Mind trick

The application of a mind trick generally involved the user adopting a persuasive vocal tone, coupled with a recognizable gesture, often a hand wave in front of the subject's face. When successful, the target would unconsciously echo the user's exact phrasing and then act accordingly, their own thoughts aligning with the suggested course of action. Recollection of the event was rare. This technique was reputed to be effective only on those with weak minds; certain species, such as Toydarians, Geonosians, and Hutts, possessed either significant resistance or complete immunity. Furthermore, as demonstrated by Prime Minister Almec's Mandalorian Guards, individuals could be trained to withstand mind tricks. The mind trick could influence multiple targets simultaneously, sometimes without the target needing to hear the command. In some instances, a simple hand gesture sufficed, while in others, no gesture was necessary at all.

A group of Force-sensitives could also use the mind trick in unison, speaking together to amplify their collective influence on individuals who might otherwise resist a single user's attempt. An example of this is when Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mace Windu worked together on the bounty hunter Cad Bane. However, focusing on and attempting to forcefully compel a strong mind carried the risk of damaging or even destroying the subject's mind, as Bane experienced intense pain during the Jedi's attempt. The living world of Planet X produced a similar effect, inducing euphoria in visitors and making it difficult for them to leave.

Certain Force users, particularly those aligned with the dark side such as the Inquisitorius and Kylo Ren, could probe the minds of others, extracting information from prisoners. However, Force-sensitives and individuals with strong mental fortitude could potentially resist this. This technique was considered a variation of the mind trick, utilizing its inherent telepathic nature to deeply interact with and influence the subject's mind. On the darker side of the spectrum, Sith Lords wielded a more potent version known as mind control, enabling them to completely dominate the wills of others, controlling them like puppets through sheer concentration, without the need for verbal commands. After training with a Sith holocron, Ezra Bridger forced an Imperial walker pilot to turn on his comrades and commit suicide. Darth Vader once stated that mind tricks were not of the dark side; "We prefer force."

The Nightsister also possessed their own unique mind trick variant. Unlike the Jedi and Sith versions, its effects could be permanent and had a much greater range, capable of subduing nearly the entire crew of the Imperial Destroyer Chimaera, transforming Stormtroopers into [Night Troopers](/article/night_trooper].

During the High Republic Era, Jedi commonly referred to this ability as "mind touch." However, those outside the Jedi Order began using the term "mind trick," which eventually became the more widely accepted name over the years. During this period, two human sisters, Oliviah Zeveron and Elecia Zeveron, were born with Force sensitivity, though Oliviah's connection was stronger. Elecia, the elder sister, possessed a natural talent for mind tricks, enabling her to influence people simply by being in their presence. One day, a Jedi seeker arrived and observed both sisters' abilities. The Jedi seeker ultimately chose to take Oliviah for Jedi training, leaving Elecia behind due to her weaker connection to the Force. Elecia, believing herself more deserving, allowed her resentment at being overshadowed to consume her.

Driven by her anger towards the Jedi, Elecia joined the Path of the Open Hand cult, whose members publicly opposed the use of the Force. Despite outwardly adhering to their beliefs, Elecia, later known as "the Mother," secretly used her powers to manipulate others for her own purposes. Within the Path, she was seen as someone who "calmed" those around her, but in reality, she imposed her will on those she needed to control. She successfully influenced Radicaz Dobbs to become a devoted member of her cult. Later, she exerted her influence over sheriff Jinx Pickwick, who opposed the Path's return to their former compound on the planet Dalna. Pickwick became confused by her own words, unaware of the Mother's manipulation. Marda Ro, a true believer in the Path, also noticed Pickwick's unusual change in behavior before the Mother.

The simmering conflict between the Path and the Jedi Order erupted into open warfare during the Battle of Dalna, where the Path ambushed visiting Jedi teams. During the battle, Marda, carrying the lightsaber of the deceased Jedi Padawan Kevmo Zink, encountered a Jedi wearing a vocoder mask. The Jedi initially demanded she drop the lightsaber, then calmly issued the same command using a mind trick. Marda quickly found herself succumbing to its influence, believing a lightsaber was the last thing she needed. However, a young Nameless—a creature native to Planet X that fed on Force-sensitives, and whose eggs Ro and others had collected for use against Force users—suddenly appeared and attacked the Jedi, freeing Marda from the mind trick just as she loosened her grip on the lightsaber and deactivated the blade. Enraged at being manipulated, Marda saw it as the Jedi invading her mind, but she was also horrified by the Jedi's fate at the hands of the Nameless.

Meanwhile, upon returning from the mission to retrieve Nameless eggs on Planet X, Dobbs realized that the euphoria induced by the planet, possibly a defensive mechanism to prevent visitors from leaving, was the same feeling he experienced around the Mother. Enraged at being used, Dobbs attempted to steal artifacts from the Path during the Battle of Dalna and informed Yana Ro, a rebelling Path member and Marda's cousin, of his discovery. Yana later shared Dobbs's theory with Marda herself. Marda recalled the Mother's interaction with Pickwick and realized her cousin was right. Marda soon confronted the Mother, whose words she found tempting to accept as truth, realizing it was a mind trick. While she had fallen for the Mother's powers in the past, Marda resolved to never be fooled again and ultimately killed the Mother by unleashing the Nameless known as the Leveler against her.

Later in the High Republic Era, Jedi Knight Elzar Mann began using the term "mind trick," despite the continued widespread use of "mind touch" among the Jedi.

Qui-Gon Jinn employed a mind trick to persuade Boss Nass to provide him with a bongo for transportation to Theed. Subsequently, while stranded on Tatooine, Jinn attempted to use a mind trick on Watto to get him to accept Republic credits for the purchase of a T-14 hyperdrive, but Watto revealed that he was a Toydarian and immune to mind tricks. Republic credits were not accepted on Tatooine; Watto insisted on local currency as payment.

During a mission to Carnelion IV some years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi used a mind trick to convince a hostile local woman named Pran that weapons were unnecessary in their conversation. The mind trick was successful, but their discussion was interrupted by a third-party attack before she could act on the suggestion.

Years later, while Kenobi was on Coruscant investigating an assassin targeting Padmé Amidala, he was approached by an individual in a bar attempting to sell him death sticks. Kenobi used the mind trick to convince him both that he "didn't want to sell him death sticks" and that he "wanted to go home and rethink his life." Shortly after, while Anakin Skywalker and Amidala were on Naboo, Amidala suggested Skywalker could use the mind trick on her after he struggled to get her to open up about her past. Skywalker replied that they only work on the weak-minded.

During the Clone Wars, Clone Captain CT-7567, known as "Rex," successfully resisted a mind trick employed by the Sith assassin Asajj Ventress during the Battle of Teth. Rex feigned compliance, contacting Skywalker but using his first name, Anakin, to alert his Jedi General to the deception. When Kenobi and Skywalker were captured by the Ohnaka Gang, Kenobi used a mind trick to convince a guard to release them and join them for drinks, although they were ultimately recaptured.

Prime Minister Almec's Mandalorian Guards received training to resist mind tricks and feign compliance. Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano believed she could use a mind trick on one of the guards to see Duchess Satine Kryze, who was being held hostage, but discovered that he was acting and that the guards were trained to resist what Almec termed "archaic magic."

Later, during the Senate hostage crisis, Anakin used a mind trick to convince the bounty hunter Shahan Alama to check another floor, allowing him to remain undetected because he was unarmed.

Jedi Master Mace Windu attempted a mind trick on a Dagoyan to gain access to the Queen's chambers on Bardotta, but, similarly to Qui-Gon's encounter with Watto, Windu was warned, "That will not work on a Dagoyan."

During the first year of the Imperial Era, [Ferren Barr](/article/ferren_barr] employed mind tricks to recruit at least two of his disciples. He also used one to persuade King Lee-Char to take drastic action against the invading Imperial forces. Barr also used a mind trick to activate the inhibitor chips in a Purge Trooper squad's heads and force them to execute Order 66 against their Inquisitor commanders, which were revealed to the clones earlier to have once been Jedi.

Jedi Cal Kestis demonstrated skill with the mind trick, using it to manipulate the thoughts of others to achieve his objectives and even turn enemies against each other. However, its effects typically lasted only a few seconds.

The Inquisitorius' Grand Inquisitor used mind tricks during his and Governor Wilhuff Tarkin's interrogation of Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus to gather information about his fellow Spectres and a potential wider rebellion. However, Jarrus resisted the Inquisitor's mind tricks, impressing him.

While rescuing the pirate Hondo Ohnaka from an Imperial prison on Naraka, [Ezra Bridger](/article/ezra_bridger], who had been influenced by the Presence of the Malachor Sith holocron over the past six months, used a dark-side-fueled version on the driver of an All Terrain Defense Pod, taking control of his mind and forcing him to fire on stormtroopers, then pilot the walker off the edge of a platform. Ezra's fellow rebels Sabine Wren and Garazeb Orrelios, as well as Ohnaka himself, were disturbed by this, unaware of Ezra's use of the Sith holocron.

When Kenobi and Luke Skywalker traveled to Mos Eisley to find passage to Alderaan, Kenobi used a mind trick to convince a suspicious stormtrooper, TD-110, that he "[didn't] need to see [Skywalker's] identification" and that the droids (R2-D2 and C-3PO) "[weren't] the droids [they were] looking for." After they cleared the checkpoint, Luke expressed surprise at their easy escape, and Kenobi explained that "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded." An aftereffect of the mind trick left TD-110 with a headache and prevented him from recognizing the droids on the Death Star later, when 3PO requested to "take [R2] down to maintenance" after being detained.

When Luke was on Rodia to acquire weapons for the Rebel Alliance, he encountered an obnoxious Rodian who refused to take him to his contact, Taneetch Soonta. He attempted a mind trick to make the Rodian more cooperative, but it had no effect. He tried again, adding the hand gesture Kenobi had used, but the attempt failed again. He then abandoned the attempt as pointless, realizing he lacked the necessary knowledge for the trick to work, but the problem was resolved when the Rodian received a comm message instructing him to cooperate.

Darth Vader once bent a group of Kakran to his will. Shortly after, Luke tried to talk Warba Calip out of stealing his lightsaber, an attempt she believed was a mind trick, which Skywalker did not deny. On Al'doleem, Skywalker tried and failed to use a mind trick on two stormtroopers, but later successfully used a mind trick to convince Kes Dameron that he was capable of undertaking a dangerous mission to Coruscant.

When Luke visited Jabba's Palace to rescue Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Lando Calrissian, he used a mind trick on Bib Fortuna to convince him to bring him before Jabba the Hutt. Jabba criticized Fortuna as a "weak-minded fool," and Luke attempted to use a mind trick on Jabba to get him to release the hostages, but the trick failed.

The scavenger Rey attempted a mind trick on First Order stormtrooper FN-1824 while imprisoned in a cell on Starkiller Base. She tried to persuade the guard to remove her restraints and leave the cell open for her escape. Her initial attempt failed, prompting the guard to approach and tighten her restraints. However, when she repeated her instructions, the stormtrooper complied, and as he left, she convinced him to drop his blaster. Shackled at the time, Rey accomplished this without any distracting gestures. Rey was inspired to use the mind trick after successfully resisting Kylo Ren's mind probe, turning his power against him and briefly experiencing his memories. Following this, she reasoned that if she could resist the mental powers of someone as strong as Ren, influencing a stormtrooper with no training or resistance would be easy. She then reached out with both her words and thoughts.

Shortly after, upon realizing their connection through the Force, Ren attempted to use a mind trick on Rey to reveal Luke Skywalker's location, but it proved ineffective. During the Mission to Kijimi, Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron were apprehended by two stormtroopers, FN-0606 and FN-1226, aboard the Star Destroyer Steadfast. Rey quickly used a mind trick to make the troopers accept their presence without question and even be happy to have them aboard. Disturbed, Dameron asked Finn if Rey had used the same Force tactic on them.

The Jedi mind trick made its debut in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, although it wasn't identified by name at the time. The term "Jedi mind trick" was first used in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. The mind trick featured prominently in the Expanded Universe, later rebranded as Star Wars Legends, where it had several useful variations, such as the ability to project illusions. However, these variations are not considered canon.

Kenobi's original use of the mind trick, "These aren't the droids you're looking for," became a popular culture phrase and inspired at least two songs.