Cortosis ore?

Okay, so..er..I've heard this term thrown around lots. Can anyone explain to me, exactly what it is? I think I've got a pretty good idea (Isn't it used to make lightsaber focusing crystals?), but I'd like a better grasp. What does it look like? How heavy is it? How do you pronounce it? Etc, etc, in as much maddening detail as you're able. Thanks!

 

As far as I know, Cortosis ore is the one thing that can STOP a lightsaber blade.

It's an EU thing. Luke got trapped in a cave in Spectre of the Past by Timothy Zahn, and the walls had Cortosis ore deposits in them.

He had a lot of trouble trying to cut his way out due to the ore being resistant to the effects of a lightsaber. Would make a good implant for armor.

 

Pronunciation: cor-TOH-sis.

From my understanding of cortosis, it causes a type of weird energy surge in the blade of a lightsaber and causes it to shut off spontaneously. I haven't read Specter of the Past yet, though, so it might just deflect the saber blade.

As far as physical properties, I always pictured it a dark gray, texture somewhere between obsidian and granite, and hefty, but not ridiculously heavy.

M. Scott

 

Well, Pretty much all I know is from Jedi Outcast. They pronounce it as it looks like it should be, Cor-TO-sis. It was used as armour for Shadowtroopers, who were a right pain to kill, I can tell you.

Of course, that's from a game which is just about above fanfiction in terms of the canon ladder.

 

Dorkman hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. For sanity's sake I won't finish that. It causes an energy feedback surge that shorts out the lgihtsaber blade.

 

It's mentioned in a number of EU references, and there have been several different "effects" in various sources.

I've seen a few comics where it was used as armor plating for droids and a saber that struck the droid would basically blow a fuse and be useless.

LucasArts games tend to utilze it to increase difficulty as you progress through levels. In the games, it doesn't kill the saber, just deflects/resists it better than other armor. It's refered to extensively in Knights of the Old Republic (used in armor and even swords/vibroblades you can have sword vs lightsaber fights) and also the ObiWan and Jedi Knight video games.

There are instances in ESB where Luke hits vader's shoulder gaurds with his saber and it doesn't slice through like butter. It seems to hurt vader a bit, but the saber bounces off. Some people suggest that Vader's armor might be the canon example of Cortosis. (or more likely that Cortosis was invented in the EU to explain what happend in ESB )

In any case, the material is pretty much universally described as something that is mined and then refined in some type of forge. You could probably explain the two different effects as being the result of different foundry processing techniques.

Hope this helps.
Have fun.

 

This is the first time I've ever seen a thread where ALL the answers were right...



Sage H.

 

except the one above ^
&
except the one below V

 

I've got lots of Cortosis Ore in my back yard. It is spaced exactly 8' apart, 2' deep. The cores are about 6" around. We'll be refilling the holes with metal fenceposts and concrete once the ore has been retrieved

It's used all over the place in KOTOR. Blades, armor, etc... Yeah, it's not cannon, but I wouldn't mind seeing it in a fanfilm. I like it as the explanation of why Vader didn't lose his shoulder to Luke's strike.

 

Good idea, using the processing as an excuse to its different properties. Gotta love the excercise SW gives us, trying to reconcile discontinuities all over...

 

It's not really a discontinuity you know. Qui-Gon couldn't cut through the doors on the Trade Federation ship "like butter". It took some effort. When they sealed the blast doors, he didn't even try to keep cutting.

Lightsabers can't slice through anything instantly. Vader's armor is just a thicker substance. If Luke had held the blade there and pressed, he probably could have gone all the way through Vader (and he has no trouble with his un-armored hand in ROTJ). But the nature of the blow didn't have enough force (no pun intended) to move the blade through and so it just glanced off -- still hurt, though.

M. Scott

 

Yeah, I hear you.
It's just that, earlier in ESB, Luke slices through the belly of an All Terrain Armored Transport we apparent ease. Even if that area is not as armored as the sides or top, you gotta think it's a little heaftier than what someone wears on the shoulders.

Still, all it really comes down to is a split-second bit of choreography in a scene later in the movie. Next thing you know, we've got mining and foundry operations spread throughout the galaxy.

Have fun.

 

I still like the fence idea by Jyro-Kyrn... It'll keep those pesky Jedi from messing up your garden...

Sage H.

 

Luke slices through the belly of an All Terrain Armored Transport we apparent ease

You're not really sure where he cut it. From what it looks like, it was a door in the bottom since it swings open. So he probably just cut through a thin latch of some sort. Which would explain why he didn't just chop off a foot.

 

I don't think it was a door. I think it was a crappy special effect.

 

"Which would explain why he didn't just chop off a foot."

Wasn't that an old deleted scene? Course, would've been hard. Imagine trying to chop down a tree taking 1/8th mile strides every 5 seconds.

 

Cortosis ore is a very rare, and therefore very expensive rock that, upon contact with a lightsaber blade, shorts out the blade and shuts it down. There is no damage to the lightsaber so it can be reactivated again right away. In Vision of the Future, Luke and Mara Jade are trapped in a cave as they're trying to break into a secret facility. They come upon a wall in the cave made of pure cortosis. They spent the next while chopping through the cortosis since, though it does shut down the blade, there is some minor damage to the rock. So if you went at it for a while you could eventually cut through a wall of it.
It was also stated that the Emperor had the walls of any of his private chamers lined with cortosis to prevent any leftover Jedi from assasinating him.
Cortosis also appeared in a comic book about the Jedi Council once, I can't remember which though. These guys they were fighting had cortosis in their big wrist gauntlets so if they were attacked they could block the blade and shut it down.

As for cortosis being in Vader's armor. I would say no. It specifies that any contact with the ore will shut down the blade.

 

I don't remeber them pronouncing it cor-TO-sis. I beat the game twice, and Fyaar pronounces it cor-TOE (or TOH)-sis.

-KNick

 

As far as I know, Cortosis ore is the one thing that can STOP a lightsaber blade.


We're forgetting something.

 

Darth Maul can stop a lightsaber blade... Er, wait... Maybe it's just the Jedi whose USING the blade he can stop... Wait... Maybe that's not right eith--- What were we talking about?

Sage H.

 

What's your favorite tree?




Or something like that.

 

Okay. Cool. Thanks for all the info, guys, I'll be sure to put it to good use.

 

Don't make a character where the guy can block lightsabers with his hands because he has implants in them.

-KNick

 

Ew. Of course not. I've got a much cooler idea, I just hope I can make it look good.

 

Don't make a character where the guy can block lightsabers with his hands because he has implants in them.

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: Cortosis impants may cause birth defects, scabbing, unforseen fecal streamage, cancer, penile splittage, eyeball-crunchy-hemhorraging, nostril urination, and pimples in pubescent teens.