of the dark side of the Force, such as the Sith, were incapable of mastering this particular ability, although they had access to various techniques that offered comparable advantages.
Prior to the Fall of the Republic, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn acquired the skill to transition into a Force spirit from the Shaman of the Whills, but he was slain by Darth Maul before he could finalize his training. Consequently, he was initially limited to communicating with the living as a disembodied voice. Nearing the end of the Clone Wars, a conflict that pitted the Galactic Republic and Jedi Order against the Separatists, Grand Master Yoda embarked on a spiritual quest that led him to the planets Dagobah and Moraband—as well as the birthplace of the midi-chlorians—ultimately discovering how to maintain his identity after death. Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Master, also learned this ability during the rise of the Galactic Empire. Subsequently, Qui-Gon achieved mastery over the ability to manifest in a nearly solid form. Although Anakin Skywalker—a fallen Jedi Knight and the Chosen One of the Force—never underwent the training that enabled his mentors to become Force spirits, his redemption and sacrifice allowed Kenobi and Yoda to preserve his consciousness after death, mirroring how his grandson became a spirit in 35 ABY. In 34 ABY and 35 ABY respectively, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa—Anakin's biological children—achieved immortality similar to their father.
Some beings, through specific training and by utilizing the light side of the Force, could sustain their consciousness post-mortem, manifesting as Force spirits. This phenomenon was facilitated by the energy flow from the Living Force into the Cosmic Force.
This knowledge was accessible solely to light side adherents. Consequently, only certain individuals, such as Jedi and the Force Priestesses, who resided within the Wellspring of Life, believed to be the origin of the midi-chlorians, could learn the ability to manifest after death. The threshold for becoming a Force spirit was low, but only a select few Jedi could achieve it.
Qui-Gon Jinn was the first known Jedi to uncover this secret, having learned it from a Shaman of the Whills. Due to his training being incomplete at the time of his death, he could only manifest as a disembodied voice. Nonetheless, Jinn's spirit appeared in a vision to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mortis, an event they mistakenly interpreted as a genuine manifestation. Later, Qui-Gon managed to complete his training even after death. He became particularly determined following Anakin's fall, striving to fully emerge, a feat that took him nearly a decade. This subsequently allowed him to appear to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine in an almost corporeal form twenty years after Order 66. This secret was later shared with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker.
Force spirits could appear anywhere in the galaxy with a strong presence in the Force, and some could even manipulate the Force to a similar degree as they did in life. Yoda demonstrated this by manipulating weather to create lightning strikes. Furthermore, he was shown striking Luke Skywalker with his walking stick, indicating an ability to physically interact with the living world despite being ostensibly non-corporeal. Luke Skywalker's Force spirit demonstrated this power as well, preventing his father's lightsaber from burning in the crashed TIE whisper by Rey, and used telekinesis to raise Red Five from the waters of Ahch-To. Anakin and Yoda were seen conjuring objects to aid them, as Yoda, despite dying without it, had his Gimer stick, and Anakin was able to use his old lightsaber, despite the fact that he died without one and it was still lost at the time, to fight off the Sith wraiths before teleporting Luke back to Tython.
Upon merging with the Force, a Jedi's physical body vanished either immediately or after a brief period, leaving their clothes behind. After death, the Jedi's spirit would journey to the Netherworld of the Force, another realm of existence. Despite not being physically part of a Jedi's body, cybernetics could also disappear if attached to a physical body, as was the case with Luke Skywalker, whose cybernetic hand disappeared alongside his body when he died.
Anakin Skywalker appeared on the planet Mustafar, home to the castle he had used as Darth Vader, to help lead Lina Graf's crew outside of the fortress. Skywalker made a lightsaber appear in his hands, ensuing its light could be seen by the crew to get them away from the lava fumes. Even though she was inside the starship Rabbit's Foot when she made the comment, he was also aware of Lina Graf's comment that she was sure ghosts did not exist, laughing at the statement as he stood on Mustafar. Skywalker was able to appear as a spirit on Peridea. Preserving one's consciousness was not technically reserved for members of the Jedi order, as users of the light side not affiliated with the Order could accomplish this feat. One year following her brother's death, Leia Organa became the only known individual to retain their self-awareness via the light side without technically being a Jedi, and her body did not vanish until the subsequent death of her son and the simultaneous disappearance of his body. The clothes worn by Leia during her death were no longer sported by her spirit, supplanted by white garments.
Unlike those devoted to the light, the Sith could not manifest after death in the same manner as the Jedi, leading them to focus on acquiring earthly power instead. However, darksiders had several options for enduring beyond their physical demise: One Sith, the Presence, could preserve part of her conscious essence as long as it was linked to an object like a Sith holocron in the Sith temple of Malachor. Darth Momin had a portion of his consciousness preserved in his mask until Darth Vader crushed him to death after betraying him. The Nightsisters, through their mystical power combined with the dark side, could speak after death. They could also manifest as greenish figures under certain circumstances and occasionally haunt and possess those who disturbed their rest. Darth Sidious, in turn, transferred his soul into a clone body shortly before his original body was destroyed. In his search for a new vessel to host his consciousness, he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade his granddaughter Rey to kill him, so that his spirit could pass on to her along with all the Sith residing within him.
Although unable to manifest as Force spirits, some Jedi could directly address Force-sensitive individuals as voices after death. Having undergone training overseen by Leia Organa, Rey could hear the voices of Jedi who did not use this technique (like Mace Windu) in 35 ABY, just before she defeated the Emperor.
- Qui-Gon Jinn [23]
- Obi-Wan Kenobi [6]
- Yoda [11]
- Anakin Skywalker [11]
- Luke Skywalker [7]
- Leia Skywalker Organa Solo [7]
In an early version of the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi revealed after being resurrected that if Darth Vader embraced the dark side of the Force, he would lose his identity after death. In George Lucas's draft script, Kenobi and Yoda would have appeared as Force spirits when Palpatine attacked Luke Skywalker with Force lightning to deflect it. Later, Anakin, Kenobi, and Yoda would have returned to physical life instead of remaining as Force ghosts.
Two Star Wars fans on Twitter theorized about the influence Force spirits have on the living galaxy, suggesting they are like "spirit guides" bound by the Cosmic Force's will. For instance, if the Force didn't want Luke Skywalker to know about Exegol, the Force spirits couldn't warn him. One fan cited Anakin Skywalker's appearance in the novel Shadow of the Sith and the apparent "Force Ghost interference" as evidence. Adam Christopher, the author of Shadow of the Sith, agreed, noting that Anakin had to use all his energy to rescue his son and couldn't do more because "something" didn't want further contact. He also mentioned that Exegol's dark side power complicated matters for Force spirits.