Force-sensitive

The Force was a mysterious energy field that resided in all lifeforms, sentient and non-sentient alike, binding the galaxy together along with the universe as a whole. While the Force resided in all living things, only some were strong enough to instinctively feel its power. Former Padawan Ahsoka Tano compared natural Force-sensitivity to "talent." They were classified as Force-sensitives, Force-users or Force Adepts. These general terms applied to practitioners of the dark side of the Force, such as the Sith and the Inquisitorius, although they were also referred to more specifically as "dark side adepts."

Without training, knowledge or faith, a Force-sensitive's connection to the Force would remain dormant. The Force did not awaken within Rey until the nineteenth year in her life. Though untrained in its ways, Rey's Force ability was comparable to that of Kylo Ren, formerly Ben Solo, and their unique Force-bond allowed her to absorb some of his Jedi training, giving Rey the ability to perform a few techniques such as telekinesis and mind trick. Force-sensitives could be found in numerous species, ranging from humans and humanoids, to various non-human aliens. The few known members of Yoda's species were Force-sensitive, including Grogu, Jedi Master Yaddle, and Grand Master Yoda himself.

Midi-chlorians indicated the strength of an individual's connection to the Force without any training to try and unlock it having occurred yet. They were microscopic organisms that resided in the cells of all lifeforms and the more that a Force-sensitive was born with, the stronger they could grow with the Force. Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One born of a mother but no father, had more midi-chlorians than any Force-sensitive of his era, surpassing all Jedi and even Yoda at over twenty-thousand. Though the Sith Lord Darth Vader possessed great power, his reconstruction left him more machine than man, leaving him in a weakened condition as the Force passed through living things.

Although the Force did flow through all beings, Force-sensitives, unlike regular beings, could harness that flow to access the power of the Force, giving them extraordinary abilities. Such was a natural application of the Force as it flowed through the sensitive; while the Path of the Open Hand cult claimed Force users like the Jedi "enslaved" the Force to their will and used in the Force in unnatural ways, Jedi Master Char-Ryl-Roy rebuked that outlook. Instead, he remarked that the only unnatural thing in such a situation would be to try and deny one's connection to the Force and how it flowed through them, as it flowed through all lifeforms. The degree to which one was Force-sensitive determined whether they were able to harness the Force's powers. The Archivist possessed a light sensitivity to the Force; as such, she could sense the Force but was not strong enough to use it. However, other individuals throughout galactic history demonstrated that, with time, someone without a great connection to the Force since birth could still rise in skill because the Force resided in them, as it did in all living beings.

Lyr Farseeker did not have a great deal of Force-sensitivity but would join the Jedi Order and arise to the rank of Jedi Master, writing some of the greatest texts of the Order during his life. When the boy Lohim Nara asked to join the Jedi Order but admitted he was not Force-sensitive, Grand Master Yoda urged the boy to read up on Farseeker and declared that the Force was not what made a Jedi, stating that only the boy himself could answer what made him a Jedi. While too old to beginning training as a Jedi Knight, Yoda offered the boy the position of . Sabine Wren had less Force-sensitivity than any Padawan of the Jedi Order but was still trained by Force-Sensitive Outcast and former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who believed Wren could connect to and harness the Force like her.

According to Tano, while the Force did reside in all living things, "talent" played a factor in terms of who was sensitive to it. Tano insisted that the non-Force sensitive Wren could become attuned to the Force through training and focus. Wren had been quick to question why not everyone in the galaxy used the Force if everyone was connected to it, but Tano promised mastering the Force was a matter of discipline, with few in the galaxy maintaining that level of discipline. Similarly, Luke Skywalker believed that one could not be "stronger" in the Force than another: when his apprentice Voe grew upset at how natural the Force came to Skywalker's nephew Ben Solo, Luke told her that the Force was like a stream of water and herself a door in its path: the wider she opened herself to the Force, the easier it would be for the Force to flow through her. While some like Solo did start out their lives more sensitive, or their doors more open as he put it, Skywalker promised her she could open herself up, just as how any door could open wide.

In the case of the Chiss species, however, there were instances of Force-sensitives losing their abilities despite receiving training and having the necessary discipline. Chiss navigators, with a single exception universally lost their Force powers before adulthood regardless of training or practice. Such was similar to how those born with a natural affinity for the Force could allow their powers to fade should they not be trained to fully harness them. Alternatively, one sensitive to the Force could try and push it away to deny their own connection to the energy field. However, Jedi Padawan Enya Keen found that someone pushing away the Force was a different variation on using it, effectively two versions of the same theme; when she encountered the Force-sensitive Binnot Ullo, she sensed a disruption coming from the man and discovered it was his acts of pushing away the Force. Finally, it was possible for someone—or, at least, someone well attuned to and skilled in the Force—to totally cut themself off from the Force as an act of exile.

A Force-sensitive's offspring could be born with the same power, although, as Skywalker stated, that simply gave them an easier time connecting to the Force and anyone could rise to the same level with enough commitment. The twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa were second-generation Force-sensitives through their father, Anakin Skywalker. Ben Solo was Organa's son and therefore a third-generation Force-sensitive in the Skywalker family. Due to the potential of his bloodline, Solo was born with raw strength and the potential for limitless power. Apart from the Skywalkers, Rey inherited the power of her paternal grandfather, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious.

The origins of the Force date back to a mystical world believed to be the homeworld of the midi-chlorians. It was through the midi-chlorians that the energy of the Living Force fed into the Cosmic Force, which had a will of its own. In addition, the midi-chlorians existed in a symbiotic relationship with all lifeforms, particularly Force-sensitives who could harness the powers of the Force through the micro-organisms residing in their cells. A quintet of ancient entities, known as the Force Priestesses, dwelled on the unnamed world where the midi-chlorians were born. They embodied the link between the Living Force present in all lifeforms and the larger, timeless Cosmic Force.

Though the Force existed throughout the universe, there were "vergences" or nexus points of power that amplified the energy field and its effects. One such vergence was the legendary realm of Mortis, home to the Ones—the Daughter, who embodied the light side of the Force, the Son, who embodied the dark side of the Force, and the Father, who represented the balance between them.

Long before the time of the Jedi and Sith, the ancient Zeffo civilization revered the Force or "Life Wind." While not every member of this race was strongly connected to the Force, the ones who were Force-sensitive became known as sages. The earliest Zeffo site was the Tomb of Eilram; built on the Zeffo homeworld, it was once a proving ground for Force-sensitive Zeffo, but was converted to honor their remains, Sage Eilram in particular. Above all, it was built to honor the Life Wind. The same world was also the site of the Tomb of Miktrull; Sage Miktrull was a legendary Force wielder who was said to be all powerful. He was venerated as such and his tomb was more of a temple to his pride.

When the Zeffo began exploring the greater galaxy beyond their home system, they left behind monuments dedicated to the Life Wind on several worlds in the Outer Rim Territories. Bogano was one such planet; the Zeffo established their presence on this world by constructing the Vault, the interior of which was filled with pilgrims' offerings to the Life Wind. After the Zeffo established contact with the Wookiees of Kashyyyk, they stored an Astrium—a key that allowed Force-sensitives to perceive the mysteries of the vault on Bogano—at the pinnacle of the sacred Origin Tree.

The Zeffo possessed knowledge of the dark side of the Force as well. Sage Kujet was a ruthless authoritarian who harnessed the power of the dark side. The world of Dathomir became the site of his palace, the Tomb of Kujet. Kujet's legacy was defined by his destruction of the Astriums and the lives of any who opposed his reign as sage. This included members of his own species, who rebelled against Kujet in hopes of ending his reign.

The Zeffo sages eventually foresaw the destruction of their civilization and the extinction of their species. They were convinced that their end was the result of their own creed, believing they had sacrificed balance for greater power and control. After the Zeffo fell to ultimate ruin, the history of their civilization was all but forgotten by the time of modern galactic civilization.

In its heyday, the Jedi Order protected the Galactic Republic as the guardians of peace and justice. Guided by the Jedi Code, a philosophy centered on peace and calmness, and using the light side of the Force for knowledge and defense, the Jedi rejected the dark side and the emotions that channeled its power. As such, the Jedi emphasized the necessity for detachment and avoiding emotional attachments. It was the mission of the Jedi seekers to locate Force-sensitive infants and to bring them to the Jedi temples, where they learned the ways of the Force alongside other Jedi younglings.

The Code was not embraced by all of the ancient Jedi, however. The Order was eventually divided by a schism that led to the creation of the Sith—fallen Jedi who turned from the light, forming a dark-side cult that sought to unlock great powers and dominate those weaker than themselves. What began as a philosophical dispute gave way to open war between the Jedi and Sith, upending galactic civilization and rendering entire star systems devoid of life. After millennia of conflict, the Jedi triumphed over the Sith and ushered the galaxy into a new age known as the Great Peace, becoming peacekeepers and negotiators for the Galactic Republic in lieu of a standing military.

The Jedi identified Force-sensitive younglings and brought them to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The Jedi Order's efforts to recruit Force-sensitive Bardottan children was opposed by another group of Force mystics, the Dagoyan Order, who saw the Jedi's actions as an affront to the sovereignty of their homeworld of Bardotta. Though the Jedi returned the children to their families, the incident led to centuries of anti-Jedi sentiment. Like their Jedi counterparts, the Dagoyan Masters possessed a strong connection to the Force, although their link to the energy field was more passive than that of the Jedi and Sith. Rising to power in the Bardottan government, the Dagoyan Order became fully entrenched in their native culture and outlawed the Frangawl Cult for their devotion to the dark side of the Force. The Jedi greatly expanded their activity throughout the galaxy during the High Republic Era, during which time they partnered with other Force religions on the moon of Jedha.

Beyond working with groups like the Sorcerers of Tund and Church of the Force as part of Jedha's governing convocation, ensuring a diverse grouping of perspectives could gather to discuss the Force, the Jedi brought orphaned children who were too old to start Jedi training to Jedha, where they could be adopted by other orders. Dark side groups were not invited to join the Convocation of the Force. During the Republic's expansion amid the High Republic Era, however, the Jedi would cross paths with the Path of the Open Hand cult, which wrongly preached that the Force needed to be "freed" from use, on the planet Dalna. Force-sensitives were allowed to join the Path, but they were made to suppress their natural connection to the Force in the name of the Path's beliefs. Under the influence of its leader, Elecia Zeveron, the Path launched a campaign to wipe out Force users with members of the Nameless species, kicking off the Battle of Jedha and bringing chaos to the moon.

Another member of the Path was a Force-sensitive Mirialan named Binnot Ullo, who rejected and pushed away his own Force-sensitivity as per the Path's ideals. However, Jedi Knight Gella Nattai deduced that he was someone who used the Force whenever it suited him, something the Path would punish him for if it were widely known, although he tried to deny her accusation. Ullo and fellow Path member Goi Ganok were involved in an undercover mission after the Battle of Jedha to ensure the Eiram and E'ronoh War would continue, during which time Ganok accidentally revealed their true loyalties, in part by calling Force healing an unnatural ability. Jedi Master Char-Ryl-Roy would rebuke Ganok and the overall Path ideology during their confrontation, remarking that the true unnatural ideal in the situation was that the Path rejected how the Force actually operated to fit its beliefs.

In the end, the Path's conflict with the Jedi would end with the so-called Night of Sorrow, a battle waged by the Path on its homeworld of Dalna. The Jedi, the Republic, and the allied peoples of Eiram and E'ronoh put down the Path after many losses were sustained, in part by the release of Nameless onto the battlefield by the Path. Ullo himself would be killed at the battle's close, as would Zeveron, whom Path Guide Marda Ro learned was actually a Force-sensitive who hated the Jedi Order because it did not take her in. After the battle, Jedi Masters Yoda and Creighton Sun decided to cover up the existence of the Nameless until more information on the threat they posed could be uncovered, but Ro escaped with knowledge of the creatures that would be passed down to subsequent generations of her family, the Ros.

Rising to power in the last remaining years of the Republic, a Force-sensitive politician rose to power in the ranks of the Galactic Senate. His connection to the Force a closely guarded secret, Sheev Palpatine was elected to the office of Supreme Chancellor as a result of the crisis on his homeworld, the Invasion of Naboo. Also unbeknownst to his colleagues, the former senator from Naboo was in fact the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, heir to the reformed Sith founded by Darth Bane. As Sidious plotted the Sith's return to power, Anakin Skywalker was discovered by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Intrigued by the child's raw power with the Force, Jinn found that Skywalker had a higher concentration of midi-chlorians in his cells than any other lifeform, including Grand Master Yoda. In addition, the information that Skywalker was conceived without a father led Jinn to suspect that this Force-sensitive boy was created through the midi-chlorians. Jinn ultimately brought Skywalker to the Jedi Temple, having concluded that the young slave from Tatooine was the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, destined to bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith.

The Jedi Order kept records of all known Force-sensitive infants that had yet to be taken to the Temple for training. During the Clone Wars, several infants were abducted and brought to Mustafar on the orders of Darth Sidious, who foresaw an army of dark side adepts serving as extensions of his will. Before they could be subjected to experimentation, the children were rescued by Skywalker, who had risen to the rank of Jedi Knight, and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

By the end of the conflict, the Jedi were vanquished through Sidious' machinations to take over the Republic, installing himself on a throne as Galactic Emperor. He had also lured Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, transforming the Jedi Order's Chosen One into a Sith apprentice called Darth Vader. The newly anointed Sith Lord marched on the Temple to kill his former brothers in the Force, including the Force-sensitive younglings who represented the future of the Order.

Though its founder, Emperor Palpatine, was secretly Force-sensitive, the newly formed Galactic Empire went to great lengths suppressing the memory of the Jedi and knowledge of the Force. Imperial propaganda had spread disinformation about the fallen Order, claiming the Jedi were charlatans and the Force a primitive superstition. While the Empire consolidated its rule over the galaxy, the Inquisitorius—Great Jedi Purge survivors who turned to the dark side of the Force—hunted both Jedi exiles and Force-sensitive children.

The few remaining Jedi were determined to rebuild the Order; during the early years of the Empire's reign, former Padawan Ferren Barr began training one of his disciples, the Force-sensitive Verla, in the Jedi arts. Although he was unable to complete Verla's training before his demise at the hands of Darth Vader on Mon Cala, Barr instructed his apprentice to seek out other survivors, believing the Order would eventually return through a new generation of Jedi that included Verla.

The former Jedi Cere Junda had the same idea; the Order's resurrection was dependent on the training of new apprentices. After rescuing Padawan Cal Kestis on Bracca, the two Jedi fugitives embarked on a secret mission to rebuild the Jedi Order. To complete this objective, they sought a holocron that once belonged to Junda's master, Eno Cordova. This holocron contained a list of all known Force-sensitive infants in the galaxy, given to Cordova by Jocasta Nu as a fail-safe in the event of the Order's prophesied destruction. Though Kestis eventually retrieved the holocron, overcoming various obstacles in his path, including Junda's fallen apprentice, the Inquisitor once known as Trilla Suduri, he had foreseen that his efforts to rebuild the Order would end in the abduction and torture of his acolytes. After surviving a confrontation with Darth Vader, Kestis chose to keep the children's identities secret by destroying the holocron, leaving their fate in the hands of the Force.

Though Kestis and Junda abandoned their plan to train a new generation of Jedi, another Jedi fugitive, Kanan Jarrus, took an apprentice of his own despite his incomplete training. While operating as an anti-Imperial insurgent on Lothal, the Jedi-turned-rebel encountered Ezra Bridger, a young orphan and small-time thief who possessed a strong connection to the Force. Though Bridger agreed to learn the ways of the Force from Jarrus, their partnership proved difficult for a master who never finished his own training and a headstrong apprentice with authority issues. However, as time passed the two were able to work more effectively, allowing Bridger to hone his Force abilities and use his power more responsibly with Jarrus' guidance.

Unbeknownst to Vader, Padmé Amidala, the late wife of his former self, gave birth to the twin siblings Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. They were both strong in the Force, having inherited their father's Force ability. In order to protect them from the Sith, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda had the twins separated, with Skywalker sent to his relatives on Tatooine while his sister was raised as a princess by the royal house of Alderaan. Though barely trained by the time of the Battle of Yavin, Skywalker showed immense potential. With the Force guiding his actions, he destroyed the planet-killing superweapon, the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, shaking the Empire's rule to its foundations and bringing a newfound sense of hope to the fledgling Rebellion.

The Sith Lords endeavored to turn Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, knowing that he could destroy everything they had built if he completed his training as a Jedi. Vader sought to succeed his master by becoming Emperor with his son at his side, while Sidious saw an opportunity to gain a younger and stronger apprentice. Their efforts culminated in a final showdown between father and son during the Battle of Endor, where Skywalker triumphed but refused to strike Vader down. Luke's defiance toward the Emperor awakened Vader's former self, Anakin Skywalker, who cast his dark master down a reactor shaft in order to save his son. In doing so, he killed the Emperor at the cost of his own life, yet by destroying the Sith he also fulfilled his destiny as the Chosen One.

With the Sith vanquished, the Empire shattered and the Force in balance, Luke Skywalker spent years pondering his next move, unsure about whether to rebuild the Jedi Order. The Force offered no guidance on this matter, and so Skywalker traveled across the galaxy searching for answers as a Jedi and for himself. His decision to ultimately pass on his knowledge was due to the most personal of reasons—his nephew Ben Solo. Skywalker recognized that his sister's son was extraordinarily strong with the Force, but also in desperate need of a teacher due to his volatile nature.

However, the Jedi Order fell back into ruin after Solo fell to the dark side, like his grandfather before him. Adopting the identity of Kylo Ren, the former Jedi became the apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke while Skywalker withdrew into exile on Ahch-To, determined to see the Jedi tradition end with his eventual death as the last Jedi. But the will of the Force, which had remained dormant ever since Anakin restored the balance, awakened once more when a scavenger from Jakku, named Rey, discovered her latent abilities as a Force-sensitive. Unbeknownst to both herself and Ren, they were a dyad in the Force—two beings who shared a unique Force-bond uniting them across time and space.

The term "Force-sensitive" was first used in the 1978 Legends novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye. Following the release of Ahsoka "Part Three: Time to Fly," which discussed the idea that Sabine Wren could learn to sense the Force, Star Wars Lore Adviser Pablo Hidalgo advised fans to think of "Force-sensitive" as a term akin to "gifted" or "talented," the latter term Tano had used in the episode itself. Indeed, George Lucas stated in The Making of Return of the Jedi that everyone had the potential to use the Force, but only the Jedi took the time to train, with later works depicting Force orders, like the Sith, that also took the time to train their members. In the interview given to Paul Duncan, author of the Star Wars Archives books, Lucas retracted that statement saying only those with enough Midi-chlorians in their body could "have a certain amount of control over our Personal Force and learn how to use it, like the Buddhist practice of being able to walk on hot coals."

Hidalgo compared Force-sensitivity to someone with an "ear for music" because whatever natural talent one has still needs to be practiced. Hidalgo did admit the presence of Midi-chlorians complicated the analogy, but he stated midi-chlorians are no real promise of someone's skill and that everyone in the galaxy has them.

• The Art of Star Wars: Visions