Which Force is "The" Force in Star Wars?

Star Wars! That galaxy that everyone loves, except for its dearest fans. There's no doubt there's a lot to love about that wonderful world that has absorbed so many of us, but one of its greatest draws and greatest mysteries is the Force, as we've discussed here before. We've discussed the will of the Force here, but here is where we'll get into a bit more of a meta side of the Force, and that is: what force does "the" Force refer to?

WHAT DEFINES A FORCE?

In order to know what force the Force is, we need to know how to determine that. The force of gravity pulls things close to each other, the force of entropy is (to put it simply) a force of decay over time, to force something is to make it do what you want, etc. Forces are something scientific in technical terms, but that last example is a little bit more vague. However, we do need both of these understandings to move forward in this discussion.

Fundamentally, forces in scientific contexts are the same as if you were to, for example, force your way through a door (although you know, probably don't do that generally speaking). It is some influencing factor on an object that manipulated it according to some rule or law. Gravity forces things toward each other, and acts in our lives to drop ourselves and objects downwards towards the Earth and it will always do that with every object that exists, being particularly notable when an object has a significant mass. Forcing your way through a door is much less technical and specific, but in essence, you would be acting in a way that manipulates an object in a certain way.

The Force is also seen as a force of nature, and there isn't exactly anything to dispute this in-universe. As some sort of a force of nature, the Force should line up with something like gravity where it always applies no matter what, but we can also observe that it is not exactly uniform. Not every lifeform can manipulate it the same and not every lifeform is even affected by it in some stories, particularly in Star Wars: Legends.

WHAT DOES THE FORCE DO?

So now we can move forward in order to see what the Force affects. In broad terms, it affects everything in that it surrounds and binds everything together. But specifically, it seems to act on nothing easily more specific than that. Sure, the Force is only manipulated by the living and the formerly living, no droids or anything like that, but it does just about everything.

The Force has been used to control the weather and create a lightning strike, to shoot lightning from one's hands, to pick up and move items from a distance, to manipulate people's minds, and it apparently has a will that seems to desire constant conflict. So what in the world is the thing that it manipulates? Once again speaking a bit broadly (don't worry, we'll narrow down soon enough), the Force manipulates the events of the galaxy. If you look at the Force this way, it makes at least a bit more sense right? It has a great influence over the state of the galaxy, even allegedly having a will of its own that is more than a little inscrutable.

In this way, the Force is the force of destiny. But if we're looking at this as a whole world, does that really work? I would say it kind of does, but it's strange. The Force gives us tall tales, conflicts, stories and figures so big and unbelievable they become legends. Gravity gives us planets and keeps things literally grounded, entropy gives us decay, and while these things can be pieces of a story, on their own they don't craft stories. Maybe that's what sets the Force apart: it's the Force that creates legends.

THE NARRATIVE FORCE

This ability to build legends falls firmly beyond the walls of that far away galaxy, as well as within it. It rests in the minds of just about every human in the real world, and just about every alien or human within Star Wars. It's what we use to make stories, to teach each other lessons and pull at the heart strings or send a shiver down the spine of those who listen to these legends, those who see them, those who feel them. This is the nature of it.

The Force is what creates Star Wars.

The Force is legends, the Force is story, the Force is narrative, and everything those encompass are the scientific principles of the Force. The drama of the Skywalker family, the surprising twists and turns of the Clone Wars that somehow seem narratively satisfying at any glance long enough to watch an episode or more or read a while. The Force is just the stories of Star Wars, favoring our beloved heroes and villains at just the right times to make something interesting and meaningful. It has no hard numbers to follow like a scientific force, it's a bit more vague.

All of the stories and impossible coincidences, the chosen ones, the exciting powers, the battles and wars in which we find endless stories, and the time in between where we find endless more, that is the Force. That which crafts a legend too much for our world so that we can hope to get there some day. The next time you wonder how a coincidence happens in Star Wars, why evil was allowed to grow so large, how such grand heroes can emerge from these situations, remember that that is the force of a good and exciting narrative, dictated by the many people who make Star Wars movies, books, comics TV, and games. Everything in Star Wars is the Force.

It's the force of legends, and the force of people.

If you enjoyed this, check out our many other posts! We discuss things like this about a number of different fictional worlds, and we'll be continuing to do so twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Stay tuned for more, and thanks for reading!