Star Wars, Lightsabers, and submachine guns

[Wackymon]

So, I have just one small thing that really bugged me about the star wars series...
Why is it always plasma weapons or lightsabers (Which can reflect Blaster Fire), and never, oh, lets say... Ballistic weapons, like a Submachine gun!? I mean, honestly, it seems to make sense, and it'll probably go faster then Blaster Fire it'll probably fire more then Blasters, leaving no time to respond, and can't be blocked! Why the hell does nobody REALIZE that!?

Just something that really bugged me.

 

[repeating integers]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

Also, Jedi don't block blaster bolts because they can react to the shots. They block them because they can see a fraction of a second into the future and tell where the shot will be before the trigger is even pulled.

Besides, there's plenty of sci-fi that uses slug throwers -- even Star Wars has a few examples in the EU. It's just in the higher technology settings, the energy weapons have some sort of advantage -- usually more destructive power, frequently fewer problems with things like ammunition and weight. In the lower technology settings, they're usually quite common. Look at Gundam, Battletech, Firefly, the Battlestar Galactica reboot -- all of them have primarily gunpowder and bullet based hand weapons, despite most of them having energy weapons at the vehicle level. For that matter, the Stargate franchise is full of situations where humans with modern guns triumph over aliens with energy weapons, especially in the movie and the early seasons of SG-1.

 

[Wackymon]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

 

[repeating integers]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

Jedi reaction time is, however. 'Sides, he could just create a sort of field of telekinesis.

 

[DoPo]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

You're talking about magical monks, here, right? You know - "normal" monks (as in, from king fu movies) have no problem catching arrows in mid air and deflecting them by the dozens with a stick or whatever. Just level them up and voila - psychic space monks, powered by magic, deflecting laser shots.

Also - wouldn't bullets be more trouble? Can you imagine how many of them you have to carry? As opposed to one battery or whatever fuels the plasma guns. Also, what could bullets possibly do to a sheet of metal? Oh right, melt it...wait, that was lasers. What possible advantage do bullets have? They are bulky, unreliable, can only penetrate certain kinds of armour, even then not that many (you have to use different bullets for different situation), and, to top it off, aren't likely to be effective against each species. Oh, and aren't likely to work properly in different places.

 

[Tombsite]

I could try to come up with a in-universe explanation but why try?

The answer is and will always be: because it is cool and having the good guys die because of a weapon we have in our world is boring. Same reason they use fighters, big ass space stations and blaster canons with shorter range than modern missiles.


see also: Harry Potter and sniper rifles.

Real question is: Why do you want to ruin the fun?

 

[Keoul]

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

Also, Jedi don't block blaster bolts because they can react to the shots. They block them because they can see a fraction of a second into the future and tell where the shot will be before the trigger is even pulled.

They probably could....
Still, the problem with blasters could be solved if they all just shot at the same from different angles, all they really needed was so team co-ordination.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

Also, Jedi don't block blaster bolts because they can react to the shots. They block them because they can see a fraction of a second into the future and tell where the shot will be before the trigger is even pulled.

They probably could....
Still, the problem with blasters could be solved if they all just shot at the same from different angles, all they really needed was so team co-ordination.

Have you watched the prequels? That's how the Emperor took down the majority of the Jedi. The clones turned on their generals, surrounding them and shooting them from multiple angles. Made for a crispy space monk.

 

[Keoul]

Have you watched the prequels? That's how the Emperor took down the majority of the Jedi.

Exactly!
So blasters are perfectly fine as long as the soldiers know how to use them against the jedi.

Pretty much every other point why blasters are better have pretty much been said at this point.

 

[Waffle_Man]

You're talking about magical monks, here, right? You know - "normal" monks (as in, from king fu movies) have no problem catching arrows in mid air and deflecting them by the dozens with a stick or whatever. Just level them up and voila - psychic space monks, powered by magic, deflecting laser shots.

Monks who block arrows do so under incredibly controlled circumstances while anticipating.

Besides, slugthrowers [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower] exist in the extended continuity and have been used to kill jedi...

 

[Esotera]

I'd love it so much if the seventh star wars film is just about a couple of guys with shotguns who wipe out all the jedis

I guess metal could be really rare in the universe & therefore cost too much, or maybe there are laws preventing its use as it's deemed too cruel. Although considering that weapons that burn people's flesh and cut them in half are perfectly legal, that's probably not true.

 

[Redingold]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

The Force can totally be used to reflect blaster bolts.

 

[repeating integers]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

The Force can totally be used to reflect blaster bolts.

Indeed - I imagine it would be much easier to reflect simple fast-moving metal objects, easy enough that most Jedi would be able to (since we saw nobody else doing that Vader thing there, I assume only he was capable of doing it, because he's fuckin' dope, man).

Blasters aren't very effective against Jedi, who can just deflect them with lightsabers. Ordinary guns, on the other hand, would just be ridiculously ineffective against any Jedi with common sense.

 

[DoPo]

You're talking about magical monks, here, right? You know - "normal" monks (as in, from king fu movies) have no problem catching arrows in mid air and deflecting them by the dozens with a stick or whatever. Just level them up and voila - psychic space monks, powered by magic, deflecting laser shots.

Monks who block arrows do so under incredibly controlled circumstances while anticipating.

You and I must have watched very different kung fu movies. I remember some were being shot at by armies. Others were shot at while blindfolded. Not exactly what I'd call "controlled circumstances". Well, maybe the blindfolded ones, although the arrow still goes towards them.

Besides, slugthrowers [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower] exist in the extended continuity and have been used to kill jedi...

Fair enough, I'm not really familiar with the EU, didn't know about them.

 

[Glasgow]

So, I have just one small thing that really bugged me about the star wars series...
Why is it always plasma weapons or lightsabers (Which can reflect Blaster Fire), and never, oh, lets say... Ballistic weapons, like a Submachine gun!? I mean, honestly, it seems to make sense, and it'll probably go faster then Blaster Fire, leaving no time to respond, and can't be blocked! Why the hell does nobody REALIZE that!?

Just something that really bugged me.

I think it has something to do with this being a long time ago somewhere far far away, meaning that they could have just skipped over the ballistic weapons stage and straight to unreliable laser guns and laser swords.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

The Force can totally be used to reflect blaster bolts.

Except it doesn't look like he reflects the blasts. It's more that he blocks them with his hands. The Force may guide them into the path of the shots, but it are his hands that do the rest. As to why he can just take blaster shots, well, that may actually not be due to the Force.

Let's not forget that at this point Vader is mostly a cyborg and the number 2 in the Empire. It stands to reason that his armor and cybernetic components are made of the best and strongest materials available and thus quite capable standing up to some punishment from a common blaster like Han's. I also couldn't help noticing that Vader took all but one of the shots with his right hand, i.e. the one that was already fully robotic before Anakin became Vader.

Maybe I'm just over-analyzing this, but it just strikes me as odd that the only Force user in the movies that directly blocks blaster shots without a lightsaber is also the one that is half robot.

 

[Joccaren]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

Yeah, human reaction time is not that fast.
So, once more, WHY ARE THERE NOT AS MANY BULLETS!

It doesn't need to be. As is revealed in KotOR 2

Spoiler

The force is a controlling agent of the universe. It almost seems conscious. It decides who will win and lose in given battles indirectly by influencing how it lets them use and feel the force. In doing so, the force would allow the Jedi it wants to live to see where the bullets will be before they're fired, and help them move their bodies in the way they need to to deflect, dodge or intercept them.

Now, technically this isn't a part of core Star Wars lore, however if memory serves it was based of some of George Lucas's notes that he didn't use, and even ignoring half of that the force still does allow Jedi to predict where shots will be fired and move their bodies to intercept them.

Also, the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy

Even bullet guns wouldn't help when they can't aim, and the ammo requirements would just make things worse.

 

[Redingold]

'cos the Jedi would just catch them with his overpowered telekinesis and throw 'em all back at you, which he can't do with the non-solid blaster bolts.

The Force can totally be used to reflect blaster bolts.

Except it doesn't look like he reflects the blasts. It's more that he blocks them with his hands. The Force may guide them into the path of the shots, but it are his hands that do the rest. As to why he can just take blaster shots, well, that may actually not be due to the Force.

Let's not forget that at this point Vader is mostly a cyborg and the number 2 in the Empire. It stands to reason that his armor and cybernetic components are made of the best and strongest materials available and thus quite capable standing up to some punishment from a common blaster like Han's. I also couldn't help noticing that Vader took all but one of the shots with his right hand, i.e. the one that was already fully robotic before Anakin became Vader.

Maybe I'm just over-analyzing this, but it just strikes me as odd that the only Force user in the movies that directly blocks blaster shots without a lightsaber is also the one that is half robot.

No, they are reflected. One clearly hits the wall on the left of the screen, you can even see the scorch mark.
Regardless, I can see no reason why a blaster bolt would be unaffected by telekinesis. They aren't electromagnetic, they're beams of massive particles and surely telekinesis would affect any object with mass, right?

 

[Hero in a half shell]

You're talking about magical monks, here, right? You know - "normal" monks (as in, from king fu movies) have no problem catching arrows in mid air and deflecting them by the dozens with a stick or whatever. Just level them up and voila - psychic space monks, powered by magic, deflecting laser shots.

Monks who block arrows do so under incredibly controlled circumstances while anticipating.

Besides, slugthrowers [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Slugthrower] exist in the extended continuity and have been used to kill jedi...

Exhibit A: Regular monk vs. Bullet:


The answer is of course because it's cooler that way.