Even if the Force is always with you, it doesn't mean that's always a good thing...
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00In his Hut on Tatooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi describes the force to a starry-eyed Luke Skywalker as
00:05quote, an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us,
00:10it binds the galaxy together, end quote. Since then though, things have become a lot more
00:15complicated, with new force powers introduced all the time that are awesome, but are more
00:20than a little confusing. With that in mind then, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and this is Star Wars
00:258 Insane Force Powers That Literally Make No Sense.
00:298. Force Bellow Perhaps one of the strangest force powers
00:32Star Wars has to offer is Force Bellow. The ability is strangely specific and offers no
00:38real tangible use, other than allowing the user to significantly amplify their voice.
00:43Force Bellow has only been seen in legends, such as the 2003 micro-series Star Wars Clone Wars,
00:49where the power is used to crush walls onto General Grievous during the Separatist invasion
00:54of Coruscant. The power was also used during a eulogy at Mara Jade Skywalker's funeral.
00:59Basically, the ability is the force's equivalent of a microphone, even though
01:03microphones themselves have been seen frequently in Star Wars, making Force Bellow even more
01:08useless than it initially seems to be. Since this bafflingly pointless ability found its way
01:13into the Star Wars Expanded Universe, George Lucas did make it very clear that, to him,
01:18Star Wars canon actually didn't consider the EU at all.
01:227. Battle Meditation Battle Meditation increased morale and support,
01:26and still became heavily used across the space opera. Introduced in 2003's Knights of the Old
01:32Republic, Battle Meditation was utilised by Bastila Shan, first during the Jedi Civil War,
01:37then again during the Battle of Rakata Prime, ultimately allowing the Republic
01:41to destroy the Star Forge. The power has also managed to make its way into canon,
01:45with it briefly appearing in the Clone Wars TV series, though it has been used far less
01:50than it was in Legends. Battle Meditation seems to be a bit more complex than simply
01:55being a morale-boosting ability. According to Grand Admiral Thrawn in Timothy Zahn's Heir to
02:00the Empire, the Rebellion was able to emerge victorious at the Battle of Endor because
02:04Palpatine overused Battle Meditation, making Imperial Forces mindless puppets who then
02:09could not make independent tactical decisions once the Emperor stopped using the power.
02:14So not only does Battle Meditation seem to be a morale-boosting ability, it can also act as a
02:19light form of mind trick, in which you can spread across as many people as possible I guess.
02:24Speaking of which though, Number 6. The Mind Trick
02:27Probably one of the most popular force abilities in Star Wars, the Mind Trick allows the user to
02:32influence their victim's mind, persuading them to do something they otherwise would not want to do.
02:37Mind Tricks were first seen of course in the eponymous 1977 film, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi
02:42used it to bypass his squad of Stormtroopers in order to reach Mos Eisley. Despite Mind Tricks
02:47being used frequently in Star Wars, it's actual workings are kinda poorly explained.
02:52Upon it's use by Kenobi on Tatooine, he explains to Luke that quote,
02:56the force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded, end quote.
02:59Logically, the strong-minded should remain unaffected by a Mind Trick then,
03:03as Luke later experiences in Return of the Jedi when he attempts and fails
03:07to use the power on Jabba the Hutt.
03:09What doesn't make sense about the Mind Trick though is what a weak mind actually is,
03:14and who and why someone is weak-minded.
03:17In The Phantom Menace for instance, Watto resists a Mind Trick from Qui-Gon Jinn,
03:21though the film does nothing to suggest that Watto is particularly intelligent.
03:25There's also no reason why the Mind Trick Jinn used on the Gungan leader Boss Nas should've worked,
03:30since Nas is later seen to be tactically and strategically quite competent
03:34during the planning of the Battle of Naboo.
03:37Overall, Mind Tricks in Star Wars are not wholly consistent,
03:40and need a little bit more explaining for them to make total sense.
03:435. Force Drain
03:44Potentially one of the most sinister powers Star Wars has to offer is Force Drain.
03:49Force Drain is a power closely linked to Dark Side users,
03:52simply because the ability grants the user to remove all life from an organism
03:57until the organism is completely dead.
03:59The most famous practitioner of Force Drain was the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nihilus,
04:04who constantly hungered for Force Energy.
04:06This old lad became so skillful in the ability and worked up such an appetite
04:11that he was even able to drain whole planets of life in an instant.
04:15With how exceptionally strong Force Drain can be then,
04:18this power likely falls under the same category of other abilities like Force Plague,
04:22of being moves that are fun to mess around with in Star Wars games,
04:26but are too powerful for them to exist in the mainline Star Wars continuity at large,
04:30at least in their Legends form.
04:32Still, a version of Force Drain does exist in Star Wars canon,
04:35as Palpatine used the ability on Rey and Ben Solo
04:38to restore his strength in The Rise of Skywalker,
04:41and the Dathmorian witch Mother Talzin
04:43was able to utilize a form of Force Drain on Count Dooku during the Clone Wars.
04:48Even so, the ability in canon is a shell of its capabilities in Legends,
04:51luckily for our heroes.
04:55Arguably the most controversial Force Power in Star Wars,
04:58Essence Transfer permits the user to transfer their spirit or essence,
05:02hence the title, into another body,
05:04essentially giving the user a form of invincibility.
05:07The power was famously used by Palpatine in the Legends comic book line Dark Empire,
05:12and was heavily implied to have been what the late Emperor used to preserve his life
05:16in The Rise of Skywalker.
05:18Like Force Heal, Essence Transfer has massive consequences for Star Wars,
05:22and the workings of the Force.
05:24With Palpatine using the power in Episode 9,
05:26there is now precedent for him to just continue living,
05:29even after Rey defeated him in the film's climax,
05:32since only his body was destroyed, and not his spirit.
05:35So, thanks to Essence Transfer and the way it was handled in The Rise of Skywalker,
05:39there's still a sense that anything could happen,
05:41and that this ending isn't quite as definitive or impactful as it could have been.
05:45If Palpatine can use Essence Transfer, then who else in this franchise could use this power?
05:52First seen in the Phantom Menace,
05:53Force Speed allowed a Force user to travel at a dramatically fast pace.
05:57The power has appeared in both Legends and canon,
06:00with the Force Unleashed and Jedi Fallen Order
06:02using the power frequently throughout the games' stories.
06:05Even though this power has been used countless times in Star Wars,
06:08its existence in the Star Wars universe has quite a lot of implications
06:11that George Lucas likely didn't plan for.
06:14For instance, since Obi-Wan was clearly seen to use the power in the opening of The Phantom Menace,
06:19it is virtually unexplainable as to why he didn't later use the power on Naboo
06:24to catch up to his master during their duel with Darth Maul,
06:27which then could have prevented Jyn's death.
06:29There is also no reason as to why Kenobi did not use it to catch Jango Fett and Kamino,
06:34which could have potentially prevented the outbreak of the Clone Wars,
06:37had Fett revealed Count Dooku hired him to be the donor of the Republic's Clone Army.
06:44Introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, a Force Dyad was an exceptionally rare power
06:48that was shared amongst a pair of Force users.
06:51The Dyad ties into other powers like Force Bond and Force Heal,
06:55essentially joining the two together across space and time.
06:58In canon, the only time a Force Dyad has been seen on screen is between Rey and Kylo Ren.
07:03Whilst in concept a Force Dyad sounds interesting and even somewhat logical in Star Wars,
07:09when extra thought is given to the power and its workings, many questions do begin to seep through.
07:14What is possibly the most confusing aspect of a Force Dyad
07:17is how and why this ability comes to fruition.
07:19According to the Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary,
07:22a Force Dyad can only be formed with a light and dark side Force user,
07:26as the power requires total balance.
07:28Since Rey and Kylo Ren perfectly balance out in the Force,
07:31a Dyad between the two could make sense.
07:34Even so, Rey and Kylo Ren having the only Force Dyad known in Star Wars is a little bit questionable,
07:40especially when looking at other candidates who are more deserving of the link,
07:43like Luke and Anakin Skywalker.
07:45Ultimately, the Force itself chooses who will share a Dyad,
07:48making the choice of Kylo Ren and Rey even more perplexing,
07:52as other Force users have a much bigger stake in the Skywalker saga than them.
07:561. Force Heal
07:58This power has been seen several times in Star Wars now, both in canon and Legends.
08:03The Rise of Skywalker liberally used Force Heal throughout the film's runtime,
08:06but Force Healing was not a Disney addition,
08:09and had actually been used somewhat frequently under Star Wars Legends,
08:12such as in the Knights of the Old Republic games.
08:15Even so, the power was used differently in Legends than in canon.
08:18In Legends, the power was mostly used to cure yourself and others,
08:21with a far lesser focus on being able to fully resurrect the dead.
08:25In canon, the power seems to be only used to prevent death,
08:28or to outright revive the dead, as seen in The Mandalorian where Grogu uses this power.
08:33Not only does this power merely get a vague explanation of transferring
08:37Force Energy from one person to another in The Rise of Skywalker,
08:40but it kinda just breaks Star Wars in a lot of ways.
08:44With the introduction of this power into canon,
08:45suddenly a myriad of questions present themselves to keen-eyed Star Wars fans,
08:49such as just how rare is it and why haven't we seen any of the major characters use it before
08:54if they were so powerful?
08:56Now that Force Healing has made its way into canon,
08:58suddenly dead is almost meaningless,
09:00as if someone can wield this power, then anyone can be fully resurrected,
09:04as long as they're on hand.
09:06So that's our list, I want to know what you guys think down in the comments below.
09:09What do you think about these Force Powers,
09:10and are there any explanations for them that I've missed off here?
09:13While you're down there as well, could you please give us a like, share, subscribe,
09:15and head over to whatculture.com for more lists and news like this every single day.
09:20Even if you don't though, I've been Josh, thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.