The Force, according to the world of Star Wars, is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds the beings of the universe and binds them all together. So too does it bind together the franchise as a whole. It is an integral part of the world and most of its stories center on the force and the people who can wield it. Even in stories that focus primarily on aspects of the universe unrelated to it, it still arises.
In the spin-off Rogue One, an astute follower of the force as a religion is highlighted as one of its primary characters. Solo features a cameo from Darth Maul, a sith warrior and force user first seen in The Phantom Menace. Even Andor, a political thriller focused on the rise of a rebellion against a fascist empire, sees a character gifted a "Kyber Crystal", a power source used by Force users in their lightsabers
The Force isn't just an integral part of the Star Wars universe, through cultural osmosis it has manifested into a real belief system. This realization of the force as a system of belief is not typically serious in nature, over 390,000 people in the United Kingdom listed their religion as "Jedi" on the 2001 census, a result people protesting against the perceived breach of privacy from the UK Government on personal beliefs and of others doing so purely as a joke. Though not always earnest, Star Wars fans have taken to this fictional energy field and to the people who wield it as a whole new sub-fandom, one that can often become removed from the beliefs espoused by the original universe itself and one that has actually impacted the Star Wars canon as a whole.
Cosplay is one of the cornerstones of modern fan culture. Though often conceptualized as people in cheap costumes at busy conventions, the understanding of cosplay as well as its growth as an artform have seen large strides in the past few decades. With Jedi and Sith cosplayers in the Star Wars Fandom this effort goes even beyond the costumes themselves, many now seek to emulate the fighting forms associated with their weapon of choice: the lightsaber.
Though lightsaber duels have always been a core source of action and drama in the films, the changing in directing styles and choreographers have caused little consistency in the fight scenes trilogy to trilogy and even movie to movie. The duel in A New Hope especially sticks out compared to its sequels due to its slow movements caused by technical limitations, and are completely at odds with the fast-paced and acrobatic fights of the prequels. For fans looking to emulate the fighting styles of their favorite heroes and villains, they had to look toward supplementary materials.
The primary source for this came in the form of Star Wars Insider no. 62, a magazine issue dedicated to the "Seven Forms" of lightsaber combat. The ten-page issue may not have provided a depth of information, but it would prove a foundation that supplementary writers would build on in ancillary works as they described which characters used what forms and gave further details to the techniques prescribed to each. With this wealth of knowledge slowly building, fans were able to start learning the forms themselves.
One way in which this manifested was through the development of "Lightsaber Fencing" as a combat sport. Similar to Historical European Martial Arts in the respect that it is dedicated to analyzing manuscripts on combat forms with a particular weapon and exploring its physical and practical applications, the difference being said manuscripts are from sourcebooks and film choreography in place of historical sources.
The other manifestation of this is through lightsaber stage fighting, in which actors and choreographers work together to develop interesting and dynamic fight scenes using the fight styles and narrative trappings of the Star Wars Universe. The art of lightsaber stage fighting is interesting in particular because of its place in the wider space of Star Wars fanfiction. While these fight scenes are the drawing point of these stage fighting shows, they are usually contained within a larger narrative. The combatants played by these actors don't just exist to fight, they are characters with personalities and goals that play a part in a larger story.
In a blog post by Craig Page, a member of a lightsaber stage combat troupe, he illustrates how many fans perceive Jedi as little more than a vessel for action and violence. Fans looking at Jedi characters themselves will naturally be drawn to the lightsaber. Where a Jedi themself wears simple and drab robes, they carry a shiny and stylish sword hilt that emits a colorful blade of light. They get distracted by a Jedi's prowess in a fight or their fantastic powers and don't see the tenants for which these Jedi use that power for. Talking about a Play produced by a lightsaber stage combat troupe focusing on a conflict between two groups of Jedi and Sith, Page wrote: "The Sith were a distinct group, with clear storylines. The Jedi were a gestalt collective, with many of them not given name nor character, save for the designated main Jedi. I spoke to the writer afterwards and asked them who the protagonist was. 'The Jedi, of course.' They said."
While one may see the protagonists being a uniform group without distinct personalities as a failure of the story's writers, it can just as easily be seen as a manifestation of that writer's understanding of the Jedi as a whole. The Jedi as shown in Star Wars media are warrior monks dedicated to peacekeeping and diplomacy, a united force that acts as one. This is primarily a result of the narrative of the Star Wars prequels which follows one Jedi's fall from grace as a result of his rebelling against this monolithic force and shows the Jedi Order's downfall as a result of their arrogance and single-mindedness, unable to perceive the threat right in front of them. The Jedi in the prequels, outside the main protagonists, are shown to be a unified bloc largely devoid of personality as a narrative device. It is a manifestation of the flaws of the order that illustrates their ultimate downfall.
As a result of these fan productions wanting to create interesting characters with depth and character arcs, a common trope of these works has been to center on force users that aren't aligned with either the Jedi or the Sith. Those who seek to do good but who aren't blinded by the dogmatic nature of the Jedi order, the "Gray Jedi." Beyond the desire to create force using original characters that are narratively interesting, they also let writers have their cake and eat it when it comes to Force powers. These "Gray Jedi" are sometimes depicted in fan works as being able to use powers associated with villains such as force lightning, without being villains themselves.
The popularity of "Gray Jedi" in fan works has had a significant impact on the storylines and characters explored in contemporary Star Wars media. As Mark Wolf points out in his book Building Imaginary Worlds, "Authors producing ongoing worlds often are aware of fans' reactions, through fan productions, fan mail, Internet forum discussions, and sales figures, and these reactions will influence the creation of later works set in the world." (page 280) Writers have seen these types of characters work in fan media and have begun applying it to canon media. One example is the evolution of the character of Ahsoka Tano, who originated in Star Wars: The Clone Wars before appearing in Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian and her own spinoff show Ahsoka. While the events of Clone Wars see her leave the Jedi order, her appearances in Rebels shows her still adhering to a similar lifestyle and philosophy as that espoused by the Jedi order, her appearances in The Mandalorian and Ahsoka have interpreted her character to be much more in line with the common fan perception of the "Gray Jedi", a brawling ronin on a mission to stop a villain any way she can, even threatening a character's life for information at one point.
The Jedi of the Star Wars universe exist in an interesting state within the fandom. They are protagonists who adhere to a code of keeping peace, order, and justice, to negotiation and mediation, in a setting with Wars in the name. Their beliefs and way of life may be presented as noble and heroic by Star Wars media, but the powers they wield on the behalf of their beliefs have, to many in the fandom, become more revered than their beliefs themselves.
This post was adapted from an academic paper written in 2024
You can read Craig Page's 50 Shades of Grey Jedi at his blog The Snark Side of the Force linked here
Posted on 1/27/2025