View source for Wound in the Force

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{{Youmay|a [[Disturbance in the Force/Legends|disturbance in the Force]] that distorted and weakened the influence of the will of [[The Force/Legends|the Force]]|a [[void in the Force]], living beings that could not be sensed through the Force, or other [[Disturbance in the Force/Legends|disturbances in the Force]], anomalies in the Force that could be sensed by [[Force-sensitive/Legends|Force-sensitives]]}}
[[File:MalachorV.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Malachor V]], a wound in [[The Force/Legends|the Force]].]]
{{Quote|I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.|[[Obi-Wan Kenobi/Legends|Obi-Wan Kenobi]], referring to the [[Destruction of Alderaan]]|Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope}}
A '''wound in the Force''', also known as an '''echo''' or '''hole in the Force''', was a type of catastrophic [[Disturbance in the Force/Legends|disturbance in the Force]]; it was a weakness in the fabric of [[The Force/Legends|the Force]], caused by a traumatic event. The Force existed in all life, and when many lives were extinguished, especially in a short period of time, a wound was created.

==Overview==
{{Quote|How could you ever hope to know the threat you faced when you have never walked in the dark places of the galaxy? Faced war and death on such a scale? If you had traveled far enough, rather than waiting for the echo to reach you, perhaps you would have seen it for what it was. There is a place in the galaxy where the dark side of the Force runs strong. It is something of the Sith, but it was fueled by war. It corrupts all that walks on its surface, drowns them in the power of the dark side&mdash;it corrupts all life. And it feeds on death.|Kreia, speaking of Malachor V, to the Jedi Council|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
Wounds in the Force were created whenever a massive loss of life occurred. All life in [[The galaxy/Legends|the galaxy]] was interconnected and when a significant number of lives were suddenly ended, the Force sustained a localized injury much like a [[Sentience/Legends|sentient]] who had lost a [[Limb/Legends|limb]]. The epicenter of the wound became a dark place, filled with the reverberating echoes of the pain, terror, and suffering of the life forms who had lost their lives. Wounds in the Force were most often centered in astrographical locations where traumatic events took place, such as [[Malachor V]] or [[Alderaan/Legends|Alderaan]], but they could also form within individuals such as [[Meetra Surik]] or [[Darth Nihilus]].<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords">''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords]]''</ref><ref name="Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide">''[[Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide]]''</ref>

Sometimes when there is a close connection between two force-sensitive individuals (twins like [[Luke Skywalker]] and Leia Organa Solo<ref>''[[Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back]]''</ref> or the master-apprentice-relationship between [[Satele Shan]] and [[Kao Cen Darach]]<ref>[[Deceived]]</ref>) and one of them is killed, the other one can feel it across the whole galaxy.

===Echoes===
{{Quote|This echo travels in the places where death has walked, where planets have died. Massacres fuel its power, the death of life fuels it.|[[Zez-Kai Ell]]|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
Wounds in the Force cast echoes throughout [[Realspace/Legends|space]] much like the ripples in a pool of water. They coursed through the Force like a scream that only [[Force-sensitive/Legends|Force-adepts]] could hear. When a great tragedy took place, such as the [[destruction of Alderaan]] or the [[Battle of Malachor V]], a [[Jedi/Legends|Jedi]] could feel the reverberations of the disaster from half-way across the galaxy. Such echoes caused distortion in the Force itself much like white noise. Any Force-user who was within close proximity to a wound could not be easily sensed due to the interference.<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" />

===The dark side===
{{Quote|The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is.|Yoda|Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones}}
Historians have theorized that the [[Death/Legends|life-destroying]] effects of the [[Dark side of the Force/Legends|dark side]] could cause a breach in the Force&mdash;especially when wielded by one as powerful as a [[Sith Lord/Legends|Sith Lord]]. Such a hypothesis never gained universal acceptance, but it did help to explain how such potent dark side users as [[Palpatine/Legends|Darth Sidious]] were able to long hide their dark side affinity from the [[Jedi High Council/Legends|Jedi High Council]]. It also explained why the dwellings and [[Burial/Legends|tombs]] of the [[Sith/Legends|Sith]] such as those on [[Dxun/Legends|Dxun]], [[Onderon/Legends|Onderon]], [[Korriban]], and [[Yavin 4/Legends|Yavin 4]], remained dark and corrupted locations for millennia after they were abandoned.

==History==
===Mandalorian Wars===
{{Quote|I have heard tales of Malachor. It is said that many of my people felt the end of the Mandalorian Wars from across the galaxy.|[[Visas Marr]]|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
In [[3960 BBY]], a wound in the Force was created at [[Malachor V]] during the final battle of the [[Mandalorian Wars]] when a [[Superweapon/Legends|superweapon]] known as the [[Mass Shadow Generator/Legends|Mass Shadow Generator]] was triggered by the [[Jedi General/Legends|Jedi General]] [[Meetra Surik]]. Surik possessed an innate ability to easily form powerful [[Force bond]]s with those around her. Although she remained largely unaware of it, her unique skill allowed her to greatly influence her companions, and it made her a natural leader. However, during the battle of Malachor V, her gift became a liability. When she ordered [[Bao-Dur]] to activate the Mass Shadow Generator, thousands of military personnel that Surik had befriended and led into battle were killed almost instantly. Incapable of enduring the psychic backlash of the destructive energies that she had unleashed, she was only able to survive the ordeal by instinctively [[Sever Force/Legends|severing her connection]] to the Force. Thereafter, Surik was deafened to the Force, but she continued to project the echoes of the suffering that she had witnessed.<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" /><ref name="Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide" />

===Jedi Civil War===
{{Quote|Revan knew the power of such places&hellip; and the power in making them. They can be used to break the will of others, of Jedi, promising them power, and turning them to the dark side.|Kreia|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
During the [[Jedi Civil War]], circa [[3959 BBY|3959]]–[[3956 BBY]], [[Darth/Legends|Darth]] [[Revan/Legends|Revan]] made use of several locations that were believed to be the epicenters of large wounds in the Force&mdash;the [[Trayus Academy]] on Malachor V, [[Freedon Nadd]]'s tomb on Dxun, the [[Sith Academy (Korriban)|Sith Academy]] on Korriban, and the [[Rakata/Legends|Rakatan]] [[Temple of the Ancients]] on [[Lehon]]&mdash;all these locations served as secret Sith bases. Throughout the war, Jedi were captured and brought to those locations, where the ravenous and corruptive effects of the great breaches in the Force weakened their wills so that Revan and his loyal servants could easily lure them to the dark side. In such places, he converted hosts of Jedi into loyal [[Dark Jedi/Legends|Dark Jedi]] and [[Sith assassin/Legends|Sith assassins]] for his [[Darth Revan's Sith Empire|Sith Empire]].<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" />

===Dark Wars===
[[File:Darthnihilus.jpg|thumb|left|155px|[[Darth Nihilus]], who was capable of [[Conclave at Katarr|consuming]] the life-force of entire [[List of planets/Legends|planets]].]]
{{Quote|It is the teaching of these new Sith, to feed on others, on other Force-sensitives. They are symptomatic of the wound in the Force.|[[Vrook Lamar]]|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
During the [[Dark Wars]], the conflict that followed the Jedi Civil War, circa [[3956 BBY|3956]]–[[3951 BBY]], the remaining Sith began to heavily experiment with ancient Sith techniques that Darth Revan had rediscovered while observing the devastating series of tragic events that characterized the Mandalorian Wars, and, specifically, how those events affected the [[Revanchist]] Jedi who took part in them.

[[Kreia|Darth Traya]], [[Darth Sion]], and [[Darth Nihilus]], the leaders of the remnants of Revan's Sith Empire&mdash;now known as the [[Sith Triumvirate]]&mdash;learned how to create and make use of wounds in the Force in order to hide their presence, [[Force drain/Legends|leech]] power from the destruction of other lifeforms, and to [[First Jedi Purge|hunt down]] the remaining Jedi, through the Force. They and their legion of Sith assassins grew stronger with every kill they made, but in order to retain the power that they had acquired, they had to continually kill and feed on the life forms around them.<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" />

When the [[Jedi Council/Legends|Jedi Council]] faced Surik, once more, years after they had exiled her from the [[Jedi/Legends|Jedi]], for joining the Mandalorian Wars, Master Vrook Lamar told her of her nature.
{{Quote|You are a breach that must be closed. You transmit your pain, your suffering through the Force. Within you we see something worse than the teachings of the Sith. What you carry may mean the death of the Force&hellip; and the death of the Jedi.|Vrook Lamar|Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords}}
At that point in time, the [[Jedi Master/Legends|Jedi Masters]] could see that if she allowed herself to fall to the dark side, she could have become a predator of life like Darth Nihilus&mdash;a Sith Lord who had abandoned his very humanity in his phenomenally destructive quest to acquire greater power and satisfy his ever-present hunger.<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" />

Surik returned to Malachor V to confront Darth Traya, as well as to seal the wound left there. [[Bao-Dur's remote]] was also on the planet&mdash;sent by its [[Bao-Dur|maker]]&mdash;to reactivate the downed Republic ships to power the Mass Shadow Generator. After Surik defeated Traya, she ordered the Generator's activation, destroying the planet and sealing the wound, once and for all.<ref name="Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords" />

===Great Jedi Purge and Galactic Civil War===
[[File:Alderaanexplosion.jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Obi-Wan Kenobi/Legends|Obi-Wan Kenobi]] sensed the echoes of the destruction of [[Alderaan/Legends|Alderaan]] from the distant [[Outer Rim Territories/Legends|Outer Rim]].]]
{{Quote|That place&hellip; is strong with the dark side of the Force.|Yoda, speaking of the dark side cave|Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back}}
More than a [[Standard century/Legends|century]] before the [[Battle of Yavin/Legends|Battle of Yavin]], [[Darth Tenebrous's Sith Master|the Sith Master of]] [[Darth Tenebrous/Legends|Darth Tenebrous]] became known to successive [[Sith Lord/Legends|Sith Lords]] for opening a hole in the Force, making Jedi consciously aware of the dark side of the Force for the first time in eight centuries.<ref name="The Tenebrous Way">{{InsiderCite|130|The Tenebrous Way}}</ref>

After the rise of [[Palpatine/Legends|Palpatine]], Yoda fled to the planet [[Dagobah/Legends|Dagobah]], where he hid in the shadow of a [[Dark Side Cave]]. He chose to live in that [[Force nexus]] because it provided some concealment against those who were hunting him.

In [[0 ABY/Legends|0 ABY]], [[Moff/Legends|Moff]] [[Wilhuff Tarkin/Legends|Tarkin]] created a wound in the Force when he used the [[DS-1 Orbital Battle Station/Legends|first]] [[Death Star/Legends|Death Star]] to [[Destruction of Alderaan|destroy]] the planet [[Alderaan/Legends|Alderaan]]&mdash;an event that killed every living thing on the planet, almost instantaneously. Such a catastrophic event sent shock waves through the Force which [[Obi-Wan Kenobi/Legends|Obi-Wan Kenobi]] was able to detect, even though he was in the [[Outer Rim Territories/Legends|Outer Rim Territories]], which were a substantial distance from Alderaan. Even [[Nova Stihl]] - an untrained Human male with a high [[Midi-chlorian/Legends|Midi-chlorian]] count - was affected by the wound in the Force. At the moment of Alderaan's destruction he had been taking a [[Sonic shower/Legends|sonic shower]] in an attempt to relax. Feeling the deaths of so many nearby was enough to cause him to pass out for an extended period of time. He awoke later with the sonic shower still working over him and a nose bleed.<ref name="Death Star">[[Death Star (novel)|''Death Star'']]</ref>

===New Republic Era===
In [[11 ABY/Legends|11 ABY]], [[Kyp Durron]] destroyed the [[Carida system/Legends|Carida system]] with the [[Sun Crusher]] and the echoes of the disturbance were felt by the students of the [[Jedi Praxeum]] on [[Yavin 4/Legends|Yavin 4]]. The slaughter of the [[Eol Sha]] colonists on the planet [[Dantooine/Legends|Dantooine]] also created echoes that were felt by Jedi trainee [[Gantoris]]. Yet another disturbance felt by the students on Yavin 4 was the massacre on [[Pydyr]] by [[Kueller]] in [[17 ABY/Legends|17 ABY]].

[[Leia Organa Solo]] also felt the deaths of [[Anakin Skywalker/Legends|her father]] and Darth Sidious in the orbit of [[Endor/Legends|Endor]] where the [[Death Star II/Legends|Death Star]] was destroyed in the [[Battle of Endor/Legends|Battle of Endor]] while she was waiting for the [[Noghri/Legends|Noghri]] delegation. She even fainted for a few minutes because the dark side was so powerful in this place.<ref name="Heir to the Empire">''[[Heir to the Empire]]''</ref>

===Yuuzhan Vong War===
The destruction of [[Sernpidal/Legends|Sernpidal]] was felt in the Force by Luke Skywalker.

During the [[Mission to Myrkr]], [[Anakin Solo]] was killed and his death sent ripples through the Force. This was felt by his mother, Leia Organa Solo, as well as many other Jedi.

[[Ben Skywalker]], born during the Yuuzhan Vong's [[Yuuzhan Vong War|invasion]] of [[The galaxy/Legends|the galaxy]], was able to sense pain and suffering so acutely that he shut himself off from the Force and refused to use it throughout the early years of his life.

The deaths of the crews of the [[Hapan Royal Navy]] during the [[Battle of Fondor]] were felt by [[Teneniel Djo]] and caused her to miscarry her child.

===Lost Tribe of Sith emergence===
In [[44 ABY]] [[Abeloth]]'s [[Destruction of Tahv]] caused a tsunami of pain felt by members of [[Lost Tribe of Sith]].<ref name="Ascension">''[[Fate of the Jedi: Ascension]]''</ref>

==Appearances==
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*''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]''
*''[[The Old Republic: Revan]]'' {{Mo}}
*[[The Old Republic: Revan (audiobook)|''The Old Republic: Revan'' audiobook]] {{Mo}}
*''[[Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords]]'' {{1stID|a "Wound in the Force"}}
*[[Darth Plagueis (novel)|''Darth Plagueis'']]
*[[Darth Plagueis (audiobook)|''Darth Plagueis'' audiobook]]
*''[[Clouded Paths]]''
*[[Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (novelization)|''Star Wars'': Episode III ''Revenge of the Sith'' novelization]]
*[[Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (unabridged audiobook)|''Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith'' unabridged audiobook]]
*{{Film|III}}
*[[Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (novel)|''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' novel]] {{1st}}
*[[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (novel)|''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' novel]]
*{{Film|IV}}
*[[Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (junior novelization)|''Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' junior novel]]
*{{Film|VI}}
*''[[Dark Force Rising]]''
*[[Dark Force Rising (unabridged audiobook)|''Dark Force Rising'' audiobook]]
*''[[Star Wars: Dark Empire]]''
*[[Dark Apprentice (novel)|''Dark Apprentice'']]
*[[Shadows of the Empire (novel)|''Shadows of the Empire'' novel]]
*''[[I, Jedi]]''
*''[[Champions of the Force]]''
*''[[The New Rebellion]]''
*''[[The New Jedi Order: Balance Point]]''
*''[[The New Jedi Order: Force Heretic III: Reunion]]''
*''[[Fate of the Jedi: Vortex]]''
*[[Fate of the Jedi: Vortex (audiobook)|''Fate of the Jedi: Vortex'' audiobook]]
*''[[Fate of the Jedi: Conviction]]''
*[[Fate of the Jedi: Conviction (audiobook)|''Fate of the Jedi: Conviction'' audiobook]]
*''[[Fate of the Jedi: Ascension]]''
*[[Fate of the Jedi: Ascension (audiobook)|''Fate of the Jedi: Ascension'' audiobook]]
*''[[Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse]]''
*[[Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse (audiobook)|''Fate of the Jedi: Apocalypse'' audiobook]]
}}

==Sources==
*''[[Chronicles of the Old Republic]]''
*''[[Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide]]''

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist}}

{{Interlang
|de=Wunde in der Macht
|es=Herida en la Fuerza
|ru=Рана в Силе
}}

[[Category:Force phenomena]]