Light side of the Force

The Jedi Order, who worked to maintain peace and justice across the galaxy, was the largest group of proponents and instructors of the light side. The Jedi were acutely aware of the risks associated with the dark side of the Force and staunchly opposed its use, seeing it as a sign of corruption and a violation of the universe's natural order. The Sith, whom the Jedi sought to eliminate in order to maintain balance in the Force, were considered to be the masters of the dark side. The Force played a significant role in the Jedi's use of a lightsaber, granting them the ability to foresee future events. This gave the impression of heightened awareness and incredibly fast reflexes, which prevented them from accidentally harming themselves in combat and enabled them to perform other feats, such as deflecting incoming blaster fire with a lightsaber. Jedi would employ the Force to aid in the construction of their lightsaber, both to assemble its complex components and, initially, to charge its power cell.

With sufficient experience, a Jedi could achieve a seemingly limitless number of things by utilizing the light side. This applied not only to Jedi, but to any Force-sensitive individuals. The Jedi utilized their abilities to acquire greater knowledge, unlike their ancient adversaries, the Sith. While the Sith would employ their abilities to try to dominate the galaxy, the Jedi would utilize their power to defend it and guide its course, though this distinction was not always so obvious. Many individuals harbored distrust towards the Jedi Order's significant influence over the leaders of the Old Republic.

The light side of the Force was linked to emotions like happiness, joy, love, and benevolence, or simply calmness, which some believed fostered the light side and provided insight into its ethical applications. It was generally concerned with concepts like good, generosity, healing, and wisdom, as opposed to evil, harm, and rash judgment. Practitioners often meditated to clear themselves of emotion in order to achieve harmony with the light side of the Force, especially negative emotions like aggression, anger, and hatred, as these were shown to make a Jedi more susceptible to the dark side. Predictably, this led to several contradictory interpretations, with some works advocating a calm, emotionless, and occasionally even completely unfeeling view of the light side, while others associated it with positive emotions.

The light side was regarded as both a form of impersonal intelligence and an essence of good. According to the self-aware interpretation, as described by Bastila Shan, the light side was believed to actively influence events to the point where a Jedi could consider themselves a mere "tool" of the Force. However, when questioned about whether this implied a lack of choice regarding an individual's fate, Shan refuted it, claiming instead that it was "the ultimate free will." She explained that while the Force represented a Jedi's destiny, it did not force obedience, and the choices a Jedi makes on the path to their destiny are ultimately their own.

Since Ashla originally referred to the Force itself before being exclusively associated with the light side, it could imply that the light side is the "normal" state of the Force. This perspective was not shared by the Potentium followers who, according to Jedi orthodoxy (which labeled it a misinterpretation), asserted that because the Force was inherently good, the dark side was not evil either. Conversely, the Force-being known as the Father implied that an overabundance of the light side in the galaxy could be just as detrimental as an overabundance of the dark side. Indeed, some works have depicted the light side as capable of causing harm to the same extent as the dark side, as exemplified by Darth Gravid, whose alignment with the light side eventually drove him to insanity.

While some Sith recognized the light side's benevolent qualities, the majority did not consider it a force for good, viewing it as either weak and ineffective or as an unnatural suppression of emotions that restricted free will; these were frequently used as justifications for embracing the dark side. Several Gray Jedi attempted to balance the use of both sides of the Force, believing that complete submission to either light or dark was detrimental to the individual Force-user.

The light side of the Force was generally more challenging to use than the dark side, especially in combat or other high-pressure situations, because dark side Force powers were primarily aggressive and easily fueled by anger or hatred. This allowed darksiders to progress more quickly, but they were not necessarily more powerful than the lightsiders. Light-sided Force abilities were almost entirely defensive, passive, or utility-oriented. While there were light-side abilities for enhancing one's strength or courage, or incapacitating an enemy, few of them were truly destructive (with notable exceptions such as Electric Judgment, Sever Force, and Combustion, as well as certain applications of Alter Environment, Battle Meditation, Force Light, and Telekinesis).

• Alter Environment
• Animal bond
• Battlemind
• Beam of light
• Combustion
• Cure Disease
• Cure Poison
• Droid Disable
• Electric Judgment
• Force Enlightenment
• Force healing
• Force Light
• Force meld
• Force Stun
• Force valor
• Hibernation trance
• Malacia
• Morichro
• Plant Surge
• Protection bubble
• Revitalize
• Sever Force
• Shatterpoint
• Transfer Force
• Tutaminis
• Wall of light

The majority of beings who utilized the light side of the Force were familiar with its calming effects. The Jedi made an effort to maintain composure at all times, even in circumstances that would typically cause intense stress. They possessed the ability to calm animals, including people, and to boost morale simply by using their minds. Almost every lightsider experienced the alluring pull of the dark side of the Force at some point, but the majority of them used the light side's abilities to restore their normal tranquility. The following are some Force users who have demonstrated these abilities.

• Revan , when the Sith apprentice Bastila Shan begged him to return to his former life as Dark Lord of the Sith.
• Ki-Adi-Mundi, when he rescued his daughter from Jabba the Hutt.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi, after losing Qui-Gon Jinn to Darth Maul.
• Luke Skywalker, during a duel with his father Darth Vader, before declaring himself a Jedi.
• Ben Skywalker, when Sith Saber Gavar Khai betrayed Ben's father, Luke.
• Kyle Katarn, when Jerec reminded him that he had killed his father.
• Jaden Korr, when he confronted Rosh Penin after discovering his betrayal of the Jedi Order.
• Cade Skywalker, during a duel with Darth Krayt, remained true to his Jedi heritage.

An ancient prophecy spoke of a being destined to restore balance to the Force and eliminate the Sith. Some believed that Anakin Skywalker was this being, as his blood contained the highest concentration of midi-chlorians ever recorded by the Jedi Council. Discovered on Tatooine by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin demonstrated his extensive Force abilities without prior training. The most evident demonstration was his ability to participate in podraces, which demanded exceptional reflexes that could only be achieved by a Human with Force sensitivity. After joining the Jedi Order, Anakin progressed rapidly through his training due to his strong connection to the Force, but he succumbed to the dark side as Darth Vader due to the manipulations of Darth Sidious. However, Anakin ultimately fulfilled his role as the Chosen One when he embraced the light side once more and killed his master to protect his son. Anakin sustained fatal injuries in the process and died shortly thereafter. With his death, he restored balance to the Force by eliminating both Sith, Sidious and himself, although the Sith would eventually resurface.

Ashla was the designation assigned to the light side of the Force in the second draft of the script for A New Hope. It was later established as a canon name for "the positive energy of the universe," which would later be referred to as the Force in the Expanded Universe within the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook. The New Essential Chronology revealed that Ashla was the term used by the early Jedi to describe the light side.

According to the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook, the Potentium (the belief that the Force is unified and its sides are simply a matter of choosing Force powers) is a flawed and misguided philosophy. This marked the first instance where an official source affirmed that the Jedi Orthodox philosophy accurately reflects the true nature of the Force.

The "light side" of the Force is never explicitly named in the films. It is only mentioned by name in sources from the Expanded Universe.