Saga Why do lightsabers auto-switch off?

When the user is killed, or disarmed/dismembered, why does the lightsaber switch off? Do they require the button to be held the whole time in order to remain ignited? If so, in order to do the saber throw move, do they have to force-grip the switch?

 

there is a button and they usually turn off when dropped. it seems they would have to use the force too throw and keep it on. we see vader and yoda do this.

 

Yeah, I guess that there must be a lock switch to ensure that it doesn't turn off mid throw. Most characters when they're stunned probably don't press the button, so the Saber turns off.

I remember in an old issue of Insider a fan letter broached the subject, and the reply was along the lines of this.

 

It's been long said that when Lightsabers are ignited, the user keeps their thumb pressed down on the activation box/button until they're done with it. If the saber is dropped, it switches off, but there is a locking mechanism that keeps it on so that it could be launched. We see Vader's saber is on when he tosses it at Luke, which is where the notion was first introduced.



Vader's saber switched off when it hit the floor, which is why you hear it being ignited again when he reaches the bottom of the staircase.

 

Basically so the lightsaber doesn't burn threw the floor when it falls.

 

I'm guessing that it also prevents a dropped saber from severing the wielder's limbs?


The downside is that it could fatigue the fingers or a finger could slip at the crucial parrying moment and it could result in a derp death, but I guess that a Jedi would be well-trained and prepared to avoid such a situation, unlike a novice saber user...

 

There's no "keep pressing the button" happening.

 

Their hand is wrapped around the handgrip. Thus the button is kept down.

 

Wouldn't a button that has to be pressed the whole time be rather stupid? During a fight you've got to re-arrange your grip too many times. Such a button would be the best way to get killed really fast.

 

Seems like a useful safety feature...

 

So, how would you explain lightsabers switching off upon being dropped or the holder being killed?

 

Maybe the sabers have a pressure sensor in the hilt when turned on. If the person holding lets go, the sensor detects this and switches the saber off. If someone wants to throw the saber, they press a separate lock button, to ensure it stays active.

 

That's why the saber is often locked on during duels. Still doesn't stop it from being switched off, such as when Obi-wan drops his saber after being wounded by Dooku. Qui-gon might not have locked his saber on during the final moments of the fight with Maul, versus the first time where the saber is still on until he shuts it off.

 

There are several ways you can achieve this.

Here's a simple way:
- Button toggle. Press to power on/off
- Touch sensitive grip if looses contact auto powers off
- Force sensitive pressure pad (could be the same touch sensitive part of the saber). A force wielder can use the force to throw the LS while maintaining force pressure on this pad to keep it lighted, once he releases the force the LS auto-shuts off.

So in a sense, you have to be able to apply extreme control of the force in order to keep the LS lighted while being thrown so that it stays on.

Simple and elegant, a weapon from a more elegant time.

 

I imagine that the Jedi and Sith didn't want to cauterize everything, nor did they wish to melt every floor into lava and magma.

Now, if Carnage and the Joker were using lightsabers, I'm sure that one of them would design one without an auto-switch off. Carnage would consider it absurdist art, and the Joker would consider nihilist art.

 

Carnage wouldn't use a Lightsaber since he's a living weapon. The Joker might.

 

Maybe they turn off, because they run on Energizer Batteries?

 

I've always been of the belief that the person being force sensitive is what turns the saber on and off, and their ability to manipulate the force is what allows them to throw the saber without it turning off. If you notice in ROTJ, after Vader throws his sabre at Luke, when he goes and picks it up, the saber has turned off. And there are quite a few scenes where you see someone lower their saber and with no change in hand position, their sabre turns off. Basically they've used the force to deactivate their saber once they don't need it. And there is also an on/off switch which would explain why Han was able to use Luke's to cut open the Tauntaun. Also for novice force users who don't have a firm grasp on the force yet. I don't think it would be a pressure sensitive pad or switch because if the individual falls down and lands on their saber, it could be enough pressure to ignite the saber and cause them to have a really bad day.

 

Don't u guys know how Sabers work? If I were to place a saber on the floor it won't "melt through" it will singe the floor but u need to put pressure on the weapon 2 go through an object. The reason Vader's saber cut Luke's bridge was do 2 the energy of the throw.

Edit: real world example. If I was to place a Katana on a phone book & let go it will fall over. If I was to place pressure on the pommel it will go through.

 

I don't believe that there is a button that you need to constantly press to keep it on.

If there was, we would have seen a "misfire" when Han used Luke's to cut the tauntaun open, before he realised he had to keep his thumb on.

I also believe that Form II covers deactivating other's lightsabres, and I don't think it requires using telekinesis during combat to wrestle the opponent's digit away from the activation button, cos they would figure out what was happening, and you might as well just break their thumb or finger while you are there, rather than worrying about turning the sabre off.

 

You hear the sabers shut down. Such as when Vader shuts his off while talking to Luke and before revealing his identity to him. Same with Dooku shutting his down and putting it away before Yoda walks in.

There is.




Those red buttons and rectangle boxes are the activation buttons. You can even see Finn clearly pushing the activation button on when he ignites Anakin's saber on Takodana.



Han has watched Luke ignite and shut down his father's saber aboard the Falcon and in various bases over the years. This is why he knows to keep his thumb on the activation button while cutting open the Taun Taun.

 

Yes, and like I said, doing a saber throw the user needs to use the force in order to manipulate the activator at a distance.

And a saber will eventually burn through most everything.

And as a note on samurai swords. The really good ones will cut through flesh just with the force that gravity applies to it. In many kendo and aikido sword moves you are supposed to move to slide sideways as you make the killing move so as to avoid the falling sword from your slained opponent as it falls to the ground as it could still kill you.

 

The saber is locked on before it is tossed. The Force isn't necessary to keep it pushed down. When Yoda tosses it at the Clonetrooper, he had already locked the blade in and we see him run up to remove it when he was done. Vader's saber was locked on and the locking mechanism was knocked off when it hit the floor. Hence igniting it again when Vader hits the bottom of the stairs.

 

Could you imagine what horrible effects would happen if they didn't?

 

Pretty sure the first lightsabers didn't have the feature, but were added as an option. And like all options over time competition drove the feature to become standard. And by the time of the later days of the Republic it was impossible to find one without it. Kinda like power windows.