Transfer essence

This ability empowered the user's psyche to endure beyond the demise of their biological form by forcefully assuming dominance over a suitable vessel. Should the intruding consciousness possess sufficient potency, it could suppress and displace the resident mind of the intended body. Nevertheless, it proved nearly insurmountable to overcome a spirit already inhabiting a body, and the practitioner's own corporeal form would disintegrate during the attempt. In instances where the target resisted the possession attempt, or should the user falter in their endeavor to merge with the object, their disembodied spirit, lacking any alternative destination, was relegated to Chaos. Considering the inherent complexity, unpredictable character, and dire repercussions of failure associated with this power, the majority of prospective practitioners in the modern age opted to have their physical bodies replicated via skilled technicians and maintained in a concealed sanctuary, dormant within suspended animation chambers until required. These clones, devoid of lived experiences or a sense of identity, served as essentially blank canvases, upon which the original consciousness could readily imprint itself.

Among the earliest Sith Lords documented to have employed this technique was Karness Muur, a Lord belonging to the Sith Empire, who affixed his essence to the Sith artifact bearing his namesake, the Muur Talisman. The talisman not only enabled Muur to circumvent death but also to assume control of any individual who donned the Talisman, unless the wearer's resolve was resilient enough to withstand him, as exemplified by Celeste Morne.

Sith Emperor Vitiate stood out as one of the most accomplished figures in history when it came to this skill. He didn't just rule for over a millennium by using many different bodies he called Emperor's Voice, but he also put some of his essence into a few hundred, maybe even a thousand, people he called his Children of the Emperor. His skill with this power was so great that he could exist without a host without going mad or falling into chaos, could live in a host's mind without getting rid of the original personality for a long time, and could even control thousands of bodies at the same time. Also, unlike Sidious, Vitiate seemed to be able to reduce the amount of early breakdown that usually happens because of strong dark side energy, so much so that his last known body seemed to age just like a normal person with very little dark side breakdown. This might have happened because Vitiate used the bodies of people who were already strong with the Force, while Sidious used empty clone bodies.

In contrast to his spiritual successors, Exar Kun, the Dark Lord of the Sith during the Great Sith War, did not utilize this power to dominate another body or seize an object; instead, he employed it to secure his spirit to the Massassi Temples situated on Yavin 4. Following his betrayal by his apprentice Ulic Qel-Droma to the Jedi Order, Kun summoned all of his Massassi adherents into the Temple of Fire, subsequently harnessing their life force (along with the alchemical apparatus left behind by his predecessor Naga Sadow) to abandon his physical form, drawing upon the extraordinary focusing energies of the Massassi Temples to anchor himself to the tangible realm. Kun's spirit remained concealed on Yavin IV for over four millennia, gradually succumbing to madness due to his incorporeal existence and the profound isolation of the jungle moon. Ultimately, his spirit was vanquished by the students of Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy, seven years following the Battle of Endor.

In the year 3643 BBY, Darth Zash attempted to employ this power on her apprentice, Kallig. Zash had devoted years to the pursuit of relics belonging to the ancient Sith Lord Tulak Hord to aid her in the ritual, but her plans were thwarted when the Dashade Khem Val intervened to safeguard Kallig, his master. Instead of usurping her powerful apprentice's body, she inadvertently became ensnared within Khem Val's form, with both of their consciousnesses vying for dominance. The conflict ultimately concluded with Zash's removal and confinement within a Rakata Mind prison.

Darth Bane gained knowledge of this power after acquiring Darth Andeddu's holocron. The gatekeeper of the holocron declined to impart this power to Darth Bane, prompting Bane to extract the information directly from the holocron, assimilating it into his mind. He later attempted to transfer his essence into his apprentice, Darth Zannah, during their final duel, but her willpower proved sufficient to repel the invasion, thereby demonstrating her worthiness to carry on Darth Bane's legacy. Nevertheless, a portion of Darth Bane's consciousness persisted within Zannah.

Set Harth, a Dark Jedi originating from the era of the [New Sith Wars], acquired this technique from Darth Andeddu's holocron after retrieving it from the [Stone Prison] on [Doan]; he utilized the power to convey his consciousness through a succession of cloned bodies, mirroring the methods employed by [Darth Sidious] nearly a millennium later. However, Set Harth's clones were supplied by discreet third-party technicians and never exhibited the degradation experienced by the Emperor. Nevertheless, Harth typically discarded them around their 30th year. Through these methods, he managed to survive until at least the [Yuuzhan Vong Invasion] and potentially beyond, thus necessitating the use of dozens of clones over the intervening centuries.

[Darth Plagueis] was aware of the concept of transfer essence. Nevertheless, he purposefully refrained from utilizing it, as his intention was to preserve his own body in complete immortality. Unfortunately for Plagueis, he ultimately failed to discover a means to circumvent death before his assassination at the hands of Darth Sidious in [32 BBY].

[Cronal] also became aware of this ability after intense study of various dark side sites as well as knowledge imparted on him by Darth Sidious. However, he had no intention of using the ability to transfer his mind to a clone but rather use it to take over a living sentient body through [Pawns]. He later attempted to accomplish this feat in order to place his mind in [Luke Skywalker's] at the [Battle of Mindor].

Darth Sidious emerged as the most prolific practitioner of this esoteric technique in the modern era, surviving his initial demise at the hands of [Anakin Skywalker], and a subsequent one at the hands of Anakin's offspring, by transferring his essence into newly created clone bodies. However, Sidious's potency in the dark side of the Force induced accelerated degeneration in each clone, compelling him to periodically inhabit new clone bodies. The clones' rate of deterioration was further exacerbated by [sabotage]. Furthermore, he employed this power to [torture] [Bevel Lemelisk] following the destruction of the [first Death Star], and during a perceived lack of progress in developing the [second]. In total, Lemelisk was killed and resurrected seven times—typically when one of the Imperial engineer's [superweapon] designs failed. Each time, Lemelisk met a painful end, only to awaken in a fresh clone. His final words, upon facing a [New Republic] firing squad in [16 ABY], were "At least make sure you do it right this time."

The [Hutt] crime lord [Durga Besadii Tai] claimed to know transfer essence and implied that he'll use it on Lemelisk should he fail on the Darksaber. However, Lemelisk wasn't sure if this was true, or even if he was skilled at it to Palpatine's level, fearing that the result will be botched.

Perhaps the most unconventional instances of this technique in practice transpired in [18 BBY], and again in [12 ABY], when Jedi Knight [Callista Ming] utilized the power to transfer her soul into the mainframe of the Imperial battlestation Eye of Palpatine. She was able to "inhabit" the gunnery computer of the dreadnought for approximately three decades before exchanging her essence with the willing [Cray Mingla], albeit at the cost of her capacity to wield the [light side of the Force].

This event diverges from nearly all other documented instances of spirit transference in several respects. Firstly, Callista, despite her allegiance to the light side of the Force, was able to employ this predominantly dark side ability, typically utilized by formidable Sith Lords, to transfer her consciousness into a non-living object. Furthermore, she did not require alchemical apparatus or additional life energy. Secondly, instead of becoming a disembodied shade, Callista became integrated into the Eye's gunnery mainframe, functioning more as a self-aware computer program than a manifest presence. Thirdly, upon transferring her spirit into the body of Jedi trainee Cray Mingla, she could only interact with the dark side of the Force. This was atypical, given that both Callista and Cray possessed Force sensitivity. As she remained committed to the Jedi path (even assisting Luke Skywalker in training new Jedi at the Yavin IV academy), she was essentially severed from the Force, unlike Sidious, Set Harth, or Exar Kun. Given that none of the Sith had any reservations about utilizing the dark side, this "handicap," if they possessed it, was essentially irrelevant.

The dark side entity [Abeloth] utilized an ability similar to transfer essence, whereby she took control of various people and made them avatar bodies for herself.

Prior to its revision to enhance its utility when a player was slain within the Saga ruleset of the [Star Wars Roleplaying Game], this ability was represented by the Transfer Essence skill. In contrast to the ability described above (such as in the case of Emperor Palpatine), the Transfer Essence skill mandated a conscious effort from the player while still alive and possessed a maximum range of 10 meters. Furthermore, a target who successfully resisted possession was rendered permanently immune to subsequent attempts by that character. Activating the ability proved exceedingly taxing, and should the initial attempts fail, the character's consciousness would be forcibly dragged into the yawning abyss of Chaos. Even upon successfully usurping control of another character, that character retained a chance to reassert itself whenever the possessor relied particularly heavily on the Force. The ability exemplified by Palpatine, however, lacked a range limitation and functioned even if death caught Palpatine unawares, as it did aboard the [Eclipse].

The object transfer variant of the skill necessitated that the player also possess ranks in the Alchemy skill (the in-game representation of the dark art of [Sith alchemy]) and expend the life force of other willing beings to power the transfer (as exemplified by Exar Kun and the Massassi). To acquire ranks in either Transfer Essence or Alchemy, the player had to possess the [Sith Sorcery] feat, which enabled the player to invoke the spirits of long-deceased Sith Lords to augment their offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as their proficiency with the dark side of the Force. However, the ability was short-lived, and each utilization afforded the Sith Lords an opportunity to escape their confinement in Chaos by possessing the player character.