Force ghost



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

- The Jedi Code

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

Philosophy
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.

The origins of that knowledge, as well as its history is not known. Ancient Jedi of the Old Republic, as well as Sith lords knew some kind of secret which could "survive death", but this knowledge was somehow lost over the centuries (and millenia).

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.

It is assumed that spirits of Force sensitives, although not fully trained Jedi when they lived, could be manifested by the Force in places where it is extremely strong, such as the Valley of the Jedi.

Jedi

 * The * indicates that the individual had no known (so far) ghost apparitions, however their body was vanished, indicating that they knew this technique, and presumably existed in that form.


 * Aryzah
 * Daeshara'cor *
 * Vodo-Siosk Baas
 * Aidan Bok
 * Echuu Shen-Jon
 * Omo Bouri
 * Empatojayos Brand
 * Dominus *
 * Nejaa Halcyon *
 * Ikrit
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * An'ya Kuro
 * Odan-Urr *
 * Ooroo *
 * Ulic Qel-Droma
 * Arca Jeth *
 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Qu Rahn
 * Anakin Skywalker
 * Anakin Solo
 * Andur Sunrider
 * Tal
 * Matta Tremayne *
 * Halagad Ventor
 * Vergere
 * Jem Ysanna *
 * Yoda

Sith

 * Kaan
 * Exar Kun
 * Freedon Nadd
 * Ajunta Pall (redeemed to the light side in doing so)
 * Qordis
 * Marka Ragnos
 * Naga Sadow
 * Darth Sidious
 * Darth Vectivus

Other

 * Zeth Durron
 * Grotrugga
 * Morgan Katarn
 * Vila
 * Zik'tath

Retcon
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.

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.

Darth Vader
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.

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 change, other than artistic, shows us the mechanism of how the Force works; it indicates that Anakin's identity as a light side Jedi was left behind when he became Vader.

Other problems
Another problem that remains to be retconned is the existence of spirits of Sith and Dark Jedi. In both the novel and 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 Kaan and Qordis were the last known Sith to have escaped being lost in the netherworld of the Force before Palpatine.

This question applies to non-Jedi, such as Morgan Katarn who have appeared in that form. It is assumed that spirits of force sensitives, although not fully trained Jedi when they lived, can be manifested by the Force in places where it is extremely strong, such as the Valley of the Jedi

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: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Bane of the Sith
 * 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
 * Darth Vader: Extinction
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan
 * 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
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Heir to the Empire
 * Empire's End
 * I, Jedi
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * Betrayal