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Lit Other super weapons besides giant lasers and sun crushers

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Darth Invictus, Feb 21, 2017.

  1. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 8, 2016
    So the Bantam era in Legends had quite a lot of super weapons mostly the planet destroying variety.

    What would you say regarding plotlines using less well known weapons in the NU or if they ever brought back Legends?

    Ecological weapons? Biological? Biochemical? Psychological? Force imbued?

    Are the denizens of this board totally superweaponed out or would you be willing to consider other less well known varieties of the death machines in future Star Wars?
     
  2. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    More superweapons like the Star Forge. Creation rather than destruction.

    Sent from my Alcatel_4060O using Tapatalk
     
  3. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Aug 8, 2016
    That would be a good idea as well.
     
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  4. corinthia

    corinthia Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Feb 16, 2016
    I could totally see bioweaponry being used to some degree in the NU. It'd be easy for the Empire/First Order/another entity to inject some kind of deadly biological agent into a planet's atmosphere, wait for all the planet's citizens to die, then swoop in and gather up whatever resources they need.
     
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  5. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

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    Jun 29, 2003
    I was rather fond of the idea they flirted with in Darth Plagueis of mad-scientist force users attempting to play god and failing miserably, with potentially catastrophic results. Like what Tenebrous's accident with the perpetual time loop, or whatever it was that Tenebrous's master was up to (I'm not convinced, unlike the way Wookieepedia describes it, that the Twi'lek's Force bioterror project was separate from the rift he created; rather, I'm of the opinion that one inadvertently lead to the other).

    The idea of a Sith scientist mucking around with the Force and accidentally letting lose something like Kurt Vonnegut's Ice 9 would be pretty cool. A Force superweapon that the user cannot control.
     
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  6. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2002
    Reminds me of what happened with Ziost in SWTOR. Vitiate annihilated all life on the planet with some sort of Force technique/ritual.
     
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  7. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Force superweapon that a user cannot control? Paging Force Storms from Dark Empire! ;)

    I'd love to see the Nostril of Palpatine... :p

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  8. DarthKuriboh

    DarthKuriboh Jedi Master star 3

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    Aug 8, 2007


    so the nanokiller used by the moffs in the legacy of the force series?
     
  9. Darkslayer

    Darkslayer #1 Sabine Wren Fan star 7

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    Mar 26, 2013
  10. Lumiyas_Head

    Lumiyas_Head Jedi Master star 2

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    Jul 10, 2007
    Tarkin does mention the Warmantle and Stellarsphere Project technical schematics are within the Citadel on Scarif along with the Death Star plans. He muses that it would be a shame to see these projects stalled, but he's not at all bothered by it with the Death Star's completion.

    Considering that he's thinking about the technical schematics of a battles station, then to these projects, makes me think they're possibly super weapon relatable.
     
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  11. Sarge

    Sarge Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Oct 4, 1998
    The problem with chemical and biological weapons is, they don't cause 'splosions. People pay good money to see 'splosions. Just ask Michael Bey; he gets it. o_O
     
  12. DelRiego

    DelRiego Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Mar 12, 2002
    Vongforming, no?
     
  13. JediBatman

    JediBatman Jedi Master star 4

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    May 3, 2015
    Jedi Batman's Superweapon Breakdown

    Type: Planet/Sun Destroying
    Given that planet destroying super weapons became a cliche in Legends, and that "yet another Death Star" was a common complaint levied against TFA, I doubt we will see many more of these, except perhaps when we get some New Canon Old Republic era stories. (Rebels mentions kyber powered super weapons used in ancient battles between Jedi and Sith).

    Type: Super Factory
    The most notable Legends examples being the Star Forge, World Devastators, and arguably the Dark Trooper factory on the Arc Hammer.
    I am unaware of any examples in the New Canon, but I see a lot of potential here. Superweapons that create things are more interesting and not as over done as ones that destroy things. Plus you get to send in one fighter or commando to heroically blow it up in a cinematic, audience pleasing explosion. Only problem is that there some logical hiccups such as "Why doesn't the Empire just rebuild them?" (the Starforge gets around this by being a one of a kind piece of ancient technology), but it's a minor complaint.

    Type: Chemical/Biological Weapons
    These cropped up quite a bit in Legends (the fate of Honoghr, various Separatist weapons in comics and the cartoon, Kyotos Virus, Galaxy of Fear, Prince Xizor's backstory). We've even seen 2 examples in the New Canon: the chemical weapons plant in Twilight Company and the fate of Anoat in Star Wars:Uprising. Despite not being quite as dramatic or cinematic as world destroyers (you can't have the hero fly in and blow up a virus after all, and if you try he'll probably just end up spreading it), bio weapons have a few points in their favor. There's creativity as you can make a wide variety of chemicals and viruses that do different things (including creating zombies or zombie like creatures), defeating it requires some creativity like trying to devise a cure, and of course the Body Horror aspect. The idea that the government can willingly conceive of and build a planet killer is terrifying, but the idea that they'd do the same thing for something that kills in so nasty a way is terrifying on a different level.

    Bonus Category: Force Powered Weapons
    This is a bit of an odd one as it often overlaps with the other 3. (Star Forge is Force Powered AND a Super Factory, the Rahkghoul Plague is Force Powered AND Biological, and various Legends Sith used the force to blow up planets or suns). I'm personally NOT a fan of this reappearing in the New EU, as one of my pet peeves has always been when the EU overshadows the movies. Naga Sadow used the Force to manipulate two stars and destroy their system. Darth Nihulus spoke and entire worlds died. Viate did a ritual that destroyed an entire world, twice. Against all that, doesn't it make Palpatine, who needed technology to destroy planets, seem weak in comparison? Sounds like that "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force" thing is true after all, if only because with the Force you can destroy a planet without spending trillions on supplies and Geonosian/Wookiee labor.

    (As a side note to this increasingly long post, I don't mind the Kyber powered super weapon thing as much, because although it's technically using Force powered crystals to destroy planets, it appears to require some technology, and it's a bit more involved than one over powered Sith simply destroying a world through sheer willpower).
     
  14. Force Smuggler

    Force Smuggler Force Ghost star 7

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    Sep 2, 2012
    Yo'Gands core. that biological storm on Belkadan, that one poisoned planet. And so much more.
     
  15. DelRiego

    DelRiego Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Mar 12, 2002

    They gave us so much for so little [face_love]
     
  16. mnjedi

    mnjedi JCC Arena Game Host star 5 VIP - Game Host

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    Nov 4, 2012
    I thought Hammer Station in SWTOR was a pretty cool concept. Just shoot asteroids at a planet.
     
  17. King of Alsakan

    King of Alsakan Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Nov 25, 2007
    Wookieepedia has a pretty good list of all of the Legends superweapons. They are mostly energy weapons or bombs of some kind.

    I have always thought that weapons with the ability to quickly lay waste to a planet would be pretty readily available in the Galaxy, considering the available technology. They did come up in the Legends universe, but I would think there would be more bombs, missiles, kinetic energy, or maybe hyperspace weapons out there that could take out a planet. Then defenses like planetary shielding, among other things, would deter their use, that is until the Death Star came along.

    Wouldn't mind see a few new superwepon ideas come into play in for future stories, but not to the point where it gets overused or they are destroyed fairly easily by a sometimes glaring weakness. Though it would be interesting to see if they are used, if they can also be covered up by a terrible mining accident ;)
     
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  18. Ghost

    Ghost Chosen One star 8

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    Oct 13, 2003
    [​IMG]
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  19. SpecForce Trooper

    SpecForce Trooper Jedi Master star 4

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    Jun 19, 2016
    The Bio-Weapon the Empire used in 501st was pretty interesting. The Seppies had an obsession with Bio-Weapons, and it's hilarious that the Empire used their virus on them. It makes sense that the Imperials would abandon such primitive weapons with the advent of the Superlaser. By Legacy the true Empire had ran out of options and had to resort to Bio-Weapons once again.

    From a historical prospective, the Mass Shadow Generator is quite cool. Basically the GFFA's Little Boy. Afterwards the Republic would likely have outlawed such barbaric weaponry, only to see them return after the Clone Wars; By that point the Republic's people had completely forgotten what made their society great.
     
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  20. Revanfan1

    Revanfan1 Force Ghost star 6

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    Jun 3, 2013
    How about an earthquake machine, a la Arrow, but on a grander scale? I believe there was something similar in the Jedi Knight story in SWTOR. The Shock Drum–a device that literally shakes a planet until it crumbles to pieces.
     
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  21. Ulicus

    Ulicus Lapsed Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jul 24, 2005
    I'm still very much of the mind that Starkiller base would have been many times cooler, and more appropriate, if they'd lifted the Star Forge instead of the Death Star.
     
  22. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

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    Dec 15, 2002
    Would've made the whole First Order war engine more plausible. Then again, it might have been a little too unoriginal given the similarities between Kylo Ren and Revan's costumes.

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  23. Ulicus

    Ulicus Lapsed Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jul 24, 2005
    I don't think they were stressing too much about originality. Hell, I'd been 100% cool with Kylo being "Kylo Revan". Anything that stops the silly Ren / Ben rhyme. :p
     
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  24. Kev-Mas_Colcha

    Kev-Mas_Colcha Force Ghost star 5

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    Dec 15, 2002
    Would've been a helluvalot more bada** than what we've got. Plus if they added in the moral relativism aspect that seems to go along with Revan, that would have been much welcomed by me. Though such a concept would be too complex for a mainline Star Wars movie because it wouldn't appeal to the masses as well as a black and white, good versus evil story.
     
  25. Darth Invictus

    Darth Invictus Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Aug 8, 2016
    Moral complexity will always be a strength of the Old EU.
     
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