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Even if the Force is always with you, it doesn't mean that's always a good thing...
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00:00In his hood 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
00:24Wars, 8 insane force powers that literally make no sense. Number 8, Force Bellow. Perhaps one of
00:31the strangest force powers Star Wars has to offer is Force Bellow. The ability is strangely specific
00:37and offers no real 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 microphones themselves
01:04have been seen frequently in Star Wars, making Force Bellow even more useless than it initially
01:10seems to be. Since this bafflingly pointless ability found its way into the Star Wars expanded
01:15universe, George Lucas did make it very clear that, to him, Star Wars canon actually didn't consider
01:21the EU at all. Number 7, Battle Meditation. Battle Meditation increased morale and support,
01:26and so became heavily used across the space opera. Introduced in 2003's Knights of the Old Republic,
01:32Battle Meditation was utilised by Bastila Shan, first during the Jedi Civil War, then again during
01:38the Battle of Rakata Prime, ultimately allowing the Republic to destroy the Starforge. The power has
01:43also managed to make its way into canon, with it briefly appearing in the Clone Wars TV series,
01:48though it has been used far less than it was in Legends. Battle Meditation seems to be a little
01:53bit more complex than simply being a morale-boosting ability, though. According to Grand Admiral Thrawn
01:59in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, the Rebellion was able to emerge victorious at the Battle of Endor
02:04because Palpatine overused Battle Meditation, making Imperial forces mindless puppets who then
02:09could not make the independent tactical decisions once the Emperor stopped using the power. So not only does
02:15Battle Meditation seem to be a morale-boosting ability, it can also act as a light form of
02:20mind trick, in which you can spread across as many people as possible, I guess.
02:24Speaking of which, though, number 6, the Mind Trick. Probably one of the most popular force
02:29abilities in Star Wars, the Mind Trick allows the user to influence their victim's mind,
02:34persuading them to do something they otherwise would not want to do. Mind Tricks were first seen,
02:39of course, in the eponymous 1977 film, in which Obi-Wan Kenobi used it to bypass a squad of stormtroopers
02:45in order to reach Mos Eisley. Despite Mind Tricks being used frequently in Star Wars,
02:49its actual workings are kinda poorly explained. Upon its use by Kenobi on Tatooine, he explains to
02:55Luke that, quote, the Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded, end quote. Logically,
03:00the strong-minded should remain unaffected by a Mind Trick, then, as Luke later experiences in Return
03:05of the Jedi when he attempts and fails to use the power on Jabba the Hutt. What doesn't make sense
03:11about the Mind Trick, though, is what a weak-mind actually is, and 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 is also no reason why the Mind Trick Jinn used on the Gungan Leader boss,
03:29Nas, should have worked, since Nas is later seen to be tactically and strategically quite competent
03:34during the planning of the Battle of Naboo. Overall, Mind Tricks in Star Wars are not wholly consistent,
03:40and need a little bit more explaining for them to make total sense.
03:43Number 5, Force Drain. Potentially, one of the most sinister powers Star Wars has to offer is
03:48Force Drain. Force Drain is a power closely linked to Darkseid users, simply because the ability grants
03:54the user to remove all life from an organism until the organism is completely dead. The most famous
04:00practitioner of Force Drain was the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nihilus, who constantly hungered for Force
04:06energy. This Owlglad became so skillful in the ability and worked up such an appetite that he
04:11was even able to drain whole planets of life in an instant. With how exceptionally strong Force
04:17Drain can be then, this power likely falls under the same category of other abilities like Force
04:22Plague, of being moves that are fun to mess around with in Star Wars games, but are too powerful for
04:27them to exist in the mainline Star Wars continuity at large, at least in their Legends form.
04:32Still, a version of Force Drain does exist in Star Wars canon, as Palpatine used the ability on Rey
04:37and Ben Solo to restore his strength in the Rise of Skywalker, and the Dathmorion witch Mother Talzin
04:43was able to utilize a form of Force Drain on Count Dooku during the Clone Wars. Even so, the ability
04:49in
04:49canon is a shell of its capabilities in Legends, luckily for our heroes.
04:53Number 4, Essence Transfer. Arguably the most controversial Force power in Star Wars,
04:58Essence Transfer permits the user to transfer their spirit or essence, hence the title,
05:03into another body, essentially giving the user a form of invincibility. The power was famously
05:08used by Palpatine in the Legends comic book line Dark Empire, and was heavily implied to have been
05:13what the late Emperor used to preserve his life in the Rise of Skywalker. Like Force Heal,
05:19Essence Transfer has massive consequences for Star Wars and the workings of the Force.
05:23With Palpatine using the power in Episode 9, there is now precedent for him to just continue living,
05:29even after Rey defeated him in the film's climax, since only his body was destroyed,
05:34and not his spirit. So, 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, and that this ending isn't quite as definitive or
05:43as impactful as it could have been. If Palpatine can use Essence Transfer, then who else in this
05:48franchise could use this power? Number 3, Force Speed. First seen in The Phantom Menace,
05:53Force Speed allowed a Force user to travel at dramatically fast pace. The power has appeared
05:58in both Legends and Canon, with the Force Unleashed and Jedi Fallen Order using the power frequently
06:03throughout the games' stories. Even 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 that George Lucas likely
06:13didn't plan for. For instance, since Obi-Wan was clearly seen to use the power in the opening of
06:18The Phantom Menace, it 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, which then could have prevented Jin's
06:29death. There is also no reason as to why Kenobi did not use it to catch Jango Fett on Kamino,
06:34which could have potentially prevented the outbreak of the Clone Wars, had Fett revealed Count Dooku hired
06:39him to be the donor of the Republic's clone army. Number 2, Force Dyad. Introduced in The Rise of
06:45Skywalker, a Force Dyad was an exceptionally rare power that was shared amongst a pair of Force
06:50users. The Dyad ties into other powers like Force Bond and Force Heal, essentially joining the two
06:56together across space and time. In Canon, the only time a Force Dyad has been seen on screen is between
07:02Rey and Kylo Ren. Whilst in concept a Force Dyad sounds interesting and even somewhat logical in Star Wars,
07:08when 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 is how and why this ability comes to
07:19fruition. According to the Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary, a Force Dyad can only be formed with
07:24a light and dark side Force user, as the power requires total balance. Since Rey and Kylo Ren perfectly
07:30balance out in the Force, a Dyad between the two could make sense. Even so, Rey and Kylo Ren having
07:36the
07:36only Force Dyad known in Star Wars is a little bit questionable, especially when looking at other
07:41candidates who are more deserving of the link, like Luke and Anakin Skywalker. Ultimately, the Force
07:46itself chooses who will share a Dyad, making 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.
07:56Number 1, Force Heal. This power has been seen several times in Star Wars now, both in canon and
08:02Legends. The Rise of Skywalker liberally used Force Heal throughout the film's runtime, but Force
08:07healing was not a Disney edition, and had actually been used somewhat frequently under Star Wars
08:12Legends, such as in the Knights of the Old Republic games. Even so, the power was used differently in
08:17Legends than in canon. In Legends, the power was mostly used to cure yourself and others, with a far
08:22lesser focus on being able to fully resurrect the dead. In canon, the power seems to be only used
08:27to prevent death, or to outright revive the dead, as seen in the Mandalorian where Grogu uses this
08:32power. Not only does this power merely get a vague explanation of transferring Force energy from one
08:38person to another in the Rise of Skywalker, but it kind of just breaks Star Wars in a lot of
08:43ways.
08:44With the introduction of this power into canon, suddenly a myriad of questions present themselves to
08:48keen-eyed Star Wars fans, such as just how rare is it, and why haven't we seen any of the
08:53major
08:53characters use it before, if they were so powerful? Now that Force healing has made its way into canon,
08:58suddenly dead is almost meaningless, as if someone can wield this power, then anyone can be fully
09:04resurrected, as long as they're on hand. So that's our list, I want to know what you guys think down
09:08in
09:08the comments below. What do you think about these Force powers, and are there any explanations for them
09:12that I've missed off here? While you're down there as well, could you please give us a like, share,
09:15subscribe, and 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.
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