Force-based technology

[rhoenix]

Having only seen the movies 1-6, and some looking through Wookiepedia, I wasn't able to find the answer to this question, which is: are there any known instances of Sith, Jedi, or a Force-sensitive species that were able to combine the use of the Force with the use of technology?

The only concrete examples I could find were Iron Knight Jedi of the Shard species (which were basically intelligent crystalline entities hooked into droid bodies, some of whom were Force-sensitive), and the Star Forge (made by the Rakata, who appear to be the only species who combined use of the Force with that of technology).

My thanks in advance.

[Samuel]

Holocrons only work with force sensitives.

[Starglider]

Ssi-ruuk entechment technology works by imprisoning 'souls', which are presumably the same kind of thing that Jedi force ghosts are made of. Later versions of the technology use tanks full of special microbes next to the soul trapping device, which provide it with fresh 'life energy' somehow and stop it from decaying.

[Darth Hoth]

The Aing-Tii apparently use the Force, or some variant thereof, to power their ships and provide the teleportation/inertialess drive they use.

[Crazedwraith]

Holocrons only work with force sensitives.

Not the case. In "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter" a Hutt manages to activate a Sith Holocron (containing Sidious' plans for the Naboo invasion) merely by manipulating its surfaces. He claims they're quite simple when you get the nack.

[Sarevok]

Is it possible the Force itself is a technology engineered by some advanced "precursor" aliens in the deep past ?

The way midichlorian technobabble is portrayed it can be substituted with "nanobots" that let people generate repulsor beams and run precog calculations to deflect blasters.

[Captain Seafort]

"Path of Destruction" describes some kind of safe that could only be opened with TK - Bane pressed the "open" button with his hand and nothing happened. When he pressed it with the Force, it opened.

[Ender]

Holocrons only work with force sensitives.

Which is why they are routinely used as high data carrying devices by people all over, right?

[Noble Ire]

"Path of Destruction" describes some kind of safe that could only be opened with TK - Bane pressed the "open" button with his hand and nothing happened. When he pressed it with the Force, it opened.

Mara Jade also incorporated a similar technology into the hatch of one of her personal starships, if I recall correctly. However, I'm not sure if I'd really call that kind of locking mechanism a "Force Technology", at least not like the Star Forge and Rakatan FTL; only Force-users might be able to open it via TK, but its probably just a simple button placed inside the wall.

[Darth Hoth]

There are Jedi toys that require Force-sensitivity to work, described in Children of the Jedi.

On holocrons, there appear to be different variants: the computerised, holographic storage nodes (pure technology, as Palpatine described the first one in Dark Empire); the pure magic/"Sith Alchemy" ones that trap ghosts and spirits within (of KJA fame); and possibly something in between.

[Imperial Overlord]

The Sith supernova device in the KOTOR comics allowed a Force user to blow up stars.

[Sela]

Jedi Apprentice series- book 2. Xanatos had walls that went transparent with force-sensitive touch and would then disappear.

[Themightytom]

Is it possible the Force itself is a technology engineered by some advanced "precursor" aliens in the deep past ?

The way midichlorian technobabble is portrayed it can be substituted with "nanobots" that let people generate repulsor beams and run precog calculations to deflect blasters.

Ack, i guess the premise for my fanfic wasn't that oiginal then.

[Darth Hoth]

The Sith supernova device in the KOTOR comics allowed a Force user to blow up stars.

That was not so much a specific weapon as an amplifier, though, as far as I understood it (it was in TotJ, by the way, not KotOR). Rather, it boosted Naga Sadow's power so that he could use his star-rending TK attack from Dark Lords of the Sith to cause supernovas. Much like the Sith temples, it collected/stored energy to aid him in otherwise difficult tasks.

[Imperial Overlord]

The Sith supernova device in the KOTOR comics allowed a Force user to blow up stars.

That was not so much a specific weapon as an amplifier, though, as far as I understood it (it was in TotJ, by the way, not KotOR). Rather, it boosted Naga Sadow's power so that he could use his star-rending TK attack from Dark Lords of the Sith to cause supernovas. Much like the Sith temples, it collected/stored energy to aid him in otherwise difficult tasks.

Yes, it was Tales of the Jedi (I mentally file all that stuff under KOTOR era). You're assuming he could rend stars without it and the only time he ever did that was when he was on his ship with the device. Its precise nature wasn't explained in the series, but it did allow Aleema to blow up a star cluster. I don't recall anything that suggests Sadow could do damage on that kind of scale without the aid of uber weapons.

I did not read the prequel series dealing with the Sith Empire and if further details were provided there that would naturally take precedent.

[Darth Hoth]

Hm, it did allow her to do that (and evidently, from the dialogue, without much practice). Sadow did not destroy stars on his own; he could only disrupt their outer layers in the Holocron story Exar Kun watched.

I shall check the prequels, if they say anything; I seem to recall him doing something similar, there, but memory alone can be tricky.

[Imperial Overlord]

Hm, it did allow her to do that (and evidently, from the dialogue, without much practice). Sadow did not destroy stars on his own; he could only disrupt their outer layers in the Holocron story Exar Kun watched.

When he did that he was on his ship, with the device, and the stars did die (although not immediately). The scene isn't good evidence that Sadow could damage stars independently and Occam would suggest that he used the the super weapon, like a respectable evil overlord, to do it. Not that constructing a device that would allow a powerful Force user to blow up a star is a feat to be sneered at.

[Adam Reynolds]

Is it possible the Force itself is a technology engineered by some advanced "precursor" aliens in the deep past ?

The way midichlorian technobabble is portrayed it can be substituted with "nanobots" that let people generate repulsor beams and run precog calculations to deflect blasters.

Hasn't that idea been defeated by the fact that precog exists among Jedi. Jedi are able to feel events that are occurring across the galaxy, we see this thoughout the movies, from ANH where Obi-Wan feels the destruction of Alderaan, to ROTS where Yoda feels the death of the Jedi due to order 66. How can this be explained by technology?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The Sith had the ability to construct Force amplification devices, hence those meditation spheres, Sith amulets etc. The device on Naga Sadow's Sith Battleship might be similar in function, or it might somehow transform Force power into powerful gravitaton generators *shrug*. It was never really explained.

[Ender]

Is it possible the Force itself is a technology engineered by some advanced "precursor" aliens in the deep past ?

The way midichlorian technobabble is portrayed it can be substituted with "nanobots" that let people generate repulsor beams and run precog calculations to deflect blasters.

Hasn't that idea been defeated by the fact that precog exists among Jedi. Jedi are able to feel events that are occurring across the galaxy, we see this thoughout the movies, from ANH where Obi-Wan feels the destruction of Alderaan, to ROTS where Yoda feels the death of the Jedi due to order 66. How can this be explained by technology?

Causality violation technology and exploitation of paradoxes. Though this would require the Force to be some kind of intelligence from the deep future, not past.

From that point of view, the movies actually take on a bit of logic to them. The Force is in some fashion tied to the midichlorians. It communicates with beings through them, directing its "will" to preserve the time line to bring about its own existence. The Jedi Order, by adopting a policy of recruiting every force sensitive they can find on a galaxy wide scale and then mandating celibacy, is steadily weeding out force sensitivity from the population. The force creates Anakin to restore balance. Anakin destroys the Jedi Order, halting Force sensitivity from being bred out of the population. Anakin then destroys the Sith, who were doing the same by killing off all the Jedi. In the end, both cancerous organizations have been destroyed, leaving the galaxy open for force sensitives to live their lives and pass on the traits.

Alternatively, you have two rival intelligences from the future that are both using agents to try and eliminate the other (light and Dark). And the events in the movies proceed in a similar fashion from there - the Jedi, being the chief agents of the Light, have hunted the Sith. The Dark Side gives rise to Anakin as the prime weapon to destroy the agents of the Light, which he does. The Light then turns him, and Anakin destroys the Sith. The balance of power between the two factions has been equalized, as only Luke is left and he has not been indoctrinated in the rigid precepts of the old Jedi Order.

Or something like that. Anyway, the point is that a future intelligence exploiting paradoxes can serve as sufficient technobabble for the Force.

[Ender]

The Sith had the ability to construct Force amplification devices, hence those meditation spheres, Sith amulets etc. The device on Naga Sadow's Sith Battleship might be similar in function, or it might somehow transform Force power into powerful gravitaton generators *shrug*. It was never really explained.

The open question with all those devices is whether they are altering the Force, or simply aiding the user achieve their full potential with the Force. The former is rather bizarre and straight up fantasy. The latter is potentially scientifically rational. Consider "Sith Poisons" that make you more likely to go over to the dark side. Yeah it could be some "magical plague" type thing that turns them to the dark side, or they could just be some kind of drug like PCP or something that leaves the user feeling hyperaggressive, so that they are more likely to make decisions that are in line with the dark side. Do sith amulets have intrinsic force abilities built into them that amplify the users power, or are they just some variation on the principles of holocrons and flash imprinting teach the techniques to the user very rapidly.

Personally I prefer the latter - as many rational explanations as possible. The latest book would seem to agree with that POV, making fun of the concept of "sith alchemy" and showing that such things are either hyperbolic myths (eg sith swords) or subtle applications of technology (Cronal specifically notes that he needed technology to control the melters and was surprised that Luke could do it with the force)

[Solauren]

There was a Time-Travel device in a Mace Windu story that was apparently force-powered.

(The only known instance of True Time Travel in Star Wars that I'm aware of)

[lord Martiya]

Is it possible the Force itself is a technology engineered by some advanced "precursor" aliens in the deep past ?

The way midichlorian technobabble is portrayed it can be substituted with "nanobots" that let people generate repulsor beams and run precog calculations to deflect blasters.

Ack, i guess the premise for my fanfic wasn't that oiginal then.

It sound interesting. What's the title and where can I find it?

[Darth Hoth]

When he did that he was on his ship, with the device, and the stars did die (although not immediately). The scene isn't good evidence that Sadow could damage stars independently and Occam would suggest that he used the the super weapon, like a respectable evil overlord, to do it. Not that constructing a device that would allow a powerful Force user to blow up a star is a feat to be sneered at.

Apparently they did; I missed out on the dialogue. My mistake.

There are two instances of Sadow blowing up stars in Fall of the Sith Empire: in the first, no hint is given as to the mechanism, other than dialogue pointing to the "power of the Sith" (we do not see him doing it, merely weird lightning shooting out from his flagship towards the star); in the second, which appears to depict the same instance as in DLS, the Denarii stars, he is hunched over some crystal apparatus that could be the starbuster weapon but could also be a communications array (one is drawn near-identically earlier in the comic) with weird lightning playing over his Sith amulet, which thus appears to be involved somehow (like the somewhat differently drawn amulet in the opening to DLS, that Exar later took). Throughout, no direct mention is, as far as my cursory read would determine, made of a star-destroying weapon as such. So, nothing conclusive, some evidence to support both theories, but he did have the weapon/power-up available at all times he was observed using similar powers.

[Darth Hoth]

The open question with all those devices is whether they are altering the Force, or simply aiding the user achieve their full potential with the Force. The former is rather bizarre and straight up fantasy. The latter is potentially scientifically rational. Consider "Sith Poisons" that make you more likely to go over to the dark side. Yeah it could be some "magical plague" type thing that turns them to the dark side, or they could just be some kind of drug like PCP or something that leaves the user feeling hyperaggressive, so that they are more likely to make decisions that are in line with the dark side. Do sith amulets have intrinsic force abilities built into them that amplify the users power, or are they just some variation on the principles of holocrons and flash imprinting teach the techniques to the user very rapidly.

Personally I prefer the latter - as many rational explanations as possible. The latest book would seem to agree with that POV, making fun of the concept of "sith alchemy" and showing that such things are either hyperbolic myths (eg sith swords) or subtle applications of technology (Cronal specifically notes that he needed technology to control the melters and was surprised that Luke could do it with the force)

Sith sorcery and artefacts can grant quite impressive metaphysical powers to individuals who lack Force-sensitivity altogether (e.g., Cartariun, Girov Dza-Tey), so they do appear to have at least some inherent power of their own.

There was a Time-Travel device in a Mace Windu story that was apparently force-powered.

(The only known instance of True Time Travel in Star Wars that I'm aware of)

There were also some weird aliens in an old Devilworlds comic that time-transported Leia and two Stormtroopers over five thousand years or so.