Force ghost



"There is no death, there is the Force."

- The Jedi Code

The Force ghost was the apparition of a deceased Jedi who became one with the Force and retained his individuality.

The Jedi believed and knew that death was a part of life, and in reality it was becoming one with the Force. By death though, persons lost their ability to communicate with the living. However, some knowledge could avert it. Qui-Gon Jinn was the first of the recent Jedi who discovered this secret (or just rediscovered it from ancient knowledge) with the assistance of a Whill Shaman. Qui-Gon's spirit guided Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and revealed to them the secret of retaining one's individuality after becoming one with the Force. Yoda during his exile taught it to his student, Qu Rahn.

Death for those Jedi was different: their spirits could retain their individuality and could return as voices, dreams or apparitions at will, so that they could help those in need of their guidance. On death, their bodies vanished; this is not the case with Qui-Gon however, probably being a technique evolved by Obi-Wan and Yoda, under Qui-Gon's guidance.

This state was temporary, since ghosts were intermediate between life and afterlife. From some point on, they had to move on to another realm of existence.

Presumably, Darth Vader did not learn of this ability, which explains his surprise when Obi-Wan's body disappears when he is slain on the Death Star. Upon his death, however, the spirits of Kenobi and Yoda brought him to the other side, with them.

Interestingly, Sith Lords had access to similar techniques. Though their bodies would not fade, it was not uncommon for the spirits of Sith Lords to remain, bound to the living world through an object, location, or simply their malice and hatred. Unlike the Jedi, however, the Sith could find no peace in this form, and instead exist for restless centuries, eventually driving themselves insane with their own malice.

Jedi

 * Aryzah
 * Daeshara'cor (presumed, only vanishing body)
 * Vodo-Siosk Baas
 * Aidan Bok
 * Empatojayos Brand
 * Dominus (presumed, only vanishing body)
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Odan-Urr (presumed, only vanishing body)
 * Ulic Qel-Droma
 * Qu Rahn
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Andur Sunrider
 * Ooroo (presumed, only vanishing body)
 * Halagad Ventor
 * Vergere
 * Jem Ysanna (presumed, only vanishing body)
 * Yoda

Sith

 * Exar Kun
 * Freedon Nadd
 * Ajunta Pall
 * Palpatine
 * Marka Ragnos

Other

 * Grotrugga
 * Zeth Durron
 * Dice Ibegon
 * Morgan Katarn
 * Lak Sivrak

Behind the scenes
During the original trilogy, fans and Expanded Universe writers believed that this happened to all Jedi who died, even fallen Jedi who repented at the end of their lives, such as Darth Vader and the Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma. In the latter case, the vanishing was a sign that his spirit was redeemed.

It is believed by some that the organic part of Vader's body disappeared, and that Luke just burned his suit and mechanical parts for ritualistic purposes. This is explicitly stated in the databank at the official site.

Many questions arose during The Phantom Menace, when Qui-Gon Jinn's body did not vanish after his duel with Darth Maul, and instead was burned on a Jedi funeral pyre like Vader. In Revenge of the Sith it is made known that "dying AND maintaining one's identity" is not in fact what happens to every Jedi, but only a recently discovered ability.

Controversy sparked when in the DVD of Return of the Jedi, Sebastian Shaw's Force ghost was replaced by that of Hayden Christensen's image, thus removing Shaw's Force ghost from canon and placing Christensen's in its stead. This indicates that Anakin's identity as a light side Jedi was left behind when he became Vader.

Another problem that remains to be retconned is the existence of spirits of Sith and Dark Jedi. In the comic book version of Revenge of the Sith, the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn tells Yoda that only lightsiders may live on as Force ghosts, and that this is something that darksiders cannot learn. However, in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Darth Sidious (who mastered and perfected the technique with the use of clone bodies himself) reveals that the ancient Sith Lords once had the ability to "survive death", but this knowledge was somehow lost over time. It is unclear which Sith Lords qualify as "ancient" in this context, although Exar Kun was the last known Sith to have escaped being lost in the netherworld of the Force before Palpatine.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith
 * Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War
 * Tales of the Jedi: Redemption
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan
 * Darth Vader: Extinction
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * The Truce at Bakura
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Champions of the Force