How come only Jedi Knights can use a light saber? Or do other characters in the movies use light sabers too?
I am not a Star Wars geek, but my guess is that only someone with the ability to “use The Force” can master the lightsaber and use it effectively. Remember that these Jedi have this extra “sense” that makes them somewhat superhuman. (I know they’re not all human!). So most normal folks will settle for a blaster.
However, we have seen at least one non-Jedi use the lightsaber–Darth Maul.
Han Solo used Luke’s LS to open up tha taun-taun(sp?) in ESB.
But using it as a a simple cutting tool is a lot different than using it in combat.
Brian
“An elegant weapon, from a more civilized age.”
Light sabers aren’t used by the general populace in the Star Wars Universe because they’re out-of-date weaponry, simple as that. I think even though we see the Jedi doing awsome feats of daring do with them, that’s mostly due to their Force-enhanced senses and not the weapon itself.
A well forged sword is probably the most efficient weapon ever, but the modern military doesn’t run around with them except on ceremonial occasions, because we’ve got accurate, multi-shot guns, and even though the gun can jam or you can run out of ammo or whatever, put two normal guys across a room from each other, give one a sword and one a gun, and declare a deathmatch and I think you can see where I’m going. A non Force-sensitive person wouldn’t be able to effectively wield a lightsaber against opponents with blasters. But a Jedi will be able to hold his own, which would allow him to keep his Force-senses accurate and scare the pants off the enemy at the same time, a la “Two Jedi! We’re done for! This is impossible!” hytronics from the commander of an entire army in episode I.
Besides the Han Solo exception, don’t forget the scene where Jabba the Hutt, who proved himself quite Force-resistant by mocking Skywalker’s “feeble mind tricks,” later pulled the Slave Leia to him on the floating barge shortly before the execution and, chuckling darkly, activated his Lightdildo.
A few possibilities:
- Light sabres are considered “out-dated” by most of the population.
- If you don’t have the supernatural ability to block blaster bolts with one, you’re down to the guns vs. swords argument Jenny brings up.
{I think I came across this one in “Science of Star Wars” or some other third-party reference}
3) It’s impossible for a non-force sensitive person to control a saber effectively when moved it at high speeds (necessary for using it in combat). The “blade” of the saber is plasma held in in a magnetic torus (donut shape) with the “hole” through the center of visible blade. The plasma circulates from hilt to tip on the outside, then tip to hilt on the inside. This gives the blade something like a gyroscope’s rotational inertia, exerting a force will cause the blade to precess into a different direction.
The third option has always impressed me with its technobabble, but considering that Luke can make at least some attempt at fending off the training droid during his and Ben’s trip to Alderaan I doubt any “precession” effect would be that serious. At least he didn’t cut his leg off.
I believe there was a Force-sensitive character in one of the novels who built a lightsaber that could only be turned on my using the Force.
I’m not sure if (s)he was actually a Jedi, but one doesn’t have to be a Jedi to be skilled in the use of the Force. So, right there, it can be said that one need not be a Jedi to use a lightsaber, or use one effectively.
Another thing. Building their own lightsaber is a relatively major step in a Jedi student’s path to becoming a Knight. That said, how to build a lightsaber may not be very common knowledge outside the Jedi cult.
Anyhoo…
Say wha? Unless I’m being wooshed and you aren’t calling the sabre a dildo, Luke’s sabre was neatly tucked in Artoo’s head at the time.
I could swear I heard that the actual construction of the light sabre requires the use of the force. Once constructed, it can be used by others though.
I would assume that there aren’t a lot of extra sabres lying around.
Sorry, don’t have a cite for this.
Maybe you haven’t seen the Super-Extended Edition.
Because non-Jedis who try to use light sabers in combat tend to quickly lose interest (not to mention limbs)?
Nah, if you weren’t really incompetant (or trying to use the saber with the wrong style) it would make a good weapon. However, it has no range, and yes, given enough time, accidents are likely to occur. Its the range that’s the real killer. Besides, if the enemy pulls out a machine gun (or the blaster equivelant), you’re screwed anyway.
Based on my knowledge of Star Wars, which mind you is limited to the movies and games and not any written expanded universe material, a Jedi would not have a problem with someone wielding a repeating blaster (essentially the machine gun equivalent). Either he would be able to block all of the shots (bear in mind that Jedi have superhuman reflexes, as seen in Episode I), pull the blaster away, or shove the opponent over. Of course, Jedi are not infallible, as was illustrated in Episode II with all of the dead Jedi on the floor of the arena. As for the no range thing: a Jedi could certainly throw his saber if the need occured, see Episode VI.
A friend who played the Star Wars RPG mentioned that light sabers were unusable to non-Jedi for the reason sciguy mentioned: they’re difficult to control, and without the proper training and discipline you could easily cut your own head off with an errant swing. (Which leads me to an amusing daydream of an academy full of young Jedi training with wooden light sabers, like students in a kung fu movie.)
I figure that those kids in Ep 2 must have been given special low-powered lightsabers that wouldn’t do anty damage.
Yeah, but Darth Maul was a Sith. He was the darkside equivilent of a Jedi, or am I missing something?
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Building or using a lightsaber doesn’t require any Force powers. I suppose one COULD hide the activator switch inside the saber’s casing, so you’d either need to use telekinesis or take it apart to turn it on…
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Several different - and sometimes conflicting - explanations of lightsabers abound. In the X-wing books, for instance, it was stated that, since lightsaber blades have no mass (or no appreciable mass), they’re unwieldy because they behave differently than a novice user would expect (swing a bat, for instance, and you anticipate the weight and inertia… swing a saber and you might swing too far).
Sometimes they work underwater, sometimes they don’t. Not all of 'em have the exact same properties.
Accordind to EU material I’ve read, you do indeed need to use the Force to create a lightsaber. For Jedi (source: I, Jedi) the process generally takes weeks of meditation and being one with the Force to finalize the process and make the parts work together. This could be dogma, though, rather than a true necessity.
For Sith (no source, sorry), I believe actual Force manipulation of the crystals as they’re superheated is required. Not too sure on this, though.
A non-Jedi will wield light sabres in Episode III. And also the upcoming (current) season of the Clone Wars cartoon.
yes, and no you’re not …