Can the Force be used to fly?

Question

In The Empire Strikes Back Yoda uses the Force to lift Luke's X-Wing out of the water and put it on land. In Attack of the Clones and in many instances in the second series of The Clone Wars, Anakin (and others) use the Force to jump higher than they could otherwise, or to jump from very high locations, but I don't think I've ever seen the Force used for outright self-levitation.

But if Yoda could lift the X-Wing, shouldn't a strong Jedi be able to lift himself and, essentially, fly with the help of the Force?

Answer 1

Yes

Perhaps most directly, Mother Talzin is shown to be able to use the Force to levitate:

Another notable example of Force flight occurs in Lords of the Sith:

Using the Force, Vader stopped his rotation and reeled himself in toward the large, jagged, smoking hole his interceptor had torn in the transport’s hull. Loose hoses and electrical lines dangled from the edges of the opening, leaking gases and shooting sparks into space. A portion of his ship’s wing had survived the impact and was lodged in the bulkhead. The rest had been vaporized on impact.

_{Lords of the Sith}

Here Vader has ejected himself into space, and used the Force to propel himself through vacuum toward a ship. Of note is that while Vader seems to be achieving flight by mentally grabbing hold of the ship (suggesting that he’s using an object to "grab onto"), he’s nonetheless able to affect himself directly with the Force (stopping his rotation).

Some Force jumps, in canon, appear to be using the Force directly to enhance one’s trajectory (rather than to give one enhanced strength):

Then you are flying upward. Yes. Flying. You never knew you could. But you can. You are. Freezing carbon gas is filling the pit, but you are above it now, perched on a pipe attached to the ceiling.

_{So You Want to Be a Jedi?}

As to why we don’t see this more frequently:

1. Strength. Luke, Vader, and Talzin are all powerful, and the latter two are highly trained. It’s probably just harder to move oneself through the Force than to move external objects, particularly when it requires constant effort (like Talzin’s levitation) rather than a one-time exertion (perhaps Luke’s jump).
2. Risks. Flying requires a constant exertion, as mentioned, and thus constant concentration. Eventually the Force user will grow tired (as we’ve seen, Force telekinesis definitely causes mental or physical exertion), and if they’re too high, they’ll fall. In combat, this could be a serious risk: do you really want to be absolutely dependent on your concentration, 1000 feet above the ground, when fifty battle droids are firing at you and you have to deflect their shots with your lightsaber? But even outside combat, it might be impossible or imprudent for the average Jedi to fly for any extended period of time. We mostly see flight indirectly (through short, enhanced Force jumps), rather than as a prolonged thing. Much safer.
3. Not much of a benefit. Ships and jetpacks are generally easy available and don’t require effort or risk. Why not just use them (as Jedi indeed do, at least in the case of ships).

Answer 2

Sure, but as far as I know, it's only seen in the extended universe. You see quite a few characters using this ability, including our old friend, Luke Skywalker.

See the Wookieepedia entry on Telekinesis; Specifically, the Force Flight section for examples.

Answer 3

In the 2003 animation, Star Wars: Clone Wars (not the 3D CGI one, the earlier one), Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus can be seen levitating himself into the air, then floating down into the arena to meet with Ventress.

Answer 4

Yes, it is done in movie canon.

In The Phantom Menace, during the duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, after Qui-Gong Jinn is impaled, Obi-Wan is dangling in the pit. He then rises twenty-odd feet in the air and performs a flip. It's pretty clear this is not just a feat of arm strength. Besides that being an impossible act (even for a Jedi) using strength alone, he appears to be rising at a more-or-less constant rate.

See roughly the 4:35 mark.

Answer 5

In the new (Disney Canon) novelisation of the film Empire Strikes Back, we have the following passage when Luke narrates his fight with Vader and his remarkable jump out of the carbonite freezing chamber

Then you [Luke] are flying upward. Yes. Flying. You never knew you could. But you can. You are. Freezing carbon gas is filling the pit, but you are above it now, perched on a pipe attached to the ceiling.

Vader looks down—and then up at you. “Impressive…” he says. Is there a smile in his voice?

---

We also see Rey floating in mid-air in Rise of Skywalker, performing a previously Legends-only skill known as Floating Meditation

Answer 6

In Disney movie canon, we see two obvious examples in The Last Jedi:

1. After Leia is blown out of her ship, she uses the Force to glide back into the ship

2. At the end of the film, it is clearly shown that Luke levitates as a result of, or in conjunction with, the effort related to his Force Astral Projection onto Crait.

By most reasonable definitions, both of these constitute flight.

Answer 7

Yes

In the Star Wars: Rebels season 2 finale, Twilight of the Apprentice, we see the Inquisitors can fly by using the Force to manipulate their lightsabers.

Answer 8

We've seen them levitate objects only for short distances and time-periods. So they can only fly short distances by "Force-jumping," or falling longer distances safely, but they can't fall infinitely far, seen with Mace Windu falling to his death, and Obi-wan needing to be rescued by Anakin after falling from the droid on Coruscant, i.e. there is no "Force-parachute."

Answer 9

To add on to the other answers this has also been shown to happen in The Last Jedi. As the film is still new though I'll had the information into a spoiler block.

Towards the end of the film when Luke is force projecting himself onto Crait to distract Kylo Ren and the First Order his physical self back on Ahch-To is levitating above the rock.

Answer 10

In the Clone Wars, the character Old Daka uses the Force (or Magick - as is referred to by the Nightsisters) to float. This is the product of a spell meant to raise the dead, but is a demonstration of 'flight' and indicates it is possible. However, it also suggests that flight is inefficient and might just be a product of the spell itself.

Answer 11

In the 2003 Clone Wars show by Cartoon Network, there is an episode in which Mace Windu is fighting in the field. His usage of Force acrobatics in that episode seem more like flying than mere jumping at some points.

At 3:28, he does a very long rolling jump while changing spinning axis and position before landing. Granted, that could be just a jump.

At 4:16, he seems to be flying Superman style onto a ship. Then at 4:50 he moves out of the ship and onto a hill... If that last air time is a jump, it surely sets the record for leaping distance and height in the canon. Can't judge from the angle and camera perspective, but he probably cleared more than a handful kilometers in the air.

He finally leaps back to the battlefield again with the same move. To me it seems like he is leaping only to take off, and then goes wherever by using the Force.

Answer 12

There have been many instances of flight, more recently in star wars Rebels, you have the inquisitors using the lightsaber as helicopter's to fly, and Kanan has demonstrated both the ability to make a super long jump as in the two episodes of Geonosis in season 3 and the super high jump in the season 4 opener that required Ezra and Sabine to use a jet pack. Yet, Kanan cleared the vertical leap with one.