Introduction

Greetings students, and welcome to my classroom. Now I figure that just about everyone has heard stories about the major Force-using groups of both Jedi and Sith. However, today you will have an opportunity to learn a little bit about a number of lesser-known groups that utilize the Force.

Note: This course deals with the use of the Force, it is recommended that you also look at Philosophy 1: The Force to gain a better understanding.

The Church of the Force

Times of difficulty can give birth to great things. Such an example would be the Church of the Force, which existed underground in a period when worship of the supernatural was in violation of Imperial law. With the Jedi Knights hunted into near extinction, these worshipers tried to keep the Jedi ideals alive. Despite the threat of Imperial rule and the apparent destruction of the Jedi Order at the close of the Clone Wars, the Church believed the Light of the Jedi would return to the face of the galaxy.

Adherents denied the Imperial account of the so-called Jedi betrayal of the former Galactic Republic. Lor San Tekka was both an explorer and a member of the Church of the Force who spent years finding the history of the Jedi that the Empire had attempted to suppress. He also helped Luke Skywalker in the pursuit of Jedi lore as he tried to rebuild the Jedi. After Skywalker disappeared after the destruction of his new Jedi, San Takka held a fragment of the map to where Luke had fled in exile. Before his death at the hands of Kylo Ren, Lor passed the map fragment on to Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. Thanks to his actions a young Force-Sensitive girl named Rey was able to locate the missing Skywalker.

Knights of Ren

The Church of the Force was not the only group to raise up following the Galactic Civil War. The First Order grew beneath the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke, a powerful Dark Side user, and his apprentice. It was not only through military might that the First Order operated. Kylo Ren and the secretive Knights of Ren were responsible for the destruction of Luke Skywalker's attempt to restart the Jedi Order. They would also conduct subsequent hunts and purges of those with Force affinity, in a manner akin to the Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius- who we will discuss later in this course.

Kylo himself was chosen by Supreme Leader Snoke to serve as master of the Knights. So while the Knights were not part of the First Order's formal hierarchy, they were still a tool to the Supreme Leader. Their independence from the First Order did not stop them from operating freely among the military command. Officers tolerated the presence of Kylo Ren, for example even as his agenda trumped their own. Under the hand of Snoke, both the First Order and Knights of Ren acted as tools of the Dark Side. Knights of Ren could be identified on sight by the black and silver clothing sported by their members. A particularly unnerving example of the Knights’ garb would be the helmet of Kylo Ren himself.

The Inquisitorius

If you are looking for those loyal to our own illustrious Grand Master, you will want to follow this link to the Wiki Page on the Inquisitorius.

The Inquisitorius was an organization of Force-sensitives, trained by Darth Vader himself, who worked for the Empire. These Inquisitors were tasked primarily with hunting down the Jedi remaining after the execution of Order 66. Their secondary mission was to identify and abduct Force-sensitive individuals. They were known to rob Imperial cadets and even infants! If the individual could not be bent to serve the Empire they were disposed of. During their operational period, the Inquisitors could be recognized by their black and grey armored bodysuits and double-bladed spinning lightsabers.

Below Lord Vader himself was a former Jedi Knight known only as the Grand Inquisitor. Under his rule the Inquisitors came into conflict with the rebel cell on Lothal. The cell drew his attention in particular as it contained a survivor of the purge, Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan, Ezra Bridger. Evading the Empire's pursuits eventually brought the Lothal cell into contact with former Jedi Ahsoka Tano. The Grand Inquisitor would eventually be successful in the capture of Kanan Jarrus, but when faced with defeat at the hands of the young apprentice Bridger, he chose to commit suicide rather than return to face the wrath of Vader for his failure.

By the time of the Battle of Yavin, the Inquisitorius of the Empire were no longer in operation. With the Jedi believed completely extinct by this time, the Inquisitorius were deemed redundant and eventually dissolved, leaving Vader the only known Force-Sensitive in the Emperor's service. It was on this basis that Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin confidently stated that Darth Vader was the only living practitioner of "the ancient religion."

Lesser Cults

Nightsisters

The Nightsisters were a seclusive order of magick-wielding females living on Dathomir. The planet being bathed in dark energies, these Dark Siders were able to perform arcane magick by tapping into magical ichor that flowed from the planet's depths. The most powerful Nightsisters were cable of using the ichor to complete great feats: summoning items from thin air, transforming people into ghostly versions of themselves, and the reanimation of the dead.

The Nightsisters lived in seclusion, living in a stone fortress just on the border of a dense swampland. Women and men lived separate in their Matriarchal society. Their male counterparts, the Nightbrothers, were considered only good for servitude and breeding.

The dead of the Nightsisters were mummified before being placed into animal-skin pods. The pods were decorated with tassels and hung upon structures made of branches, animal skins, bones shells. This left their graveyards resembling a facsimile of the plant life of Dathomir.

Before the Dathomiri Mother Talzin took over, the Nightsisters rarely left their home planet. During the Clone Wars Talzin began to sell her sisters' services as mercenaries to wealthy clients. When one of their number returned home to seek assistance in gaining her revenge upon Darth Tyranus, the Nightsisters called upon one of the Nightbrothers to destroy the Sith. Their attempt would fail, and in turn Dooku would release General Grievous onto Dathomir in retaliation. The Nightsisters were nearly completely massacred during the battle- Only Asajj Ventrus and Talzin survived.

While the Nightsisters were wiped out, the Nightbrothers were spared their fate. When Darth Maul requested aid from Talzin she sent the Nightbrothers instead. The Nightbrothers were nearly killed by Count Dooku, but the conflict was interrupted. Death did not stay its hand for very long from the men of the clan however. Dooku would feign allegiance to Maul, being brought into the village proper. While Dooku was being drained by Talzin, the Confederacy was planning their attack. The attack destroyed the village and left Talzin dead. All was in in vain as her sacrifice allowed Darth Maul to escape.

Force Priestesses

There are some groups in the galaxy that hold remain sequestered from the galaxy at large. Some like the Force Priestesses remain mystical and seemingly aloof. The priestesses stand as representative of the connection between the Living Force and the Cosmic Force as explained in the previous course.

The group were shape-shifters of a sort, which allowed them to change form to manifest Serenity, Joy, Anger, Confusion and Sadness. During the Clone Wars, Yoda met the group and as a result learned how to manifest as a Force spirit. Qui-Gon Jinn also learned from the Priestesses, however his training was incomplete and thus he was normally unable to manifest as more than a disembodied voice.

Given the secretive and esoteric manner of the Force Priestesses, little more is know about this group.

Guardians of the Whills

The Guardians of the Whills were a religious order located in the Temple of the Kyber on Jeddha. Their philosophy was centered around becoming one with Force. They traditionally crafted a weapon known as a lightbow, which was a complicated kind of bowcaster. For years, they protected the Temple of Kyber on Jeddha and the pilgrims who visited it. Under the occupation of the Empire, the Guardians of the Whills became a local resistance group against the Imperial rule on Jeddha. Chirrut Imwe, a member of the Guardians of the Whills, and Baze Malbus, a former member of the group, joined a group of Rebels, known later as the Rogue One, and helped them steal plans for the first Death Star. Like all members of the Rogue One rebel cell, they were killed during the Battle of Scarif.

The Guardians of the Whills became known to the Jedi Order a few years before the Battle of Naboo.

Dagoyan Order

The Dagoyan Order was a group of Force sensitive people living on Bardotta. Founded circa 2000 BBY, they emerged from a more militaristic group known as Frangawl that utilized the Dark Side of the Force to rule the planet. After a series of conflicts between the Dagoyan Order and the followers of the Frangawl, the Dagoyans emerged victorious and banned all Frangawl-related activities and traditions. Soon, they became a branch of planetary government, locating their headquarters in the Bardottan Royal Palace and their temple at Halsoun Dagoyan Monastery.

Dagoyan’s connection to the Force was different that the connection established by the Jedi and the Sith. Instead of an active connection that allowed the Jedi and the Sith to directly use the Force, the Dagoyans established a much more passive connection. It allowed them to avoid objectifying the Force in a moral way.

In fact, the tradition of the Dagoyan Order and the culture of Bardottan society were bound together so closely that the Dagoyans served both as religious and governmental leaders of the society. The governing body known as Bahk-tov Council consisted of members of the Dagoyan Order and mundane citizens of Bardotta.

Dozens of the Dagoyans in each generation fully devote their lives to meditation, which they use to connect to the Force. Thanks to that, they become the Dagoyan Masters and significantly grow in power and wisdom. Thus, they are often requested to provide advice to the government on various matters. The Dagoyan Masters, who do not decide to assist the government, usually become renowned teachers, who guide another generation of the Dagoyans all over the planet.

The Dagoyan Order had only brief contact with the Jedi Order, but it almost ended in a tragedy and resulted in tensions between the two groups. As the Dagoyans are Force sensitive, the Jedi took their children to induct them into their Order. This was met with immediate and strong opposition from the Bahk-tov Council, who demanded the Jedi return the children under a threat of war. The Jedi complied with the will of the Bardottan government, but it made the Dagoyans cease any contact with the Jedi until the Clone Wars. During that Galactic conflict, reemerging Frangawl cultists kidnapped several Dagoyan Masters, which resulted in Queen Julia requesting Jar Jar Binks for assistance. Mace Windu, asked to intervene to settle the conflict on Bardotta, managed to save the Queen from being sacrificed by the Frangawl Cult. However, several members of the Dagoyan Council were killed during the mission.

Conclusion

Through the information presented in this course, I hope that you can now see how the Jedi and Sith cannot be considered the only significant groups in the galaxy. Remember that this course is only a snapshot, and there is far more out there to be uncovered by the inquisitive mind. The notes are, of course, available to any student who desires to review them. When you feel you have gathered every morsel of knowledge that you can from these notes, or when you merely feel ready, click the button below to proceed to the exam.

Information from this course has been taken from Wookieepedia.