The Jedi and Sith spent centuries warring with one another, with the Jedi commanding the light side of the Force and the Sith, the dark side. But how did they use their respective sides, what powers do they derive, and why did they embrace them?
The Jedi believed in benevolence, non-aggression, and although they were skilled fighters, they embraced a defense-first mentality. The Sith believed in passion, and through passion, they would achieve power and mastery over the Force.
Such mastery allowed the Sith to use powerful maneuvers like Force lightning. A maneuver that caused debilitating side effects to its victim.
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How Do Jedi and Sith Use the Force?
The Jedi and Sith use their Force-sensitivity to wield their supernatural powers that include abilities like Force-speed, Force-chokes, stealth, telekinesis, mind control, and healing, among others.
Their respective codes provide a blueprint of how they strengthen their connection to the Force, often through meditation and training.
To wield the dark side, Sith use natural human emotions like fear and passion to bring about negative character traits like anger, to wield the dark side. The more negative, the further they deepened their connection to the dark side.
Anakin Skywalker serves as an outstanding example. Anakin, who the Jedi were leery about training because they sensed fear in him, was correct in their judgment.
He learned the natural human emotion of fear given his connection to his mother, Shmi. When he left her at age nine to join the Jedi Order, his emotional connection to his mother never faded, and he feared losing her.
When he lost her, Anakin massacred an entire village of Tuskens. Anger. And Darth Sidious, then known as Chancellor Palpatine, took advantage of Anakin’s anger, leading to hate, rage, and other negative traits associated with the dark side.
In the end, Anakin became known as Darth Vader.
The Jedi sought to suppress natural human emotions that Anakin Skywalker possessed and could not suppress, which led to his transformation into Darth Vader.
By suppressing emotions that led Anakin to the dark side, the Jedi deepened their connection to the light side, allowing them to embrace peace and harmony. The Jedi did not initiate force, show aggression, or even passion, through these positive traits.
Sith
The Sith did not believe in peace, but passion. Through their passionate emotions, they developed negative traits. As prospective Sith developed these traits, they sought strength.
And once they gained strength, they wielded power, they gained mastery and victory. With that power, “breaking their chains,” and freeing themselves through the dark side.
Once they mastered the dark side, Sith Lords “bled” the living entities called kyber crystals that powered their lightsaber. This caused their lightsabers to take on a red hue.
Sith learned a variety of powers like Force lightning. But that was the tip of their iceberg. In reality, Sith Lords learned over 20 unique powers.
Some of their most distinguished powers included manipulating midi-chlorians, Force chokes, Force drains, Force storms, and Force fear. They also mastered abilities both they and their Jedi counterparts used, like Force stealth.
The latter became a staple for Sheev Palpatine during the Prequel Trilogy. Through Force stealth, he concealed his Force-sensitivity so well even Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Master of the Order Mace Windu could not detect him.
Jedi
The Jedi Code taught that death did not exist, but one instead embraced the light side and became “one” with the Force.
The Jedi taught their students not to allow their emotions to get the best of them, which brought peace To embrace the light side. They also spurned ignorance for knowledge, embraced serenity over passion, and harmony over chaos.
They harnessed the light side and conquered the dark,through the Jedi Code. They trained with patience and never displayed anger and aggression. Not even in battle.
With meditation, the Jedi focused on their Code and invited the light side into their lives while keeping the dark side at bay. It was something Yoda mastered through his obsessive meditation, and he passed this wisdom to Jedi Younglings.
The result? Conquering negative emotions like jealousy, passion, fear of loss, and greed. Vices that led to the dark side.
By suppressing their vices, the Jedi wielded the light side to their advantage and to preserve their agenda to peacefully protect the galaxy.
The Jedi also realized the dark side existed within them and all things in the galaxy. Unlike the Sith, who wished to manifest this dark side, the Jedi realized those who wielded the dark side were conquered by it. Consumed in it.
Their goal was to prevent the dark side from manifesting within them and their Order.
How Does a Sith Learn Force Lightning?
Force lightning was an offensive attack, allowing energy from the Force to travel through a Sith’s body, used as a conduit, and from their fingertips. The Sith could invoke Force lighting with either one or both hands, as shown in the Prequel Trilogy and first seen in Return of the Jedi.
If a Sith grew well-versed in wielding Force lightning, it wasn’t unusual to see them use the attack on multiple enemies. The more a Sith Lord mastered Force lightning, the more they could vary its power from light to intense.
Low-powered Force lightning treated victims to a jolt of pain while high-powered lightning was strong enough to kill instantly.
Powerful Sith Lords like Darth Sidious rarely went all-out with Force lightning because he wished to torture his victims to death. As seen in Return of the Jedi, where he would have succeeded had Darth Vader not stepped in.
So how did the Sith (and some Jedi) learn this?
Darth Sidious once stated that, “the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”
By deepening their connection to the dark side via meditating on negative emotions like aggression and rage, a Sith learned many powers associated with the dark side.
When channeled from meditation and emerging through practical training. That aggression , allowed a Sith to invoke Force lightning. The more they practiced and meditated on the emotions required to bring about the technique, the more powerful the maneuver.
Conclusion
The Jedi and Sith both sought to wield the Force in two respective ways.
The Jedi looked to suppress natural human emotions capable of leading them down a dark path, and it allowed them to embrace and learn abilities associated with the light side.
The Sith took these natural emotions and expanded upon them, turning them negative. Passion, for example, was used to gain strength and power, which they believed freed them. Emotion stirred fear, which led to anger and hate.
By meditating and undergoing practical training with their chosen side of the Force, Jedi and Sith deepened their connection and gained power.
This allowed the Jedi to continually suppress natural emotions while the Sith built upon them. In turn, doing so allowed the latter to learn powerful moves like Force lightning.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in both Star Wars Canon and Legends. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.