5 Most Overpowered Force Abilities In Star Wars, Ranked

When the Star Wars franchise began in 1977, the Force was a poorly understood phenomenon that has since evolved into a detailed and complex part of the greater mythos. What started out as a means of moving objects with a person's mind and sensing the collective feelings that arise when a great tragedy occurs has become a significant weapon in video games, movies, and TV shows. But over nearly half a century of the franchise's existence, the Force has branched off to include some incredible powers.

Granted, several Force abilities were relegated to Star Wars Legends when Disney purchased the franchise in 2012, but many remain. On top of that, the many new canonical works have introduced equally new Force abilities, some of which are updated versions of those once lost to Legends. Telekinesis is a well-known power that has proven to be incredibly useful over the years. In "Obi-Wan Kenobi," Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) deftly halts a starship from taking flight, pulling it back to the ground with a great deal of ... well, force.

That's a level of power few Force users can hope to emulate, but even telekinesis isn't the most powerful Force ability in the Star Wars franchise. There are dozens of unique skills, most employed by the Sith and other followers of the dark side, that are incredibly potent and evil. Each of these five Star Wars canon Force abilities is significantly overpowered in the right hands, and they're ranked based on the level of power needed to execute them to their fullest potential.

There's no denying that "The Rise of Skywalker" left fans with some unanswered questions, but one of the less confusing aspects involved Force Drain. The power was previously seen in Legends, and while it was somewhat different, the ability appears much the same in canon. In the film, Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) has returned, which is explained only with Poe Dameron's (Oscar Isaac) infamous line, "Somehow Palpatine returned." His ability to return is due to a different Force power, but his use of Force Drain is there for all to see.

Once he realizes that Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Ben (Adam Driver) are a dyad in the Force, he abandons his plan to take over Rey's body and instead uses Force Drain against the pair. This manifests in the form of blue energy emitted from his targets back into Sidious' outstretched fingers, which heal as he drains them. He puts as much energy into Force Drain as he can, and absorbs the collective life force, leaving them unconscious on the ground.

This fulfills his goal of restoring his body, and Sidious removes himself from the machinery that had kept him alive as he's restored to power. The ability can be used to fully drain the life of a target, killing them in the process, but Sidious doesn't take it that far. This is likely because the Force dyad of both individuals was enough to restore him without killing them. Regardless of however it's used, Force Drain is powerful.

The first time movie audiences saw Force Lightning was in "Return of the Jedi" when Darth Sidious uses it to attack Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Before he can kill him, Darth Vader (David Prowse) picks up his former master, taking the brunt of his Force Lightning attack, and throws him down a chasm, killing him. Force Lightning was clearly powerful, and through the years, it's been used against many Jedi, as it's an ability that's primarily limited to followers of the dark side of the Force.

Still, in "Attack of the Clones," Yoda (Frank Oz) easily absorbs a Force Lightning attack from his former Padawan, Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), showing that it's not all-powerful. That is, until "Revenge of the Sith," when Darth Sidious blasts the Jedi Grand Master, knocking him to the floor. It's clear from these uses that there are levels of power when it comes to Force Lightning, and the more powerful the person using it, the deadlier the attack is.

Finally, in "The Rise of Skywalker," audiences see how truly powerful a Force Lightning attack can be when Sidious points to the heavens and unleashes a storm of lightning into the sky. He downs several starships in the attack, as the bolts arc from one to another, chaining the power to devastating effect while Sidious cackles in delight. Multiple starfighters, transports, cruisers, and other ships succumb to Sidious' Force Lightning with no means of defense, making it a particularly effective attack.

While "The Last Jedi" had some confusing moments, it revealed a Force power that hadn't been seen in canon previously. Force Projection is the ability to project an image of oneself across the galaxy, though it takes an incredible amount of effort. While the Resistance is hunkered down on Crait awaiting an onslaught from the First Order, Luke Skywalker uses Force Projection to see his friends and sister one last time. He appears inside the cave looking younger and less haggard than he did previously, and it's not immediately apparent how he got there.

After speaking with Leia (Carrie Fisher), he steps outside and faces Kylo Ren, receiving all the energy of the walkers' blasts as he directs more firepower than is necessary. When the dust clears, Luke dusts off his shoulder and entices Ren to come and face him. He does, letting the former master and pupil have one final conversation before Ren attacks. In each strike, Luke dives and dips, moving away from the lightsaber blade without using his own.

Finally, Ren runs to his former master and stabs him in the chest, which does absolutely nothing. With a wink, Luke says, "See you around, kid," and disappears. Back on Ahch-To, Luke succumbs to the effort he put his body through in using Force Projection. He dies on the spot, showing that there's a price to pay for using one of the most powerful Force powers a Jedi can master.

When the teaser for "The Rise of Skywalker" revealed the return of none other than Darth Sidious, the fandom went wild with explanations for how he could come back. There's plenty to go off of in Legends, but after Disney's purchase of the franchise, it wasn't clear how he might have been restored to life after dying so explosively aboard the second Death Star in "Return of the Jedi." The answer is a Sith power called Transference, and as the name implies, it involves transferring consciousness from one body to another.

The Sith mastered this ability long ago, using it as a means of achieving immortality, which is one of their ultimate goals throughout the franchise. The first person who successfully achieved Transference was Darth Plagueis, though it didn't save him when his apprentice killed him. That apprentice was Darth Sidious, who would spend much of his life chasing his master's dream of immortality. When he dies at the end of "Jedi," his body is destroyed, but his consciousness survives.

A major subplot of "The Mandalorian" involves successfully cloning beings with high midi-chlorian counts, as this is needed to successfully transfer Sidious' consciousness. Without this, regular clone bodies degrade, which is the state we find Sidious in at the start of "The Rise of Skywalker." Regardless, his ability to survive after death and keep himself going from one clone body to the next is a power that's largely unequaled in the franchise, as it's deplorable to Jedi.

The most powerful Force ability in the Star Wars franchise is becoming a Force spirit. This was previously known as a Force Ghost, but the canon name doesn't change what it represents. A powerful Jedi who trains and focuses on the living Force at the moment of death can retain their identity and continue existing within the Force itself as a Force Spirit. This was first heard in "A New Hope" when Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) speaks to Luke after his death, and later appearing to him in "The Empire Strikes Back."

A Force Spirit isn't merely a ghost-like version of a dead person — they're the individual themselves, who now exists on a separate plane. In "The Rise of Skywalker," Luke snatches a thrown lightsaber from the air, and in "The Last Jedi," Yoda's Force Spirit destroys the first Jedi temple on Ahch-To by manifesting a powerful lightning bolt. Force Spirits are powerful allies for any Jedi, and becoming one isn't possible for anyone aligned with the dark side of the Force.

When Luke saves his father, returning him to the light side, Anakin dies but still becomes a Force Spirit. The same is true of Ben Solo, who abandons his Sith identity of Kylo Ren and returns to the light. Becoming a Force Spirit is essentially a means of achieving immortality, and by becoming one with the Force itself, they continue to have power and influence over the living, making it the most overpowered Force power in the franchise.