List of Star Wars superweapons
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- Darksaber redirects here. For the novel, see Darksaber (novel)
The following is a list of Star Wars superweapons, or the Star Wars version of weapons of mass destruction.
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[edit] Centerpoint Station
Centerpoint Station is an ancient space station that was capable of moving entire planets with its tractor beams and eons ago was used to move the planets Corellia, Drall, Selonia and possibly Talus and Tralus to their current location. The station sits at a lagrange point between the two worlds.
At over 300km wide and 1000km across, it was nearly twice as wide as the first Death Star. From a distance, it appeared as a huge partially translucent sphere with two small cylindrical poles facing the two worlds.
It was discovered, during the Corellian Crisis, that the unique tractor beam system could be used as a weapon capable of destroying entire stars, making it at least as powerful as a Sun Crusher. In addition, it was able to project an artificial gravity well (similar to that of an Interdictor Cruiser, but on a vastly larger scale) spanning the entire Corellian System, making hyperspace travel within the system impossible. Centerpoint was designed to work in concert with the planetary repulsors of the five Corellian System worlds. It was theorized that this could be used increase the range and accuracy of the "Starbuster" beam. They could also be used to produce gravity wells anywhere in the galaxy, or even one spanning the entire galaxy.
In the Corellian Crisis, Thrackan Sal-Solo intended to use the station to force entire star systems into submission and restore the Imperial system in the Corellian Sector. After a gripping battle, the Starbuster Plot was averted.
A few years later during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Anakin Solo refused to use Centerpoint Station to destroy an entire Yuuzhan Vong fleet in the Battle of Fondor, so Thrackan Sal-Solo did instead; however, his aim was off, resulting in the destruction not only of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet but a great deal of the allied Hapan fleet as well.
[edit] Dark Reaper
The Dark Reaper is a weapon crafted during the Great Sith War (4,000 BBY). The Reaper had 2 weapons: four miniguns and a laser beam. It also had so-called harvester bays that fired energy orbs at enemies. When an orb got close, it exploded, causing heavy damage. The orbs could be destroyed quite easily.
As its name implies, it was so powerful that no platoon could withstand it. The Dark Reaper required tremendous amounts of power in order to function. Its power source is called the Force Harvester. In order to defeat the Dark Reaper, an ancient Jedi Knight named Ulic Qel-Droma taught the Jedi Knights how to withstand the Dark Reaper's effects. The Dark Reaper was buried on Thule, just waiting for someone to find it.
The Dark Reaper was eventually found by Count Dooku during the Clone Wars, its Harvester being deployed on one of the moons of Kashyyyk where a small Wookiee colony was located. It was later activated on Thule after a Republic armada decimated the shield generator on the planet's moon and sent in a strike team to disarm and destroy the weapon.
Anakin Skywalker, having learned from Ulic Qel-Droma's tomb on Rhen Var how to resist the effects of the Dark Reaper, was with the invasion team on Thule, and after defeating Count Dooku's new bounty hunter ally, Cydon Prax, he confronted the Reaper, assisted by the voice of Qel-Droma.
After a fierce battle, the Reaper was destroyed, but it took a part of Anakin with it, furthering his slow descent into the Dark Side.
The Dark Reaper is the final boss stage in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars video game by Pandemic Studios and Lucasarts.
[edit] Darksaber
The Darksaber was built by the Hutts during the New Republic era (primarily by Lord Durga the Hutt). It was essentially a stripped down Death Star- minus the vast hangars, living quarters, military emplacements etc. that made the Death Stars so enormous. All that was left was the superlaser with a cylindrical spaceframe, and a bridge. One of the Death Star's designers, Bevel Lemelisk, was contracted to design the weapon, and minimalize it since even the fabulously wealthy Hutt crime lords would be seriously drained by such a project; though the potential returns from protection rackets, mining, and warfare were equally staggering. The Darksaber was designed based on the concept of Jedi lightsabers, hence the name "Darksaber" was a pun.
Due to shoddy construction by the Taurill – a hive-minded race – a small New Republic commando team lead by General Crix Madine was able to infiltrate the weapon's interior and sabotage it. Madine's life would be ended by Durga, though. When a New Republic task force arrived, the Darksaber was chased into Hoth's asteroid belt where the ore to construct it was being mined. As the asteroids got bigger and closer, the Darksaber was forced to use its superlaser to destroy the moon-sized rocks – or at least try. The superlaser malfunctioned, and two large asteroids crushed the Darksaber, ending the lives of the few on board.
- References
- Star Wars: Darksaber, 1st edition, 1995. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-553-57611-9
[edit] Death Star
The Galactic Empire's ultimate terror weapon, the Death Star was a giant outer space military station resembling a planet in shape that mounted a directed superlaser weapon capable of completely destroying an Earth-sized planet with a single shot. Planetary shields that could have held off entire Imperial fleets were ineffective against the Death Star laser.
Two such Death Stars (I and II) were featured in the original movie trilogy, the first in A New Hope, and the second in Return of the Jedi. The designs for the Death Star are visible in Attack of the Clones; also the construction of the first Death Star is observed by Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
[edit] Eye of Palpatine
The Eye of Palpatine was an immense automated "battlemoon" (a battleship dwarfing even Super Star Destroyers) disguised as an asteroid (or possibly built from a hollowed-out asteroid). It was intended to wipe out a sanctuary on the planet Belsavis, where a survivor of Order 66 had hidden a number of Jedi younglings. The Eye of Palpatine was disabled by a pair of Jedi before it could be put to use, and was forgotten until decades later, when former Imperial agent Roganda Ismaren and her son Irek attempted to take control of the vessel.
[edit] Galaxy Gun
The Galaxy Gun appears in the Dark Empire II and Empire's End portions of the Expanded Universe. It is a gigantic artillery piece in stationary orbit around Byss; its sole purpose is to accelerate missiles into hyperspace. When those missiles emerge, they, using advanced and secret weaponry, vaporize a selected portion of the target, ranging up to entire planets. The Galaxy Gun's location in orbit of Byss, at the time the most heavily defended planet in the galaxy, meant that any attempt to destroy the weapon would be immensely difficult.
[edit] Mass shadow generator
The mass shadow generator is a MacGuffin-like superweapon mentioned in the computer game/Xbox game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
Created by Republic Lieutenant Bao-Dur during the last major events of the Mandalorian War. Many knowledgeable characters comment on the ships being "crushed in the gravity" of the planet. The mass shadow generator uses the gravity of a planet to generate a quantum singularity. The singularity is made to destabilize, creating a "gravitic implosion shockwave."
It is also mentioned that the mass shadow generator only operates in the Malachor star system due to its unique gravitational anomalies. This explains why the device is not heard of again in the Star Wars universe.
In orbit around Malachor V, the Mandalorian armies were quickly destroying the battered Republic army sent to the planet. The general on site - the Jedi Exile - activated the superweapon. The destructive power destroyed almost the entire Republic fleet, and destroyed the Mandalorian armies completely.
If the player has high enough influence with certain party members, it is revealed that Revan intended to destroy both fleets at once. The Republic fleet at Malachor V was filled with soldiers who were less than solidly loyal to Revan, and he intended to wipe out both threats to him, at the same time. Even the planet itself was extremely damaged.
The mass shadow generator destroyed many Republic and Mandalorian ships as well as brigades of troops on each side. Out of all who died on Malachor V, there was thought to be one Mandalorian slave that survived. Darth Nihilus, the Dark Lord of Hunger, survived its effects and used a capital ship known as the Ravager which suffered heavy external and structural damage, to escape the gravitational pull. The Sith Lord used his power to keep the ship together, despite the damage. Later on, he used it as his flagship to lead his portion of the Sith fleet to Telos, in an attempt to destroy the remaining Jedi.
[edit] Star Forge
The Star Forge was a dark side artifact that was created by the Infinite Empire of the Rakata thousands of years before the rise of the Galactic Republic. A giant automated shipyard, the Star Forge drew matter and energy from a nearby star, creating an endless supply of ships, droids, and other war material. After the fall of the Infinite Empire, the Star Forge was deserted and eventually forgotten. The only way one could find the location to the Star Forge was by accessing the Star Maps and using the co-ordinates to find the location of the Star Forge.
It was eventually found by the Jedi Revan and Malak who led the Jedi who fought in the Mandalorian Wars. When Revan and Malak turned on the Jedi Council and the Republic, they used the Star Forge to create an endless fleet with which they fought the republic.
[edit] Sun Crusher
The Sun Crusher is a prototype superweapon from the Star Wars universe and probably the most powerful weapon ever constructed by the Empire. It first appeared in the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson when Han Solo was captured by Moruth Doole, overseer of Kessel. The first attempt to destroy - launching the Sun Crusher into the core of the gas giant Yavin - failed when Kyp Durron, possessed by the spirit of Exar Kun, used Exar Kun's considerable force power to draw the ship back out of Yavin. After using it to destroy the prototype Death Star, Kyp Durron flew the Sun Crusher into a Black Hole, stuffing himself into a tiny message capsule to survive.
[edit] World Devastator
The World Devastators were automated superweapons designed by Imperial engineer Umak Leth, who touted his creations as "more lethal than the Death Star". While the slow pace at which they could destroy a planet made this claim questionable, they were clearly more efficient. Rather than blowing apart a planet, the World Devestators would literally eat it, "digesting" the natural resources of a world and using them in their own internal factories to produce new war machines for the Empire, and to expand their own hulls with additional weapons and factories. While they primarily produced small craft such as droid starfighters, a World Devestator could also produce larger warships, or even, with sufficient time and raw materials, another World Devestator. Due to their ability to "reproduce" in this manner, it could be argued that the World Devestators were actually life forms rather than just weapons. Fortunately for the Rebels, the Emperor feared that these weapons could be turned against him, and included an override code in their programming. The Rebels acquired this code and managed to decipher it, and then ordered the World Devestators to attack the only enemies capable of defeating them—each other.
[edit] Yo'gand's Core
Yo'gand's Core was a Yuuzhan Vong method for destroying a planet, invented in ancient times by the Warmaster Yo'gand. Though it could only be used on planets which had moons, the technique was quite devastating: a massive dovin basal would be deployed to the target planet's surface, which would disrupt a moon's orbit and cause it to crash into the planet. This tactic had originally been used during the Cremlevian War – the ancient civil war in the Yuuzhan Vong home galaxy – but proved to be even more effective against other races who did not have their own dovin basals to counter the attack. This tactic was used by the Yuuzhan Vong to destroy Sernpidal during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and killed Chewbacca, who chose to stay behind in order to save Han Solo's young son, Anakin Solo.