Lightsabers

I am sure this has already been discussed and I am not sure where this is supposed to go.

I have always been under the impression that lightsabers can only be acticated by a force sensitive person. Then, watching the movies again, I saw that maybe this wasn't true.

TPM: Qui-Gon suggests that he stole the saber from a jedi.

ANH: Luke activates a lightsaber before he is trained.

ESB: Han activates Luke's saber to open the taun-taun.

I always thought that they could only be activated by a jedi or sith. Am I wrong or what?

 

Lightsabers are devices. Anyone can turn one on. If you're not a Jedi, you're just more likely to accidentally kill someone. Or yourself.

Anyway, you quoted the TESB "proof" yourself: Han and the lightsaber.

The big question is how they stop after 3 feet. How does that work?

The Picnic

 

It's all about the focusing crystals.

 

Lightsabers are tools, like blasters. Anyone can use them, but it takes someone a cut above (Jedi) to master them and make them extensions of their own bodies.

 

Simple enough.

 

The big question is how they stop after 3 feet. How does that work?

The lightsaber's jewels focus the power cell's enemy charge into a tight parallel beam that emerges from the blade emitter as a vibrant blade of pure energy. The blade is a closed energy loop. Its amplitude determines when the energy beam arcs back to the negatively charged high-energy flux aperture that rings the outer edge of the lightsaber's concave disk.


Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day

 

Great explanation Ken!

 

Anyway you look at it, lightsabers are just plain cool. I want one!!

 

Lightsaber discussion from Clerks

"Whats the deal with lightsabers, they only go yay high, how do they know when to stop?"

"Uhhhh, the force?"

"That's your answer for everything!"

 

Star Wars physics, gotta love it.

 

For some strange reason I know Ken was gonna say that.

 

There's an activation switch on the lightsaber. Qui-Gon Jinn (like lots of Jedi) has a red botton on his.

 

There are lightsabers in the EU (sorry but I can't think of an example right now) that require the force to use. The activation switch is actually inside the lightaber and the force is required to turn it on and off.

 

Darth-Lando: Wow, there are? That seems kind of stupid though - what if there's a ysalamari (sp.?) around or you are severely wounded or you are too emotional and you can't use the Force - then you wouldn't even have your lightsaber to help you out.

Aunecah

 

Lightsaber discussion from Clerks

"Whats the deal with lightsabers, they only go yay high, how do they know when to stop?"

"Uhhhh, the force?"

"That's your answer for everything!"

Rats! You beat me to it!

 

EU Point: Lord Hethrir's lightsaber in The Crystal Star needs Force ability with telekinesis to connect the starting circuit. He uses it like a test of Force sensitive people

The challenge of using a lightsaber comes from the lack of weight in the blade. It's light and light has no mass. As such the only weight in the waepon is it's hilt and it would have a shocking balance in the users hand.....possibly why Dooku has a curved hilt?Through practice and guidance through the Force, a Jedi or a Sith can master the weapon in battle.

I also think that because using a lightsaber takes so much focus on the users part, they can't expand their mind to use other Force tricks during a duel. If they could, surely they'd be throwing things around and using that super speed thing all the time? Even Vader pauses to throw things at Luke in ESB and Maul breaks combat to throw the box at the door release panel in TPM.

What I'm getting at is that I think dueling with a lightsaber is a difficult Force trick in itself

Edit: Except with Yoda it seems. But that muppet is always the exception to rule, isn't he?

 

Lightsabers are devices. Anyone can turn one on. If you're not a Jedi, you're just more likely to accidentally kill someone. Or yourself.

Took the words from my mouth.

 

The unfortunate part about lightsabers is they can't work under water.

 

DA: possibly why Dooku has a curved hilt?

Of course, GL and crew just wanted Dooku to seem to be part of the "old order" and somewhat unique - hence the curved lightsaber.

Well, as long as it isn't as if you have to use the Force to switch on the lightsaber, I'm a happy woman.

Dueling requires so much concentration - of what the enemy is going to do and how to block/attack it - that you can't really waste any of it on stupid Force tricks. They are likely to do more damage than good - especially if you are fighting a warrior who is close to, at your, or exceeds your level.

Aunecah

 

Now, now, we haven't seen Sidious duel yet and I hope we're able to. Maybe he'll take on Mace and sucker shock him to the ground after a long duel.

 

D_Lowe: Obi-Wan's works in the rain

Edit: And now that I think of it, in the EU novel Splinter Of The Minds Eye, Luke's blue lightsaber works underwater. But I guess that's contradicted by Obi-Wan frying his saber in TPM.

 

i always thought it would be amazing to see a lightsaber work in water. i've imagined two jedi dueling at night in waste high water and when the saber went under the water it would have this cool glow. my god. it would be cool.

yes.. that post really had no point


speaking of obi frying his saber. i was alwasy disappointed that wasnt on the dvd cut scenes. from the pics of him emerging from the water it looks like it woulda been cool

 

"Obi-Wan's works in the rain"

That's the difference between water-resistant, and water-proof.

"i was alwasy disappointed that wasnt on the dvd cut scenes."

I was disappointed that it was taken out of the movie, especially in light of the fact that 1) it would explain why Ben was being chased in TPM, and easily saved by Qui-gon, and 2) it would have added to the "lost saber" motif that Lucas later alludes to in the AOTC commentary. So much for Monday-morning quarterbacking (directing?) I guess there will a TPM:SE edition someday after all.

 

anyone can turn on a lightsaber, but probably only a jedi knows how to handle em correctly and use em properly.

 

Now that I think about it, a saber that only a force sensitive person could activate would have a major flaw.

If you were fighting another force user, what`s to stop him from switching it off again at an inopportune moment? You would have to concentrate on keeping it switched on all the time, which would hamper you quite a bit.