25

And is the clarity of the Force Ghost as visible to you directly proportional to how much training in using/sensing the Force you have?

In the Original Trilogy, Obi-Wan's ghost only appears to Luke; even when informing someone on Hoth Base of Luke's injury would have been very helpful. Additionally, Obi-Wan is able to appear more 'clearly' to Luke as he progresses in his training.

As such, this made me wonder if one needs to be a trained force sensitive in order to have contact with force spirits? Is there any information on these lines from canon?

Alternatively, is there any canon incidence of Force Ghosts appearing to people who are not trained force sensitives?

Shisa
  • 12,687
  • 10
  • 60
  • 102
  • 8
    Leis doesn't see the force ghosts at the ends of ROTJ – Valorum Aug 14 '14 at 17:57
  • In the Lego Star Wars games, force ghosts are invisible to non-force users – Valorum Aug 14 '14 at 17:58
  • 6
    @Richard - can you get any less canon than Lego Starwars games? (first person to mention Christmas Special gets forced to watch it. With eyes forced open) – DVK-on-Ahch-To Aug 15 '14 at 00:52
  • @Richard Thanks for pointing both those out - Lego games are certainly non-canon, but it worth a mention, i think. – Shisa Aug 15 '14 at 06:53
  • @DVK - Lego games are at least licensed. Plus, Disney has just decanonised the entire EU – Valorum Aug 15 '14 at 08:21
  • 1
    @Richard - Leia wasn't a trained force sensitive at the end of RotJ, which is perhaps why she didn't see the force ghosts. – David Cox Aug 16 '14 at 21:16
  • 1
    @DavidCox - I agree. It would certainly suggest that force ghosts are only fully visible to trained adepts. – Valorum Aug 16 '14 at 21:16
  • @Richard I'll be happy to accept your points as an answer - you seem to have covered the revelant info about this, out there :) – Shisa Aug 18 '14 at 04:45
  • @Shisa - I thought my answer was nicely comprehensive. Is there anything you'd want me to address before considering an acceptance? – Valorum Dec 23 '16 at 13:45
  • @Valorum, according to the ghastly James Kahn novel Luke apparently did not see proper force ghosts at the end of ROTJ either - rather he saw "ephemeral faces that spoke only to the shadows of the flames" (and he had interacted with Ben's "Ghost" on Dagobah a few chapters before that, so he would know the difference). – Eike Pierstorff Dec 23 '16 at 16:43

3 Answers3

14

There appear to be three major components required for someone to be able to see a Force Ghost; inherent Force ability, mental state and specific (advance) training to seeing Force Ghosts

  • Luke hears what can be best described as an "echo" of Ben Kenobi after just a one or two Jedi lessons, however he doesn't appear to be able to converse with him, nor can he see him.

  • After Luke has spent some time on his own practicing his Force powers, and at a time when he was mentally receptive (near death, recently having used the Force) he was able to see Ben, but was not able to converse with him.

  • Ben appears to Luke in The Empire Strikes Back. In the new canon novelisation, he explicitly states that Luke can see him now because his training is sufficiently advanced

Suddenly, another voice answers you. Rich and kind and understanding. Ben’s voice. “You don’t know that, Luke.”
You turn, and see him. He is standing beside Yoda. He shimmers.
“Ben!” you cry. “Are you…Aren’t you…?”
Obi-Wan Kenobi smiles. “I am still a part of the Force. You have, through your training, learned to see me.”
You stare, drinking in the sight of your first master, your friend.

The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?

  • Luke can clearly see the three Force Ghosts at the end of Return of the Jedi, however Leia (who hasn't had any Jedi training) cannot.

  • Yoda tells Obi-Wan (at the end of Revenge of the Sith) that specific training is required for him to communicate effectively with Qui-Gon

YODA: Master Kenobi, wait a moment. In your solitude on Tatooine, training I have for you.

OBI-WAN: Training??

YODA: An old friend has learned the path to immortality. One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force. Your old Master

OBI-WAN: Qui-Gon?!

YODA: How to commune with him. I will teach you.

Valorum
  • 689,072
  • 162
  • 4,636
  • 4,873
  • 1
    That latter bit seems like it contradicts the fact that Luke is able to 'commune' with Ben without any specific force ghost seance training at all. (not the first time the prequels have done that) – Paul Dec 16 '17 at 22:12
  • 2
    @Paul - Meditation and being in the right frame of mind seem to help. Presumably as Yoda and Ben practiced at it, they got better at both seeing and (crucially) being seen – Valorum Dec 16 '17 at 22:27
6

Yoda said in Episode III that he can teach Obi Wan to talk to Qui Gon Jinn. So at least it is not trivial to converse with Force Ghosts.

But Luke made it without any training on Dagobah. Also Leia cant see the Yoda, Obi Wan and Vader on Endor.

Therefore there is no consensus in the Movies about the Force Ghosts. Who ever wrote the script for the conversation in Episode III must have got the order to make an explanation about the force ghosts in the old trilogy.

I don’t know what the Expended Universe tells about them. Maybe the Disney/Lucasfilm Star Wars films will explain a bit more about them.

Giacomo1968
  • 17,109
  • 13
  • 91
  • 151
Fulli
  • 1,629
  • 2
  • 12
  • 18
  • 1
    As lovely as conversate is as a word, I think you mean converse! – phillyd Sep 22 '14 at 09:15
  • 2
    yeah the dark side of the language is strong in me... thanks for pointing out. – Fulli Sep 22 '14 at 09:16
  • can i know why the -1 ? – Fulli Sep 22 '14 at 10:13
  • 2
    @Fulli it wasn't me, but "I don't know what the Expended Universe tells about them" might easily trigger a downvote. In such a universe, if the movies offer no explaination, you are expected to search in the expanded universe. IMHO it is acceptable to just care about the movie version of something only in case the movie does have an explaination, not if it doesn't. – o0'. Oct 22 '14 at 12:32
-2

Force ghosts could chose who saw them as well as you had to either be training to be a Jedi or be one so that is why others, like Han and Leia, couldn't see them.

Awesome Guy
  • 155
  • 1
  • 5