After finishing my series of Palpatine respect threads, I'll begin the much larger task of a Luke respect thread, also divided into a series of eras. Of course, since Luke has so much material, I'll only be doing his Rebellion era respect thread and later his New Jedi Order era respect thread - another user, @jkbart, will do the New Republic and Legacy era threads.
With that out of the way, respect Luke Skywalker:
Power/Potential
As the son of Chosen One, Luke wields both tremendous strength in the Force and even more tremendous potential.
George Lucas notes that Luke could become what his father could have been, having the potential to become more powerful than the Emperor:
He tries it with anybody he thinks might be more powerful, which is what the Emperor was looking for in the first place: somebody who would be more powerful than he was and could help him rule the universe. But Obi-Wan screwed that up by cutting of his arms and legs and burning him up. From then on, he wasn't as strong as the Emperor—he was like Darth Maul or Count Dooku. He wasn't what he was supposed to become. But the son could become that.
Source: Rolling Stone #375 (credit to Silver2467)
Luke's potential is greater than the Emperor's and Vader's:
And the Emperor was right. Luke had much power in him. It was raw, unchanneled and untrained, but it was vast. His potential was larger than the Emperor's, larger than Vader's.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Vader considers Luke to be the strongest of the Jedi and considers him an equal, with a duel between the two being "the duel of a lifetime":
A warrior needed to contend with equals. Obi-Wan was gone, and the other Jedi were all extinct, save one, who was the strongest of them all. His own son. He had told the Emperor that Luke Skywalker would join them or die. The real truth was only slightly different: Luke would join Darth Vader or die. It would be something to look forward to. That would be the duel of a lifetime. This wasn’t even exercise.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Vader notes the possibility of Luke's strength/potential in the Force being greater than that of Anakin's:
He would never go back to what he had been mentally. Weak, foolish, idealistic. Anakin had been much like Luke Skywalker was now. Mere...potential. Yes, the Force was strong in Luke, perhaps stronger than it had been in Anakin. But the boy needed to embrace the dark side, to learn where the real power was, to achieve his true promise. If he did not, the Emperor would destroy Luke. Vader did not want that.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Luke perceives that the Emperor is afraid of Luke's power and potential:
Luke paused, for he saw something else, as well; something he hadn’t seen before in the Emperor. Fear.
Luke saw fear in the Emperor—fear of Luke. Fear of Luke’s power, fear that this power could be turned on him—on the Emperor—in the same way Vader had turned it on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke saw this fear in the Emperor—and he knew, now, the odds had shifted slightly. He had glimpsed the Emperor’s nakedest self.
Source: Return of the Jedi
Vader is astounded at the difference between Luke's strength in the Force compared to that of his previous encounter, noting that Luke is stronger and more powerful than he had imagined. This provokes surprise and fear in the Dark Lord:
Vader watched Luke. His boy was powerful, stronger than he’d imagined. And still pliable. Not lost yet—either to the sickening, weakly side of the Force, that had to beg for everything it received; or to the Emperor, who feared Luke with reason. There was yet time to take Luke for his own—to retake him. To join with him in dark majesty. To rule the galaxy together. It would only take patience and a little wizardry, to show Luke the exquisite satisfactions of the dark way and to pry him from the Emperor’s terrified clutch. Vader knew Luke had seen it too—the Emperor’s fear. He was a clever boy, young Luke. Vader smile grimly to himself. He was his father’s son.
Source: Return of the Jedi
For the first time, the thought entered Vader’s consciousness that his son might best him. He was astounded by the strength Luke had acquired since their last duel, in the Cloud City—not to mention the boy’s timing, which was honed to a thought’s-breadth. This was an unexpected circumstance. Unexpected and unwelcome. Vader felt humiliation crawling in on the tail of his first reaction, which was surprise, and his second, which was fear. And then the edge of the humiliation curled up, to reveal bald anger. And now he wanted revenge.
Source: Return of the Jedi
Luke's body houses more power than either the Emperor or Vader:
A body more powerful in the Force than Vader, potentially more powerful even than Palpatine. The body of a true hero, beloved by all right-thinking citizens in the galaxy as the very symbol of truth and justice...
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Force Valor/Protection/Speed
Force Valor is a light-sided power enabling a Jedi to enhance one's resolve and physical traits. Force Protection is the passive (and sometimes active) enhancement of a Force sensitive's durability to varying superhuman degrees. Force Speed is the passive (and sometimes active) enhancement of a Force sensitive's speed to varying superhuman degrees.
Luke moves imperceptibly fast:
He moved faster than S’ybll could keep track of him, and jumped over and behind a fragment of a broken lintel.
Source: A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker (credit to Silver2467)
Before receiving proper Jedi instruction, Luke displays sufficient reaction time to react to and defend against strikes from trained Force-sensitives like Celeste Morne:
He displays decent strength and endurance as he engages the champion of Coway in unarmed combat:
Luke sees TIE fighters (which were flying at sub-light speeds) at sub-light speeds in slow-motion:
Luke reached out. The Force was here, as it was everywhere, and it was no harder to touch deep in space than it was in the swamps on Dagobah. He let it fill him. The TIE fighters suddenly seemed to be moving slower. Luke’s hands flew over the controls; he moved the stick with sharp and precise movements. Swung to his starboard and lit the lasers, double-tapped the fire button.
Lines of fire lanced out and shattered one, two of the four TIE fighters. The explosion spat a hard spray of wreckage at him as Luke looped away. Shards of the destroyed TIEs sleeted against the X-wing’s transparisteel canopy, a meal and plastic hail.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Luke deflects blaster fire from over a dozen shooters, weaving a curtain of hard light out of his blade:
When a man comes at you with a blaster spewing, you don't stand there asking stupid questions. Luke snatched his lightsaber from his belt, lit it, and whipped it up in a right inward block as he slid to the side. A blaster bolt splashed from the blade in a shower of red and orange sparks. The air stank suddenly of ozone. The techs were unarmed, and Luke saw two of them take hits and go down. The others scrambled for cover.
Koth Melan produced a small weapon and returned fire, hitting the lead attacker right between the eyes. The attacker fell backward. There were more behind him, boiling through the shattered doorway. Luke leaped forward, circled his lightsaber into a horizontal slash, and took down the next man through the door. Melan fired. The bolt sizzled past Luke's left ear and hit the third man incoming.
Beyond that, Luke saw, there were at least a dozen more shooters crowding toward the doorway. Maybe more. It wasn't as if he had time to do a precise count here—
More energy beams cooked the air, scorching past Luke and spearing computer consoles and technicians alike.
"Too many of them!" Melan yelled. "This way!"
Luke wove a curtain of hard light with his blade, deflecting blaster bolts and driving the attackers back temporarily.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Again, he deflects blaster fire from around a dozen shooters (Bounty Hunters), this time weaving a tapestry of light out of his blade:
A horizontal hail of energy bolts stabbed at Luke—The Force let him move faster than he thought possible, and he wove a defensive tapestry with his lightsaber that turned the hard rain away. Ricocheting beams hit and pierced walls, bounty hunters, the floor, the ceiling. It was dangerous to be here, no matter where you stood.
Amazed as he was at his speed and skill, Luke knew it couldn't continue. He had to miss only one block and he would be a goner. Sooner or later, they'd get him. He ran forward down the hall, and the shooters ahead of him gave way against their own reflected firepower. There was a lot of yelling going on with the blasting:
"—look out, you fool—!”
"—there he is, get him—!"
"—watch it, watch it—!"
"—I'm hit—!"
He didn't know how far he had to go to get to the exit. He had a good idea that if it wasn't pretty close, he wasn't going to make it. But Luke went with the flow of the Force, continued to cut and block, to parry bolts and flesh and bones as the bounty hunters tried to stop him. There wasn't a lot of choice; he couldn't exactly stop to think about things. Ahead and to his left, the wall suddenly shattered and imploded.
Smoking debris spattered in all directions. Some of the bounty hunters were blown down by the implosion; others fled. Smoke roiled and filled the corridor; acrid vapor burned Luke's nostrils.
Source: Shadows of the Empire
Luke moves his lightsaber imperceptibly fast:
Vader swung at Luke, but Luke blocked and swung back, and soon their lightsabers were sweeping and clashing faster than the eye could follow.
The duel had just begun.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back Junior Novelization
He cuts through Boba's blaster before the bounty hunter can fire:
As Chewbacca untied Han's bonds, Fett flew over the pit, landed on the prisoners' skiff, and brought his blaster rifle up fast. But before he could fire, Luke spun with his lightsaber and hacked off the blaster's barrel.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
He ignites his lightsaber before several deck gunners can shoot, and a moment later, he kills them all:
The deck gunners on the barge were lining up this human chain in their sights for the coup de grace, when Luke stepped in front of them, laughing like a pirate king. He lit his lightsaber before they could squeeze off a shot; a moment later they were smoking corpses.
Source: Return of the Jedi
He deflects blaster fire from a scout trooper, then sidesteps his speeder traveling at maximum speed (listed in sources as 500 km/hr) and cuts it neatly:
Luke stumbled out of the bushes as the speeder was bearing down on him full throttle, laser cannon firing. Luke ignited his lightsaber and stood his ground. His weapon deflected every bolt the scout fired at Luke; but the bike kept coming. In a few moments, the two would meet; the bike accelerated even more, intent on bodily slicing the young Jedi in half. At the last moment, though, Luke stepped aside - with perfect timing, like a master matador facing a rocket-powered bull - and chopped off the bike's steering vanes with a single mighty slash of his lightsaber.
Source: Return of the Jedi
The scout kept shooting and aimed his bike straight for Luke. Luke batted away more laserbolts. When the scout's bike was almost on top of him, he stepped aside and swung at the bike's steering vanes, slicing them off. The scout's shattered bike hurtled forward then began pitching and rolling as it slammed directly into a tree. In a fiery explosion, the last scout was gone.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
Luke's reaction speeds and timing are noted by Vader as being within the span of thought:
For the first time, the thought entered Vader’s consciousness that his son might best him. He was astounded by the strength Luke had acquired since their last duel, in the Cloud City—not to mention the boy’s timing, which was honed to a thought’s-breadth.
Source: Return of the Jedi
With his lightsaber deactivated, Luke reacts to Vader swinging his lightsaber and ignites his own weapon in time to block Vader's attacks:
When Vader was almost beside Luke, he said, "You are unwise to lower your defenses." He brought his lightsaber up fast, but Luke ignited his own lightsaber in time and blocked the attack.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
Luke jumps to avoid Darth Vader's lightsaber, which was swinging in a blur:
Vader broke the contact and swung hard at Luke, but Luke evaded the red blur of his opponent's weapon and jumped backward, landing in a duty post that was encircled by eight illuminated control consoles.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
He deflects blaster fire from a company of troops, moving his lightsaber in invisibly fast arcs:
A slight sideways tilt of his head invited Vastor to look around, which he did. Which was when he saw the full company of black-armored stormtroopers on a ring ledge about three meters above him, all with weapons aimed at his gigantic chest.
...
He snatched his pistol out of Luke's hand and popped to his feet as blasters opened up on all sides to rain plasma upon them in a roaring flood. Luke's lightsaber flared to life and lashed out in invisibly fast arcs that sent bolts out and away in a fan, blasting into the rock of the shaft walls. Choking red-black smoke billowed out from the points of impact, shrouding them in gloom so dense that the Falcon's exterior floodlights only gave off a yellow-brown glow.
"Stick close." Luke's voice was tight with concentration. "I'm not used to having to cover somebody else."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Han squeezed himself into a substantially less-than-Han-sized space at Luke's back and had barely time to wish that he knew a Jedi who was just a little taller before the Falcon bucked as if it had been kicked. The ship bounced off the shaft wall hard enough that Han had to grab Luke's shoulder to stay upright. "Chewie, dammit!"
"Not his fault," Luke said tightly, still carving smoke with his blade to catch stray blaster bolts. "The ship didn't move. The shaft did. The mountain's breaking up."
"Oh, great! Any more good news?"
"Yes," Luke said. "We're being boarded."
Dark shapes hurtled down at them through the gloom-storm-troopers jumping off the ring ledge. Han snarled something wordless that expressed vividly how he felt about having Imperial boots touch his ship and slipped his blaster over Luke's shoulder, snapping off a pair of double taps that caught two troopers while they were still in the air. The bursts blew them backward far enough that they fell short and tumbled into the shaft below, but dozens made it onto the hull. There were plenty more where they'd come from, and Han had a strong feeling that a stand-up fight against a hundred-some stormtroopers was a losing proposition under the best of circumstances. Which these circumstances weren't.
"Make for the hatch!" Han fired twice more, dropping one dark silhouette and knocking another spinning off the rim of the hull, while Luke fanned away a flood of return fire. "Let's see how these sons of monkey-lizards like open space and hard vacuum!"
"You first," Luke said.
"T'hat's another thing you won't have to cell me twice." Red-glowing spheres sailed in through the smoke: thermal detonators. Some bounced away, but four or five maglocked themselves to the hull. "Uh, Luke?"
"I've got them." With his left hand, Luke swung his lightsaber in a dazzling flourish to spray blaster bolts randomly through the smoke, while his right hand stretched out toward the dets. All of them suddenly jerked themselves loose and flipped over the edge of the ship. Multiple detonations bounced the ship off the wall again. "Go, Han! Go now!"
Han took three steps, then threw himself into a flat dive that became a belly flop and sent him skidding and scraping over the lip of the hatch. He pulled himself in with his free hand and pivoted around his grip to land on his feet on the deck below. "I'm in! Luke, come on!"
More dets went off and lit the smoke with bloody flame, and there came no sign that Luke had any intention of following him. Han scrambled back up the gangway. "Luke, don't be an idiot!"
"I'm going after Vastor." Luke leaned into the gale of blasterfire as he worked his way toward the ship's edge. "Go. Save Leia! Don't wait for me."
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
A company is listed as consisting of 128 troops:
Company (128 troopers): A company consists of four platoons, led by a captain.
Source: The Essential Guide to Warfare
Luke kicks Nick in less than an eyeflick:
The Force stabbed Luke with an instant overpowering Move-or-die ; in less than an eyeflick his foot lashed out to slam Nick back deeper under the hull and he sprang into the air back-flipping away
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
He spins around in time to catch the butt of a blaster carbine that a Stormtrooper swung at him:
The Force whispered a warning, and Luke whirled in time to catch the oncoming butt of the blaster carbine in the palm of his flesh hand and hold it fast.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
He leaps across rocks so quickly he practically flies, traversing two kilometers in just two minutes:
Luke watched the battle end while he was on his way. Using the Force to leap from rock to rock so swiftly he practically flew also relieved him of the need to watch his footing. He covered the two kilometers in about two minutes.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Examples of Luke Skywalker generating afterimages of his lightsaber:
He performs a handstand for two hours:
Performing a fingerstand:
Luke enhances his strength, allowing his hand to casually crush the stock of a military-grade blaster carbine just by tightening his grip on it:
The astonished stormtrooper tried to yank his carbine free, but instead Luke tightened his grip and let the Force add strength to his arm; a twist of the wrist shattered the carbine's stock to plastite splinters.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
He breaks through metallic restraints:
Luke's physical strength matches that of Vader's:
Although Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are equally strong in the Force, their duels are more than just about physical strength.
Source: Beware the Sith
Luke kicks Vader down a staircase:
Luke drove Vader back to the stairway that descended to the turbolifts, then kicked out with his left leg, knocking Vader from the upper platform. Vader groaned as he flipped over backward and landed on the metal floor below.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
Telekinesis
Telekinesis is a basic, neutral Force power enabling Force-sensitives to manipulate their surroundings (often objects or individuals) via the Force.
Luke supports an AT-ST:
Luke manipulates multiple machines across Cloud City:
Luke displays Lightsaber Throw:
Luke flung the saber in a long spinning arc. The big brown Ssi-ruu fell headless as the saber spun back into Luke's hand.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Luke displays Saber Throw once again, this time with much greater accuracy:
The pedestal collapsed into a spreading pile of slimy goo, and Nick found himself sitting on Luke Skywalker's chest. Without pausing to consider how ridiculous they both must look, Nick triggered the chromostring canister against Luke's neck. Given the chromostring's ability to enhance systemic absorption of the vivatherin, Nick figured Skywalker would be jumping back to life any second now, which wouldn't be a second too soon, because the pedestal's collapse left Nick and Luke down on the floor with the goocovered piles of Pawns, who were now climbing over each other to claw at Nick's ankles and knees and pull him down and drag themselves up him like slashrats chewing down a turkroot trunk, ripping away his robes and gouging at his skin, and they were pushing him deeper and deeper into the muck, which was starting to flow up over his ears and into his eyes, and the more he struggled the more they piled onto him, until he heard what was, for a man in the midst of getting ripped to shreds by a pack of dark-sider controlled zombies, the sweetest sound in the history of the galaxy:
spssshmmmm
The hum got louder, and took on a strange whop-whop-whop rhythm like some kind of mechanical toy, a kid's gyrothopter or something. The Pawns stopped clawing at him and started falling limp, and Nick began to wonder if maybe he'd underestimated Skywalker's own bloodthirstiness until he was able to push himself up to a sitting position and get a look at what Skywalker was actually doing.
Make that: what Skywalker's lightsaber was actually doing.
It whirled through the air with no hand to guide it, spinning very much like the blades of a toy gyrothopter after all, and as it passed any Pawn it would dip and cant for a shaved second, just long enough to strike, and another Pawn would fall limp. Though they weren't even injured.
Because the blade struck only each Pawn's Crown.
A quick slash or two and a Crown would fall in smoking pieces, which folded each and every Pawn like a losing sabacc hand. Nick twisted to look at Skywalker.
"Shh." Luke sat just behind him, eyes closed in a frown of concentration, right hand lifted, palm outward. He was coated head-to-toe with a black oily sheen of liquefied meltmassif. "This isn't as easy as it looks."
The shining emerald blade whirled through a last few revolutions; the last couple of Crowns fell to pieces, the last couple of Pawns collapsed, and the lightsaber flipped back to Luke's hand before its blade shrank away.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
He shuts the Millennium Falcon's hatch with an exertion of the Force:
He reached out with the Force and slammed shut the Falcon's hatch just as the Vastor body lurched to its feet and reached Luke in one lightning bound.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Luke manipulates several proton bombs, altering their trajectories by a degree or two apiece:
Luke focused on nothing until he could feel everything. Nick's chatter, his own fatigue, the battle outside, and the doom lowering upon Leia all flowed into him and out again like water, leaving no trace behind. He let himself become clear as a crystal bell, so that he could chime with one pure note. That note was a tiny twist of intention that the Force channeled high into the atmosphere to gently-very gently-nudge the falling proton bombs. This very gentle nudge altered their trajectories by no more than a degree or two apiece, giving each a bit of an outward curve, so that instead of landing in a precise ring one hundred meters in diameter with the Falcon at its centerpoint, they landed in an equally precise ring four hundred meters in diameter, which meant that their overlapping blast radii did not so much crumple the ship as give it a very, very firm squeeze, much like how one might squeeze a rakmelon pip between one's fingers. And very much like this metaphoric rakmelon pip, the Falcon squirted free with considerable force.
Straight down.
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Telepathy/Empathy
Telepathy is the power to sense, communicate and manipulate thoughts, whereas Empathy is the power to sense, communicate and manipulate emotions.
Luke Mind Controls an Imperial Officer:
Luke projects an astral image of himself to implant a suggestion into somebody else:
Miniature alien fighters had almost surrounded Wedge and his squadron, trapping them inside an escape-proof globe of energy shields and firepower. Luke fought down panic and funneled his emotional energy into the Force around and inside him.
He stretched out his own point of presence toward the tiny alien ship dead ahead of Wedge’s X-Wing. Touching it, he clearly sensed two almost-human presences on board the small fighter. Shutting out the nauseating sense of twistedness, Luke brushed each presence. One controlled shields, the other, all remaining shipboard functions. Luke focused on the second, driving Force energy into its center. Though weak and faint, it resisted with tortured strength. Its misery goaded him toward despair: No one deserved to live free, its whole being declared. By its reckoning, Luke could do nothing for Wedge—and nothing to save himself—and nothing to save either human aboard the alien fighter. All were doomed.
Luke struggled to see through the stranger’s vision. The entire sphere of space opened around him. It overloaded his senses. He had to narrow his field of view to find Wedge’s X-Wing. On either side of his projected presence, another pyramid hovered apparently motionless, flying in formation. From the center of each triangular face, a scanner/sensor cluster peered back like a compound eye. Laser cannon bristled at each corner.
Fear, anger, aggression: the dark side are they. Yoda had taught him that his methods were as critical as his motives. If he used dark power, even in self-defense, the cost to his soul might be disastrous. He relaxed into the Force. Clinging to control for the sake of his soul and his sanity, he amplified the pitiful will. Its sense of humanity peaked, hopeless victory for a tortured spirit. It had lived once—free. With all the intensity of the doomed, it longed to go on living.
Luke planted a suggestion in reply. But a good death is better than a life enslaved to hatred, and peace is better than anguish.
With suddenness that startled him, the alien ship altered course directly for one of its squadron mates. It accelerated to ram. Luke wrenched free of the other human’s will and sat gasping and swallowing.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Luke scans the thoughts and emotions of forty to fifty people:
Luke opened himself to listen through the Force. A babble surrounded him, the textures of forty or fifty nervous minds. Narrowing his focus, he reached straight across the chamber toward a massive repulsor chair, all gold and purples except for two banks of controls on the armrests. Wilek Nereus must have caught a faster shuttle. He sat there already, with his double-mindedness coming through as strongly as ever. Luke let his attention drift leftward, observing the senators’ reactions to Leia. He sensed curiosity tinged with hostility, but a dark undercurrent of fear also pervaded the chamber. This world was under attack.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Luke resists Bluescale's hypnotic eye, then uses the Force to add a persuasive edge to his words:
“Back,” Luke ordered. The alien’s head turned. A deep black eye focused in his direction, and the nose-tongues flicked toward him. He channeled Force energy into his words. “Get away from her.” The eye seemed to swirl like a dark storm, beckoning for attention, sucking at his will. Unquestionably this one, or another like him, kept Dev Sibwarra leashed.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
He reverses Dev's brainwashing, then restores his memories:
Now, urged his inner sense. He reached deep into the Force and felt for the hypnotic control that twisted Dev Sibwarra to the aliens’ will. The shadow of something enormous darkened most of Dev’s memories. The boy had tremendous strength in the Force, though. Luke wrapped his will around the dark, roiling blockage and blasted it with light. Dev tottered backward against another table. In an instant, his mind had flooded with horrific recollections. His anger coalesced, small and stunted but as fierce as a P’w’eck invasion army. Disoriented, he blinked. The monstrous Skywalker had suddenly become fellow human. He didn’t feel depressed, just furious. He couldn’t need renewal...unless...
He stared up at Skywalker, who still stood on the tabletop, and caught a glint of keen eyes and the grim set of his chin. Dev strokes hid throbbing, clumsy left hand, remembering how he’d injured it. Firwirrung! His master had bound him with tender loyalty over years of abusive manipulation. Dev opened his eyes wide to the world, forsaking his squint. He’d never felt such agony or regret, yet so glad to be human. Despite everything they had done...had done...he was battered but whole.
“Are you all right?” whistled Bluscale.
A shiver took him. He remembered everything now, including the speech habits he’d picked up during his imprisonment. “I’m all right. Are you, Elder?”
“Tell the Jedi to hurry along with us. Promise anything.”
Realization flashed through him: The Ssi-ruuk meant to reduce humankind to breeding animals and energy sources. They would lie, ill, torture, and maim to achieve domination. They deserved nothing but hatred. Luke Skywalker called down from the tabletop, “Hate is of the dark side. Don’t give into it.”
Had the Jedi plunged him through depression into total release?
“What?” asked Master Firwirrung. “What is he saying to you?”
Confused, Dev answered automatically. “He apologized for killing one of our kind, Master.”
“Tell him to precede us outside. He must hurry.”
Dev looked back up. In human speech, he said, “They want you to—“ A piercing siren echoed through the cantina. Abruptly Dev remembered the most terrible moment of his childhood, a civil defense scramble alarm. Invasion under way. He snapped back to the present and started at his masters, stricken. Had Admiral Ivpikkis attacked the orbiting ships after all? He’d promised that the Ssi-ruuk would withdraw if Skywalker came with them. One more link in their twisted chain of lies!
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Luke creates the illusion of a blood scent, using it to misdirect parasites:
Curled up in the darkness, Luke could think of only one thing to try. He breathed slowly and focused his attention on the pinpoints of living instinct inside his chest. He touched one. Neurologically primitive, its only response was to flinch and go on eating. They were obviously parasites. He senses their ravenous hunger. As panic threatened to immobilize him, he thought of the smell of fresh blood: sweet, warm, faintly metallic. He extended the thinnest thread of a probe toward one creature. Recognition: Some minuscule awareness understood. He imagined mouthparts pulling free and a head turning toward him. It was desperately hard to project the smell while judging its effect on a primitive, alien awareness. He brushed the second creature with the scent.
All around his point of consciousness, his own heart thudded. He swirled the scent-illusion away from them a few millimeters, tempting them to follow. One awareness dimmed out and forgot the scent. He brushed it again with the tempting odor of life. It hummed recognition. It drew closer. He couldn’t concentrate on both individuals. His body waited to cough, and within seconds, something was definitely in the way. He inhaled cautiously and then exploded, hacking. Something spewed out of his mouth. One wasn’t enough. Virtually exhausted, he crafted the scent-illusion again and stroked the remaining creature. Its attention flickered for an instant, then faded. He thrust again into its perception.
This time, he snagged it. Slowly, slowly, he led it along a dark bronchial tunnel. It radiated hunger. He tried not to gag or choke—or swallow. Slowly he slipped a deep breath around the creature, inhaling until his aching lungs strained. Then he let go, retching and coughing. This creature caught on his teeth. I squirmed, making a gruesome mouthful. He spit it out and then flailed blindly for it in the dark cabin. Something squashed.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Force Sense
Force Sense is a basic power allowing Force sensitives to sense their surroundings, feel determine the thoughts or feelings of others, feel ripples in the Force signifying important events of the presence of the dark side, or even the future.
Luke senses the presence of Obi-Wan's spirit:
His last feelings of hope were nearly gone when he sensed the presence.
But it was not the presence of the white giant that dominated this gorge.
Rather, it was that soothing spiritual presence which occasionally visited Luke in moments of stress or danger. The presence that had first come to him only after old Ben, once again in his Jedi role of Obi-Wan Kenobi, vanished into a crumple of his own dark robes after being cut down by Darth Vader's lightsaber. The presence that was sometimes like a familiar voice, an almost silent whisper that spoke directly to Luke's mind.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
He senses Yoda's kindly nature:
For the moment, Luke could not decide whether to be frightened or to laugh. But when he gazed into those bulbous eyes and sensed the being's kindly nature, he relaxed.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
Luke senses the dark side aura emanated by the Dark Side Cave:
But Luke was suddenly distracted. He sensed something dangerous, something evil. 'Something's not right,' he said to Yoda. 'I feel danger... death.'
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
He feels Vader's presence in the same room as him:
The room was deathly quiet, except for the hissing of steam escaping some of the pipes in the room. It appeared to Luke that he was the only living creature in this chamber of strange machinery and chemical containers, but he sensed that he was not alone.
'Vader..."
He spoke the name to himself as he looked around the chamber.
'Lord Vader. I feel your presence. Show yourself,' Luke taunted his unseen enemy, 'or do you fear me?'
While Luke spoke, the escaping steam began to billow out in great clouds.
Then, unaffected by the searing heat, Vader appeared and strode through the hissing vapors, stepping onto the narrow walkway above the chamber, his black cloak trailing behind him.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
He senses Vader's approach:
And Luke sensed it, too. Quietly he gazed out, knowing that Vader was near, that his victory over the weakened Jedi would soon be complete. His body was battered, was exhausted; his spirit was prepared to succumb to his fate. There was no reason to fight any more - there was nothing left to believe in.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
Luke senses the meaning behind Obi-Wan's words:
Ben shook his head remorsefully. 'I also thought he could be turned back to the good side. It couldn't be done. He is more machine, now, than man - twisted, and evil.'
Luke sensed the underlying meaning in Kenobi's statement, he heard the words as a command. He shook his head back at the vision. 'I can't kill my own father.'
Source: Return of the Jedi
Luke senses Vader's presence on Endor:
Luke hesitated, then said, "Vader is here... now, on this moon."
"How do you know?" Leia asked with alarm.
"I felt his presence," Luke answered, lowering his gaze to stare at a plank on the walkway. "He's come for me. He can feel when I'm near. That's why I have to go."
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
Force Sight
Force Sight is a concentrated application of sensory powers that enables one to see without using one's physical eyes. It also allows one to see things that cannot normally be perceived.
Luke uses the Force to allow him to "see" a black hole:
Healing
Force Healing is a Force power enabling one to accelerate bodily regeneration and heal wounds or numb pains.
Luke lessens pain in Wedge's hands:
“What’s the chance you could Jedi me a little nerve blockage? This hurts like crazy.” Wedge’s voice sounded weaker. He pulled in his knees and braced to push off.
At moments like these, moisture farming for Uncle Owen back on Tatooine didn’t sound too bad. “I’ll try,” said Luke. “Show me the crystals. Look at them closely.”
“Ho-kay.” Wedge pulled around to stare into the hatchway. Letting the lightsaber drift, Luke felt for Wedge’s friendly presence. He trusted Wedge not to resist this, to let him...
Through Wedge’s eyes, and fighting the excruciating pain in Wedge’s hands, Luke glimpsed a pair of round, multifaceted jewels—one inside his palm, the other crushing inward at the end of a spring mechanism from the back of his hand. Fist-sized, they reflected pale golden sparks of saber light out of the hatch onto Wedge’s orange suit. Luke didn’t think the flight glove alone would keep them apart, or he’d’ve simply told Wedge to slip out of it. Brief depressurization didn’t damage extremities much.
If Wedge jumped, Luke would have a second at most to slice one crystal free, and only a little longer before Wedge fainted. Wedge was tethered and he’d be able to keep breathing, but he could lose a lot of blood. The glimpse blurred at the edges.
Luke tweaked Wedge’s pain perception.
Too much to juggle. Luke’s own aches began to ooze up from under control. “Got it,” he grunted.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Luke enters a hibernation trance:
Luke groaned. Somehow he'd have to persuade the medical committee to release him, and then convince Admiral Ackbar to give him the assignment. He would promise to rest and heal himself in hyperspace, if he could figure out how.
Luke’s initial elation over being given command had already faded. It was one thing to fly a fighter under someone else’s orders, with the Force as his ally. Strategy was something else. He carried responsibility for every life and every ship. Still, he’d been studying strategic and tactical texts. And now—well, to tell the truth, he was almost looking forward to it...
Whoops. Abruptly his knuckles stung. He heard or remembered Yoda’s soft laughter. Frowning, he shut his eyes and relaxed. Everything still hurt, but he’d promised Too-Onebee that he’d rest and self-heal. He wished he felt better.
“Hyperdrive stations,” called Manchisco. “Commander, you might want to strap down.”
Luke glanced around the spartan hexagonal bridge: three stations besides his command seat, an array of battle boards now darkened for transit, and a single R2 droid socket occupied by the Virgillians’ own unit. He buckled in, wondering what “disaster” waited at Bakura unless he dealt with it personally.
Star streaks shrank on Luke’s triangular forward viewscreen as the Flurry and her seven escorts dropped out of hyperspace. Once he’d checked deflector shields, he swung his chair to get the master computer’s insystem status report, while Captain Manchisco’s communications officer scanned standard Imperial hailing frequencies. Luke felt better, so long as he moved slowly.
Source: The Truce at Bakura
Beast Control
Beast Control, Beast Trick or Animal Friendship is an ability that allows Force users to control beasts.
Luke controls a Dragonsnake:
Luke uses the Force to either send away or silence a snarling creature(s):
A strange insect flew at him from out of a cluster of hanging vines, fluttered madly about his head, and vanished. In the undergrowth, something snarled. Luke concentrated momentarily. The snarling stopped. Luke walked on.
Source: Return of the Jedi
Force Deflection
Force Deflection is an ability that enables a Force-user to deflect various forms of attacks.
Luke deflects objects thrown at him by Darth Vader:
A second piece of machinery sped toward the youth, and he again used the Force to deflect it. The weighty object bounced away as if it had struck an unseen shield.
Source: The Empire Strikes Back
Luke briefly deflects Force Lightning from Palpatine. Whilst Palpatine was obviously holding back, deflecting Lightning in the first place is considered "a challenge for even the most powerful Jedi Masters" according to The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded:
Palpatine raised his spidery arms toward Luke: blinding white bolts of energy coruscated from his fingers, shot across the room like sorcerous lightning, and tore through the boy’s insides, looking for ground. The young Jedi was all at once confounded and in agony—he’d never heard of such a power, such a corruption of the Force, let alone experienced it. But if it was Force-generated, it could be Force-repelled. Luke raised his arms to deflect the bolts. Initially, he was successful—the lightning rebounded from his touch, harmlessly into the walls. Soon, though, the shocks came with such speed and power, they coursed over and into him, and he could only shrink before them, convulsed with pain, his knees buckling, his powers at ebb.
Source: Return of the Jedi
Force Absorption
Absorption, or Tutaminis, or Negate/Absorb/Dissipate Energy, is a Force ability enabling one to absorb various forms of energy and channel it for personal use.
Luke absorbs five blaster bolts in the palm of his hand:
The other stormtrooper swore and triggered an autoburst from his carbine. Luke's other hand, the prosthetic hand that had replaced the one his father had taken, came up in an arc that precisely followed the motions of the carbine's muzzle and caught all five bolts squarely in its palm.
"Please don't shoot me, either." He turned the palm upward in a friendly shrug and let the astonished troopers stare at the only effect of the Force-blunted blasterfire: a faint curl of steam that trailed upward from his unmarked palm. "Let's try to end the day with nobody else dying, shall we?"
Source: Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Combat Skill
Before having met Yoda (in other words, having received virtually no lightsaber training other than basic blaster bolt deflection) Luke is able to successfully deflect several of Celeste Morne's strikes:
Despite his minimal training, Luke is capable of challenging Vader during their first duel on Bespin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-DeI3ohVbY
Although he had been only briefly instructed by Yoda, Luke Skywalker showed great ability in the Force during his duel with Darth Vader on Bespin. He had enough strength to challenge Vader, but Luke was far too hasty.
Source: Lightsabers: A Guide to the Weapons of the Force
During their rematch, Luke improves in skill to an astonishing degree, allowing to him to mirror Vader's lightsaber form and match him perfectly in combat. When provoked by Vader, Luke enters a state of Force Rage and ultimately defeats him. Sources note that his advancement in lightsaber skill, without a master, would be naturally impossible for most and capable of astonishing even a Jedi Master. This is due to his intrinsic and instinctive skill and ability, as he has the greatest intrinsic lightsaber aptitude of any Jedi:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RFYoZ7H67A
By the time of the Battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker has studied some lightsaber technique from Obi-Wan's journal and and greatly advanced his abilities. Without a Master, such advancement would have been impossible for most, but Skywalker's unparalleled aptitude makes him a match for Darth Vader in their fateful duel onboard the second Death Star. Both are limited, Vader by his cybernetic body parts and Skywalker by his relative lack of experience dueling. But Skywalker's skill at blaster deflection is highly refined, and his lightsaber technique so superb that he is able to duel the Dark Lord on even footing - and finally able to defeat a man who is a powerful living product of the ancient Jedi sword traditions from time immemorial. Such an achievement with little formal training is a testament to Skywalker's innate abilities and instinctive skill. Tremendously strong with the Force, Skywalker never crosses the line into Sith hatefulness and ceases his attack immediately upon rendering his foe helpless - an even more impressive demonstration of self-mastery than his lightsaber skills.
Source: Insider #62: Fightsaber
In his final assault on Vader, Luke Skywalker mirrors Vader's own Form V technique and responds with a furious demonstration of Form V's raw strength. An observing Jedi Master would be astonished at such instantaneous learning in battle.
Source: Insider #62: Fightsaber
The fight this time was far more balanced. Vader discovered that Luke was his match, and, once again, the Sith Lord found his thoughts straying to an alliance between them against the Emperor.
Luke had indeed grown powerful since Bespin, and he was an equal match for his father.
Source: The Official Star Wars Fact File #111
Sources even mention that Luke obtained the advantage over Vader at some points in their duel:
On the Death Star, Luke and Darth Vader were engaged in a duel that was even more vicious than their battle on Cloud City. Luke had grown stronger since their last encounter, and his skill with his lightsaber had improved greatly. As they swung at each other in the Emperor's throne room, Luke sensed the advantage had shifted to him.
Source: Return of the Jedi Junior Novelization
The script of Return of the Jedi supports this, also claiming that Luke gains the advantage:
Luke and Vader are engaged in a man-to-man duel of lightsabers even more vicious then the battle on Bespin. But the young Jedi has grown stronger in the interim, and now the advantage shifts to him. Vader is forced back, losing his balance, and is knocked down the stairs. Luke stands at the top of the stairs, ready to attack.
Source: http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Star-Wars-Return-of-the-Jedi.html
Vader himself, somebody who is hardly known for his humbleness, is astounded at Luke's increased strength and skill and actively considers the possibility of losing to him in a duel. He admits to himself that he feels surprise and fear:
For the first time, the thought entered Vader’s consciousness that his son might best him. He was astounded by the strength Luke had acquired since their last duel, in the Cloud City—not to mention the boy’s timing, which was honed to a thought’s-breadth. This was an unexpected circumstance. Unexpected and unwelcome. Vader felt humiliation crawling in on the tail of his first reaction, which was surprise, and his second, which was fear. And then the edge of the humiliation curled up, to reveal bald anger. And now he wanted revenge.
Source: Return of the Jedi
Luke Skywalker vs Lumiya, Round 1 - Luke is completely inexperienced in dealing with lightwhips, especially one as unorthodox as Lumiya's. He puts up a good fight but loses.
Luke Skywalker vs Lumiya, Round 2 - Luke, no longer unfamiliar with lightwhips, and dual-wielding a shoto and lightsaber to counter Lumiya's lightwhip, defeats her:
Luke fights evenly with Flint even though he was evidently holding back out of not desiring a fight:
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