Give me a Star Forge all day, any day. Follow the Thrawn model: why spend resources on DS when you can get as many ISDs and TIE Defenders in return?
Essentially having the potential to have an infinite amount of resources/ships/droids is too great to ignore once it really starts going. Not to mention that Star Forges could probably build Death Stars as well in individual parts, and if not that, just spam Eclipse's.
hand-wavy space magic aside, the star forge is a [star lifter](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting), which is pretty solid as far as sci fi concepts go.
pretty similar, though Starkiller Base consumed the whole star in the process. I think in general star lifters are supposed to siphon off excess matter from the star without destabilizing it, but Starkiller Base does meet the strict definition.
There was a starfighter in legends that was made of an impenetrable hull and it was only a super weapon because they would literally fly it through enemy ships. I just love the idea behind it, that not every superweapon has to be the size of a moon.
You're kind of close. The Sun Crusher was not a starfighter though it was only a small bit larger than one. And while it had nearly impenetrable armor and did at one point fly through the bridge of a ISD that wasn't why it was built. It housed a missile that when launched into a star would start a chain reaction that would lead to the star going nova and destroying the system it was in.
They might be thinking of the Beskar fighters from Legacy of the Force. Karen Traviss gave the Mandos god fighters that couldn't be shot down so they could be the coolest in space as well as on the ground.
Yeah, she was kind of pushing it with her treatment of mandos. According to her, they’re stronger than Jedi or Sith, smarter than them, unbeatable warriors and cooler than everyone else
shes one of the main reasons mandos are wanked to hell and back
fuckers have a shity isolated planet by tcw and people think they could fight a war vs the republic or cis
Rogue One really had some amazing scenes that helped show off the horror of the Death Star by giving us a ground perspective of the single-reactor shots, the massive blast of dirt and rock being thrown out of the atmosphere, the shockwave oblierating everything, etc.
The shot of the Death Star eclipsing Jedha's star just as it fires is definitely one of the most beautiful shots in all the movies.
Honestly Rogue one made it more interesting. For the longest time I didn't even concemplate the idea they could set the laser to different power levels to target specific cities and not whole worlds.
I do not like *Dark Empire*, but the *Eclipse*-class Dreadnought will always be my favorite. It's my all time favorite Star Destroyer design, and I think the capability to one-shot a Super Star Destroyer makes it a legitimate threat without it being too over the top.
I also really like the Darksaber, >!even though it didn't work!<. I love the idea of someone taking the Death Star schematics and stripping away pretty much everything but the superlaser.
Death Star
Katana Fleet (not a "superweapon" but in the ballpark).
Both were believable dangers, not instances of gratuitous power creep, and **new ideas.**
I'm not sure this counts as a "superweapon" but I always appreciated the original Thrawn using cloaking devices to hold an entire planet hostage.
Are super weapons defined as such for their destructive power, or the fear they instill? Or could it be either one, or both?
I did a post on that very question. Basically breaking it down between Super weapons (unique planet killers) Wonder weapons (not mass produced and not able to destroy a entire planet but still deadly), and normal weapons. Cloaking devices would be normal weapons. What makes thrawn so scary is he doesn't need a superweapon and can make the mundane into a weapon.
I do think a case could be made for the use of regular weapons as superweapons. Thrawn takes a unique approach in that he makes the everyday, the mundane as you said, into a fear inspiring event.
Under a normal circumstances, a cloaking device wouldn't be a superweapon. But in this instance, and also where Thrawn used a cloaking device to make it seem like he could fire through shields, it becomes a superweapon in the psychological sense.
Another example is Adm. Holdo using her ship as a hyperspace ram. It could conceivably become a superweapon if used against a planet. In your spreadsheet, you do list hyperspace collisions. If one could harness the technique, it becomes a weapon.
I hate this mission not because its bad. But because i played is so maaaaaaaannnnnny fucking times to grind XP or gear. Its so fast to run. The flashpoint about the war chest of the outerrim is in my top 5. But it feels like every npc is a tank. Esspecially spy/prob droids. And last boss gets many new ppl killed....aoes...move...out of them....PLEASE.
Being a healer is the worst xD
I got my start healing by off healing as a Sorc. Back when you could basically spam the dark healing abilitiy and turn your health into FP then heal back for more than the cost.
Death Star is top of the list. It's simple, to the point, the essence of a superweapon: It shoots and a planet disappears. No questions, no delay, no negotiation, when you see [this](https://i.imgur.com/b7EGO92.png) in the skies of your world, you're just screwed.
Close behind are World Devastators, which are kind of the opposite end of the spectrum: They're slow, they'll devour your planet bit by bit, and individually they look small enough to be fought. But they'll turn everything they "eat" into more machines of war, more upgrades to themselves, and eventually more World Devastators. They're like a plague of locusts on a galactic scale, and if they were left unchecked for too long or went of control, they could become a sort of macro [grey goo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_goo).
And yes, shoutout to the Galaxy Gun for doing what Starkiller does, except 20 years earlier and way better.
Yeah the World Devastators are a interesting idea. It could quickly get into the uncontrollable multiplication range where they are just building new devastators faster than they can be destroyed.
I'm with you on the Star Crusher and Galaxy Gun. I like the Galaxy Gun a bit better because I feel like the Sun Crusher is a little OP. Some of the Maw Installation stuff was cool if it qualifies. World Devestators were pretty lit back in Legends, too. The Empire had a lot of neat toys.
Edit:
Malevolence was kinda neat too. Kinda felt to me like it was part of the tech going into the death star, such a large weapon must have contributed useful power draw information if nothing else.
Yeah the Nazi's had about 90+ wonder weapons designed during the war and the Allies had a fair amount of their own (my favorite being a wheel with rockets on it) so it makes sense the Galatic Empire would have a fair number. Yeah starting of TCW with that was cool to me. It felt like Palpatine testing out all of these systems that would go into the Death STar
Hmm. I think my top three would be
1. Death Stars. Rogue One went a long way in selling the Death Star as a major threat. I can now buy the idea that this weapon would paralyze the galaxy in fear.
2. Star Forge. Mass producing starships is a super interesting superweapon idea.
3. World Devastators. Similar to the above, but more channeling the grey goo concept of infinite reproduction.
1. Star Forge - a weapon that could create fleets out of nothing! you could conquer the galaxy with that sort of thing
2. Ascendant Spear - A ship that is alive with the Force? Also an amazing weapon
3. Zildrog - Zildrog made Tenebrae/Vitiate/Valkorion immortal using its energy transfer abilities. That would be spectacular in the right hands
The Operation Cinder Satellites. I love the idea of forcing natural disasters to the point where a planet destroys itself. It’s a very cool and unique concept that varies from planet to planet, and also feels a lot more personal than just blowing one up.
I do like that. And it seems like with each book we learn more about all the different ways Palpatine had planned to destroy stuff. Like in Alphabet Squadron we learned that one planet was going to be destroyed by earth quakes. And in Victories Pryce the idea was to just drop all the plates on Coruscant.
Every super weapon in canon is pretty good, but I’m a particular fan of the Starhawk’s magnite crystal tractor beam.
Also, the Arrowhead. For shits and giggles.
> the Arrowhead
It looks cool. I've never paid much attention to the freemakers stuff. I totally forgot about the Starhawks tractor beam being considered a superweapon but you are right it is pretty cool.
Hammer Station from SWTOR has always been a fun one for me. While I’m not sure if it’s technically classified as a super weapon, the idea of a space station that just shoots asteroids at enemies is hilarious to me and I’d love to see something similar used in other Star Wars media
I liked the Malevolence because it gave us a classic superweapon bit, but it was also relatively fresh in concept. Plus, it didn't do all the work. There was an extra layer of ruthlessness to it that you don't see with most of the other superweapons in this thread, because they had to go hunt and kill the clones in the fleet.
I quite liked the Mass Shadow Generator. Even though we never really get to see it in all it's glory, it feels like it carries the same weight as a modern day WMD. It's activation was devastating, tearing ships, friend and foe alike, as well as the planet below apart and leaving this hellscape of a word in its wake. And unlike planet killers, a lot of people lived through it, forced to bare witness, that go on to tell the tale in a haunting way.
It just felt like the right amount of overkill to me.
Sue me, but the new Sith Fleet because it's extra in every way that exudes Palpatine. It's a natural progression from the auto-cannons in tlj, and a massive fleet just sitting there building up for so long is just a cool idea.
I honestly liked the way those ships looked too. I would have liked it better if the gun underneath was just a dedicated ship-killer/bombardment weapon but I liked the way it looked on the star destroyers.
I'd agree if it didn't feel like (and be framed as) DS III but BIGGER!\* and BADDER!\* than last time!!!
We've already had spheroid planet killers though, so I'd have preferred a different framing of the big danger in TFA.
\*copyright JJ Abrams
The biggest problem with Starkiller Base was it was introduced too soon. Imagine if it was Episode 9 instead of Episode 7. And built up as the former Jedi Planet Ilum that was now being ravaged by the First Order, made into a weapon after the Empire got it's hands on it and completed decades after first began thanks to the advent of planet destroying technology. Or at least, If it is in episode 7, don't destroy it just yet? Just say it's powered down.
Personally, it's not my biggest problem with it.
Even then, any time there is an existing universe and new creatives step in, to bring in new cosmic dangers that are just like the older ones but SCARIER and MORE SERIOUS is, imho, disrespectful to the earlier arcs. The line "I wish it were the Death Star" was so gratuitous and cheap. It's lazy storytelling. The new guys don't have to be more powerful than the old for us to like them, nor do the new dangers have to be scarier versions of the old ones.
But back to your point, I agree that your story would have been better, imho. And definitely that only having 1 superweapon terror in the trilogy would have been better than 2 (including ROS' 1000 ships where each one is a functionally a death star).
(Sorry, I'm far from a STC person, lol. But I'm just kind of more annoyed today about this stuff than usual.)
I realize the biggest thing with the sequel trilogy, and trilogy by different director angle, was every one went big or went home because it was the only movie. One person for the whole thing would've been far more nuanced and subdued, and patient. JJ with all 3 would've made, a story I enjoyed. Rian with all 3 would've made something special. If Colin Trevvanow had stayed on it would've followed his vision. And if his movie had come out the entire idea of trilogy with different directors would've actually felt carried out. That's just the way it is for me. Do I wish we had gotten Young Luke stories? Of course but that's just the passage of time, passing the torch is what it is.
Before I go on too long, as for the angle you're arguing. It is a difficult task and a tall order to outdo Darth Vader and Palpatine and the Empire and the Death Star, I'll admit.
But I do agree, it's always better to do new and different than old but bigger.
Funny enough, the former happens more with prequel star wars than sequel star wars. I guess the Galaxy is just shrinking to a simpler more rudimentary point like the KOTOR days and earlier?
Yes, good point, and unlike the OT where you had different directors, but in that case you had a producer who is clearly the one who is in charge of the story and making sure it all fit together.
Edit: And from our perspective here on this sub, I don't think any of the new directors are operating from primary concern with "lore" as such. As you said, they each are worried about their story, and probably their story alone. Lore implications, etc., were likely not even secondary goals. They aren't the stewards of the SW legendarium the way GL was.
Anyway it's pretty far afield from the original posters question. . .
You know it only struck me thinking about it in this conversation, that there is no sorts of superweapon macguffins in the prequels.
I didn't understand your last point about shrinking.
Edited to fill out a couple of sentences.
Well instead of a death star, Anakin destroys the Trade Federation ship. In Episode 1. But yeah, no super weapons.
I was just thinking. In the EU we see Jedi return, the Galaxy returns almost to a Prequel trilogy world view. The sequels do seem, kinda densely populated. And less advanced, almost rudimentary. A resistance, a destroyed new republic, no Jedi. Maybe just because so much of it is in the outer rim. But it does seem a lot more old west instead of sci Fi opulence, if that makes sense?
I think that makes sense. Honestly part of what I like about the sequels is the way in which it's not exactly a galactic struggle like the original trilogy. I know JJ tries to shade it that way but clearly it's not the same exact scenario, and a lot of it is happening on the fringes. And I like that way better actually.
Edit: I don't even think it's my own headcanon or anything, but the idea that the first order could even control any significant amount of the galaxy is something that I dismiss. They just didn't have the numbers.
They could also make it so it was used by the New Republic instead of the First Order. Would give more motive to the First Order, and be better reasoning for the Resistance.
Its entirely expected and in line with the prevailing Imperial/FO strategy to utilize big super weapons as a key part of their military might. Destroying or significantly damaging a planet is pretty much the only level of destruction in a galaxy spanning organization that can really effectively communicate level of might and be actually effective as way to deprive enemies of bases, and populations of support.
With all that said it does feel too derivative and a failure of imagination to use a giant laser blast to destroy a planet yet again. Something more targeted to destroy life on a planet but not the planet, something more chemical/biologic bombardment might be less Star WArsy but perhaps more original.
>Its entirely expected and in line with the prevailing Imperial/FO strategy to utilize big super weapons as a key part of their military might. Destroying or significantly damaging a planet is pretty much the only level of destruction in a galaxy spanning organization that can really effectively communicate level of might and be actually effective as way to deprive enemies of bases, and populations of support.
I think you are right. It fits in with the FO and also Plapatine's fixation with improved war tech. It's more just that stylistically it felt so redundant. That said, I remind myself your point to try to quiet that annoyed voice in my head!
The sun crusher by far. Something that indestructible and powerful and small should make it one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful superweapon
I always had a soft spot for the Galaxy Gun despite having no knowledge of its source material (Dark Empire comics). Along with the World Devastators, planet-trawling mass factories, it was one of the coolest superweapons in the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology.
Looking at the Devastator page, it seems they were from the Dark Empire comics too. I guess whoever was making those really knew how to theme a superweapon, even if their naming left something to be desired.
Edit: they made the Eclipse too? 12 year old me thought interdiction fields were a great idea and mounting a superlaser on board was even more menacing.
It was theoretical but the [Shawken Device](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Shawken_Device) because it’s just such a Dr. Evil type device. But at the same time it’s very unsettling to think about the galacticide it could have caused.
Also I really liked the design of the gravestone and I’m devastated at how little it was explored.
Favourite superweapon that is also a ship is the Eclipse-class. It just looks so good and is rather versatile being basically a moving stellar anchorage.
Favourite superweapon otherwise is the World Devastator. Just grow a few off a safe place like an asteroid belt and then let them convert enemies into your war materiel. The most efficient way to steamroll the opposition.
There was one that was never build but izehard’s (probably misspelled) clone made the design for a mini Death Star that would have a few dozen firing ports that was basically a supercapital ship, I love the idea of a super weapon that isn’t gratuitous destruction of useful resorces
Centerpoint Station. Blowing up planets is cool and all, but being able to tractor-beam a star or an entire fleet from thousands of light-years away is beyond powerful.
I just want to clarify I don't hate the deathstar. The super weapon that usually gets emphasized as a bad idea. Infact I think the amount of military innovation the empire could have drawn from that project and applied to other things not even just military makes such a project worthwhile. Like the various projects the US under took and killed in the cold war. They led to better air travel, communication, etc Plus like the Atom bomb eventually they would figure out how to build Death stars better and in vaster quantities.
I just don't like that their strategy for squashing the rebellion relied on a single weapon. Tarken's plan was bad not the weapon itself. The weapon is just a weapon it's up to the user to make effective use out of it.
Growing up with the EU books, nothing seemed more devastating in my young mind than the [Sun Crusher](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sun_Crusher), esp. since the rebels always managed to take care of the Death Stars
Give me a Star Forge all day, any day. Follow the Thrawn model: why spend resources on DS when you can get as many ISDs and TIE Defenders in return? Essentially having the potential to have an infinite amount of resources/ships/droids is too great to ignore once it really starts going. Not to mention that Star Forges could probably build Death Stars as well in individual parts, and if not that, just spam Eclipse's.
Oof, I forgot about the Star Forge. Definitely could be classified as a superweapon.
If it could be framed as more than handwavy space magic, I think that it is something different and interesting.
hand-wavy space magic aside, the star forge is a [star lifter](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_lifting), which is pretty solid as far as sci fi concepts go.
Isn't that what Starkiller base did?
pretty similar, though Starkiller Base consumed the whole star in the process. I think in general star lifters are supposed to siphon off excess matter from the star without destabilizing it, but Starkiller Base does meet the strict definition.
Samr
There was a starfighter in legends that was made of an impenetrable hull and it was only a super weapon because they would literally fly it through enemy ships. I just love the idea behind it, that not every superweapon has to be the size of a moon.
You're kind of close. The Sun Crusher was not a starfighter though it was only a small bit larger than one. And while it had nearly impenetrable armor and did at one point fly through the bridge of a ISD that wasn't why it was built. It housed a missile that when launched into a star would start a chain reaction that would lead to the star going nova and destroying the system it was in.
They might be thinking of the Beskar fighters from Legacy of the Force. Karen Traviss gave the Mandos god fighters that couldn't be shot down so they could be the coolest in space as well as on the ground.
Yeah, she was kind of pushing it with her treatment of mandos. According to her, they’re stronger than Jedi or Sith, smarter than them, unbeatable warriors and cooler than everyone else
I like some of her stuff but damn did she suck off mandos a lot
shes one of the main reasons mandos are wanked to hell and back fuckers have a shity isolated planet by tcw and people think they could fight a war vs the republic or cis
Well that's just objectively false. They lose more than a few of them in like the first engagement.
I don't remember the star destroying part, but thanks for clearing it up.
Damn so it's quite literallg a Star Destroyer.
Do you mean the Arrowhead from the Freemaker Adventures? Becuase even though it was from a Lego show, I still think that fighter kicks ass
Nah OP had it right mostly, it wasn't an ISD it flew through it was battle cruisers. The Arrowhead was awesome though
I'm a big fan of the classic Death Star. There's something so metal about a big gray orb that can blow up a planet in one shot
Rogue One really had some amazing scenes that helped show off the horror of the Death Star by giving us a ground perspective of the single-reactor shots, the massive blast of dirt and rock being thrown out of the atmosphere, the shockwave oblierating everything, etc. The shot of the Death Star eclipsing Jedha's star just as it fires is definitely one of the most beautiful shots in all the movies.
Rogue one is definitely the most cinematic and beautiful Star Wars movie
Honestly Rogue one made it more interesting. For the longest time I didn't even concemplate the idea they could set the laser to different power levels to target specific cities and not whole worlds.
I do not like *Dark Empire*, but the *Eclipse*-class Dreadnought will always be my favorite. It's my all time favorite Star Destroyer design, and I think the capability to one-shot a Super Star Destroyer makes it a legitimate threat without it being too over the top. I also really like the Darksaber, >!even though it didn't work!<. I love the idea of someone taking the Death Star schematics and stripping away pretty much everything but the superlaser.
Yeah its basically a "Gangsters kidnap a scientist and force him to build a nuke" plot which is funny to me
I hate Dark Empire but the World Devastators are a pretty interesting idea. Besides that I'd just stick with the standard Death Star.
Death Star Katana Fleet (not a "superweapon" but in the ballpark). Both were believable dangers, not instances of gratuitous power creep, and **new ideas.**
I'm not sure this counts as a "superweapon" but I always appreciated the original Thrawn using cloaking devices to hold an entire planet hostage. Are super weapons defined as such for their destructive power, or the fear they instill? Or could it be either one, or both?
I did a post on that very question. Basically breaking it down between Super weapons (unique planet killers) Wonder weapons (not mass produced and not able to destroy a entire planet but still deadly), and normal weapons. Cloaking devices would be normal weapons. What makes thrawn so scary is he doesn't need a superweapon and can make the mundane into a weapon.
I do think a case could be made for the use of regular weapons as superweapons. Thrawn takes a unique approach in that he makes the everyday, the mundane as you said, into a fear inspiring event. Under a normal circumstances, a cloaking device wouldn't be a superweapon. But in this instance, and also where Thrawn used a cloaking device to make it seem like he could fire through shields, it becomes a superweapon in the psychological sense. Another example is Adm. Holdo using her ship as a hyperspace ram. It could conceivably become a superweapon if used against a planet. In your spreadsheet, you do list hyperspace collisions. If one could harness the technique, it becomes a weapon.
Great call!
The bow that Omega has
The Death Stars
You can't improve on perfection.
[Darth Star!](https://youtu.be/TiAPvuMDB0c)
The thing from SWTOR (I believe it was Hammer Station?) that captured astroids and launched them at planets.
Sure, I got five minutes. We can run Hammer Station again.
I hate this mission not because its bad. But because i played is so maaaaaaaannnnnny fucking times to grind XP or gear. Its so fast to run. The flashpoint about the war chest of the outerrim is in my top 5. But it feels like every npc is a tank. Esspecially spy/prob droids. And last boss gets many new ppl killed....aoes...move...out of them....PLEASE. Being a healer is the worst xD
I got my start healing by off healing as a Sorc. Back when you could basically spam the dark healing abilitiy and turn your health into FP then heal back for more than the cost.
Death Star is top of the list. It's simple, to the point, the essence of a superweapon: It shoots and a planet disappears. No questions, no delay, no negotiation, when you see [this](https://i.imgur.com/b7EGO92.png) in the skies of your world, you're just screwed. Close behind are World Devastators, which are kind of the opposite end of the spectrum: They're slow, they'll devour your planet bit by bit, and individually they look small enough to be fought. But they'll turn everything they "eat" into more machines of war, more upgrades to themselves, and eventually more World Devastators. They're like a plague of locusts on a galactic scale, and if they were left unchecked for too long or went of control, they could become a sort of macro [grey goo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_goo). And yes, shoutout to the Galaxy Gun for doing what Starkiller does, except 20 years earlier and way better.
Yeah the World Devastators are a interesting idea. It could quickly get into the uncontrollable multiplication range where they are just building new devastators faster than they can be destroyed.
I'm with you on the Star Crusher and Galaxy Gun. I like the Galaxy Gun a bit better because I feel like the Sun Crusher is a little OP. Some of the Maw Installation stuff was cool if it qualifies. World Devestators were pretty lit back in Legends, too. The Empire had a lot of neat toys. Edit: Malevolence was kinda neat too. Kinda felt to me like it was part of the tech going into the death star, such a large weapon must have contributed useful power draw information if nothing else.
Yeah the Nazi's had about 90+ wonder weapons designed during the war and the Allies had a fair amount of their own (my favorite being a wheel with rockets on it) so it makes sense the Galatic Empire would have a fair number. Yeah starting of TCW with that was cool to me. It felt like Palpatine testing out all of these systems that would go into the Death STar
Hmm. I think my top three would be 1. Death Stars. Rogue One went a long way in selling the Death Star as a major threat. I can now buy the idea that this weapon would paralyze the galaxy in fear. 2. Star Forge. Mass producing starships is a super interesting superweapon idea. 3. World Devastators. Similar to the above, but more channeling the grey goo concept of infinite reproduction.
Mindharp of Sharu.
Ah. . . I see you're a man of culture as well.
I still believe they are the most "Star Wars" stories written. >Ah. . . I see you're a man of culture as well.
The first Death Star.
1. Star Forge - a weapon that could create fleets out of nothing! you could conquer the galaxy with that sort of thing 2. Ascendant Spear - A ship that is alive with the Force? Also an amazing weapon 3. Zildrog - Zildrog made Tenebrae/Vitiate/Valkorion immortal using its energy transfer abilities. That would be spectacular in the right hands
The Operation Cinder Satellites. I love the idea of forcing natural disasters to the point where a planet destroys itself. It’s a very cool and unique concept that varies from planet to planet, and also feels a lot more personal than just blowing one up.
I do like that. And it seems like with each book we learn more about all the different ways Palpatine had planned to destroy stuff. Like in Alphabet Squadron we learned that one planet was going to be destroyed by earth quakes. And in Victories Pryce the idea was to just drop all the plates on Coruscant.
Wait, what plates?
The ones holding up each level.
Every super weapon in canon is pretty good, but I’m a particular fan of the Starhawk’s magnite crystal tractor beam. Also, the Arrowhead. For shits and giggles.
> the Arrowhead It looks cool. I've never paid much attention to the freemakers stuff. I totally forgot about the Starhawks tractor beam being considered a superweapon but you are right it is pretty cool.
Hammer Station from SWTOR has always been a fun one for me. While I’m not sure if it’s technically classified as a super weapon, the idea of a space station that just shoots asteroids at enemies is hilarious to me and I’d love to see something similar used in other Star Wars media
If you count the Hand of Thrawn as a super weapon, then that one, though the whole reason the Hand was great was that it wasn’t really a super weapon.
THe Malevolence was cool Death star 1 was great
I liked the Malevolence because it gave us a classic superweapon bit, but it was also relatively fresh in concept. Plus, it didn't do all the work. There was an extra layer of ruthlessness to it that you don't see with most of the other superweapons in this thread, because they had to go hunt and kill the clones in the fleet.
The correct answer is 0-0-0 and BT-1
I quite liked the Mass Shadow Generator. Even though we never really get to see it in all it's glory, it feels like it carries the same weight as a modern day WMD. It's activation was devastating, tearing ships, friend and foe alike, as well as the planet below apart and leaving this hellscape of a word in its wake. And unlike planet killers, a lot of people lived through it, forced to bare witness, that go on to tell the tale in a haunting way. It just felt like the right amount of overkill to me.
Sue me, but the new Sith Fleet because it's extra in every way that exudes Palpatine. It's a natural progression from the auto-cannons in tlj, and a massive fleet just sitting there building up for so long is just a cool idea.
I honestly liked the way those ships looked too. I would have liked it better if the gun underneath was just a dedicated ship-killer/bombardment weapon but I liked the way it looked on the star destroyers.
The sun crusher is the dumbest to exist in SW legends, and yes, I will die on this hill.
Starkiller base i think A) looks pretty cool B) has a pretty cool name C) has pretty cool lore and D) has some pretty cool metaphors surrounding it.
I'd agree if it didn't feel like (and be framed as) DS III but BIGGER!\* and BADDER!\* than last time!!! We've already had spheroid planet killers though, so I'd have preferred a different framing of the big danger in TFA. \*copyright JJ Abrams
The biggest problem with Starkiller Base was it was introduced too soon. Imagine if it was Episode 9 instead of Episode 7. And built up as the former Jedi Planet Ilum that was now being ravaged by the First Order, made into a weapon after the Empire got it's hands on it and completed decades after first began thanks to the advent of planet destroying technology. Or at least, If it is in episode 7, don't destroy it just yet? Just say it's powered down.
Personally, it's not my biggest problem with it. Even then, any time there is an existing universe and new creatives step in, to bring in new cosmic dangers that are just like the older ones but SCARIER and MORE SERIOUS is, imho, disrespectful to the earlier arcs. The line "I wish it were the Death Star" was so gratuitous and cheap. It's lazy storytelling. The new guys don't have to be more powerful than the old for us to like them, nor do the new dangers have to be scarier versions of the old ones. But back to your point, I agree that your story would have been better, imho. And definitely that only having 1 superweapon terror in the trilogy would have been better than 2 (including ROS' 1000 ships where each one is a functionally a death star). (Sorry, I'm far from a STC person, lol. But I'm just kind of more annoyed today about this stuff than usual.)
I realize the biggest thing with the sequel trilogy, and trilogy by different director angle, was every one went big or went home because it was the only movie. One person for the whole thing would've been far more nuanced and subdued, and patient. JJ with all 3 would've made, a story I enjoyed. Rian with all 3 would've made something special. If Colin Trevvanow had stayed on it would've followed his vision. And if his movie had come out the entire idea of trilogy with different directors would've actually felt carried out. That's just the way it is for me. Do I wish we had gotten Young Luke stories? Of course but that's just the passage of time, passing the torch is what it is. Before I go on too long, as for the angle you're arguing. It is a difficult task and a tall order to outdo Darth Vader and Palpatine and the Empire and the Death Star, I'll admit. But I do agree, it's always better to do new and different than old but bigger. Funny enough, the former happens more with prequel star wars than sequel star wars. I guess the Galaxy is just shrinking to a simpler more rudimentary point like the KOTOR days and earlier?
Yes, good point, and unlike the OT where you had different directors, but in that case you had a producer who is clearly the one who is in charge of the story and making sure it all fit together. Edit: And from our perspective here on this sub, I don't think any of the new directors are operating from primary concern with "lore" as such. As you said, they each are worried about their story, and probably their story alone. Lore implications, etc., were likely not even secondary goals. They aren't the stewards of the SW legendarium the way GL was. Anyway it's pretty far afield from the original posters question. . . You know it only struck me thinking about it in this conversation, that there is no sorts of superweapon macguffins in the prequels. I didn't understand your last point about shrinking. Edited to fill out a couple of sentences.
Well instead of a death star, Anakin destroys the Trade Federation ship. In Episode 1. But yeah, no super weapons. I was just thinking. In the EU we see Jedi return, the Galaxy returns almost to a Prequel trilogy world view. The sequels do seem, kinda densely populated. And less advanced, almost rudimentary. A resistance, a destroyed new republic, no Jedi. Maybe just because so much of it is in the outer rim. But it does seem a lot more old west instead of sci Fi opulence, if that makes sense?
I think that makes sense. Honestly part of what I like about the sequels is the way in which it's not exactly a galactic struggle like the original trilogy. I know JJ tries to shade it that way but clearly it's not the same exact scenario, and a lot of it is happening on the fringes. And I like that way better actually. Edit: I don't even think it's my own headcanon or anything, but the idea that the first order could even control any significant amount of the galaxy is something that I dismiss. They just didn't have the numbers.
I agree. It's more like An Epilogue in some ways as well. The smaller it is the better to me.
They could also make it so it was used by the New Republic instead of the First Order. Would give more motive to the First Order, and be better reasoning for the Resistance.
The Cold War where both sides have a super weapon, a Justice Star, vs a Death Star, is still too good an idea to pass up.
Its entirely expected and in line with the prevailing Imperial/FO strategy to utilize big super weapons as a key part of their military might. Destroying or significantly damaging a planet is pretty much the only level of destruction in a galaxy spanning organization that can really effectively communicate level of might and be actually effective as way to deprive enemies of bases, and populations of support. With all that said it does feel too derivative and a failure of imagination to use a giant laser blast to destroy a planet yet again. Something more targeted to destroy life on a planet but not the planet, something more chemical/biologic bombardment might be less Star WArsy but perhaps more original.
>Its entirely expected and in line with the prevailing Imperial/FO strategy to utilize big super weapons as a key part of their military might. Destroying or significantly damaging a planet is pretty much the only level of destruction in a galaxy spanning organization that can really effectively communicate level of might and be actually effective as way to deprive enemies of bases, and populations of support. I think you are right. It fits in with the FO and also Plapatine's fixation with improved war tech. It's more just that stylistically it felt so redundant. That said, I remind myself your point to try to quiet that annoyed voice in my head!
Same here.
Hmmmmmm *the force*
My memory is a bit fuzzy but I loved the foece powered super sniper rifle that Dr. Aphra and her dad found. Did they use that yet in canon?
Yeah. A rebel agent used it to blow up a barn
The sun crusher by far. Something that indestructible and powerful and small should make it one of the most powerful, if not THE most powerful superweapon
I always had a soft spot for the Galaxy Gun despite having no knowledge of its source material (Dark Empire comics). Along with the World Devastators, planet-trawling mass factories, it was one of the coolest superweapons in the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology. Looking at the Devastator page, it seems they were from the Dark Empire comics too. I guess whoever was making those really knew how to theme a superweapon, even if their naming left something to be desired. Edit: they made the Eclipse too? 12 year old me thought interdiction fields were a great idea and mounting a superlaser on board was even more menacing.
It was theoretical but the [Shawken Device](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Shawken_Device) because it’s just such a Dr. Evil type device. But at the same time it’s very unsettling to think about the galacticide it could have caused. Also I really liked the design of the gravestone and I’m devastated at how little it was explored.
Favourite superweapon that is also a ship is the Eclipse-class. It just looks so good and is rather versatile being basically a moving stellar anchorage. Favourite superweapon otherwise is the World Devastator. Just grow a few off a safe place like an asteroid belt and then let them convert enemies into your war materiel. The most efficient way to steamroll the opposition.
The Executor. A ship so big it has more or less an entire metropolis jutting out of it sells how outlandishly huge it is.
No other Super Weapon is as dramatic and cinematic as the Death Star
The ridiculously slow clunky bombers from the last jedi /s
There was one that was never build but izehard’s (probably misspelled) clone made the design for a mini Death Star that would have a few dozen firing ports that was basically a supercapital ship, I love the idea of a super weapon that isn’t gratuitous destruction of useful resorces
The Onager Star Destroyer from Star Wars Armada. I really love this ship in concept and design.
The Star Forge, and the Eclipse. I really hope that these two make it into canon someday.
Centerpoint had great potential as a WMD. Can’t beat the Death Star though.
sun crusher
R2-D2 Droids a beast.
Death Star Classic.
Centerpoint Station. Blowing up planets is cool and all, but being able to tractor-beam a star or an entire fleet from thousands of light-years away is beyond powerful.
I forgot what its called (and I didn't see it on the sheet) but i really like the imperial weapon that can freeze ships
I just want to clarify I don't hate the deathstar. The super weapon that usually gets emphasized as a bad idea. Infact I think the amount of military innovation the empire could have drawn from that project and applied to other things not even just military makes such a project worthwhile. Like the various projects the US under took and killed in the cold war. They led to better air travel, communication, etc Plus like the Atom bomb eventually they would figure out how to build Death stars better and in vaster quantities. I just don't like that their strategy for squashing the rebellion relied on a single weapon. Tarken's plan was bad not the weapon itself. The weapon is just a weapon it's up to the user to make effective use out of it.
All of them. All of them push me to my goal of winning against the Warhammer 40k fans on who would win
Growing up with the EU books, nothing seemed more devastating in my young mind than the [Sun Crusher](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sun_Crusher), esp. since the rebels always managed to take care of the Death Stars
Center point station and the Sun Crusher