The Force

[2] He developed the Force as a nondenominational religious concept, "distill[ed from] the essence of all religions", premised on the existence of God and distinct ideas of good and evil.

[3] In 1970s San Francisco, where Lucas lived when he wrote the drafts that became Star Wars, New Age ideas that incorporated the concept of qi and other notions of a mystical life-force were "in the air" and widely embraced.

[7] The film's shorter third draft has no references to the Ashla, but it mentions the Bogan eight times and Luke is still driven to recover the Kyber Crystal.

[14] Kurtz told Lucas he was unhappy with drafts in which the Force was connected with the Kyber Crystal, and he was also dissatisfied with the early Ashla and Bogan concepts.

[16] The focus on the Emperor was later shifted to Return of the Jedi (1983),[16] and the dark side of the Force was treated as The Empire Strikes Back's main villain.

[21]In a rough draft of Revenge of the Sith (2005), Palpatine says he "used the power of the Force to will the midichlorians to start the cell divisions that created" Anakin Skywalker.

Lucas' story treatments for a potential sequel trilogy involved "a microbiotic world" and creatures known as the Whills, beings that "control the universe" and "feed off the Force."

[28] Filoni credits the prequel films for better developing the concept of the Force, particularly the idea of a balance between the light and dark sides.

[43][44] Characters throughout the franchise use their Force powers in myriad ways, including Obi-Wan using a "mind trick" to undermine a stormtrooper's will,[45][46] Darth Vader choking subordinates without touching them,[47] Qui-Gon Jinn repelling several battle droids at once, Rey lifting a large pile of rocks, and Kylo Ren stopping blaster fire in mid-air.

[55] Voices of past Jedi help Rey at the climax of The Rise of Skywalker, and Luke's and Leia's spirits watch over her at the film's conclusion.

[53] A short story by Claudia Gray depicts Obi-Wan learning this technique from Qui-Gon in the years leading up to Star Wars.

Anakin Skywalker's rise as a Jedi, descent into the Sith Lord Darth Vader, and redemption back to the light side of the Force is the main story arc for the first six Star Wars films.

[60] Yoda's arc in the sixth season of The Clone Wars depicts him exploring "bigger questions" about the Force and taking various inspirations from the franchise's expanded universe.

[67] The Star Wars films illustrate that characters not familiar with the particulars of the Force associate it with mysticism and magic, such as when an Imperial officer alludes to the "sorcerer's ways" of Darth Vader.

[71] Drawing from the Star Wars roleplaying game sourcebook he co-authored in 1987, Bill Slavicsek says that "The Ewoks' mystical beliefs contain many references to the Force, though it is never named as such.

"[72] In his 1977 review of Star Wars, Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the Force "a mixture of what appears to be ESP and early Christian faith.

[19] It is a common plot device in jidaigeki films like The Hidden Fortress (1958), which inspired Star Wars, for samurai who master qi to achieve astonishing feats of swordsmanship.

[84] Cavelos explores the possibility of brain implants or sensors being used to detect users' intent and manipulate energy fields, and compares such discipline to contemporary patients learning to control prosthetics.

[88] Nepomuk Otte, also from Georgia Tech, cautions that Newton's third law of motion says telekinesis would apply a force back on the Force-wielding character.

[93] In 2009, Uncle Milton Industries released a toy, called the Force Trainer, which uses EEG to read users' beta waves to lift a training droid-themed ball with a shaft of air.

[94][95] The New Republic, Townhall, The Atlantic, and others have compared various political machinations to the "Jedi mind trick", a Force power used to undermine opponents' perceptions and willpower.

Critic Tim Robley compared the Force to the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (1939), with both being entities that send the protagonist on a quest.

[99] In her 1980 Washington Post review of The Empire Strikes Back, Judith Martin described the Force as "a mishmash of current cultic fashions without any base in ideas.

"[100] John Simon wrote in his 1977 review of Star Wars for New York magazine:And then there is that distressing thing called the Force, which is ... Lucas's tribute to something beyond science: imagination, the soul, God in man ...

[101][102]The introduction of midi-chlorians in The Phantom Menace was controversial, with Evan Narcisse of Time writing that the concept ruined Star Wars for him and a generation of fans because "the mechanisms of the Force became less spiritual and more scientific".

[21] Film historian Daniel Dinello called midi-chlorians "anathema to Star Wars fanatics who thought they reduced the Force to a kind of viral infection.

[104] Religion expert John D. Caputo writes, "In the 'Gospel according to Lucas' a world is conjured up in which the intractable oppositions that have tormented religious thinkers for centuries are reconciled ...

[111] President Ronald Reagan in 1985 said "the Force is with us", referring to the United States, to create the Strategic Defense Initiative (itself often nicknamed Star Wars) to protect against Soviet ballistic missiles.