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"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
Han Solo, to Luke Skywalker on the supposed advantages of a blaster over a lightsaber[1]
Blasters-SWE

Blasters came in many shapes and sizes.

A blaster,[2] also called a gun,[3] was any type of ranged weapon that fired bolts of intense plasma or particle-based energy, often mistaken for lasers.

Description[]

"Oh, Anakin! Thank goodness. Are you alright?"
"Besides the fact you're waving a blaster around, Padmé, I'm fine."
Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker[4]

Operating under the same principles as laser weaponry and firing at least partially by means of magnetic induction, blasters converted energy-rich gas to a glowing particle beam that could pierce and melt through targets.[2] They came in a variety of sizes and shapes, including blaster pistols, blaster rifles,[5] reconfigurable blasters,[6] scatterblasters,[7] shock blasters,[8] ion blasters,[9] percussive cannons,[10] heavy repeater cannons,[11] repeating blasters,[9] and blaster cannons.[12] Blaster artillery could also be attached on droids[13] and vehicles.[14] They could deliver variable levels of damage intensity, from stun to kill settings.[15] Several blasters like the Satine's Lament[9] and the Glie-44 blaster pistol were named after individuals.[16] Several blasters were also hybrids with melee weapons like the Bo-rifle,[17] the Blaster spear,[18] and Ketsu's staff.[19]

Gar-Saxon-Shatterpoint

Mandalorian Gar Saxon using his Galar-90 rifle in combat

Blaster bolts could also deliver a variable degree of concussive force on impact, which could potentially cause additional damage around the impact area, depending on the hardness level and density of the target. As such, some blaster hits could cause bleeding instead of burning, or could do both, with the force of the impact being enough to rupture organs and break bone, especially if the target is armored in any way. Despite their blazing concussive blasts, those ranged energized particle weapons could be countered by magnetic seals and deflector shields.[15] The blade of a lightsaber could also deflect incoming blaster bolts.[15] In the Security Forces of Naboo, some blasters were equipped with ascension guns.[20] Some blasters could fire low-powered training bolts characterized by their orange color.[21]

Dedlanite was a material used in the manufacture of blasters, and could power them.[22] BlasTech Industries was a major manufacturer of blasters.[9]

A Trandoshan doubler, Trandoshan tripler[10] and a Actuating module[23] increased a blasters firepower. Hair triggers allowed faster rates of fire.[24] Blasters also had serial numbers on them.[10]

Blaster components included a stock,[10] scope,[25] safety,[10] cautionary pulser,[26] blaster power pack,[27] cooling unit,[28] barrel,[10] barrel-shroud,[11] glowrod,[29] and a Bayonet.[24]

HernanCarracedo-NoEscape-Red

The red blaster bolts of Imperial blaster weaponry

Blaster bolts came in different colors. Red was the most common color, and was made from cheaper gas. This color was used by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Rebel Alliance, the Galactic Empire,[30] and the First Order.[31] Blue was used by the Galactic Republic, and the Resistance. This was an ionized type of blaster bolt that specialized in disabling machinery such as droids but was also effective against organic beings.[source?] Green was used by Naboo Security Forces,[30] and the Umbarans, as well as the Starfighter Corps of the Galactic Empire. This was a more expensive and more powerful type of blaster gas.[32] Yellow was used by Mandalorians.[30] Purple was used by the Geonosian Starfighters, the Malevolence and most notably the Magna Guards.[source?] Purple was also used by the Techno Union octuptarra tri-droid variants on the planet Skako Minor.[33] Orange was used by the Marksman-H training remote and training droids on Kamino as a low power and non-lethal type of blaster bolt. Cyan was a low-powered version of the blue blaster bolt that was used by clone cadets in their training sessions against training droids.[34]

Kyber crystals were normally used to power lightsabers, but could also be used to power other weapons. People had tried to make kyber bombs and kyber blasters, and there were a few weapons like a lightsaber rifle, of that kind in the Jedi Archives.[35]

Slugthrowers differed from blasters by firing slugs, solid projectiles fired at high speed.[9]

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Appearances[]

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Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

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Non-canon sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
  2. 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-Sections
  3. TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rookies"
  4. IDWAdventures2020LogoSmaller "The Incident, Part 2" — Star Wars Adventures (2020) 6
  5. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
  6. Solo: A Star Wars Story
  7. Star Wars (2015) 4
  8. Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Ultimate Star Wars
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
  11. 11.0 11.1 Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
  12. Star Wars: Complete Vehicles (2016)
  13. StarWars Droideka in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
  14. StarWars Snowspeeder in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 StarWars blasters in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
  16. TwitterLogo Star Wars (@starwars) on Twitter: "@yak_face Yes." (backup link)
  17. Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide
  18. TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Water War"
  19. Rebels-mini-logo Star Wars Rebels — "Blood Sisters"
  20. StarWars Captain Panaka in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
  21. StarWars "Vision of Hope" Trivia Gallery on StarWars.com (backup link)
  22. Chewbacca (2015) 1
  23. Gadgets and Gear
  24. 24.0 24.1 Collapse of the Republic
  25. Star Wars Battlefront II
  26. Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide
  27. Battlefront: Twilight Company
  28. AltayaCite "Blasters and Ranged Weapons" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
  29. The Rebellion Begins
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 Star Wars Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
  31. Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
  32. TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Darkness on Umbara"
  33. TCW mini logo Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "On the Wings of Keeradaks"
  34. TBBtemplate Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Aftermath"
  35. "The Lesson (Obi-Wan & Anakin)" — Star Wars (2020) 25

External links[]

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