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After seventeen to twenty years of training from a youngling and passing the Trials, what were the expected Force skills that a Jedi Knight could wield?

We are shown images of younglings practicing with a lightsaber in much the same way Obi Wan started Luke out, so it seems clear that fighting with a lightsaber was a prerequisite.

Yoda teaches Luke about telekinesis, force run, and force jump on Dagobah, but we don't know if his training is advanced due to circumstances or his base power in the Force.

There are many examples of Jedi Knights and Padawans using force run and telekinesis, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka Tano being a few.

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    Note that Ahsoka and Luke are both poor examples. Luke is massively well endowed (with midi-chlorians) and Ahsoka was selected for Anakin on the basis of her enormous talent.
    – Valorum
    Commented Apr 27, 2015 at 11:44
  • I guess the problem is the movies, cartoons, and books don't follow the average Jedi. So anyone we know a lot about could be labeled exceptional. It still does not define how exceptional their skills were compared to the thousands of average Jedi.
    – Sabersmith
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 18:53
  • Exactly. We do have some references (a quick glimpse at "jedi-school" in Episode II and the Jedi Path books) to tell us about what 'ordinary' jedi get up to, but that's about it...
    – Valorum
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 19:02
  • Where in the movie does Yoda teach Luke Force Run and Force Jump on Dagobah? Or are you referencing novelizations here? IIRC Luke only learns telekinesis from what we see.
    – TylerH
    Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 22:20

1 Answer 1

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note: this is all based on the older "Legends" canon, so its validity in the new structure is questionable

There's really not a defined list of powers listed anywhere that all Knights possessed. As we see among Masters, and even more so among Knights, Force powers vary widely in both ability and strength. But Wookieepedia does have a brief segment detailing the more basic powers:

The Core powers were the first powers a Jedi learned, and directly affected his own body or objects without actually harming or benefiting anything (except for Push, which could be used against enemies).

These are listed as being: force speed, force cloak, force stealth/concealment, force sight, farseeing, force empathy, and telepathy. Jedi Padawans would have learned these long before passing their trials, and would have moved on to more specialized training.

As noted in The Jedi Path, young prospective Jedi were taught Form I, II, III, and IV of lightsaber combat. They would tend to specialize, however, and become better duelists in their form, possibly become known for their skills in a single form, like Obi-Wan's mastery of Form III (Soresu). Alternatively, they would learn one of the advanced techniques (Forms V, VI, or VII). However, though all Jedi were taught lightsaber combat, not all would become very skilled with the blade, many focusing their skills towards other areas.

So there are some "core skills" shared by all Jedi, but as Jedi varied between Guardians, Consulars, or Sentinels, doing vastly different works in the order, by the time a Jedi completed his trials his or her skills were already diverging and would do so more and more as a Jedi grew.

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  • Thank you for the reference. According to the Wookiepedia citation telekinesis is also taught as a core power. 'The most perceptive to the dark side, alter (which is telekinesis) was the last technique taught to younglings.'
    – Sabersmith
    Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 18:57
  • This makes a lot of sense. A similar thing happens in universities today. There are a few "core competencies" that nearly everyone completing a degree is expected to be able to do at a basic level (analyze sources, write papers, understand the scientific method, cite, do basic math, etc.). Not every graduate is going to be able to do, say, multivariable calculus, but they should at least have a foundation to start learning it later if they wish. Commented Feb 24, 2020 at 15:19

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