Could a lightsaber deflect a laser blast from a TIE Fighter?

Question

Or a turbolaser such as the ones on the surface of the Death Star?

for some reason this gives me the mental image of Luke deflecting a blast from the main weapon of the Death Star. — MD-Tech, Sep 30 '14 at 09:17
@MD-Tech: I thought the same thing for a second when I first read this. — James Sheridan, Oct 01 '14 at 08:06
@SaturnsEye: A TIE Fighter or the turbolaser turrets which lined the Death Star trench in A New Hope. Not the superlaser. — James Sheridan, Oct 01 '14 at 08:07
I'm at a loss why my answer hasn't been accepted. Can you indicate what more info you feel would be needed? — Valorum, Sep 26 '15 at 23:31

score 26 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 19 '15 at 08:53

26

According to the trailer for the new Star Wars Rebels Season #2, you can indeed deflect a TIE-Fighter blast with a lightsaber.

enter image description here

answered Apr 19 '15 at 08:53

Valorum

689,072
162
4,636
4,873

As this is Disney canon this is enough proof to confirm it. +1 – Alfredo Hernández Apr 19 '15 at 09:06
This also happens a couple episodes late when two sith inquisitors clearly deflect blaster fire from a shuttle. Episode 4 if you want to try to link. – Dec 02 '15 at 06:55
@Hatandboots - I'll have a look later. Cheers. – Valorum Dec 02 '15 at 08:51

James Sheridan · Answer 2 · 2014-09-30T02:14:00.853

23

In the EU novel Allegiance, Mara Jade uses her lightsaber to block a bolt fired by a scout walker, a considerably smaller vehicle than a Death Star, and similar in size to a TIE Fighter. While she succeeds in deflecting the blast, the kinetic force is so great it nearly wrenches the weapon from her hands. So while it is theoretically possible that a lightsaber could block a blast from a TIE Fighter, it's something that would only work under perfect conditions, and you wouldn't get the chance to block a second shot.

There isn't any particular reason that a person couldn't make a lightsaber large enough to block a blast from a ship-to-ship turbolaser turret, though the power consumption would be problematic. The issue, however, as proven in Allegiance, is the kinetic energy of the blast. A handheld blaster rifle fires a blast that has a very low kinetic energy signature, but a turbolaser is a whole different order of magnitude. It is possible that a strong Jedi, possibly something like a Duinogwuin, could block a small repeater blaster emplacement, like a E-Web (basically the Star Wars version of a Gatling gun) but anything beyond that isn't feasible.

edited Sep 30 '14 at 02:14

answered Sep 30 '14 at 01:43

James Sheridan

27,002
6
95
135

Related forum thread from years ago: Heavy Turbo Laser vs Light Saber that makes mention of Children of Jedi books and Dark Empire 2 that might be additional material to hunt down. – Sep 30 '14 at 01:44
8

Honestly I don't think the difference in kinetic energy is the most significant factor here: I think the physical size of the bolt is the problem. Although I agree the lightsaber could deflect at least part of it, the most likely scenario is that you'd cut straight through the bolt, and the excess would vaporize the poor Jedi who decided to try it. You might succeed, but it wouldn't be worth the attempt – Jason Baker Sep 30 '14 at 01:58
3

@JasonBaker: I thought the same thing, but as I state in my answer, there's no particular reason why you can't just build a bigger lightsaber. – James Sheridan Sep 30 '14 at 02:15
Do any games give you the chance to try it? The Force Unleashed and the Jedi Knight series are all I can think of that would have Jedi and TIE Fighters in the same place. Incidentally, Star Wars Trilogy Arcade was never canon, but it does have force feedback when you deflect blaster bolts, same as in Allegiance. – Milo P Sep 30 '14 at 06:44
@MiloPrice Afaicr there's no JK game where you are shot at by TIE fighters while fighting with a lightsaber. I don't remember being able to block AT-ST fire in them though. In The Phantom Menace, iirc, you could block fire from Vulture droids. – T. Verron Sep 30 '14 at 08:42
@JasonBaker I agree. The interesting thing is, while blaster shots appear to be nothing more than plasma (diffuse gas), turrets and ship guns do show recoil in SW, however little sense that makes. The question is interesting because real life and SW give contradictory answers. In real life, the mass would be so low that size would matter little besides splitting the shot, but in-universe, shots seem to have enough mass to make huge guns flinch. Assuming the shot can't break up (are there any canon instances of that happening?) a well-aimed deflection could have the result Mara Jade got. – mechalynx Sep 30 '14 at 11:34
Why so many votes? This is just speculation with no 'in-canon' source to back it up. Why do you not get the chance to blcok a second TIE shot? Why is the kinetic energy signature the relevant parameter? Why would anything beyond a small repeater blaster be unfeasable? – yrodro Oct 02 '14 at 01:29
1

@yrodro: Because it is established in Timothy Zahn's novel that a scout walker's turbolaser has enough kinetic force to wrench Mara Jade's lightsaber out of her grip, even with the assistance of the Force. That's "in-canon." Had the walker, which was on autopilot, elected to fire at her again, she would have been fried. Now, it is conceivable that a stronger Force-user, such as Anakin or Luke Skywalker, Palpatine, or Yoda, may have been able to use the Force to retain their grip on the lightsaber a little better, but such a strong Force-user would likely just use the Force to crush the walker. – James Sheridan Oct 02 '14 at 01:38

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 25 '15 at 17:15

The canon novel Lords of the Sith suggests that a lightsaber could not only deflect a blaster bolt from a TIE fighter, but from larger ships as well. The wielder does have to deal with the much higher kinetic energy from such a bolt, though:

Noses down, the freighters began firing from blaster cannons mounted on the top and bottom of the ships, long red lines that exited the ship in superheated pulses. Trees one hundred meters from Vader and the Emperor exploded into splinters under the onslaught, and the lines cut a rapid path along the clearing toward them, putting a patchwork of smoking holes in the earth, closing in on Vader.

One with the Force, Vader held his ground and tensed for impact. Then he exploded into motion, his lightsaber humming as he spun it rapidly left and right, deflecting the powerful blaster shots off into the forest, shattering still more trees, destroying the tents, but sparing the communications array. The kinetic energy from the shots drove him backward, his boots putting furrows in the soft soil.

The Royal Guards, momentarily taken by surprise, recovered enough to plant blaster rifles against their shoulders. They fired at the freighters as the large ships sped over and past them, but the personal weapons did no harm to the shielded and armored ships.

_{- Lords of the Sith, p. 168}

The freighter type is not identified, but they are described as "large ships" and they have top/bottom blaster cannons like the Millennium Falcon, so they are probably comparable in size and armament to the Falcon (which is much larger than a TIE fighter and able to destroy one with a single blast).

Could a lightsaber deflect a laser blast from a TIE Fighter?

3 Answers3

Linked