Can a Jedi generate lightning?

Simple question.

I don't think that a Jedi can generate lightning. Lucas says that Dooku has "Sith powers...dark side powers" in AOTC. Thus, lightning is a dark side power that only dark side practitioners can conjure.

 

Of course a Jedi can generate lightning -- it's a Force power, just like any other. But do Jedi use it? No, because it is a form of torture, which is against the Jedi way.

 

I view it as that a Jedi could create Lightning but it would require them to draw on anger and hate so the Jedi don't.

 

I think the previous posters have primarily captured the reasoning behind this. The Jedi have the physical capability to generate the lightning. To actually inflict this power on other individuals would be against the very code and undermine the very foundation of their Order. These are protectors--guardians of the galaxy. They do not resort to terrifying and aggressive actions. If you notice in the action scenes, the lightsaber is typically used for defense. It deflects blaster shots and keeps the user safe from other sabers. That symbolizes (at least for me) the type of weaponry a Jedi ought to use. Notice that they don't ever use guns or blasters. They use a more elegant and sophisticated weapon...

I went off on a tangent. To use lightning, they would be seduced by the dark side of the Force and thus cease to be a Jedi.

-Seldon

 

"I have become more powerful than any Jedi."

Dooku believes that he is more powerful than any Jedi because he can produce arcane magic that no Jedi can ever hope to produce.
But, in doing so, Dooku sold his soul to the Devil.
Lightning is the forbidden fruit.
You can fulfill all of your aspirations of achieving the ultimate physical power, but in doing so you will sell your soul, which goes against the true nature of power.
True power lays within - love, compassion, selflessness.
This is what the films are telling us.
The Dark Side can give you what you think you want - Dooku thought he needed to be more powerful than any Jedi; Anakin thought he needed power to survive; but really, Dooku and Anakin were simply blind to what the Light Side can really offer.
It offers power on a spiritual level - power that easily surpasses any power that can be obtained through the hateful energies of the Dark Side...

"Now you will experience the full power of the dark side."

Sidious had the ultimate power, but only found himself searcing for more power.
In the end, he was headed nowhere.

 

They are all capable of this. The fact that Yoda is able to so effectively deflect it with his hands implicates something significant here. The question then becomes: Can they generate it, but choose not to do so? OR can they generate it only after training in that field?

It is an interesting question which I don't think is fully resolved.


-Seldon

 

I think a Jedi can create Force Lightning, but to be able do it they would have to draw on the Dark Side of the Force, and most Jedi do not want to do that. Drawing on the Dark Side too much creates a risk that the person will fall to it, so Jedi tend to discurage anything that requires its use.

Anytime that I see Force Lightning in Star Wars video games, it is always considered a Dark Side power.

 

This is the thing.
People often make the assumption that because Yoda was able to deflect Dooku's lightning, then this automatically means that Yoda can generate the stuff.
I don't think this is what Lucas intended to show in this scene.
Dooku believes that his Dark Side powers can overpower Yoda.
He was wrong.
Yoda is just as strong in the Light Side.
Yoda can repel Dooku's power.
That is all there is to it.

"Do or do not. There is no try."

You are either strong enough to perform something, or you aren't.
Yoda was strong enough.
Hence: "Much to learn you still have."
Yoda reminds Dooku that his new found Dark Side powers can be repelled by the Light Side.

I don't think it does.
If the Jedi could use lightning - they would.
They don't.
We see Yoda fire Dooku's own lightning back at him in AOTC.
By this, we see Yoda using the Force for attack.
We see Yoda consciously trying to blast someone with Sith lightning.
A Jedi must sometimes act offensively to carry out the will of the Force.
A Jedi must sometimes act offensively to carry out the "the Force is only used in self-defense" mentality.
That is the will of the Force.

 

You have a very well conceived argument, a well thought-out approach, and plenty of film support. I'm going to disagree with the basic logic expressed in the above quote. Look, that argument ignores the ethical and moral complications of the decision-making for the Jedi. The ability to do something does not mean they will in fact do it. As I pointed out earlier, you don't see the Jedi using guns or fire-arms.

Palpatine convinces Anakin that the Jedi are plotting to control the Senate and take over the galaxy (ROTS.) This is something which young Skywalker finds convincing. It is within the realm of their capability to take over the galaxy. They choose not to do so. So this is not a matter of "If they can do it, they would." We can't just assume that. The Jedi might have been strong enough to control the galaxy (the Sith certainly are) but the difference is what distinguishes the two sects. Look, the Jedi could act on passion, they could be seduced by the lust for increasing power, they could forge emotional attachments, they could act aggressively, they could use their anger to make them powerful...they could use force lightning...

In every example they choose not to do so. They choose to restrain themselves in every single instance. I don't see any fundamental difference here with force lightning. While understanding your point, I'm compelled to disagree respectfully.

-Seldon

 

I am inclined to agree with you, Seldon...you can't assume that just because you don't see them use it thereby means that they are prevented from doing it, that is a really faulty line of logic. I would point out though, that Obi-Wan does in fact use a blaster against General Grievous...

But, fundamentally, you are correct. Besides, if memory serves me (EU ALERT) Luke, Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, unleashes a WICKED lightning storm in the Dark Nest Trilogy. Jedi CAN do lightning, if they want...but, that doesn't mean they choose to use it. Not seeing something on screen doesn't mean that it can't happen. But, as already pointed out, using lightning against someone wouldn't be something most Jedi would do, as it does inflict a lot of pain...the opportunities to use lightning, while maintaining light side motivation, are probably very few and far between. But, on the other hand, if you had a ship that needed a quick electrical charge, a controlled lightning surge might be just what the doctor ordered, lol

 

Aayla, Revan, the Exile, Jaden and I think Kyle are some of the Jedi who had been portrayed being able to use it. KOTOR explains it by your alignment determines your skill in using specific Force powers. So a Jedi wouldn't be able to use lightning effectively.

 

Who's to say that Tyrannus was talking about the lightning? In terms of being more powerful, he could have been talking about the power he had in leading an army, being free from the strict Jedi Code.

 

http://www.starwars.com/eu/lit/novel/news20050718.html

The cover to Dark Nest III: The Swarm War seems to definitely show a Jedi Master is perfectly capable of using lightning...

 

"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force."

Dooku's ability to lead a battalion of droids is not the type of power that Sith Lords indulge in.
If such is the case, then I have missed the entire point of the films.
To me, Dooku didn't join the Dark Side because he wanted to order a bunch of robotic knuckleheads around - he joined the Dark Side because he wanted to become more powerful in the Force.
He turned to the Dark Side because of the promise of new powers, just as Anakin did in ROTS.
Dooku thought that his new powers could overpower Yoda - he was wrong.

Dooku wanted to learn "unnatural" abilities.
He was obsessed with power - he thought that he needed more power to survive.
If Dooku's motivation for joining the Dark Side was to command a droid army, and then turn to Yoda and say that he has become more powerful than him due to this, then, yes, I have misunderstood the films.
Lightning is a power that no Jedi can access.
It requires devotion to the Dark Side, and I bet dollars to dingle berries that if Anakin didn't have both of his hands lopped off, then one of his teachings would be how to generate lightning through his fingertips.

 

I think you might be overlooking the second part of his sentence (escaping from the confines of the Jedi Code.) By releasing their anger, they become more "powerful." Controlling anger is the ultimate power.

Vader says something to the effect of "Good, your anger has made you powerful." That is really the fundamental difference. It doesn't revolve around the lightning.

-Seldon

 

So, by the same reasoning, a Sith can become a Force ghost -- it's a Force power, "just like any other"? And I guess that means Palpatine was lying when he said that the dark side led to specific powers.

 

It seems to me that the blue lightning is a dark side power. It derives from feelings of extreme aggression and the will to torture. Thus asking if Jedi "can" generate it is akin to asking whether Jedi "can" feel hate, anger, vengefulness, etc. Of course they can -- being individuals with the full range of "human" emotions -- but they choose not to.

By the same token, a Jedi could create lightning, but s/he would have to tap into the very forces that s/he opposes in order to do so, which would compromise his/her status as a Jedi, and turn him/her more toward the realm of the Sith.

 

That is exactly what the so-called "No camp" is saying. I agree.

 

I am saying a Jedi can generate lightning, and can do so while remaining completely true to the light side.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_lightning

from here, it clearly indicates that it is NOT a dark side only power, just that dark siders were the ones who used it mainly. There is no light side limitation on the actual creation of force lightning. Plo Koon, Jedi Council member, was skilled in its use, in a form called "Electric Judgment" (Although that sounds more like a 70s funk band name to me) Quinlan Vos has also used it, as I have shown based on the DN3 cover, Luke Skywalker has used it, Both Bastila and Master Vrook used it during the KOTOR era and remained Jedi as well. That doesn't mean that it was a Force power every Jedi used, it seems like it is similar to vaapad, in that it could would take a truly disciplined Jedi to avoid being corrupted...so it is probably something that the run of the mill Jedi would avoid, much as they would be hesitant to learn Mace Windu's fighting style...however, Force lightning IS possible for a light side Jedi to create, without automatically turning dark. IE, its not against the Jedi code or anything.

 

Didn't the RPG have a light side equivalent of Force Lightning called Bolt Of Judgment?

 

When we allow EU evidence into the argument, than it is an inherently different type of debate. Based on the films, the lightning is not an acceptable form of Jedi power. This is according to the circumstances addressed in the movies. Under the correct training and behavior, I have no doubt that the Jedi are capable of lightning--but it marks a beginning of the path to the darkside.

Furthermore, in response to the Force Ghost issue: This is something that QGJ discovers. Any Force user could presumably replicate the results under the proper instruction. Personally, I feel it might have something to do with the prophesized balance to the force. The only individuals who achieve the ghost status are those involved in achieving the balance.

-Seldon

 

I for one would disagree with the way EU authors have casually attributed the use of lightning to otherwise upstanding Jedi. The films show no evidence of Jedi use of lightning; Yoda absorbs it, in fact, rather than turning it back on Dooku (though he does later turn its energy, but not the lightning itself, against Sidious). Therefore I stand by my conclusion that it is aggression-based and so off-limits (but not outside the scope of power) for a true Jedi.

 

I mean without getting into a Canon War, I'd like to just rely on the evidence of the six films. There have been plenty of examples, it has been used by several characters--but just never used by a Jedi Knight. It is just something which hasn't happened. My knowledge of EU is limited, but I do know that much of it was written before the prequels. Relying on only ROTJ examples (which introduced this new power) and limited help from LFL could have allowed some authors to confuse the issue and thus cause some contradictory examples.

-Seldon

 

Which is the opinion of a fellow Star Wars fan, and cannot possibly be construed as proof.

Exactly. We are here to discuss the films.
From what is presented in the films, lightning is a Dark Side power.
The ROTS screenplay describes lightning as "evil" lightning.
Sure, if you're going to get really nit picky, then lightning in of itself is not inherently "evil", but you have to fall into the depths of evil to produce the power.
It is evil lightning.
It is Sith lightning.
When a Jedi starts to use the dark side on a conscious level, then that person is straight off the Jedi roll call. Gone, finito.
That is why Luke's feeble skills were no match for the power of the Dark Side.

 

Even from the films, you cannot make that logical conclusion. Just because you don't see the Jedi use it, in film, doesn't mean that they cannot. If the ROTS screenplay called it "evil" lightning, I would ask why need the adjective evil in front of the lightning? If you have to label the lightning as evil, doesn't that mean that there could be non-evil Force lightning as well? Plus, if we are only going by the films themselves, the screenplay doesn't even count, does it? Nowhere in the films is it stated that you have to fall to the depths of evil to produce the power, either. You are merely extrapolating that from what you do see. You only see the Sith use it, so you assume that they are the only ones that can use it...and that is not sound logic. Because we only see Watto in TPM carry around a (probably) loaded die, does that mean he is the only one in Mos Espa to cheat at gambling? No, it only means that the story only called for us to see Watto attempt to cheat, because everyone else is irrelevant to furthering the story along...Just because we only see certain events, doesn't mean those are the only events to see. We do not actually see Anakin slaughter the younglings in ROTS either...but, we accept that it happened anyway. If we followed your logic, because we don't actually see it happen, like we don't actually see Jedi using lightning, it must therefore mean that the younglings weren't killed, because we don't actually see it on film. You are saying that because it is unseen, it is therefore impossible. And that is simply not logical.

There just isn't an answer to the question to be found in the films alone. We only see the Sith do it, but that doesn't mean the Jedi can't. The only thing the films can tell us about Force lightning is that the Sith definitely can do it, not that the Jedi are prevented from using it. Since the films cannot answer the question completely, we have to go to other sources. Those other sources confirm that the Jedi can in fact, use a variant of Force lightning. Whether you want to label Electric Judgment, Emerald lighting, or the other names the Jedi have for it, it is a type of Force lightning. Maybe not the exact form we see the Sith use, but it is derived from the same Force abilities.