They have the power to destroy the galaxy a thousand times over. Surely once is enough?
For better or for worse, Star Wars and superweapons go together pretty snuggly. Obviously A New Hope set a pretty big precedent with the Death Star, which was followed up on when the second one showed up in Return of the Jedi. Though the prequels only hinted at the planet killers we’d see in the future, many expanded universe writers took the idea of an overpowered superweapon and ran with it… namely Kevin J. Anderson.
With the recent news that The Force Awakens would feature a potential super weapon in Starkiller base, we thought it would be a good idea to go through all the major super weapons you can find in the galaxy far, far away:
Death Star
The classic. A battlestation built by the Empire capable of destroying an entire planet thanks to an enormously powerful beam weapon. Unfortunately for the Empire, the station had a notable weakness: a thermal exhaust port. During the Battle of Yavin, Luke Skywalker shot a proton torpedo into the port causing a chain reaction in the station’s main reactor resulting in its destruction.
Death Star II
A more powerful version of the first Death Star, the second battlestation featured many micro exhaust ports. However, the Rebel Alliance attacked when the station was still being built over Endor… resulting in a strike force of ships lead by Lando Calrissian flying into the super structure and destroying the main reactor directly. The resulting explosion destroyed the station.
Mass Shadow Generator
Used by Darth Revan to bring a concrete end to the Mandalorian Wars, the Mass Shadow Generator used mass shadows generator by the gravity of planetary bodies in order to unleash catastrophic destruction. Revan lured the Mandalorians to Malachor V and activated the weapon during a battle. The destruction was so extensive it caused a wound in the Force.
Centerpoint Station
An ancient station in orbit of Corellia, Centerpoint station possessed an immensely powerful tractor beam capable of traveling at hyperspace and moving planets. It has been used to change the orbit of planets and destroy entire fleets of ships. Eventually, it was destroyed by Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Order to prevent it from harming anyone else.
Star Forge
An ancient automated ship yard used by Darth Revan and Darth Malak during the Jedi Civil War, it was originally used by the ancient Rakatan Infinite Empire to subjugate worlds.
Dark Reaper
Created by the Sith during the Great Hyperspace War, the Reaper harvested the Force and used the resulting energy to deal out a devastating beams of energy. For thousands of years, the device lay dormant until Count Dooku sought it to help the Separatists during the Clone Wars. However, Republic Forces led by Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to destroy the device during the battle of Rhen Var.
Darksaber
A battlestation built by Durga the Hutt 12 years after the Battle of Yavin, the Darksaber was a stripped down version of the Death Star that focused on creating a central super laser. Meant to be used to hold up planets for ransom, it was never able to accomplish its goal due to the successful efforts of a New Republic strike team led by Crix Madine and Wedge Antillies. Though Madine lost his life, the weapon was destroyed.
Eclipse-class Dreadnaught
When Emperor Palpatine returned in a clone body, he made his personal flagship the Eclipse: a massive vessel equipped with a super laser about one-third as powerful as the one on the Death Star. However, when Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa defeated Palpatine, a storm of dark side energy destroyed the vessel.
World Devastator
Employed by the reborn Emperor Palpatine against the New Republic, the World Devastators were designed to land on a planet’s surface where they used tractor beams to rip the planet apart, harvested the natural resources, and used them to construct droid starfighters. Luckily, thanks to the actions of Luke Skywalker, R2-D2, and Rogue squadron, the World Devastators were destroyed and many planets including Mon Calamari were saved from annihilation.
Galaxy Gun
And, because Palpatine seemed to have a big old fetish for impractical super weapons… he had a third ace up his sleeve when he was reborn: the Galaxy Gun, which fired giant projectile shells capable of destroying an entire planet. The projectiles were also capable of moving through hyperspace. The super weapon was destroyed at the Battle of Onderon when R2-D2 took control of the Eclipse II (yeah, there was another one of those things) and rammed it into the Galaxy Gun.
Suncrusher
A small indestructible fighter that carried energy resonance torpedoes which were capable of triggering a supernova in stars. Kyp Durron, a Jedi student of Luke Skywalker, stole the fighter and used it against the Empire in a mission of vengeance until Han Solo persuaded him to turn back and send the ship into a black hole.
Starkiller Base
The main base of operations for The First Order, it’s been said to be “armed with a fiercely destructive new weapon capable of destroying entire star systems.”
While we’re not sure exactly what that weapon is, we’ve recently speculated that it draws on the energies of The Force to achieve its destructive power, similar to the Dark Reaper.
