Lit Force Potential

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but this is a topic I've thought a lot about. Who had the greatest Force potential, and what determines a powerful Force user? Is it midi-chlorian count? Training and experience? Can somebody with a low midi-chlorian count still be an overwhelmingly powerful Jedi/Dark Jedi/Sith? Or in the case of Kar Vastor, just an absurdly powerful Force user? What determines great power, and who had the greatest?

I'm going to say that Anakin/Luke are tied for that, with maybe Palpatine and Yoda coming in below them. Kyp not far behind. Thoughts?

 

Greatest Force Potential I think goes to Anakin Skywalker, though Luke and by extension Leia may be somewhere in the ball park. I think Midi-Chlorian count definitely counts for something, but training also has a lot to do with it. Luke and Leia, Jacen and Jaina; two perfect examples. Both sets of twins should've started out with the exact same amount of potential, yet you have Luke and Jacen edging out their twins in Force Power and ability by miles. Why? In the first case because Leia put her training aside for decades and didn't cultivate her skills. With the 2nd, Jaina simply chose to focus her skills in different areas (Like a military career) So training accounts for something. Potential alone is just that.

That being said, we don't really have counts for every Jedi out there, but Kyp Durron's an interesting case. I'm sure we all remember the Jedi Academy Trilogy when he first appeared and threw Luke across the room. Then there's that moment in the early Vong War where he stated he'd always thought of himself (Described as him having always known) to be more powerful than Luke. Now I think its clear this isn't so much the case, but its always seemed to me like originally he was meant to be stronger than Luke, and later authors just didn't run with this idea. Still its clear he has a high count, though we haven't seen a lot of him showing off his strength over the years.

I think that a sentient at least needs a decent midi-chlorian count to be powerful. Remember Scout from Dark Rendezvous. Her connection to the Force was extremely weak, though she trained for years like the other students at the temple. From what I remember she was a hard worked and didn't come across as someone who slacked off, yet she was still noted by everyone to pretty much be the dead last at the temple. Here you have someone doing their best and putting in the effort yet still only being able to come so far.

 

Force potential is primarily a function of midichlorian count, i would like to believe, although there could potentially be a lot of influential factors and different sources clash on the topic.

Training/experience should not be one of those factors, however, as regarding "potential", it is irrelevent

 

Luke will always be the most powerful to me. Twins should have the same Force potential, right? Well, Kyp knocked Luke across the room, but Leia really just nudged Luke in comparison. If Leia's response were an indication of Luke's, then Kyp would be overwhelmingly more powerful than Luke, which is where dedication and training would take over mere MC count.

 

Haven being more skilled in force techniques didn't stop Jaina from closing the power gap and killing him. Jaina doesn't flaunt her power and skill.

 

If I remember correctly, Jaina only killed Jacen through Luke's help. She was severely outmatched.

 

You're right, but after Luke's power boost wore off, Jacen still bit the dust.

 

Yeah its a combination. Midi Count sets your starting level and max level. Training raises you from starting potential to max potential.

 

Potential and power can be measured in many ways. Galen Marek could pull Star Destroyers out of the sky while Bastila Shan could do battle meditation while Cade Skywalker's healing abilities could bring the dead back to life. We don't really have official midichlorian counts for people.

 

Well I am not sure how to account for Cade. His healing is like a special ability that is unique to him. Battle Mediation and Pulling Destroyers is a function of training and power basically learnable when you reach sufficient levels.

 

It isn't too unique considering Krayt learned it

 

Right - and this is another example of Force power being measured by many different factors. Krayt had to learn. It was instinctual to Cade.

 

Not sure its the same technique. I mean sure Muur had a technique to heal but there is no proof that it is the same as Cade's. All that force lightning when Cade does his is pretty distinct.

Although I suppose it might be similar to Mace having inherent Shatterpoint.

So some characters get to start with instinctual abilities.

 

(Midi-chlorian count x Training)/(Plot x 100) = Power

 

Should we not multiple by Plot?

 

Training can't change "potential"

Different sources disagree, and i would choose to ignore that stupid part of one of KJA's annoyingly stupid books and instead listen to all the other better books

 

Or whims of individual writers.

 

Because he was wounded, and stopped fighting a la Obi-Wan. That literally had nothing to do with Jaina being anywhere near his equal. She doesn't flaunt her power like him because she doesn't have power like him.

FatSmel both Leia and Jaina say otherwise. If you don't train your ability you'll never reach your full potential.

 

Yes, the only reason Jaina defeated him was because he had one arm and was worried about his daughter. I think even Jaina acknowledged at one point that she was nowhere near as powerful as Jacen.

 

not reaching potential has nothing to do with whether not someone has that potential to begin with

like i said, training cannot change your potential. I suggest you look up the meaning of the word "potential"

 

I haven't read lotf in a good while, so the details are fuzzy. That series was a mess.

 

What are you talking about? I didn't say a person could change the amount of potential (Midi-Chlorians) they had. I said whether or not they reach it relies on training, and was therefore implying that a person with lesser potential could still reach the level of someone with higher potential depending on the amount of training and experience. Again, Leia is a very good example of this. And Luke as well in his early days as a matter of fact. His father too now that I think about it.

 

you said that,
in reference to this:

hence implying that "leia and jaina" believe that you CAN change potential with training . . .
which you obviously can't

 

Take somebody like Corran. When it comes to his abilities with the Force, he's certainly not the strongest, yet he's considered one of the greatest swordsmen in the order (at least I'm pretty sure he is). I highly doubt that somebody like Leia, who should have much more potential than he does, would stand a chance against him. Through hard work and dedication he became the amazing Jedi he is today, regardless of how much or little potential he had.

 

No, I said it in reference to your first post, which was this "Training/experience should not be one of those factors, however, as regarding "potential", it is irrelevent". And Silas Allender just pointed out an example of what i'm talking about. All the potential in the world doesn't matter if it isn't trained properly, and someone with less potential can still fight evenly against someone with greater potential. Really Leia's the poster child for what i'm talking about.