Star Wars: 4 Force Users Who Aren't Jedi or Sith

WARNING: SPOILERS for 'The Book of Boba Fett'.

After being offered what many thought was a cruel choice in the penultimate episode of The Book of Boba Fett, fans were delighted when the finale revealed that Grogu chose a Beskar chainmail shirt, and life with Mando, over Yoda's lightsaber and the Jedi training that would have come with it. However, as Grogu proved throughout the episode, choosing a different path does not mean the training he did have will go to waste.

While most force-wielding characters we've seen in the Star Wars films and shows have been divided into the Light Side leaning Jedi and the Dark Side wielding Sith, but this is not always the case. In celebration of Grogu's return, let's take a look at some other force-wielding characters who are neither Jedi or Sith.

1. The Bendu

The Bendu is an ancient, Force-sensitive being who claims to serve as the center of the Force, always in balance between the Light and Dark sides. The Bendu is first seen in season two of Star Wars: Rebels, residing on the planet Atollon, where the Phoenix Rebel Cell had made a base. The Bendu helped Jedi Knight Kanus Jarrus learn to cope after losing his eyesight in battle against Darth Maul, and later offers Kanan and his Padawan Ezra advice on how to recover a peaceful balance between them.

Despite his occasional help to Kanan and Ezra as individuals, The Bendu, as a keeper of balance, does not intervene in larger scale conflicts between the Light and Dark sides, and refuses Kanan's plea for help when Admiral Thrawn attacks Atollon. Kanan calls Bendu a coward, which proves to be a mistake, as the angered creature transforms into a living storm, causing chaos on both sides of the battle before it is seemingly mortally injured by Imperial Troops.

As a fun fact, the character is voiced by former Doctor Who star Tom Baker.

2. Maz Kanata

A Force-sensitive being of an unknown species, Maz Kanata was born over a thousand years before the clash between the Resistance and the First Order during which she was introduced in the films. As such, she witnessed the Clone Wars, the fall of the Jedi Order, and the eventual fall of the Empire. Living in an Ancient Castle on her home planet of Takodana, Kanata became known as a Pirate Queen for her tendency to offer shelter to Smugglers, such as Han Solo and Chewbacca, so long as they did not intentionally bring matters of war or politics to her home.

Maz possesses a unique ability to sense changes in fortune throughout the Galaxy through the use of the Force. She kept her Force sensitivity hidden during the days of the Empire, but allowed herself to be a little more open with it after the Empire's fall. One notable instance of Maz's ability is when she senses a change in the fortunes of the Resistance when Han Solo brings young scavenger Rey to her castle on Takodana. Though Kanata chose not to train as a Jedi, she respects them, and made a habit of collecting Jedi relics, including the Lightsaber belonging to Anakin Skywalker, and later, his son Luke.

3. Ahsoka Tano

Ahsoka Tano was once the Jedi Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. During her time as a Padawan, she was eager to learn and rise up the ranks of the Jedi Order, and many thought she had a promising future. However, Ahsoka became disillusioned with the Jedi after she was framed for a bombing on the Jedi Council and ousted from the Order. Though she was eventually cleared and offered a promotion to the rank of Jedi Knight, Tano was upset by the Council's treatment of her, and refused to return. Following her departure from the order, Ahsoka wields a pair of white Lightsabers to reflect the fact that she is not an official Jedi.

Despite her departure from the Jedi Order, she still has a great respect for the Jedi way, and during the age of the Empire, takes interest and aids in the training of Padawan Ezra Bridger. However, she reiterates her non-Jedi status when confronting her former Master, now Darth Vader, when he teases her that revenge is not the Jedi way.

"I am no Jedi."

However, in later years, Ahsoka appears to have softened her stance on her Jedi status, as she does not deny being one when Din Djarin seeks her out in the hope that she will train his young charge, Grogu. Some fans give Ahsoka the unofficial status of Grey Jedi, albeit one who still leans heavily towards the Light side of the Force.

4. Asajj Ventress

Born among the Nightsisters on the planet Dathomir, Asajj Ventress was taken as a slave to the planet Rattatak as a small child. When Ky Narec, a Jedi Knight stranded on Rattatak, witnessed the young Ventress using the Force to fend off attacking pirates, he rescued the child, raising her and training her as his Padawan for the next twenty years. However, when Narec was killed, Ventress was sent into a rage, and, after being led to believe that the Jedi were responsible as they haf left Narec stranded on Rattatak so long, she fell to the Dark side of the Force.

After Narec's death, Ventress agreed to be trained in the ways of the Dark side by Count Dooku, aka the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, the Apprentice of Darth Sidious. Her Apprenticeship was unofficial, as due to the Rule of Two, only two Sith, a Master and an Apprentice, can exist at one time. Therefore, while trained as both a Jedi and a Sith, Ventress was, officially, neither.

Eventually betrayed and left for dead by Dooku, Ventress took up Bounty Hunting. Her new profession left her occasionally working with her former Jedi enemies, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano. The novel Dark Disciple, adapted from an unused Clone Wars storyline, chronicles Ventress's return to the Light side through her romantic relationship with Jedi Quinlan Vos as she aided in his mission to assasinate Dooku. Tragically, Ventress takes a hit from Dooku's Force Lightning to save Vos, and dies in the Jedi's arms.

As you can see, little Grogu is about to join an interesting, and sometimes complicated group of characters. We can't wait to see what he gets up to in The Mandalorian season three, hopefully due on Disney Plus in December 2022.