Lightsabers, Weapons

A lightsaber is a fictional weapon that plays a large role in the movies, games and novels that constitute the Star Wars fictional universe. They are chiefly the weapon of the Jedi and Sith. more...

They are often referred to colloquially as "laser swords," and in the MMORPG Star Wars: Galaxies as "glowsticks."

Lightsabers are science fiction versions of their namesake, the saber, the curved metal blade replaced by a solid, glowing bar of light that resembles a tubular fluorescent light bulb, so as to create a flashier version of traditional swordfighting in the Star Wars films. Though they often behave like regular swords, they've been depicted as able to penetrate and cut through most solid materials with little or no resistance, and to deflect shots from blasters.

The lightsaber first appeared in the film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope (1977). At first, the effect was created by having the actors hold rods covered with highly reflective tape and pointing high-intensity light in their direction. The outcome was not satisfying, so in post-production the effect was augmented through rotoscoping the rods. For episodes V and VI the use of reflective tape was abandoned and the effect was achieved by rotoscoping carbon stunt rods. For the prequel trilogy, the effect was created using computer animation. Within the fiction of Star Wars, the lightsaber "blade" is made by a very tight loop of highly focused energy.

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