We tend to associate Star Wars with Jedi and Sith, and Rebels and Imperials, not gods. Yet, there are gods, several of whom have tremendous dark-side powers. From canon and Legends, Celestials to the Sith, here are the top 10 gods in the Star Wars universe.
Table of Contents
1. The Celestials
As “ancient entities in the Force,” the Celestials can be considered disembodied gods. Their “true nature” cannot be known “by the mortals” so we can’t refer to them in a conventional sense as gods. Yet, they shaped the Force and gave rise to the Ones, who are physical deities in Star Wars.
2. The Ones or Mortis Gods
The Ones or Mortis gods herald from the Celestials as a family unit. In a trinity fashion, they consist of the Son, Daughter, and Father who represent the dark, light, and balanced Force, respectively. The Son and Daughter claim immortal status, as long as the Father remains alive.
Fans have prioritized these gods and indicated how they appeared in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Ahsoka. We can watch this scene where Anakin confronts the Father whom he believes is a Sith lord. As the father proclaims, he is “much more” than a Sith or Jedi and proves it by taking Anakin’s lightsaber blade in his hand to move it aside.
Yet, the Father’s efforts to convince Anakin to bring balance to the Force ultimately fail. And, two of the three of these gods perish. Nonetheless, we may see more of the Mortis Gods, as they seem to be part of “the mysterious agenda of dark Jedi Baylan Skoll” in Ahsoka.
Fun fact: George Lucas himself came up with the concept of the Mortis gods. The idea to personify the Force through the Father, Son, and Daughter came directly from the creator of Star Wars, making their storyline one of the most personal and mythological layers in the entire saga. According to Mythologizing Mortis: The Clone Wars as Dialogic Spirituality, Dave Filoni explained, “The nature of the Force, and the fate of the Chosen One, are critical subjects for Star Wars as a whole. When George introduced us to the concept of Mortis and what followed it, we were very careful with how we wrote and shot the ideas. More than anything else on this show, the nature of the Force is taken straight from George. It’s the center of the story he created and we make sure to remain faithful to it.”
3. The Son
Part of the Ones family, the Son deserves separate recognition because he is the god that plants the seeds of corruption within Anakin. The Son embodies the dark side and temporarily corrupted Ahsoka to force a battle between Anakin and her, while he contended with his sister, the Daughter. The Son ends up overpowering his Father and accidentally killing his sister.
The Father lives long enough, before taking his own life, to intervene in the Son’s plans. Yet, we can see how the Son ultimately gets his way with the dark side. Here, we can watch some scenes from Clone Wars and Rebels that depict the Son with his dark god powers.
4. Abeloth
The Bringer of Chaos or Abeloth first lived as the Servant to the Ones. She attained her goddess dark-side powers by bathing in the Pool of Knowledge, which offered knowledge of the past and future. Abeloth also drank from the Font of Power, a fountain “tainted by the dark side”.
Combined with these two sources of power, Abeloth engaged in a series of battles with the Son and Daughter as she tried to escape imprisonment in the Maw. This goddess did bring chaos into the Star Wars universe even after she seemingly died.
5. The Whills
George Lucas designated the Whills as “microscopic single-celled life forms who were essentially God,” or in the Star Wars universe, the “will of the Force.” As such, the Whills meld with the midi-chlorians and direct this universe by showing destinies, as with Anakin. They are also a disembodied god then but central to the efforts to bring balance to the Force.
6. The Force Priestesses
Residing on the Wellspring of Life or Force planet, the Force Priestesses also take goddess status. The five Priestesses represent the link between the Living and Cosmic Forces and assume various forms through their shapeshifting. Serenity, one of the five goddesses, took on that calm emotion and took the lead in testing Yoda’s “worthiness” to receive their teachings.
The other Priestesses convey and transmit their consciousness through Joy, Anger, Confusion, and Sadness. These goddesses thus win out in emotional powers.
7. The Scorekeeper
For the Trandoshans, the Scorekeeper is an important goddess who determines placement in the Afterlife. This goddess transcends time and space but monitors Trandoshan hunters with “Jagannath points” based on the merits of their kills. These points link to one’s place in the Afterlife. That’s where Wookiee hunting comes in since they are considered high-value points.
8. The Maker
Known as the creator of the first droid, the Maker is a god to droids. Possibly a droid too, the Maker is credited for transforming droids “from simple machines into intelligent creations.” The amphibian humanoids called the Sunesi also center their “monotheistic religion” around this god.
9. The Skyborn
Those who dwell on the planet Kesh believe in the Skyborn, a group of gods who defeated the Otherside in an ancient space battle. The Skyborn watched over the Kesh until Sith came to the planet and assumed the identity of the Skyborn. These primordial Sith cooped the Keshirian religion for their own purposes and convinced the ruling Neshtovar that they were the actual Skyborn.
10. The Six Gods
The Old or Six Gods are a pantheon from the planet Zakuul. Izax the Ultimate Devourer takes the top spot among them as a death god who conjures up a dark mechanical Zeus-like identity. Originating as “a superweapon,” Izax along with his brothers wiped out trillions to acquire his deity status.
11. Bonus–the Immortal Gods of the Sith
As a bonus group of gods, we can briefly recognize the Immortal gods of the Sith. Vader worships this pantheon who appears in the Star Wars comics hailing back to 1977 and more recently in the canon 2021 Star Wars Adventures comic series.