Guardians of the Whills

The Guardians of the Whills were a religious order active in the city of Jedha towards the end of the Age of the Empire. They traditionally handcrafted the lightbow, a complicated form of bowcaster native to Jedha, such as the one used by Chirrut Îmwe during the Battle of Scarif.

Behind the scenes
"Originally, I was trying to have the story be told by somebody else (an immortal being known as a Whill); there was somebody watching this whole story and recording it, somebody probably wiser than the mortal players in the actual events. I eventually dropped this idea, and the concepts behind the Whills turned into the Force. But the Whills became part of this massive amount of notes, quotes, background information that I used for the scripts; the stories were actually taken from the Journal of the Whills."

- George Lucas

In early drafts of A New Hope, the name 'Whills' is equivalent to the Force.

Appearances

 * Rogue One: A Star Wars Story novel