Bacta tank

"Some pretty serious burns, but nothing a night in the bacta tank won't fix."

―Ahsoka Tano, to an injured Anakin Skywalker^[10]

A bacta tank, also known as bacta pod,^[9] was a cylindrical tank into which a being could be submerged for extensive exposure to bacta, a fluid that could accelerate healing and treat major injuries.^[3]

History[]

Bacta tanks existed during the High Republic Era^[11] by 231 BBY,^[12] during which time bacta was new.^[13]

After a gruesome shuttle crash^[14] that nearly killed him,^[15] the Kaleesh warlord Grievous was fatally injured^[14] and was put into a bacta tank,^[16] resulting in his transformation into a cyborg.^[17] During the Clone Wars, the Galactic Republic used them to treat its injured soldiers.^[5]

A bacta tank was located in a chamber in Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar, where the Dark Lord would relax and meditate outside of his life support armor with a modicum of comfort.^[8]^[18]

Obi-Wan Kenobi was put in a bacta tank to heal from burns inflicted by Darth Vader on Mapuzo.^[19]

After being attacked and severely injured by a wampa ice creature on the frigid planet of Hoth, Commander Luke Skywalker was put into a bacta tank so he could recover from his wounds.^[7]

During the scourge of the droids, two DT-series sentry droids infected by the Scourge attacked Vader's bacta tank with the element of surprise, killing the two Emperor's Royal Guards standing vigilant and destroying the tank. However, Vader harnessed the power of the Force to crush both units.^[20] The tank was later repaired, from which Vader reached out to his master through the Force after another skirmish on Mustafar.^[21]

Boba Fett Bacta Pod — Boba Fett lies in his bacta pod

A portable format of the bacta tank^[9] was installed within Boba Fett's Palace on Tatooine by Boba Fett,^[22] who bathed in his bacta pod at many points in time.^[9]^[23]^[24] He used it to heal his burned scars^[25]^[26] from the Great Pit of Carkoon's stomach.^[22] After the battle for Mos Espa Fett's bacta tank was used on Cobb Vanth, after he was shot by Cad Bane, while a cyborg modifier was taking care of him.^[27]

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Behind the scenes[]

"While I was in the bacta tank fully submerged in water, I had to hold my breath for all that too. For some reason I couldn't breathe through the regulator. Although when I saw Ewan [McGregor] inside of it, it looked like he was actually getting oxygen through his because you can see the bubbles going. But no, I had to hold my breath, and I really enjoyed it. I mean, I found it very peaceful in the bacta tank and they're sort of meditative."

―Hayden Christensen^[28]

Bacta tanks first appeared in Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, the second installment in the Star Wars original trilogy.^[7] They were first identified in "Shadow of Malevolence," the third episode of the first season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.^[5]

HaydenChristenseninBactaTank — Hayden Christensen in a bacta tank

In the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series, Hayden Christensen played a helmetless Darth Vader in a bacta tank. The crew knew the actor would have to hold his breath while submerged in the water, so he worked with a dive instructor who helped him build up his breath holds. Christensen wasn't allowed to breathe through the regulator, but Ewan McGregor, the actor who played Obi-Wan Kenobi, was getting oxygen during his bacta tank scene.^[28] A team of make-up artists spent four to five hours applying make-up on Christensen for him to play Vader in those scenes. He worked very closely with executive creative director of Lucasfilm, Doug Chiang, who gave input into the overall look.^[29]