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Is there any sort of magic, besides the Force, existing in the Star Wars universe?

What triggered me to ask this question were the Nightsisters. The Wookieepedia article refers to their powers as "magicks" and seems to present deeds unseen in other force users:

The most powerful of them could use that ichor to summon objects out of the thin air, transform people into ghostly versions of their true forms, or even reanimate the dead.

I have found one description of them in Star Wars Encyclopedia that almost alludes to the Dark Side of the Force once; however it does so without a proper citation, and only actually says "gifted with the power to wield dark magicks", avoiding the topic.

DavidW
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Deltharis
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    Wookieepedia has an article on magic, but is largely unsourced. The article on Dathomir Magic explains that it is based on Force teachings introduced by a rogue Jedi. But like the other article, it's unsourced. – phantom42 Dec 04 '14 at 15:53
  • @phantom42 Oh, I didn't see that one - and canon version of magic article does seem to explicitly answer my question, along with Clone Wars episode source. Now we only need someone who has quick access to that cartoon to find a proper quote. – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 16:11
  • What would be an acceptable answer to you? There are plenty of reasons why a Force-based unusual actions can be percieved as - and be called - "magic". That would not mean that canonically they are NOT Force-based. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 04 '14 at 17:26
  • More specifically, in Legends canon, Nightsisters were most certainly Force users. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 04 '14 at 18:10
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    “besides the Force”... isn't the Force enough magic for you? – Arturo Torres Sánchez Dec 04 '14 at 18:16
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    I think there was some kind of magic witch in the Ewok adventure movies... – MartianInvader Dec 04 '14 at 20:31
  • @ArturoTorresSánchez That's entirely besides the point. Existence of one magic source does not automatically exclude others. Case for there being one was strong enough to ask the question. – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 21:23
  • @DVK As far as my knowledge goes there might have been canon quote by for example Obi-Wan "What's that, that's not the Force, how is she doing that" when faced with Nightsisters. That would be enough evidence for me. I will accept it if there haven't been such an event - but I don't know. Hence the question. – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 21:24
  • @Deltharis - heh... Obi-Wan don't know everything. Jedi don't know everything – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 04 '14 at 21:30
  • @DVK Just an example - I would trust any trained Force user to give an expert opinion on whether some effect is force-based or not. It's their damn job to know - or you know, feel. – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 21:34
  • @Deltharis - not if it's a Force aspect they are unfamiliar with. See Luke Skywalker and Falnassi – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 04 '14 at 22:00
  • @DVK Wow... Falnassi has only 2 pages of results in google. Only a third of that related to Star Wars. Now that's what I call an obscure reference. Kudos sir. – Deltharis Dec 05 '14 at 00:07
  • Fallanassi (the correct spelling) has over 5000 results – phantom42 Dec 05 '14 at 02:41
  • I feel like "The Force" and "Magic" have no differences besides name. – Parrotmaster Jan 10 '17 at 12:30
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    Define "magic". The Star Wars universe contains many common SF tropes that might as well be magic, because they break the laws of nature as we know them, like faster-than-light travel and artificial gravity. – Mike Scott Aug 08 '17 at 06:05
  • @MikeScott I thought that the question defined pretty well what I was talking about, but ok - any non-force related breaking of the laws of physics that is not explained/handwaved by in-universe technology (like how force usage is distinct from other impossible things that their technology does) – Deltharis Aug 08 '17 at 10:03
  • The Force isn't magic! It's cold, hard science! You can plot it on a chart, assuming you've got one that's big enough! – Paul D. Waite Feb 10 '20 at 22:36

3 Answers3

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  1. As far as I'm aware, there's NO magic that is explicitly canonically noted to be NOT force based (with one disputed exception - see #2).

    In other words, anytime a magic or something similar is mentioned, it's either:

    • Force abilities being called "magic", by either practitioners or laypeople

      • This includes things like Sith magic/alchemy, Nightsisters, Rakata, various Ewok etc... shamans.

      • covered in some detail in Wookieepedia article on magic

    • More rarely, unknown magical connection that is NOT specifically noted to NOT be Force-based; but most likely is.

  2. Notable exception:

    Nightsister Mother Talzin claimed to use non-Force magic in Clone Wars Episode "Disappeared part 2" . However that assertion seems false - it's based on her OWN claim to have "no connection to the force". Which may or may not be true, we aren't told.

    • Evidence for: Her own statement:

      "I am not a natural Force wielder like the Jedi or Sith. I use dark magic to achieve power".

      However, her own claim aside, we aren't told what evidence there exists that said "dark magic" isn't simply another form of Force use, like all other magics in Star Wars.

    • Evidence contrary:

      • Palpatine wanted to learn her "magics". That seems to indicate they were Force-based

      • Her son (Maul) was Force-sensitive

      • It's known from the rest of canon and Legends that Nightsisters in general were Force users.

  3. Research done:

    • Somewhat surface text search of all of my digitized Star Wars Legends material. Excludes comics/cartoons.

    • Full search on Wookieepedia. That isn't conclusive in and out of itself, but a good indicator.

    • Generally good knowledge of canon.

DavidW
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DVK-on-Ahch-To
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    I will wait for a day to give someone a chance to disagree - and if not, it looks good enough to accept. – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 21:26
  • After some thought - could you add your opinion on the stuff their "magick" can do? All the stuff in the Wookieepedia quote I have in my question does not look like how the Force works at all. Has any jedi/sith ever created objects out of thin air? How did reanimation of the dead work? – Deltharis Dec 04 '14 at 21:42
  • @Deltharis - Aing-Tii monks could teleport (which would look like things out thin air) and heal near-death injuries. Unsure about death. Falnassi could phase-shift and appear/reappear. Sidious came back from the dead, so did Exar Kun – DVK-on-Ahch-To Dec 04 '14 at 22:12
  • In the context of the episode, I always interpreted Talzin’s statement as indicating that she had stolen some or all of her power. That is to say, she was an unnatural Force wielder. After all, that is what she was planning to do: steal the Living Force from someone. Another possibility as to what she might mean by a “natural Force wielder” is that she can’t wield the Force through thought alone, and has to rely on ritual (though that limitation aside, she seems pretty powerful). – Adamant Oct 31 '16 at 23:45
  • How does Palpatine wanting to learn them 'seem to indicate they were Force-based'? He doesn't seem like he would be bothered looking into non-Force sources of power. – suchiuomizu May 13 '21 at 22:19
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"Well, the Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together."

―Obi-Wan Kenobi —

The force is everything, or at least every living thing. Non force sensitive are still connected to the force, and all of their actions are affected by the force, and it in turn is affected by them. Any magic in star wars would be affected by the force whether the user knew it or not. Just like luck.

Community
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Mason
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-1

There is magic that is not Force-based. A species called the Tulgah were inherently magical.

Valorum
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Jaren Barnes
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