Force-sensitive/Legends

"You have taken your first step into a larger world."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker

A Force-sensitive was a being who was highly attuned to the flow of the Force. Force-sensitives could, with training, learn to sense and manipulate the Force.

The Jedi and Sith alike, of the Old Republic took Force-sensitive children at a young age to become a part of their Order. A Midi-chlorian count through certain tests could determine how strong in the Force one was.

Trained Jedi could sense high levels of the Force in persons. The presence of those persons in a vicinity could also be sensed. For more accuracy, they performed midi-chlorian counts to detect Force-sensitivity in candidates. There were also several other testing technologies developed to hunt Force-sensitives during the Great Jedi Purge. Species with high number of Force-sensitives included Humans, Twi'leks, Zabraks, Duinuogwuins and Ithorians. Species producing low number of Force-sensitives included the Wookiees and Caamasi. The Neti and Miraluka were entirely composed of Force-sensitives.

People could be Force Sensitive by three known means:

1.They inherited it by a family member of force ability which was often the case.

2.A random person could inherit it without any family having a Force connection.

3.In rare cases, some were even artificially imbued with sensitivity as the Reborn and Sith Cultists were.

Certain species such Khommites and the humans of Jabiim, openly feared or detested those who could be touched by the Force. This was especially true of the Yuuzhan Vong, who were also not only Force-blind, but entirely unaffected by the Force.

Abilities of Force-Sensitives
The Force, being far more powerful than any machine in the Galaxy, had the ability to be used as a weapon by the Sith, or as a tool by the Jedi. In either case, the Force gave Force-Sensitives the ability to do actions that would others be rendered impossible. For instance, Jedi Master Yoda had the ability, even at some-odd 800 years old, to use the lightsaber form of Ataru, demanding incredible acrobatics and speed. This was in no small part due to his amazing power in the Force. Some Force abilities included healing, psychokinesis, increased physical abilities, foresight, and various offensive techniques, such as the notorious Force Lightning.

Most untrained force-sensitives still had raw force associated talents, such as reaction time, physical stregnth, and an affinity to animals, weather or other certain aspects of the force. For example, due to his raw force abilities, Anakin Skywalker was one of the only humans able to podrace. Anakin also had a knack for mechanics due to this raw, untrained power.

It was commonly considered near impossible to wield a lightsaber without a sense of the Force and even less so to build one. Those that did were more likely to harm themselves than their enemies when using a lightsaber.

Some force-sensitives such as Streen were known to have drastic side effects for possessing Force sensitivity, although not having the knowledge to properly control it.

Nonsentients
A creature (or object) doesn't necessarily have to be sentient to be able to possess force sensitivity. Qui-Gon Jinn once gave Obi-Wan a stone from his homeworld's "River of Light" and it by unknown means appeared to be force-sensitive as speculated by Obi-Wan.

Creatures such as the Vornskr and Ysalamiri of the planet Myrkr are other examples of nonsentient creatures who are considered force-sensitive.

However, droids were an anomaly, being sentient and "living", and yet not a part of the Force. The same could be said of the Yuuzhan Vong, who for reasons unknown, couldn't even be sensed by the Force.

Force Sensitives throughout history
Qui-Gon Jinn discovered Anakin Skywalker through his prowess at Podracing. Anakin himself once believed as a boy that he had a 'string of lucky guesses', when actually these 'guesses' were early indicators of the Force. His mother Shmi Skywalker noticed these anomalies in her son as well, and described Anakin Skywalker as 'special'. Indeed he was, for Skywalker had no biological father; Shmi was a virgin mother.

Other potential Jedi have been discovered in roughly the same way - when there seemed to be an unusual amount of luck associated with an individual; in fact, when Luke Skywalker was looking for candidates for his Jedi Academy (later Jedi Praxeum) he told the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO to search for people with an unnatural amount of luck.

During the time of the Galactic Empire, force sensitives were known to be taken in to be trained as Inquisitors, Emperor's Hands, or otherwise. Most force sensitives discovered by the Empire however, were killed due three possible factors:

1. The threat of other powerful force wielders was a fear of Palpatine's and as such most were simply eliminated on sight

2. Discovered alien force sensitives were likely killed upon discovery as Human High Culture would suggest.

3. Some were eliminated due to lack of sufficient power during vigorous "tests" performed by Imperials.

Force-user
The terms Force-user and Force-sensitive are distinct in meaning. Force-sensitive denotes anyone with Force power, latent or active, while being called Force-user implies that the individual has at least some understanding and control of his abilities and is able to use them to accomplish specific tasks. The latter is also used in a more specific sense as a general term for Force-trained individuals who do not belong to any of the two major Force traditions (the Jedi and the Sith). Another term for Force-user is Force adept, for darksiders sometimes Darkside adept (not to be confused with the Imperial title and organization proper).

Independent Force-users
Besides Sith and Jedi traditions and Imperial dark side cadres, there were other organizations devoted to the Force. Often, these originated in another earlier tradition, but had left it after a schism or similar event. These could belong to either the Light or Dark side, or simply exist somewhere in between. Some of the more well known examples of independent Force-user groups include the Ysanna, the Witches of Dathomir, the Aing-Tii Monks, the Fallanassi, the Jensaarai, the Krath, and the Sorcerers of Tund (for more information, see Force-based Organizations. Also, some Force-users did not adhere to any code or creed, but were self-taught or raised and trained by independent masters.