With the aid of the Force, both the Jedi and Sith possessed the capability to redirect attacks composed of energy, such as blaster projectiles and Force lightning. Some individuals were even skilled enough to impede physical strikes, like those delivered with lightsabers.
Back in 232 BBY, during the age known as the High Republic Era, Jedi Master Porter Engle engaged in combat with two Nihil on the world of Elphrona, as a group of these raiders attempted to kidnap the affluent Blythe family to hold them for ransom. During this clash, Engle temporarily let go of his lightsaber, throwing it to eliminate one of the raiders. Before he could grab his weapon again, the other raider shot at him, compelling Engle to use the Force to deflect the incoming shots.
In the year 40 BBY, Qui-Gon Jinn considered the possibility of using this ability, but ultimately decided against it, finding it too challenging since plasma did not respond well to Force commands.
In 22 BBY, the Jedi Grand Master Yoda faced off against his former Padawan student Dooku, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, inside a hangar on Geonosis during the First Battle of Geonosis. Tyranus, who had previously triumphed over Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, declared his superiority over his former Master and unleashed a burst of Force lightning at Yoda. Yoda redirected the blast back at Tyranus, who in turn used the Force to deflect the blast into the hangar's ceiling. The Jedi Master then absorbed another bolt of the Sith's lightning into his body without suffering any harm, leading Dooku to switch to his lightsaber for combat.
In 19 BBY, Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus employed the dark illusion ability on Yoda in an attempt to corrupt the Grand Master. Consequently, Yoda experienced a Force vision where he battled Sidious. During this vision, Sidious launched a wave of Force lightning at Yoda. Yoda managed to successfully deflect Sidious' Force power, causing the Dark Lord of the Sith to fall from the structure they were standing on. Yoda also demonstrated the capability to deflect physical attacks.
The Mortis Gods, such as the Father and the Son, were so immensely powerful that they could not only block Force lightning but also lightsabers using their bare hands and arms.
At a later time, former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano confronted the rogue Sith Lord Maul inside the Grand Salon of the Sundari Royal Palace during the Siege of Mandalore. Lady Bo-Katan Kryze, who was accompanying Tano, charged at Maul while firing multiple blaster shots at him. In response, Maul effortlessly altered the course of the bolts with hand gestures before briefly levitating Kryze to discourage further attacks.
Soon after the establishment of the Galactic Empire, Yoda confronted Darth Sidious in the Senate Building on Coruscant, with the intention of eliminating the newly appointed Galactic Emperor and the Sith Order (along with Obi-Wan). Mirroring the dark illusion Sidious had previously inflicted on Yoda, the Sith Lord unleashed a wave of Force lightning at the Jedi Grand Master. Just as before, Yoda managed to deflect Sidious' lightning as he lost his lightsaber, although he coalescing the energy of Sidious's Force lightning into a blue orb between the two of them, slowly redirecting the lightning back onto an astounded Sidious, who was slowly being pushed back by the strength of Yoda's counterattack. However, the combined power of both of their abilities resulted in an explosion of Force energy, throwing them both apart, and he fell off of the repulsorpod he was standing on in the process.
During the Invasion of Mon Cala in 18 BBY, the Sith Lord Darth Vader participated in the Battle of Dac City. During this battle, the Mon Cala planetary defense services fired upon Vader, who used the Force to deflect a blaster bolt. In 14 BBY, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin noted that one reason Vader was so difficult to kill was his ability to deflect blaster fire with a simple flick of his wrist.
Less than a year before the first Death Star was destroyed, Ahsoka Tano briefly used this technique to shield herself and Ezra Bridger from the Fiery energy that Darth Sidious employed in his attempt to enter the World Between Worlds.
Later in 0 BBY, during the Battle of Scarif, Vader boarded the rebel cruiser Profundity in pursuit of the stolen Death Star plans. The Sith Lord encountered resistance aboard the star cruiser from the Alderaanian consular security. Vader cut through the soldiers, using Force deflection to redirect a blaster shot into a rebel, however the plans escaped aboard the corvette Tantive IV.
In 3 ABY, Lord Vader set a trap for Han Solo and the crew of the Millennium Falcon on the Tibanna-mining colony Cloud City. When Lando Calrissian, the city's Administrator, led Solo into the trap, the rebel smuggler immediately opened fire on Vader. Vader proceeded to block the blaster bolts with the Force and telekinetically pull Solo's blaster from his hands. Following Vader's revelation that Luke Skywalker was his son and their subsequent duel on Cloud City, the dark lord sought to learn about his son's past. His search eventually led him to the planet Vendaxa, where he encountered a look-alike of his deceased wife Padmé Amidala. Upon learning that Vader was a servant of the Emperor, the look-alike, who was actually Amidala's former Handmaiden Sabé, fired her blaster at the Sith. Vader deflected the laser with the Force and pulled the blaster rifle out of Sabé's hands.
Illustrating the use of this power against non-energy attacks, in 4 ABY, Luke Skywalker deflected thrown grenades back at the Imperial soldiers who attacked him, resulting in their deaths. In 9 ABY, Grogu employed this ability to shield Din Djarin from a flamethrower by redirecting the flames back onto the Stormtrooper.
In 35 ABY, Rey Skywalker used Force deflection to block the Sovereign Protectors' blaster bolts during her confrontation with her grandfather Darth Sidious during the Battle of Exegol.