Summary
The lightsaber may be the most famous weapon inStar Wars, but even the greatest tool of Jedi and Sith has some pretty notable weaknesses. Nobody really knows the history of the lightsaber; there’s some evidence it may have predated even the Jedi Order itself, meaning the first lightsaber was fashioned over 25,000 years ago. Certainly themural of the first Jedi on Ahch-Toshows him wielding what is recognizably a lightsaber.
No doubt the lightsabers have changed a lot over the millennia. The lightsabers ofThe Acolyteare noticeably thicker than those of the Skywalker saga, suggesting there was a lot of miniaturization over the century between these events, and it’s likely combat forms were adapted to take advantage of new opportunities. But the lightsabers do have many important weaknesses, and the Jedi have been forced to work around them.
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8Lightsabers Are Strictly Close-Quarter Weapons
The most notable weakness, of course, is thatthe lightsaber is strictly a close-quarters weapon. It’s designed for combat that is up close and personal, but modern Jedi often find themselves taking on enemies who prefer longer-range attacks. The firstlightsaber formswere ill-suited to deal with blasters, meaning Jedi suddenly found themselves a lot more vulnerable after the technology was developed. This may explain why there were also light-shields in ancient times, although there’s some evidence these too did not originate with the Jedi.
The prevalence of blasters eventually led to the creation of Form III, Soresu, which focuses on using the lightsaber to block blasters shots and even ricochet them back at an attacker. By the time of the prequels, all Jedi were trained in Soresu, which involves a being opening themselves up to the Force and sensing an incoming attack moments before it comes so it is possible to deflect it. More aggressive forms - practiced by the likes of Anakin Skywalker - focused on weaponizing the ricochets, turning them into counter-attacks.
7Lightsabers Are Vulnerable To Slugs
Mandalorians in particular are notable for using slug-throwers against Jedi. Slugs - theStar Warsword for bullets - are basically metal projectiles, and lightsabers don’t block them perfectly. In fact, there’s a danger the metal will simply be turned into a superheated vapor that blasts at the face of the Jedi trying to block them. Only the most skilled Jedi are able to take on slug-throwers without risk.
This approach was used by a lot of Jedi-hunters inStar WarsLegends, although there’s some evidence the most skilled Jedi could still deflect them effectively. This can be seen in Matt Stover’s phenomenal novelShatterpoint, where Mace Windu effortlessly blocks countless attacks from slug-throwers. Mace was unusually open to the Force’s guidance, so it makes sense he’d be able to block slugs with sufficient precision to prevent a deadly splashback.
6Some Materials, Like Beskar, Are Lightsaber-Resistant
TheMandalorians and the Jedi have waged many wars, and it’s unsurprising to note they have developed many counters for lightsabers. Their biggest advantage lies in the rare metal named beskar, found only on their homeworld of Mandalore, which is uniquely lightsaber-resistant.Beskar allows a Mandalorian to take blows from a lightsaber that would be fatal for any other enemy, while beskar spears and swords allow them to go toe-to-toe with Jedi. As seen inThe Mandalorianseason 2, Lady Morgan could use a beskar spear very effectively indeed.
Beskar is far from the only lightsaber-resistant material in the galaxy, although it is the most notable. Certain energy fields can be used to block a lightsaber too; during the Clone Wars, many of the Battle Droids used force-fields that resisted them, while General Grievous' Magna Guards were equipped with weapons that used energy fields to match them. This served as something of a harsh wakeup call for the Jedi, who were unused to this kind of technology.
5Cortosis Can Make A Lightsaber Short-Circuit
For many viewers,The Acolyteepisode 5 was as much a shock to the system as it was to the Jedi dueling the Stranger. There, in an adventure set a century before the Skywalker saga,the Jedi dueled a Sith Lord who wore cortosis armor.Cortosis is a massive lightsaber weakness, a rare material that shorts a lightsaber on impact. The effect is only temporary, and cortosis is a fragile material, but it gives the Stranger a horrific edge.
Ironically, in ancient times various sects sought to use cortosis as a weapon against the Sith themselves. One group actually created the so-called “Sith Killer,” a cortosis blade designed to challenge a Sith Lord in combat; it would deactivate any lightsaber it clashed with, allowing its wielder to press an attack. Unfortunately, of course, the Sith Killer wasn’t proof against the Force powers used by the Sith themselves.
4Some Energy Fields Can Disrupt Lightsabers
Cavan Scott’sThe Rising Storm, a novel set during theHigh Republic Era, introduces a new lightsaber weakness that’s pretty chilling too. One of the many sub-plots introduces a character named Manteesa Chekkat, who uses an illegal recainium core to flood a circle 10 meters in diameter with radiation that disrupts any energy weapon.This works for everything from the humble blaster to the lightsaber itself.The prototype is bulky, but space pirates called the Nihil soon develop portable versions.
In theory, this would be a great equalizer, a way of leveling the playing field because no weapons work. In reality, of course, it’s a very powerful tool to use against the Jedi, who would have no warning before their lightsabers suddenly stop working. It’s also easy to imagine scenarios where lightsabers were neutralized so snipers could open fire from a distance, taking advantage of the suddenly-disarmed - and likely very confused - Jedi.
3Lightsabers Short-Circuit Underwater If They Haven’t Been Modified
Vewers who are familiar with the Clone Wars-era Jedi Master Kit Fisto can be forgiven for assuming it was easy for a lightsaber to work underwater. In reality, not everylightsaber can work underwater;complete submergence in water damages the electronics, effectively rendering the weapon useless. A Jedi doesn’t have anything to fear from simple raindrops, but if their blade gets completely soaked, they’re in real trouble.
Kit Fisto, an amphibious Nautolan Jedi Master, used a “bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse” to allow his lightsaber to work underwater. It’s not entirely clear what that is, but it clearly did the trick. Other Jedi work around this problem by constructing their lightsabers out of water-resistant materials, meaning their weapons work underwater. That said, it’s reasonable to assume Kylo Ren’s lightsaber was simply destroyed when he threw into the waters of Kef Bir.
2Water Could Be Used As A Weapon Against A Jedi
Water is an even bigger lightsaber weakness, though, in another way; it’s easy to imagine scenarios where enemies of the Jedi use jets of water to cause chaos.The stream of water would strike the superheated blade, immediately transforming into a searing cloud of steam that would deal terrible injuries. The smartest foes could even lace the water with toxins that would be breathed in when the water evaporates, killing the Jedi outright.
Surprisingly, this technique has never been used - even by Mandalorians. The closest we’ve come to it was inStar Wars: Clone Wars, when Asajj Ventress duels Anakin Skywalker on Yavin 4. In this (non-canon) story, Ventress' lightsabers generate puffs of steam whenever raindrops hit them. That’s exactly what you’d expect to happen, and it points to this unusual but never-used weakness.
1Lightsaber Hilts Are A Massive Point Of Weakness
One final lightsaber weakness has never really been properly shown inStar Wars; the factthe lightsaber hilt is a massive zone of vulnerability. Occasionally a Sith will deal with an enemy by chopping their blade - as seen when the Stranger dueled multiple Jedi at once inThe Acolyteepisode 5 - but even this technique is pretty rare. It’s possible to imagine more dramatic strategies, though, where a Sith simply slides their blade down their opponent’s while they are locked, until they reach the hilt - and destroy it.
Certain lightsabers are perfectly designed for this tactic. Kylo Ren’s crossguard, for example, could be used to pin an opponent down while he slides his blade down their own… and a simple twist would pierce their twist with the quillon. Fortunately for Rey, Kylo Ren never seems to have really understood just how formidable his crossguard lightsaber could have been, because otherwise theStar Warssequel trilogy would have come to a very different - and far darker - conclusion.
