Touche Subjects--A workshop on how to write lightsaber duels--Finally! Some action!

Exercise 2

Consider Luke's final duel against Darth Vader. Write out 3 advantages that he had over his opponent. Next, write out three challenges that he might have faced if he were 20 years older at the time.

The three advantages Luke had over his opponent were:
1. Age - He was still the prime of his life
2. Wisdom - he had learned right from wrong, and had the strength to chose what was right
3. Compassion - His compassion towards his father was what changed Vader's heart. Compassion was the biggest factor in his victory over Palpatine and Vader

The three challenges that he might have faced if he was older:
1. Age - As he ages, he would loose his agility.
2. Set in his ways - every generation that comes brings a new challenge, and so the old school of doing things can become a hinderances to certain threats that a new generation brings. Luke was already old for training, and if he had been older, his doubt would have been undone. This is why it is easier for children to learn the ways of the Force than an adult. As the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. THe older Luke would have been, the easier the dark side would have conquered him. It's easier to teach children the disciplin it takes to restrain from the temptations of the dark side.
3. Focus - It would have been more harder for Luke to keep focus during the battle. Learning how to focus again is easier learned when young.

 

Well, even if Luke was 20 years older in ROTJ, the same points I mentioned pretty much apply with almost the same advantages and challenges that I posted.

If Luke is 20 years older, then again, his father is 20 years older, so again, his father is probably replaced with a younger apprentice. So again, he would not be familiar with his opponent. If his father somehow was still allowed to be the apprentice, then again, he's now quite aged and probably not up to lifting Sidious over his head to dispatch him.

So, again, Sidious would be vastly "overconfident" if he kept Vader around that long without replacing him with a more agile, younger version which he openly states to Luke as the reason he wants him to kill his father. Vader is already past his prime. Even Sidious realizes this. So Luke now faces a bigger challenge with Sidious and his newer apprentice; with both being Sith he has never battled before.

 

Discussion #1

1) What do you consider to be the greatest fight scene on film? This can be either Star Wars or any other fandom. What made it important to you?

Luke/Vadey in ESB. It's a gripping game of cat and mouse, since we know Luke is hopelessly outmatched, and it ends with such a splendid revelation. Plus, ever notice? For someone who's being trained as a Jedi, Luke always draws on Vadey FIRST. A definite no-no. It says something about Vadey's character that he never draws on Luke first and sort of foreshadows the ending. I'm just not much for the ROTS one. Yes, there's some impressive fighting in it, but it just goes on ... and on ... and ON.

2) What do you hope to gain from this workshop?

Anything at all about writing fight scenes. You can't do certain kinds of fiction without them, and I freakin' HATE them.

3) What is your greatest weakness in writing duels?

See above. I freakin' HATE them. So often it seems that the opportunity to show violence for audiences, especially male audiences, to ooh and aah over seems to be the whole point for doing some movies/writing some books. And people seem to forget that, cool though it looks, there is this one major drawback to violence: When it occurs, people are getting hurt. Therefore, I'm not impressed, and I loathe the need to write the stuff. Unfortunately, without it, most genres of writing don't work.

4) What is your greatest strength?

My dreaming mind. I knew I had the following fight scene coming up (from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), and I knew it better not be lame, and I didn't have a CLUE what to do with it. I dreamed the first part of this fight before I woke up one morning, and was able to write the rest of it from there. What's happening: Anakin has been excommunicated from the Jedi Order and his lightsaber has been destroyed. He has refused to turn to the dark side and Palpatine has vowed to kill him. Palpatine has decided to strike while Anakin is still unarmed.


Exercise #1

The Force was molten lava, but Anakin's brain was cold and it ticked, ticked as the Master approached him.

I can throw things at him all day long and never win. And an idea whispered, Get his lightsaber. Then you've got a chance.

"Give yourself to the dark side, Lord Vader," Sidious commanded. "Honor your oath to our Order, and you will have your wife, your children, power beyond your greatest imaginings. Refuse, and I must destroy you!"

Anakin heard that, but he heard someone else, too. Someone else who knew Darkness.

"The Force is a state of mind, Anakin. You feel the anger, the power is there, but you don't have to do everything that runs through your mind. You're in charge, not it."

And Master Windu had said something else. "Vaapad is all about your Intention. Intention, Intention, Intention, Intention."

Right now Anakin intended to have that lightsaber.

Anakin shot across the floor, half running, half crouching, to a wide piece of sheet metal that stood propped against the wall. Palpatine blocked him at the other end.

As he had planned.

"Do you hate me? For lying to you -- for betraying you? For pretending to love you all these years?" The old man bent and snarled into the hole. His Sith blade threw his twisted face into horrible relief -- a blood red visage of hate, topped by feral eyes. "You have good reason to hate me. Do as your hate bids you!"

Anakin darted forward, gripping a cut length of steel beam that rested just at Palpatine's feet. As Palpatine's sword arm swept to slash at his neck, he slammed the beam into his forearm with the blinding swiftness and crushing power of the darkness.

Palpatine saw, but not soon enough. He grunted in pain. The blow numbed his right arm just enough.

Anakin let the beam clatter to the floor, and grabbed Palpatine's wrist.

Held on with the power of the dark side, and refused to let go. "Drop it!" he grunted. "Drop it!"

Palpatine growled with rage and struggled to get free. Anakin began slamming his ha

 

Exercise two

Advantages Luke has:

1. Youth, being twenty years younger than his father Luke has a lot more stamina and agility.
2. Physical, barring his right hand, Luke has complete use of his body which is a BIG advantage over Vader. There are a lot of moves that Vader can't do that he used to, like jump around, flip or even raise his arms so his saber is above his head. Added to this is more agility for Luke, flesh is so much better than cyborg!
3. Mindset, this is a mix of compassion and the wisdom that others have talked about. Luke doesn't want to fight Vader so this makes him rather cautious, he just wants to defend himself.

If Luke was twenty years older...

Disadvantages

1. The first is obvious, Luke is not as young as he was and would find it a lot harder to move, at least harder than when he was in his twenties.
2. Luke might be more vulnerbale, for all we know he could have married and had a child by then. If Vader had threatened them instead of Leia, things could have gotten a bit interesting.


On the other hand, Luke would have some advantages being older...



1. Experience. One of my friends does kendo, which is quite similar to lightsaber fighting, and she says that as fighters get older they need to learn to replace speed with skill. Luke would probably be better at fighting when he was older because he has had more fights under his belt and has a good idea where his strengths and weaknesses are. He would also be able to ttrust himself and therefore could act instinctively and not thinking. Thinking is BAD in fighting, and Jedi do not think, they know!
2. The Force. There are a few Force-powers that can be used in lightsaber fights that Luke probably would have leanred if he was twenty years older. And not just Force-lighting. Luke would also have been more experienced listening to what the Force told him about his opponent so he would know where to strike to bring them down.
3. Focus. IMHO, Luke would be MORE focused if he was older rather than LESS for the above reasons.

IMHO, an older Luke could have much easily beat Vader (who would be in his 60's by then) than a younger one. And if you don't think so, ask yourself this question. If Anakin was so powerful in the Force, why was Obi-Wan the better fighter?

 

Exersize two:

1) Luke was the younger of the pair.

2) Not only that, but Vader was encased in that suit of his which not only limited his manuverability, but also his stealth. No one could hide with that breathing!

3) Luke was positive of his actions. He knew he was doing the right thing, but Vader had doubt in his mind. One can fight better if one knows what one is fighting for.

 

Exercise 2

Consider Luke's final duel against Darth Vader. Write out 3 advantages that he had over his opponent. Next, write out three challenges that he might have faced if he were 20 years older at the time.

Ummm ... ummm ....

1.) He's not encumbered by some 80 lbs of metal?
2.) He's smaller and able to fit into hiding places easier.
3.) He cares about Vadey and Palpy doesn't. When that becomes clear, Vadey's best move will become clearer.

Seriously, I think I have to disagree that there would necessarily be any disadvantages, if Luke's taken care of himself and not become old and fat. In twenty years, Luke will be around 40 or so, and a person who takes care of himself, especially a man, can perform almost as well as a 20 year old. Especially if, and this is Luke's special circumstance, he's had that additional 20 years to perfect his control of the Force. I mean, look at Obi in ROTS. He's in top form there, good enough to beat Anakin, and he's supposed to be about 40 there? Isn't he?

Just a thought.

 

Exercise 2

Consider Luke's final duel against Darth Vader. Write out 3 advantages that he had over his opponent. Next, write out three challenges that he might have faced if he were 20 years older at the time.

1) Right over might: Luke's goal is a righteous one, and one that he believes in very much (saving Vader from the darkside), while Vader's purpose is less driven
2) Relative inexperience: while this may seem like a con more than a pro, it makes him very dangerous and unpredictable against a seasoned vet like Vader; Luke always seems to surprise Vader in their confrontations
3) Physical ability: obviously being younger and more able is always an advantage

***

1) Possibly more to lose: being older, perhaps his life has been enriched with an extended family, more friends, etc. That could weigh heavily on anyone confronted with a duel (unless everything were the same, except his age...)
2) Physical ability: obviously being older you are less able than your younger years
3) If Luke were 40 at the time of the duel, Vader wouldn't be his father! No emotional attachment to the duel, no real reason to want to win, other than not die (I know this wasn't the point, but just a thought)

 

I knew I said I was going to comment on the different posts, but since it is still somewhat unclear what people think about getting comments. I think I'll refrain for the moment. But I have read through all and can in general say I enjoyed the variety of all the entries. Saw definitely some things that I will think about next time I write a duel. I especially liked the stories who told the duel from the first persons perspective since I'm a sucker for those kind of stories.

So I'll just jump in to exercise 2 and hope that I can keep up.

1. Maverick: Luke has essentially come from no where to challenge Vader. Just like Anakin, he is unconventional and unpredictable and I think Vader knows and fears that.

2. Youth: For obvious reasons, Luke is in much better shape than Vader

3. Clear mind: Luke knew exactly what his goal was in hte final duel. Although he came dangerously close to abandoning it, it did manage to pull him back and succesfully complete his task. He was not going to be swayed one way or the other.

It's hard to say what challenges he would've faced if he was 20 years older. If you stay focused enough, you can still be pretty fit at 40, just look at Qui-Gon who is supposed to be 60 by the time of TPM. But I guess there would have been some challenges he faced.

1. Physical ability: Luke has already physically peaked and is essentially on a downward slope. Reaction time and such might be slower.

2. Motivation: Story wise, if we assume Vader is still the same, it is impossible for Vader to be Luke's father if Luke is 40. The clear-mindedness would certainly not be there and instead it would be purely about revenge.

3. Life: 40 years is a long time. Who's not to say that Luke hasn't already got a family or something like that. Would that make him more careful in challenging Vader?

 

I do not care if ppl post concrit to me directly in the thread.

(If you have a thin skin, don't be a writer ...)

 

Oh, an interesting exercise!! I always welcome concrit!

Exercise Two

Advantages:
(trying to stay away from the obvious age reason )
1. Luke being Luke! He wanted to turn Vader because he was his father, but also because Luke sees the good in everyone. I can't really explain exactly why I think its an advantage, but it is! Having lots of heart is always an advantage.

2. Luke being relatively untrained... it makes him more dangerous!! It's like how you would rather get shot by a man than a woman because statistically more women haven't been trained to shoot a gun, they will shoot the biggest target (the chest) where as a man will shoot to wound (the shoulder or leg). Being untrained made him less predictable, and very random.

3. Almost fearlessness. He was willing to put his life on the line just to get a chance to either turn Vader, or distract the Emperor enough so that he didn't see the plan to destroy the Death Star. He was willing to die for the good of the galaxy.

20 years older:
1. He possibly would have been trained by that point in which case he wouldn't use emotion like he did at the time, which helped him win. He kept Vader from killing him, by injuring Vader (all be it out of anger) and then used love to pull Vader back.

2. He probably wouldn't have his youthful ignorance/recklessness. Though knowing Luke in the books now, that might not be the case! He might have been more careful during the whole thing.

3. Emotion. I think if he were 40 at this time, he would have lived through many long years of Palpatine's reign and possibly been angrier and become worse than what he was fighting. At his young age the way it happened, what was going on was all he knew, and though he was told of different times, being told and living it are two completely different things. If he were 40 he would have remembered the better times!

I tried to think out of the box... don't know if I did, but I gave it a lot of thought!

 

Consider Luke's final duel against Darth Vader. Write out 3 advantages that he had over his opponent. Next, write out three challenges that he might have faced if he were 20 years older at the time.

This is a short exercise just to get things going. Thanks to all of you for coming! Please list if you are interested in constructive criticism.

1 his youth
2 his agility
3 only one prosthetic hand

1 Luke knows who he is fighting and that one is even older than Obi-Wan
2 more experience
3 he is older

 

RX_Sith--Good advantages and, from the perspective of the timeline, good disadvantages as well. You focused well on the aspect of knowing his opponent and that's important. Good point that the Emperor would also have found more ways to express his depravity.

mrjop2--Good advantages, especially the second one. He also has the advantage of thinking in more absolute terms of right and wrong. You also bring up a good point of him being set in his ways.

RX_Sith--All right, I concede the excellent points. On the other hand, there might be outside interference from his father in opposition or support of the new apprentice or the apprentice could have been trained specifically in Vader's ways. Sidious probably would require someone who would be to Anakin Skywalker what Anakin Skywalker was to Count Dooku.

LLL--I love the cat and mouse thing that you brought up. It's incredibly fun to watch and analyze. I saw a very effective fic written about the fact that Luke never lets his father draw first. That's an essential thing to consider in his characterization. On Vader's part, it shows some of that conflict. The ROTS one shows more the unwillingness of either man to jump to the point of killing each other. I hope we can cure you of hating them at least a little. As for the point of duels, we will definitely be discussing appropriate placement of duels and how to make them appropriate to the circumstances. I definitely dislike the idea of simply glorified violence. Good for you for HAVING a dreaming mind--it's essential. I personally am not that gifted in my dreams. I dreamed the first part of this fight before I woke up one morning, and was able to write the rest of it from there. I love the contrast of imagery that you use in that particular fight scene.
Something that seemed to lag was the interior monologue. It fell under the very common issue of having someone 'credibly' stand around and angst while someone wants to kill them. Your writing is very precisely physical, which I liked. I'm not sure if you meant to repeat two paragraphs at the end.

Katana_Geldar--You brought up a good point with Luke's complete use of his body. I remember being impressed with James Luceno's "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" because it dealt with the newfound physical limitations and the effect of debilitating pain. I like the idea of having him threatened in regards to his kids. And good point about the experience advantage. We can see this in the LOTF duel in Inferno, where there is little speed, but immense power and intensity in Luke's actions.

Quigonjecca--LOL, I hadn't quite thought of the stealth disadvantage, but it's a very valid point. And your use of Luke's convictions as an advantage was a very solid idea.

LLL--OWww, stop making me laugh with "1.) He's not encumbered by some 80 lbs of metal?"! Good thought--we like thoughts. Very good point about control of the Force and Luke's tendency to take care of himself. Obi-Wan was 39 at that point.

OmonD'Narde--I like the idea that his relative inexperience makes him very dangerous and unpredictable. I may have to use that at some point.


yodas_waiter--I'll have the list up soon of who wants comments. I like that people are picking up on the idea of "Never trust the honest. You never know when they're going to do something incredibly...stupid." Luke's clear mind and unpredictability would definitely be advantages. Motivation would probably something that you would be able to play well.

LLL--Yes, but some people go overboard with some concrit, so we want to make sure it's controlled.

mavjade--Thanks, will put you on the list. Good poing on characterization. Interesting idea on the almost fearlessness. The impulsiveness would definitely be diminished later on, which could be a disadvantage. Well-done on thinking outside the box.

earlybird-obi-wan--Good points there. Especially the relative number of prostheses.

 

I forgot to say, feel free to have people critique me in thread-- I really need help!

 

Exercise 2

Consider Luke's final duel against Darth Vader. Write out 3 advantages that he had over his opponent. Next, write out three challenges that he might have faced if he were 20 years older at the time.


(sorry it took so long to respond to this)

1) Speed
2) Less armor (encumberance)
3) Vision not hampered by helmet and mask

20 years older

1) Less speed
2) More conscious of mortality
3) Not as nimble

BTW, I am open to concrit either via PM or in the thread.

 

Alexis_Wingstar--Better late than never, better never late, or something like that. Interesting point on the consciousness of mortality.
****
All right, settle in for a bit of a longer lecture.

Begin with the end in mind

My mother is a piano teacher and this is her mantra. She always says that it's lot of fun to imagine yourself getting to the end of something and standing up to wild applause for your immense achievement, but it's not worth anything if you haven't worked steadily through the nitty gritty things that lead up to the triumphant ending. Moreover, you have to know from the beginning exactly what you want the ending to accomplish.

This is essential in a lot of areas of life and writing, but never more so than in lightsaber duel-writing. As we all know, the end result is much more than the body count. It's more than who's left standing and whether or not the good guy/bad guy got away. As was evidenced by the responses in the last exercise, it is much more about the emotional end result and the aftermath.

After all, the effect of the Bespin duel does not end with Luke's escape. The duel on the Death Star does not end with Palpatine's death. The saga continues long after Obi-Wan killed Darth Maul.

We will be talking later on about the physical things, but I refuse to go any further without talking about the fundamental cause and effect principle.

Before you can even decide what color saber your character is going to use, the most effective thing you can do for your duel is to decide exactly what you want to accomplish. I know that many of you will think this to be stating the obvious, but for a lot of people it is not.

So, for the sake of coherence, I am going to start the Steps. These may be familiar to you if you've read Duels for Dummies, but they are what I recommend to every person who has ever asked me for advice on writing lightsaber duels. And don't worry, there aren't 12 of them.

Step 1: Choose Your End Result

This is going to preclude your first actual writing assignment for this workshop. The end result of this segment is to put bookends on what you will be writing later.

I want you to either pick a duel that you will be writing soon or one that you have not even planned yet and do the following:

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel
List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel
List the combatants at the end of the duel
List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

You can be as concise or as verbose as you like, whatever your needs may be, but follow each of those instructions. For example, if you were about to write one particular scene from The Phantom Menace, you might write this:

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel


Qui-Gon Jinn
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Darth Maul

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel


All are in good physical shape.
Qui-Gon must protect the Queen and vanquish the Sith while remaining in the Light Side. He has a strong sense of loyalty to his Padawan as well and will look out for his safety.
Obi-Wan likewise, but with a possible need to prove himself in the wake of his Master's decision to try and take another Padawan. He also has a strong sense of loyalty to his Master.
Darth Maul is out for revenge. 'Nuff said.

List the combatants at the end of the duel


Qui-Gon Jinn (deceased)
Darth Maul (deceased)
Obi-Wan (non-deceased)

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel


Qui-Gon Jinn deceased after having issued his final command to his loyal Padawan to train Anakin.
Darth Maul: Both of his halves are deceased and probably still wishing he could have had his revenge.
Obi-Wan is exhausted and sore from the battle, since he did a lot of falling off catwalks and such. He

 

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel
Jacina Skywalker Mars
Lord Sithious
Darth Valnor (Darth Valnor enteres in the middle of the duel, hoping to overpower her together, but he is killed and the duel continues)

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel
Jacina is forced to confront Sithious, who is possesing the body of her husband. She has learned the secret to Sithious power but she understand that her husband may have to die. After fighting her destiny to avoid having to kill her husband, she realizes that her husband would want to die if it meant saving the galaxy. She is now resolved to let go of her husband and stop Sithious by any means possible. Her physical state is a slight hint of exhaustion, but overall very healthy.

Sithious controls Jacina's husband. He is in perfect health and full of confidence since he knows that he can not be killed. She may kill her husband, but his spirit wil survive. He also more powerful than any Jedi since he has full influence in the Force unlike any Jedi now alive. His only threat were the Jedians, the founders of the Jedi, and he has just come back from destroying their planet, wiping them out of existance. He is unaware that Jacina is the Chosen One and is becoming just as powerful as he is, and is also aware of Sithious one weakness.


List the combatants at the end of the duel.
Jacina Skywaker (Barley alive)
Lord Sithious (Dead)
Darth Valnor (Dead)
Gideon Mars ([Jacina's husband who had been controled by Lord Sithious] Very Much Alive)


List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel
Jacina is on the verge of death, having giving everything she had to defeat Lord Sithious by destroying the source of his powers and his spirit. She is badly bruised and burned, having to fight through a stream of Force electricty that tried to stop her from reaching the shrine.

Gideon Mars, now free of Sithious who was finally killed at the destruction of the shrine is fine. He rushes Jacina off the planet Yavin-4 and is rescued by Anakin, Jacen, and Titinya just as the planet explodes. Just as the planet explodes, Jacina's eyes shoot open and she begins glowing. Yavin-4 miraculously reforms under the immense power that Jacina's displays, before she collapses one last time. Her heart stops and Gideon believes she is dead until, her heart restarts, she again begins glowing and she opens her eyes. She tells him that she is alive but is putting herself into a very deep Force Coma, bringing her heart to a near stop, so she can recover from the massive beating that she endured.

 

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel
1 Obi-Wan
2 Asajj Ventress
3 Anakin (only in the end)


List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel

Obi-Wan is awed at the sight of Asajj Ventress connected to tubes hanging in a bacta tank. He is exhausted from his long search for her and he has healing wounds
Asajj Ventress is being transformed by Dooku into an enhanced dark Sith. All she feels is hate towards Obi-Wan when she breaks the walls of the bactatank.
Anakin doesn?t believe Asajj Ventress is alive and has an interupted vacation with Padme

List the combatants at the end of the duel
1 Obi-Wan
2 Asajj(dead)
3 Anakin

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Obi-Wan is comforting Asajj Ventress who has been mortally wounded by Anakin
He is wounded more badly but too stubborn to go to the healers yet, he is exhausted and remembers the horrors of his quest to bring Asajj back to the light.
Asajj is dead (but unknown to the Jedi in a Sith trance)
Anakin is unharmed and thinks of Dooku escaping again

All this will be part of a dream of Obi-Wan in the healer's ward of the Jeditemple and it is the fight he had on Boz Pity story: Boz Pity aftermath

 

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel
1 Sona Cantari (Anakin's Padawan learner)
2 Han Solo
3 About five IG Droids, later versions of Grevious's magna guards

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel

Han and Sona were part of space battle over the desert planet of Mantua and were shot down behind enemy lines. They had to make their way through a dangerous part of the capital city to the area seized by Republic forces. They spy a drop-ship about to set down but are stopped by the Jedi-hunting IG droids.
Sona is only about eighteen, so not very experienced in fighting. Han is about twenty and can't use a lightsabaer, he only has a gun. The IG droids are strong, fast and have some sort of lightning gun as well as their vibrostaffs.

List the combatants at the end of the duel
1 Sona
2 Han
3 About two IG droids

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Somehow, they manage to get to the drop ship and get out of there.
Sona almost loses her right arm as a consequence of tackling the droids, and probably would have died if Han hadn't shot the droid off her. Her initial aversion to Han is gone as he more or less saved her life and this is the start of the close bond between them.
Han is a bit shaken from the close combat, but he's mostly impressed by how Sona is with her lightsaber (and she IS good as both Anakin AND Obi-Wan instructed her) and his feelings towards her and towards the Force are starting to change.

There's actually an important consequence of this battle, Sona's injury means she has to stay on the sidelines in the next engagement. So she's in a very critical place for the last big event in the story.
I reckon this whole action sequence is for two reasons, the first is to get Han and Sona close, the second is for Sona's injury. The fact that she's out of action, even if only temporarily, makes a very important plot point.

Are we going to talk about that, Ish? WHY we do lightsaber sequences? And thanks for the formula, it's one I've been usuaing unconciously for a while and it can be adapted to almost any action sequence, including a space battle.

 

We absolutely are going to talk about that, don't worry. Thanks for bringing that up.

 

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel

Count Dooku
Mace Windu
Jango Fett

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel

Count Dooku - At his upmost prime
Mace Windu - At his upmost prime
Jango Fett - At his upmost prime

List the combatants at the end of the duel

1 Count Dooku - Alive (Escaped)
2 Mace Windu - Alive (Victorious thanks to Yoda)
3 Jango Fett - Deceased (Beheaded by Mace Windu's lightsaber)

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Count Dooku - Had the upper hand until Yoda shows up with the Clonetrooper Army. Is now on the run. He escapes for now, but will soon be in another duel with Anakin, Obi-wan, and Yoda that he will again escape.
Mace Windu - Got off extremely luckily due to Yoda bringing the Army of Clonetroopers at just the right time. Shows no emotion after beheading Jango (seems to really support the "no attachment" mantra of the Jedi big time. Prepares to fight to the death if necessary to defeat Count Dooku.
Jango Fett - Jango dies by Mace beheading him. His son Boba cries after picking up his helmet.

 

Wheee, time to jump in.
I do have a lightsaber duel coming up, and though this exercise is already done in my head, I'll put it down here, too, hoping for some insights when it comes to the actual exchange of blows.

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel

Kyp
Chii


List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel

Chii is determnied to fight and kill him, in perfect physical condition
Kyp is in good condition, but anxious


List the combatants at the end of the duel

Chii
Kyp


List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Both in good physical condition, happy ever after

 

Ok, since I have no duel planned for any of my stories any time soon, this is just something I threw together.

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel

Staz Tokra
Kroban Dret
Stavro Calrose

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel

Staz Tokra - Is fit but filled with a sense of urgency as he crawls through the ventilation shafts to reach the bridge and take out the command. Wonders if he is the right one to take out the command and turn the battle in the Republics favour. Must also make sure that his men fighting in the hangar make it out alive.

Kroban Dret - Fit and ready to do whatever it takes to keep the capital ship flying. He is preparing himself to go down to the hangar in case he is needed. Is confident that the battle is won.

Stavro Calrose - Fit but is feeling increasingly uneasy as the Republic is gaining ground inside the hangar. Wonders if his fellow dark acolyte is up to task. Believes himself to be way over his head.

List the combatants at the end of the duel

Staz Tokra - Alive (escaped)

Kroban Dret - Dead

Stavro Calrose - Dead

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Staz Tokra - Tired but satisfied that the task is accomplished but worried that he will not get out of the capital ship before in crashes onto the surface of the planet below.

Kroban Dret - Dead and enraged that his fellow acolyte failed in his task

Stavro Calrose - Dead but reasons it could've been worse, he could've survived and had to face his Master.

 

Physical (before):
Debrah (Alive and well)
Baddie (Alive and well)
Thug 1 (ditto)
Thug 2 (ditto)
Thug 3 (ditto)


Mental/Emotional (before):
Debrah is innocently working on a repair job, not expecting anything other than a boring job. She becomes scared and confused when four strange men show up.
Baddie is confident, smooth, expecting an easy snatch
Thug 1 is a redshirt, 3 on 1 is good odds.
Thug 2 is a redshirt, 3 on 1 is good odds.
Thug 3 is a redshirt, 3 on 1 is good odds.


Physical (after):
Morgan (Alive and well)
Baddie (Alive and well)
Thug 1 (disabled and in pain)
Thug 2 (unconscious)
Thug 3 (unconscious)


Mental/Emotional (after):
Morgan is cocky, pleased by the chance for action and being able to perform her function of protecting Debrah
Baddie is displeased by his failure to capture her, disappointed in his men, but also taking notes and making plans
Thug 1 is in pain and embarrassed and wishing he'd called in sick
Thug 2 is unconscious and wishing he'd called in sick
Thug 3 is unconscious and wishing he'd called in sick

 

This is a duel I've had in my head for a long time, for a story that has yet to be written.

List the combatants at the beginning of the duel


Blacke Cromus
Markus Pleyon

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the beginning of the duel


Blacke is in the best shape of his life, but is confused, angry and hurt by the appearance of Markus, but strangely happy to find him alive.
Markus is in good shape, but is no longer in the prime of his life. The darkside is eating away at him at an increased rate. Mentally, he wants to finally dispose of Blacke, a loose end, once and for all. However, deep inside, he is conflicted.

List the combatants at the end of the duel


Blacke Cromus
Markuse Pleyon

List the combatants' physical state and state of mind at the end of the duel

Blacke is tired but relieved that it is over. He has a few minor injuries, but none are life threatening. He is sad, but happy that Pleyon has returned from the darkside.
Markus is in shock and pain. Both hands have been severed. He is sad but repents for his past sins. He is also glad it was Blacke who confronted him at the end.

 

Thanks for your participation. I'm going to be doing comments and putting up the next bit tomorrow.