Bowcaster/Legends

"I ain't afraid of Wookiees. It's their bowcasters that scare me."

- Anonymous Trandoshan slaver

The bowcaster (sometimes called the Wookiee Crossbow) was a Wookiee short-range projectile weapon that fired a metal quarrel enveloped in energy. Some variants had a capacity of twenty-four shots.

Characteristics
In use as early as the Jedi Civil War, the bowcaster could unleash a bolt with impressive stopping power essential to defend Wookiees against the fierce predators of Kashyyyk's forests.

A polarizing orb sat at each end of the bow, generating a magnetic field used to accelerate the quarrels. After cocking the weapon, a simple trigger sped the quarrel forward and charged it in an envelope of plasmoid. To generate the requisite potential energy for conversion into kinetic energy, the cocking spring required the strength of a Wookiee to draw back, although some modern bowcasters featured automatic cocking mechanisms for use by other species.

While decreasingly effective beyond 30 meters, the bowcaster was more powerful and accurate than typical blaster weapons. Some bowcasters could load multiple quarrels to create a spread-fire effect, further enhancing their close range effectiveness, while others could fire specially charged bolts that could ricochet off certain surfaces.

Some Wookiees made their bowcasters out of blaster rifles.

Variants
A variant of the bowcaster was the Assault bowcaster.

Behind the scenes

 * Most sources, including Revenge of the Sith, depict bowcasters firing green bolts. However, in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Chewbacca's weapon fires red bolts and in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, Chewbacca's weapon fires yellow bolts. This is due to the retcon that Chewbacca made his out of a Stormtrooper rifle.
 * In all Jedi Knight series of games, the bowcaster made an appearance. There, the user had two fire functions: one that could launch one to five bolts (depending on the amount of time spent charging up the shot) and one that launched a single, bouncing bolt. The latter was more accurate at far ranges, and could be fired at a faster pace.

Appearances



 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * ''Star Wars: Battlefront
 * ''Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando
 * Republic Commando: Hard Contact
 * Deep Forest
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Descent
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * When the Domino Falls
 * The Farlander Papers
 * Underworld: The Yavin Vassilika
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Rebel Dawn
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope




 * LEGO Star Wars
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Star Wars: Epic Duels
 * A Bitter Winter
 * Star Wars Empire 22: Alone Together
 * Star Wars Empire: Idiot's Array
 * Star Wars Empire: "General" Skywalker
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars: Galaxies
 * The Second Kessel Run
 * Bring Me the Children
 * As Long As We Live...
 * The Frozen World of Ota
 * Ghosts of Hoth
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire novel
 * Shadows of the Empire comic
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (novel)
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Into the Great Unknown
 * Shadows of the Empire: Evolution
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Vector Prime
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * The Unifying Force
 * The New Rebellion
 * The Crystal Star

Notes and references
Wookiee-Bogenspanner