Force lightning

**Force lightning** was a well-known Force ability used most often by practitioners of the dark side of the Force, especially the Sith. The ability was commonly referred to as **Sith lightning** due to the affiliations of its typical users and manipulation of lightning.

## Overview

Force lightning was a purely offensive, energy-based attack that channeled Force energy down the user's limbs, hurling arcing bolts of electricity from the wielder's fingertips or palms; Force lightning could be executed with either one or two hands. Powerful discharges would branch out into dozens of smaller forks; thus, skilled practitioners could target several foes at once.

The intensity varied based on a number of factors. Users skilled in controlling the intensity and force of their lightning could render a target unconscious with only a short burst, or kill a person instantly with a single, powerful blast.

The fact that it caused not only severe physical damage but also unbearable agony to the victim led to it being widely used as a form of torture. Sidious repeatedly assaulted his former apprentice and Darth Malak used it upon Bastila Shan, having captured her aboard the *Leviathan* and having brought her to Lehon, where he converted her to the dark side.

Due to the fact that Force lightning was, at its core, simply electricity generated by the dark side, it could be grounded with any material that was resistant to electrical currents. Depending on the level of intensity, Force lightning could ground itself on an ignited lightsaber, with no apparent ill effect on the lightsaber's operation. However, some of the technique's most exceptionally powerful practitioners, were capable of producing blasts that contained enough kinetic energy to tear an ignited lightsaber from their opponent's grasp. One of the most notable examples of this was seen during the duel between Darth Sidious and Yoda, where Sidious disarmed the Jedi master with a particularly powerful lightning blast, forcing Yoda to use tutaminis to defend himself. Powerful light-siders were sometimes able to resist the attack, or even block the lightning completely.

Force lightning could also be absorbed and redirected by a Jedi of sufficient skill; Yoda demonstrated this ability by both deflecting and absorbing the dark power during battles with Darth Sidious and Tyranus, using nothing more than his own two hands. The Force could also be used to simply deflect Force lightning without absorbing it, as demonstrated by Darth Tyranus during his initial engagement with Yoda.

Though the short-term effects of Force lightning are obvious, the sheer power invoked by its use could have insidious long-term effects, both on those subjected to its power and those who would wield it. It could deform the person being shocked and it could also lead to them being crippled for the rest of their life. It was also known to cause brain damage and blindness. Prolonged exposure to intense electrical fields (such as a sustained current of Force lightning) caused most humanoids to experience sudden and massive calcification of their skeletal system; the abrupt drop in blood minerals provoked muscular micro-seizures all over the victim's body. Intense enough doses of Force lightning will also have the victim having his or her skeletal system being seen through the body, as demonstrated with Darth Vader and Mace Windu. However, this does not impact the user if it is redirected at him or her. This is especially evident with Sidious shortly before his death, as despite being hit with Force lightning at an intensity great enough to cause Vader's skeleton to shine through his armor when picked up by Vader, he did not exhibit the same symptoms.

The ability was looked down upon by Jedi as it was primarily a dark side power and its use was viewed as inherently corrupting, and Jedi Councils commonly forbade its use.

## Variants

### Chain lightning

**Chain lightning** was a variation of Force lightning with the difference being that the lightning was able to strike one person and then move to another or several others. As it was more powerful than the standard lightning, it required a greater amount of discipline and concentration to project and sustain the stream of lightning.

### Sith Storm

**Sith storm** was a Force lightning variant. The user would raise their palm upward and would create, through the Force, an explosion of electrical energy directed at all foes in the vicinity. It also appeared as a tornado of energy which created a great disturbance in the Force. Unlike Force lightning, Force storm was not limited to attacking enemies in one direction, as it affected all foes within a certain radius from the user. Sith storm could also be used in a wider range in the sky to damage flying vehicles, as demonstrated by Pite Tverlo.

### Force Shock

**Force Shock** was a special usage of Force lightning, in which a single bolt would be sent towards the victim, instantly incapacitating them. Force Shock could be used in any range though mainly was used on a single victim at a time. The user channelled all their energy into a single powerful lightning bolt that would kill anyone in a matter of seconds. Darth Malak used this on one of the Jedi in the Star Forge before confronting Revan.

## Types and Colors

### Natural Lightning

Most uses of Force Lightning commonly manifested in blue, this was the most basic form of Lightning. This usage of the ability had to be inherited and not all Force users were simply capable of generating lightning. Although it was theorised even a Jedi could generate blue lightning with enough training.

### Pure Lightning

Some force users were born with a greater natural talent to generate lightning. Appearing as white, this varition gave more control over the lightning to the user, even being able to utilize it like a solid chain. For the most part however, this form is equal to the natural blue lightning.

### Emerald Lightning

As most Dathomir Magick abilities came in a saturated green color, so did their form of Force lightning. Magick lightning appeared more focused, as if it was a constant beam of energy being shot out of a barrel. In the right hands, emerald lightning could obliterate multiple victims in a matter of seconds and was even a match for the strongest of common blue lightning.

### Electric Judgement

Supposedly generated from a strong sense of judgement, certain users could generate a yellow variation of lightning. It was theorized a light side user could use this variation without falling to the dark side, even though all variations of lightning generation required using the dark side. The user would generate power through strong commitment and generate this yellow version of lightning. This variation was mostly equal to natural lightning but in certain cases weaker and only used to pacify the opponent instead of killing.

### Dark Energy

Not all dark siders had the talent to generate lightning, however, strong masters of the dark side learned how to manipulate dark side energy to their will. A technique overall referred to as Dark Energy, the force user could manifest pure dark side as a form of concrete energy. This allowed those strong in the dark side to essentially create their own form of lightning, which appeared red. Though technically not real Force lightning, this type acted no different than it, replicating the ability very similarly. However, dark energy lightning did not sound like typical lightning at all and appeared red, giving it its distinct feeling. Still, users of dark energy could match vanilla lightning users and even surpass them if they were strong enough with the technique.

### Sith Lightning

Combining an inherited lightning ability and the dark side energy, a dark sider could generate an all powerful variation of lightning which came in purple hues. This was the strongest and deadliest variation of the ability, only mastered by a few, mainly Sith Lords who could use inherited lightning. For this reason, the variation was commonly referred to as Sith Lightning because generally only the strongest Sith who studied could generate this purple form of lightning.