Mind trick/Legends

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The mind trick, also called voice manipulation, was a Force technique employed by Jedi to influence the thoughts of others (and worked especially well on the weak-minded). In particular, it was often invoked to coerce the target of this power into agreement by suggestion, to cause one to reveal information, or to appeal to a sensory impression for distraction (e.g., to imitate the sound of footsteps emanating from a corridor for sneaking past a guard). This tactic allowed its practitioners to resolve matters in a non-violent way.

However, some species were quite resistant to its effects, among them Hutts, Toydarians, Yinchorri, Dashade, Falleen and, possibly, Snivvians. It would take a great deal of skill on the Jedi's part to successfully trick one of those species. For example, Revan could Persuade Motta the Hutt, but Luke Skywalker failed in his attempt to Persuade Jabba the Hutt. During the Jedi Civil War, certain ranks of soldiers were trained to resist this technique, this is revealed if the Jedi Exile attempts to force persuade the mercenaries who captured Master Vrook.

Affect mind was the less powerful of two variants of Force Persuasion or mind trick, used around 4000 BBY by Jedi Knights of the Old Republic such as Revan before perfecting his Force Persuasion skills and moving on to the more advanced Dominate Mind skill.

Examples of the mind trick in action

 * In 3,964 BBY, Padawan Zayne Carrick on Taris tried to use a mind trick on Marn Hierogryph but he complained that such tricks were useless on him.
 * In 3,956 BBY, during his quest for the Star Forge, Revan could have possibly used this ability many times. Bastila warned him not to use it for personal gain such as low prices.
 * In 3,951 BBY, the Jedi Exile and Kreia may have also used the mind trick to make people forget that they were even there (in addition to the Exile also using the technique much in the way that Revan did).
 * In 33 BBY, while in a cantina on Dorvalla, Darth Maul used a mind trick on a bartender so that she would "bring him his drink and leave him alone."
 * In 32 BBY, while on Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn used a mind trick to convince the leader of the Gungans, Boss Nass, to allow Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to depart in a Bongo with Jar Jar Binks.
 * Later, on Tatooine Jinn attempted to convince Watto, a Toydarian junk dealer, to allow him to use Republic credits to buy spare parts for Queen Amidala's royal starship. Watto asked Jinn if he thought he was "some kind of Jedi, waving his hand around like that." He claimed that, being Toydarian, "mind tricks don't work on me... only money."
 * In 22 BBY on Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi refused the offer of a slythmonger, Elan Sleazebaggano for Cilona-extract "death sticks," which were powerful narcotics. Kenobi convinced the slythmonger with a wave of his hand that he didn't want to sell him death sticks, and instead he wanted to "go home and rethink his life." A few days later, Padmé Amidala asked Anakin Skywalker if he was going to use the mind trick on her. He replied that it would only work on the weak-minded, implying that Padmé's mind was too strong—and Anakin knew it (or was otherwise just a pass that Anakin made on Padmé.)
 * Around 21.7 BBY, Jedi Master Yoda used the mind trick to make Captain Typho --responsible for Padmé Amidala's safety-- recommend that they needed to save Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee on Ilum, which was a "slight deviation" from their route. Although Padmé clearly recognized the trick, she still happily ordered Typho to go to Ilum.
 * In 19 BBY, Palpatine, after his "kidnapping", used a mind trick on General Grievous, who didn't know the true nature of the Supreme Chancellor. Obi-Wan again used a mind trick to avoid any unnecessary entanglements, on the sinkhole world of Utapau. In order to procure transport needed to track down General Grievous, Obi-Wan used the Force to persuade a local Utai dragonmount-handler to assist him. The Utai allowed Kenobi to ride Boga, a loyal varactyl mount, to reach the tenth level of Pau City.
 * Later when he returned to Coruscant, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda were greeted along with Senator Bail Organa by a guard; the guard said that he had taken the Jedi into his custody, but Obi-Wan Kenobi employed a mind trick and the guard then replied that it would be better if the Jedi stayed with the Senator.
 * Possibly the most famous use of this power was in 0 BBY when Obi-Wan once more made use of the Jedi mind trick, this time to convince an Imperial officer that himself and Luke Skywalker did not have the droids the the Empire was looking for, and that it would be best if they moved along. Obi-Wan also used it to distract some Imperial officers while he was disabling the tractor beam holding the Millennium Falcon captive onboard the first Death Star, although this was clearly not a direct mind trick. Perhaps it was more of a Force manipulation, as Obi-Wan Kenobi uses the same trick in 19 BBY, towards the end of the Clone Wars.
 * In 4 ABY, Luke Skywalker used the mind trick to convince Bib Fortuna to allow him an audience with Jabba the Hutt. Jabba later criticized Fortuna for falling for such a mind trick. Luke tried to use it on Jabba, who told Luke that his "mind powers will not work on him."
 * In 6 ABY, Corran Horn unknowingly used the mind trick to hide from Stormtroopers during his escape from Lusankya.
 * In 7 ABY, Horn, who was on an undercover mission, tried to use a mind trick intentionally on a stormtrooper on Thyferra to convince him that Corran could go about his business. For a moment, when the stormtrooper repeated Horn's statement about not having to go with him, Horn thought the trick was actually working. It failed miserably, and the only reaction he prompted from the stormtrooper was "You can go about your business? Your business is my business, void brain!" Horn was seriously injured in the ensuing firefight and ended up having to spend a couple of days in a bacta tank.
 * In 12 ABY, Kyle Katarn used the mind trick to get an Ugnaught worker to open a door for him and an Imperial officer to unlock a door.
 * In 30 ABY, Kyp Durron used a mind trick on a member of the Peace Brigade while on a covert mission. He tricked the brigadier into deciding not to search his team's baggage, and also into telling the team to gather their belongings and leave.
 * In 40 ABY, Mara Jade used a mind trick on two bystanders after fighting with Lumiya. She tricked the two bystanders into believing that the battle that they just witnessed between Mara and Lumiya was staged for holo program.  The male bystander remarked that the blood on Mara's face looked real, tricked by Mara into believing that it was fake.
 * In 137 ABY, Princess Marasiah Fel attempted to use a mind trick on Cade Skywalker in order to get aboard the Mynock with Astraal Vao and away from Darth Talon. Cade was not affected, but took them anyway after spotting the Sith. Cade later said to his companions 'Human thinks I'm some weak willed Koochu--tried a Jedi 'mind trick'.''

Employing the Jedi mind trick
When using a Jedi mind trick, a Jedi often waved his or her hand to aid in the persuasion. The Jedi adopted a peculiar tone of voice along with a casual facial expression. The sentient being that was the object of the mind trick tended to adopt a casual tone of voice but a peculiar facial expression. He or she, should the trick succeed, then agreed to whatever was being told to them without being able to think for themselves. Moments later, they felt puzzled about their new opinion, but didn't feel like changing it back.

Usage of the mind trick was a moral issue for the Jedi, violating as it did the individual's free will and conscience. Thus the Jedi were strictly proscribed from using it for personal gain (such as in betting or bargaining), reserving its use for when it would serve the greater good (greater good could also be sometimes a reason to overlook this restriction); the Sith and other Dark Jedi however, had no qualms about the usage of the ability.

Variants
Throughout the history of the Jedi and Sith orders there were many variants on the Mind Trick that served specific purposes, such as the Force Persuasion technique with its two subtypes Affect Mind and Dominate Mind, Force Projection, and the dark side variants Force Fear, Force Horror, and Force Insanity. Other variants include Force whisper, Force nudge, and Force prod.

Behind the scenes
Various games represent the Jedi mind trick as a means of slipping past opponents without being seen. In one instance it was named "Force Persuasion", but accomplished the same thing, probably a name to apply only to this variant of use. A mind trick in the game is employed, and your character becomes invisible to (an) opponent(s). Some games allow you to use the Mind Trick to confuse and stun your opponents. Other instances in games employ the mind trick so that using it makes your opponents temporarily join your party by attacking other of your opponents.

The mind trick is known as both affect mind and the more powerful dominate mind in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, usage of mind-affecting Force abilities follows the movies more closely. Learning these abilities gives the player additional choices in conversations, which can be used to persuade NPCs to do something beneficial for the player - for example, pay a greater reward than the player would normally receive, offer a lower price for an item, share some secret information, extract information from the individual or to manipulate them into doing various things.

In Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, if the player character has a Mind trick level higher than 3 (impossible without cheats), he may directly control an enemy including Reborn, which are normally immune to the ability.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Commencement
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * The Apprentice
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * Rogue Planet
 * Star Wars Republic 27: Starcrash
 * Star Wars Republic: Darkness
 * Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Republic: The New Face of War
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars (video game)
 * Star Wars Republic 64: Bloodlines
 * Star Wars Republic: Trackdown
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hidden Enemy
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Republic: Into the Unknown
 * Star Wars Dark Times 3: The Path to Nowhere, Part 3
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars Journal: The Fight for Justice
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Star Wars: Epic Duels
 * Carida: Heavy Duty
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * X-wing: The Bacta War
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Balance Point
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Recovery
 * Emissary of the Void
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Star by Star
 * Destiny's Way
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force
 * Tempest
 * Sacrifice
 * Star Wars Legacy 2: Broken, Part 2
 * Star Wars Legacy 3: Broken, Part 3

Macht-Gedankentrick