Force spirits, alternatively known as Force ghosts, represented beings who had attained immortality through the conservation of their awareness following death. Upon the termination of their lives, living beings merged with the Force. However, through specialized training, Force-sensitive individuals who had passed away could maintain their sense of self, thus enabling communication with those still living. The achievement of spiritual immortality resulted in the disappearance of a person's physical form at the moment of their death. Access to this knowledge was exclusive to those who had wholeheartedly embraced the light side of the Force, exemplified by the Jedi who adhered to the Jedi Code, a doctrine of selflessness and sacrifice. Adherents of the dark side of the Force, such as the Sith, were incapable of acquiring this specific ability, although numerous alternative techniques were available to them that yielded comparable advantages.
Prior to the Fall of the Republic, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn acquired the skill to transform into a Force spirit from the Shaman of the Whills, but his life was prematurely ended by Darth Maul before the completion of his training. Consequently, for a period, his interaction with the living was limited to 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—along with the birthplace of the midi-chlorians—ultimately mastering the art of preserving his identity post-death. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi also mastered this skill during the rise of the Galactic Empire. Subsequently, Qui-Gon perfected the ability to manifest in a nearly tangible form. Although Anakin Skywalker—a Jedi Knight who fell from grace and was recognized as the Chosen One of the Force—did not undergo the training that enabled his mentors to become Force spirits, his redemption and sacrifice allowed Kenobi and Yoda to preserve his consciousness after his passing, mirroring how his grandson achieved spirit form in 35 ABY. In 34 ABY and 35 ABY, respectively, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa—Anakin's biological offspring—attained immortality akin to that of their father.
Through the employment of the light side of the Force, certain beings with specialized training could ensure that their consciousness would endure beyond death, manifesting as Force spirits. This phenomenon was facilitated by the energy transfer from the Living Force into the Cosmic Force.
Such knowledge was exclusively accessible to those who embraced the light side. Consequently, only select individuals, such as the Jedi and the Force Priestesses, who resided within the Wellspring of Life, a location believed to be the origin of the midi-chlorians, could acquire the ability to manifest post-mortem. The threshold for becoming a Force spirit was notably low, yet achievable only by a select few Jedi.
The first Jedi known to have uncovered this secret was Qui-Gon Jinn, who learned it from a Shaman of the Whills. His training remained incomplete at the time of his passing, limiting his manifestation to a disembodied voice. Nonetheless, Jinn's spirit appeared in a vision to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mortis, an event they mistakenly perceived as a genuine manifestation. Qui-Gon later managed to complete his training even after death. He became particularly resolute following Anakin's fall, striving to fully emerge—a feat that required nearly a decade to accomplish. This subsequently enabled him to appear to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine in an almost corporeal form two decades after Order 66. This secret was subsequently imparted to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker.
Force spirits possessed the ability to manifest anywhere in the galaxy where the Force was strongly present, and some could even manipulate the Force to a degree comparable to their living abilities. This was demonstrated by Yoda's capacity to manipulate weather, generating lightning strikes. Furthermore, he was shown to be capable of striking Luke Skywalker with his walking stick, demonstrating an ability to physically interact with the living world despite both Yoda and the stick being ostensibly non-corporeal. A similar display of power was exhibited by the Force spirit of Luke Skywalker himself, who prevented his father's lightsaber from being incinerated in the wreckage of the TIE whisper by Rey, and employed telekinesis to raise Red Five from the waters of Ahch-To. Anakin and Yoda were seen summoning objects to assist them, as Yoda, despite dying without it, possessed his Gimer stick, and Anakin could wield his old lightsaber, even though he died without it and it was still lost at the time, to fend off the Sith wraiths before teleporting Luke back to Tython.
Upon merging with the Force, the physical body of a Jedi vanished from existence, either immediately or after a brief interval, leaving behind their clothes. Following death, the Jedi's spirit would journey to the Netherworld of the Force, another plane of existence. Despite not being physically integrated into a Jedi's body, cybernetics could also disappear if attached to a physical body, as exemplified by Luke Skywalker, whose cybernetic hand vanished alongside his body upon his death.
Anakin Skywalker manifested on the planet Mustafar, the location of the castle he had used as Darth Vader, to guide Lina Graf's crew away from the fortress. Skywalker conjured a lightsaber in his hands, ensuring its light was visible to the crew, leading them away from the lava fumes. He was also aware of Lina Graf's remark, made while inside the starship Rabbit's Foot, that she doubted the existence of ghosts, chuckling at the statement as he stood on Mustafar. Skywalker was able to appear as a spirit on Peridea. The preservation of one's consciousness was not strictly limited to members of the Jedi Order, as light side users unaffiliated with the Order could achieve this feat. One year after her brother's death, Leia Organa became the only known individual to retain self-awareness through 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 replaced by white garments on her spirit.
In contrast to individuals dedicated to the light, the Sith were unable to manifest themselves after death in the manner of the Jedi, leading them to focus on acquiring earthly power instead. However, several options were available to darksiders seeking to transcend the demise of their physical form: One Sith, the Presence, managed to preserve a portion of her conscious essence by binding it to an object, such as a Sith holocron in the Sith temple of Malachor. Darth Momin had a fragment of his consciousness preserved within his mask until he was crushed to death by Darth Vader after betraying him. Through their mystical power combined with the dark side, the Nightsisters could communicate after death, and in addition to manifesting as greenish figures under specific circumstances, they could occasionally haunt and possess individuals disturbing their rest. Darth Sidious, conversely, transferred his soul into a clone body shortly before the destruction of his original one. In his quest for a new vessel to house his consciousness, he unsuccessfully attempted to persuade his granddaughter Rey to kill him, allowing his spirit to pass into her, along with all the Sith residing within him.
Although unable to manifest as Force spirits, certain Jedi could directly address Force-sensitive individuals as voices from beyond the grave. Having undergone training overseen by Leia Organa, Rey was capable of hearing the voices of Jedi who did not employ this technique (such as 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 that if Darth Vader succumbed to the dark side of the Force, he would be unable to retain his identity after death. In George Lucas's draft script for the movie, Kenobi and Yoda were to appear as Force spirits when Palpatine attacked Luke Skywalker with Force lightning to deflect it away from the young Jedi. Later, Anakin, Kenobi, and Yoda would have returned to physical life instead of simply being Force ghosts.
Discussing the potential influence of Force spirits on the living galaxy, two Star Wars fans on Twitter theorized that Force spirits were akin to "spirit guides" bound by the will of the Cosmic Force; if the Force did not want individuals like Luke Skywalker to learn of Exegol's existence, for example, the Force spirits would be unable to warn the living. The latter fan used Anakin Skywalker's appearance in the novel Shadow of the Sith and the apparent "Force Ghost interference" he experienced as proof. Shadow of the Sith author Adam Christopher agreed with this interpretation, noting how Anakin needed to use all his energy to simply rescue his son and then could do no more because "something" did not want any further contact between them at that time. He further noted how Exegol was a receptacle of dark side power that complicated matters with Force spirits.