Midichlorians
imjz:
Are there any actual midichlorian counts that we know from any canon? Legends, new EU, comics, video games, anything? I don’t think there’s any in the movies, but if there are, what are they?
All my research is turning up is that Anakin Skywalker’s is “over 20,000″, which isn’t a hard number, and there’s another “mildly Force sensitive” guy named Nova Stihl from Legends who has more than 5,000 (again, not a hard number).
So… help? Any other counts out there? I don’t even care what canon the numbers are from, to be honest. I just don’t want to make something up wholesale. I will, if I have to. I just hope there’s some information out there.
We know that Yoda’s count is lower than Anakin’s, from Phantom Menace. When Obi-Wan is talking to Qui-Gon about the test results for Anakin’s midichlorian count, he says ‘not even Master Yoda has a count that high.’
Assuming Yoda has the highest midichlorian count in the Jedi Order at that time, that means that Anakin has a higher count than anyone in the Order.
Extra random musings:
Okay but are everyone’s midichlorian counts made public? How does Obi-Wan know Yoda’s count? Is it only Yoda (and maybe a few other Jedi) that had a midichlorian count that everyone is aware of, maybe like a ‘top ten’ type thing?We don’t know Sidious’ count. At least not from the movies or any other sources I’m familiar with. So there might be something out there that gives a number on that. And I suppose in the end it’s not how big a rock SIdious could lift with his mind, but the strategic application of bribery, blackmail, deception, and torture that let him get to Emperor.
The only mention that I recall is what’s in the movies – but then again I am only drawing from my knowledge of the EU novels, and I have only read about half of them. So…
¯_(ツ)_/¯The issue is further complicated by (still from the EU, as in modern canon the book is only broad-strokes confirmed) Luceno’s “Darth Plagueis.” In it, Plagueis observes that the Yinchorri have relatively low midi-chlorian counts, but they’re a specifically developed breed that have evolved to be extremely resistant to Force suggestion, which implies that Hutts and Toydarians have similar ones. Plagueis also talks about the Ysalamiri having amazingly strong midi-chlorians as the explanation for their Force bubbles.
So it’s not only a matter of count, but also a matter of relative midi-chlorian strength. It could be that Yoda’s count is lower than Anakin’s, but his species’ breed of midi-chlorians are stronger.
So… yeah. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You are shitting me, there are **different breeds** of midichlorians?!?
FML, what even is canon.
https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/05/02/try-our-meef-quesarito
Ironically enough, the idea that different species have stronger or weaker midichlorians is perhaps the most scientifically feasible of all of the things surrounding midichlorians.
The way to look at this is to realize where the concept of midichlorians came from—which is, in fact, rooted in the science behind something that we all have. It’s called mitochondria. (Insert ‘powerhouse of the cell’ meme here). Got that out of our system? Good.
Now, the most widely accepted theory for the origin of the mitochondria is that of symbiogenesis, which—while in general explains how eukaryotic cells evolved from prokaryotes—in relation to mitochondria (and some other organelles like chloroplasts) explains how they became a part of a cell. Which is, originally mitochondrias (and the like) were formally unrelated, free prokaryotic bacteria that lived inside of other bacteria endosymbiotically, and, eventually evolved into a part of the existing cell. (Some ‘proof’ of this is the fact that mitochondrial DNA and your ‘typical’ cellular DNA are different and distinct from each other).
Now, then, let us consider midichlorians as the precursors to Force mitochondria. Creatures evolved mitochondria—and plastids (e.g. chloroplasts), the other main type of organelle presumed to be obtained via symbiogenesis—because these “origin” bacteria could access and create energy in a way that was different from the cell they symbiotically inhabited. So they served as back-up power generators, (more powerhouse jokes I know) allowing for the host cells—and also themselves—to thrive in environments that they could not otherwise, and thus expanding their potential niches, evolutional favorability yadda yadda yadda.
However, if you look at earth, mitochondria across species function pretty much do the same set of, granted, WIDELY DIVERSE AND EXPANSIVE FUNCTIONS, and are believed to come from the same strain/family/thingamajig of bacteria. So why is it different in Star Wars universe?
Because different species evolved from different planets.
It isn’t something that we consider much, mostly because we can’t study life forms from different planets as we haven’t encountered any yet, but the factors and situation that push evolution and the creation of life on one planet will be RADICALLY DIFFERENT than those of another planet. Each planet has it’s own varied concentration of elements, exposure to heat and radiation, collisions (or absence of) with other space objects. We see this in the varied biomes and life forms of the different planets, but we fail to consider that actually, any similarities we encounter are entirely the result of convergent evolution. Which is kind of a really fancy way of saying, what isn’t remarkable is that some species don’t have some ‘generic’ trait (say, eyes)—what’s remarkable is that so many species from widely disparate genetic backgrounds all evolved similar organs that function in similar ways.
We do see some acknowledgement of this in the ‘classifications’ of sapient species. For example, there are the class of ‘near-humans’, which are all presumed, genetically, to have some shared precursor—which in turn, has led to them having some similar genetic traits. See, ‘Humans’, Koruunai, Kiffar, Zeltron, and Chiss (there is some debate on this last one, but whatevs) and a tonne of others. Of equivalence to this are the ‘Near-Duros’ species: Duros, Neimoidian, etc. which have similar genetic traits among themselves, outside of shared physiological traits among ‘Humanoid’ species.
Now, that all being established: BACK TO OUR FORCE MITOCHONDRIA.
The reason ‘midichlorians’ of different species have different strengths, is because they evolved/arose from completely different species.
This theory actually holds out, not just among different classes of Force-sensitive species, but among different Force-sensitive species of the same genetic ‘branch’.
Focusing specifically on ‘Near-Human’ species, which shared a common genetic ancestor then evolved separately and distinctly from one-another due to the environs of their ‘home’ planet, we actually see distinct “force-abilities” that arise to predominance in different populations.
The Kiffar, for example, are known to have a higher incidents of psychometry, with a roughly 1% manifestation of this genetic trait in all Kiffar, which was a much higher percentage than the percentage of ALL Force-sensitive species that also manifested this trait. Another example would be that of shatterpoints, a phenomenon implied to be more frequently manifested in the Koruunai people of Haruun Kal (for example, Mace Windu) than in others—this on top of the fact that all Koruunai are Force-Sensitive. Now, both of these traits, Force-wise are seen in non-Kiffar and non-Koruunai species, but genetic mutations happen all the time.
What is more important is the tendency for certain traits to show up in certain species. For the Kiffar to have higher odds of psychometry makes a lot of sense, if considered in terms of the ‘prokaryotic’-like bacteria(-like organisms) strain native to Kiffu lead to being able to process and manifest Force-sensitivity in such a way that psychometry is possible.
Basically midichlorians are Force-batteries of the cell, and because all those cells started from different places (aka were manufactured differently), it stands to reason that they symbiotically interact differently with different species.
—This also, coincidentally, explains why you can’t just inject midichlorians from one individual into another and have them manifest Force-Sensitivity. The traits that allow for midichlorians to ‘properly interface’ with the host species’ cell is a distinction that is fundamental on an individual genetic and physiological level. Much like the rest of a person’s microbiome.
I love science.
(Caveat: My particular science is not evolutionary biology, so I may have gotten some of these details a bit wonky. Pls feel free to interject if you know more science things)
DOING SCIENCE TO MIDICHLORIANS!