Lightsaber Usage

[makallitank]

Quick question:

 

Are only Jedi and Sith able to wield Lightsabers?

 

Have there been any incidents of others using them, whether it be successfully or non-successfully?

 

I mean, it seems like anyone would be able to pick one up, but they would probably end up cutting their arm off or something.

[Frenesi]

Well, there was something about having improved reaction and coordination needed to use lightsaber. Otherwise you can just accidentally kill yourself. Forceusers have both by default, for ordinary people it's question of difficult training.The real problem are lightsaber cristals. Jedi have monopoly on mining them, and sith just grow their cristals using force (thats why they are red). So the only way to get lightsaber is to take it from corpse. And if you already can kill forceusers with ordinary weapons, why do you need lightsaber?

[Wolfninjajedi]

Well, there was something about having improved reaction and coordination needed to use lightsaber. Otherwise you can just accidentally kill yourself. Forceusers have both by default, for ordinary people it's question of difficult training.The real problem are lightsaber cristals. Jedi have monopoly on mining them, and sith just grow their cristals using force (thats why they are red). So the only way to get lightsaber is to take it from corpse. And if you already can kill forceusers with ordinary weapons, why do you need lightsaber?

 

More like, if you are already good with blasters and other weapons, why bother having a lightsaber? As for the question....in using it as a weapon? None really come to mind, unless you count Grevious but then he had cybernetics to help him out and so forth. A non-force user isn't gonna be able to wield it with much success if any, at the very most perhaps just like a chopping action but then even that is cutting it seeing as they won't know where the blade is and could risk cutting themselves or worse.

[BenKatarn]

Are only Jedi and Sith able to wield Lightsabers?

 

Unless it's a lightsaber that has an inner activation switch that can only be activated by usage of the Force, anyone can use a lightsaber.

 

Have there been any incidents of others using them, whether it be successfully or non-successfully?

 

Remember The Empire Strikes Back? Han Solo briefly used Luke's lightsaber to slice open his Tauntaun to save Luke from freezing to death by warming him with its entrails. There's also a ton of other instances where non-Force users have wielded lightsabers. General Grievous for instance (a cyborg, but he's had training by Dooku), and I recall there's a comic (although non-canon, I believe) where Boba Fett wields one in an attempt to fight Vader who he had some kind of disagreement with.

 

I mean, it seems like anyone would be able to pick one up, but they would probably end up cutting their arm off or something.

 

In the end, a lightsaber is, from a technically standpoint, nothing more than a superpowered sword that can cut more or less anything, but weighs nearly nothing. The weight is the central issue, because of the blade is made out of plasma / energy, so you only feel the weight of the handle. I mean, sure, you can also hurt yourself if you can't wield a normal sword, but with a Lightsaber, injuries tend to be a bit more... serious, I'd say.

Edited August 13, 2013 by BenKatarn

[Wolfninjajedi]

I recall there's a comic (although non-canon, I believe) where Boba Fett wields one in an attempt to fight Vader who he had some kind of disagreement with.

 

 

Yes it is non-canon.

[BenKatarn]

Yes it is non-canon.

 

Well, still I wouldn't put it past Boba Fett to have one, though. For my own Bounty Hunter, I'd like to imagine she kept the lightsabers of Jun Seros and Darth Tormen as trophies.

[Bytemite]

Unless it's a lightsaber that has an inner activation switch that can only be activated by usage of the Force, anyone can use a lightsaber.

 

I can't say as to whether all lightsabers are built to automatically channel ambient force as part of the energy circuit, but considering the last trial of constructing a lightsaber that most prospective knights undergo, I'd think that personalized lightsabers probably do use a bit of a force fingerprinting. The traditional method of activating those for the first time is to channel the force through it, and if you can do it, congrats, you're a knight.

 

But there are also training lightsabers that are used by younger students and padawan (very young force sensitives use non-lethal training sabers that just kinda sting or numb the nerves) that may not have that restriction. It's possible Obi Wan kept such a lightsaber that Anakin trained with, intending to train Luke with it. Perhaps that's why Han could use that lightsaber.

[BenKatarn]

But there are also training lightsabers that are used by younger students and padawan (very young force sensitives use non-lethal training sabers that just kinda sting or numb the nerves) that may not have that restriction. It's possible Obi Wan kept such a lightsaber that Anakin trained with, intending to train Luke with it. Perhaps that's why Han could use that lightsaber.

 

Prior to building his own, Luke used his father's lightsaber, the one Anakin used in Episode III. The one he slaughtered Jedi Younglings with, so I doubt that was a training saber.

[Cowabung]

There is a comic written by Rob Williams which debuted in the Star Wars Tales story. It's about an ex-mercenary called Darca Nyl, a non-force sensitive who wields a Lightsaber.

 

More info here...

http://http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darca_Nyl

Edited August 15, 2013 by Cowabung

[EpickFaill]

i remember that was sith that betrayed the empire and begun to be a bounty hunter,he was a bounty hunter and in the same time force user and could handle a lightsaber,dont remaind his name

[ImperiumOfLight]

In Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, there's a Mandalorian on Dantooine who collects, and I believe an NPC states even uses at one point, lightsabers. In Legacy of the Force, Boba Fett trains Jaina Solo how to kill Jedi, and is shown as being able to wield a lightsaber successfully. As for the negative examples, in Republic Commando, you stumble upon a Clone who attempted to use a lightsaber to defend himself and ended up killing himself.

 

So, in reality, they are usable, with some difficulty, by non-force users. However, most non force users would get much more use out of a blaster than a Lightsaber, because the Force is what really allows it to be used. Your average person won't be able to block ranged attacks, close gaps, or be much good in a sword fight against a trained opponent.

[CoryCarniphex]

Late to the party but better late than never. I love to hate this debate, mostly because I think people should try to use a lightsaber before saying it's too hard. Assuming (I know what this makes me) that the gyroscopic movement argument is just to say non-force users can't use the things then we have the equivalent of a metal stick in our fist. Waving around a metal stick inherently doesn't cross the body and cut it in half, though actual sword users will remind you that other arm can't just flop around. Many times I've had my sensei tell me I looked like I was about to chop the top of my head off and I've heard my female fellows talk about how they feel they're going to give themselves mastectomies when drawing but we're all still here and have our body parts (despite this one time I almost forced the katana through my bicep but missed it by a millimeter). There's video of a kid whose dad gave him an automatic weapon who shot himself in the head from the recoil, people shooting themselves in the feet with guns in the holsters, and numerous occasions when people drop the spinning swords but accidents come with increased usage- ie practice. I recall the younglings don't use real lightsabers nor do they have fully charged remote droids- why? Not because they can't use the force yet but because they need practice. If you read the excuses some people write then force users shouldn't need to use practice weapons they should just use the real things from day one but they don't. People in real life star with an iaito or a shinai then move to the katana for the same reason. I don't think there's a big deal with lightsabers, the franchise just wants you to think there is for awe-inspiring reasons (recall the early concept art has a picture of a stormtrooper captain leading a charge with a lightsaber). And one other point- I believe it was Ulic Qel Droma who was said to be a natural with the lightsaber and even when he lost the use of the force he was still said to be great with the thing, both of which go against the idea that you have to use the force to be able to wield the things. Naturally I can swing a sword without killing myself but some people are just klutzy and probably can't.

[benovide]

General Grievous was force sensitive. Dooku had his heart lungs and brain. put into a droid to prevent violating the rule of two.