The Jedi and Sith wield a wide variety of Force powers in the Star Wars franchise, with many being extremely dangerous. The Star Wars saga films only show a small portion of the Force’s true potential, but the extent of their destructive potential is hinted at by Darth Vader in A New Hope, with the Dark Lord stating that the Force’s power far surpasses that of the Death Star’s planet-destroying superweapon. Throughout both of the Star Wars franchise’s main timelines – the original Legends universe and the modern canon – the Force is shown to have seemingly limitless applications.
In the original and prequel trilogies and most Legends-era works, the Force is a fundamental energy field found throughout the galaxy. The Jedi tap into the Force in its natural, balanced state and allow it to guide them. The Sith corrupt the Force with their malice, putrefying it into what is referred to as the dark side of the Force, which takes a horrific toll on its users in exchange for seemingly greater power than the Force normally offers. The various applications of the Force and its dark side are typically labeled “powers,” with the following being the most dangerous.
10 Memory Walk
Mind Manipulation
The iconic Jedi mind tricks – and their far more abrasive Sith equivalents – are among the most morally questionable Force powers within both organizations. In addition to mind tricks, the Force can be used on another’s mind in other harmful and unethical ways, such as reading one’s thoughts and viewing their memories, yet one of the most harmful mind powers is memory walking. This dark side power is used by several groups, including the Sith, and it allows its practitioners to reach into the minds of their victims to torture them with their worst memories.
Memory walking was powerful enough to potentially kill its victims, with Rokur Gepta – the last member of the dark side-wielding Sorcerers of Tund – using the ability on Lando Calrissian with the intention of eventually killing him with it. When Cade Skywalker was held captive by Darth Maladi, he was subjected to a memory walk as well. Skywalker managed to turn the power on Maladi, however, allowing him to escape.
9 Shatterpoint
Weaponized Fragilitty
A simple yet extremely dangerous ability of Jedi and Sith alike, shatterpoints are a rare Force power that allows its users to perceive weak points. These weak points could be literal, allowing users to know the exact place to strike an object to destroy it, or more figurative, like a situation that can change with one precise, well-timed, action. Masters of the shatterpoint ability were extremely deadly in a battle and their actions could potentially change the course of galactic history.
After the events of the
Star Wars
original trilogy, Luke Skywalker, Jaina Solo, and Jacen Solo (Darth Caedus) could all use the shatterpoint ability
The most famous user of the shatterpoint ability is the prequel-era Jedi Master Mace Windu, whose mastery over this power, combined with his legendary fighting skills and astounding connection to the Force, made him one of the old Jedi Order’s finest combatants and leaders. After the events of the Star Wars original trilogy, Luke Skywalker, Jaina Solo, and Jacen Solo (Darth Caedus) could all use the shatterpoint ability. Caedus and Jaina Solo both used the shatterpoint power at different points to destroy pure Mandalorian beskar, showing how powerful the ability is.
8 Force Drain
Life Force Absorption
When Jedi use the Force to heal themselves, they call upon the Force or, as shown in the modern canon, transfer life Force to another being, healing their wounds or ailments. The Sith, on the other hand, heal by draining the life Force of others. Force drain has appeared numerous times in the Legends continuity and made its live-action debut in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which saw Emperor Palpatine use Force drain on Ben Solo and Rey.
While Force drain is often used on an individual, the most dangerous Sith Lords could use the power on a far larger scale. Sith Lords like Darth Nihilus, Tenebrae (Darth Vitiate), and Palpatine (Darth Sidious) could use Force drain on a planetary scale, draining the life Force of an entire world’s population. The most advanced forms of Force drain made the power at least as devastating as a technological superweapon.
7 Flow-Walking
Tactical Advantages
In the modern Star Wars canon, time travel can be achieved via the mysterious World Between Worlds, but in the original Legends timeline, there was a Force power that allowed its practitioner to travel through time. Known as flow-walking, this rare Force ability was originally practiced by the Aing-Tii monks, but several notable Jedi and Sith have used the ability as well. Of course, the simple fact that flow-walking allows Force-users to time travel presents a plethora of significant dangers to both the galaxy and the practitioners themselves.
Jacen Solo – as both a Jedi and the Sith Lord Darth Caedus – learned flow-walking from the Aing-Tii monks and used the ability several times. One use saw Jacen traveling to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant during Order 66. Although Solo left the horrific event intact, the simple act of traveling to this particular place and time could have changed the course of galactic history.
6 Sith Alchemy
Forbidden Knowledge
The Force-sensitive Sith species of Korriban were the first dark side-users to practice Sith alchemy, but once the 12 exiled fallen Jedi took over the planet and founded the first iteration of the Sith Order, this dark ability became far more potent. Sith alchemy horrified the Jedi, who saw it as a direct defiance of the will of the Force, with Sith Lords using it to alter objects and living beings, corrupting them with the dark side’s malice. Sith alchemy had seemingly limitless applications, and all were extremely dangerous.
The Sithspawn known as Gorc and Pic – who served the former Imperial Inquisitor Jerec and the Pentastar Alignment – were altered by Sith alchemy. Gorc was once a Gamorrean and Pic was originally a Kowakian Monkey-Lizard.
Throughout the history of the Sith, Sith alchemy has been used to turn animals and sapient beings into nightmarish creatures. Sith alchemy could be used to conjure Smoke Demons, which sought out their creator’s enemies and brutally killed them. Sith alchemy could also be used to create deadly, galaxy-threatening diseases, such as the virus known in the Imperial era as Imperial bioweapons Project I71A, which killed its victims and turned them into cannibalistic zombies.
5 Beam of Light
Precision and Control
The Neti are a rare and entirely Force-sensitive species of sapient tree in the Star Wars galaxy. In addition to being extremely long-lived and possessing shape-shifting abilities, Neti also have an exclusive Force ability which allows them to project destructive beams of light. Unfortunately, this power can only be used as a Neti dies.
The ability was first used by the ancient Jedi Master Ood Bnar, who sacrificed himself to save Jem Ysanna and kill Sedriss QL – the deadly leader of Palpatine’s Dark Side Elite. The Clone Wars-era Jedi Master T’ra Saa also sacrificed herself to save her allies, focusing her beam of light on a fleet of warships, destroying many of them. Unfortunately, not all Neti become Jedi, with one notable individual – Dail’Liss – becoming a Sith and thus making this extremely dangerous power a potential dark side ability.
4 Midi-Chlorian Manipulation
Ethical Implications
One of the rarest and most potentially dangerous variations of Sith alchemy is the ability to manipulate midi-chlorians. Although the microscopic lifeforms are not the source of the Force, they have a unique connection to it and are often used as a means of measuring one’s aptitude for using the Force. Darth Plagueis infamously experimented with midi-chlorian manipulation, defying the will of the Force and creating life with the ability. Plagueis and Palpatine also attempted to use this power to corrupt the Force itself, shifting it out of balance. Their attempt failed and had significant consequences.
The Force, in response to Plagueis and Palpatine’s meddling, created Anakin Skywalker within Shmi Skywalker, ensuring the eventual destruction of Darth Bane’s Sith lineage. It is unknown if this ability exists in the modern Star Wars canon, but the newer continuity does include a comparable counterpart in The Acolyte. The coven of witches on Brendok created the twins Osha and Mae, seemingly with a form of dark side alchemy.
3 Force Storm
Environmental Warfare
The deadly Force lightning is a signature ability of powerful Sith Lords, allowing them to torturously kill their victims with bolts of dark side-powered lightning. The power has one far deadlier variant, however, known as a Force storm. A Force storm is Force lightning on a scale so massive that it damages the space-time continuum itself. These exceptionally dangerous Force lightning variants create wormholes that can swallow up whole fleets of vessels and destroy them, but they can also be used to transport beings across the galaxy.
During Operation Shadow Hand, the reborn Emperor Palpatine used a Force storm to bring Luke Skywalker from Coruscant to the Deep Core world of Byss. He would conjure another Force storm during the Battle of Pinnacle Base, destroying numerous New Republic ships. Force storms are extremely difficult to control, and Palpatine lost control of his Force storm during the battle, thanks to the combined Force power of Luke and Leia, resulting in Palpatine and his flagship being pulled into the wormhole and destroyed – though Palpatine would return from the dead once more.
2 Supernova
Ultimate Destruction
Using a combination of Sith sorcery and telekinesis, a powerful Sith Lord can remove and manipulate the core of a star, causing the star to go supernova. This power is by far one of the most dangerous Force abilities ever shown, as it can destroy entire star systems. Sith supernovas could only be controlled by the most powerful Sith Lords, and lesser Sith would be killed by their own supernova.
The Sith sorceress Aleema Keto was not as skilled at using the power as Sadow, however, and her supernova wiped out 10 stars and disintegrated herself in the process.
The Dark Lord Naga Sadow was one of the most skilled practitioners of Sith supernovas, and he notably used this power on the Denarii Nova, destroying Republic vessels and allowing him to fake his death. The Sith sorceress Aleema Keto was not as skilled at using the power as Sadow, however, and her supernova wiped out 10 stars and disintegrated herself in the process. The supernova destroyed the Cron Cluster, turning it into the asteroid field known as the Cron Drift.
1 Thought Bomb
Psychological Warfare
The combined malice of a group of powerful Sith Lords can create a deadly object known as a thought bomb. Once detonated, a thought bomb can destroy all life on an entire planet, and any being killed by a thought bomb has their spirit trapped in a torturous realm. The most infamous thought bomb was the one conjured by the Brotherhood of Darkness during the Ruusan campaign.
The Sith Lord Skere Kaan killed nearly every Jedi and Sith with a thought bomb at the end of the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, and the subsequent Force nexus left behind would be highly sought after over a thousand years later. Jerec – a former Imperial Inquisitor and member of the Imperial Pentastar Alignment warlord faction – endeavored to absorb the trapped Jedi and Sith spirits within the nexus, which would have made him one of the most dangerous beings in the Star Wars galaxy. Jerec was defeated, however, by the fledgling Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn, who set the trapped spirits free.
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Upcoming Star Wars Movies |
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The Mandalorian & Grogu |
May 22, 2026 |
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.