Swinging his wrist gauntlet, he headbutted Ominous Helmet, Acolyteof Mysterious dark stranger Paving the way Star Wars This Week in History With one concussive movement, the Jedi’s enemy’s laser blade was annihilated. However, the material that could withstand the lightsaber was Star Wars What could be causing this strange effect, when we already have enough of it? The infamous substance from the Expanded Universe.
What is Cortosis?
Cortosis, an extremely rare and extremely fragile substance, was first introduced in a 1998 novel. I am a Jedi By Michael Stackpole. In addition to its rarity, Cortosis was extremely difficult to mine due to its electrical conductivity. Like several other substances in the galaxy far, far away, Cortosis had the ability to resist standard energy weaponry such as blasters, but unlike other substances, Cortosis gained a niche following the discovery that it could also conduct the energy of a lightsaber blade, shorting out the weapon for up to several minutes.
Cortosis has frequently appeared in the Expanded Universe as a major anti-Jedi substance (although some interpretations treat it similarly to other energy-resistant metals), but it also returned to the current continuity fairly early on. After first being canonized in 2015, Rebels Prequel novel A New DawnIt appears in several comics, primarily in John Jackson Miller’s Cortosis. Darth Vader and Ahurabut its most notable appearance is in Acolyte The Stranger’s helmet is made from Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn: Alliance 2018.
There, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, and a Chiss Expansionary Defense Force officer known as Mitthrow Nuruodo (later Grand Admiral Thrawn) discovered a cortosis mine on the planet Mokivji, which was being used to develop cortosis-enhanced super battle droids (as well as cortosis-enhanced clone trooper armor for use in Order 66, under the orders of Darth Sidious). The three destroyed the mine, but because Anakin had not taken into account the unique energy-transforming properties of cortosis, it caused extensive damage to Mokivji itself, eventually triggering volcanic activity that would fundamentally alter much of the world’s ecosystem.
How does cortosis work?
In both the original Expanded Universe and current continuity, Cortosis fiber has high energy absorption and conductivity, such that the directed energy of a blaster bolt striking the material is dissipated throughout the fiber with minimal damage. While this property is common to other materials in far-away galaxies, Cortosis’ extreme absorption and conductivity are unique, such that attacking it with an energy blade such as a lightsaber causes the energy field that holds the blade to dissipate, creating a feedback loop that temporarily shuts down the lightsaber itself. Star Wars There has been inconsistency in previous sources regarding how long a lightsaber is disabled by Cortosis: in some cases, it’s only temporary and the disabled lightsaber can be reactivated immediately, and in other cases, the weapon is disabled for several minutes.
meanwhile Acolyte While the film gives us our first on-screen look at how Cortosis works, it also appears to introduce some previously unseen properties of Cortosis. While dueling Jedi Master Sol, the Stranger implies that his Cortosis mask also blocks his telepathy, telling the Jedi that he refuses to remove it so Sol can’t read his thoughts. But whether that’s just Stranger bluffing or an actual new property of Cortosis itself remains to be seen.
What other materials could withstand a lightsaber?
As mentioned earlier, cortosis Star Wars Metals that can block a lightsaber blade in both the Expanded Universe and the current world. There’s beskar, of course, which is the Mandalorian iron, but there’s also fryk, the metal alloy used to make the electrostaff. Other metals that can resist a lightsaber blade in both worlds include:
- The statue in which Palpatine hid his lightsaber was made of Neuranium.
- Songsteal briefly featured as a saint in 2022 novel Shadow of the Sith As material for a talisman owned by Ray’s father, Dasan
- Armorweave is a Kevlar-like material that can be fashioned into clothing and underwear.
The Expanded Universe also features the Von’dun Club armour, a spiked piece of equipment worn by Yuuzhan Vong infantry, which has a crystalline structure and is described as being able to block blaster fire and lightsaber bullets, as well as Ultrachrome, an ancient metal with highly superconducting properties that is used to construct starship armour. Star Wars: The Old Republic Appears in Mace Windu novels Shutter Point.
Why would you use these over Cortosis?
But if Cortosis can dissipate blaster bullets… and Why was it used less than other materials to disable lightsabers for a certain period of time? As I said before, cortosis is a very rare material both in the EU and in the current canon. However, can Cortosis, while easily found, is extremely difficult to develop into a lightsaber-proof material on a large scale, and its extreme fragility requires careful refining, making weapons or full suits of armor out of it difficult and often useless, compared to materials like Beskar or the more common Armorweave.
Small blades, or helmets and gauntlets like those used by the Stranger, were the preferred use of Cortosis. Cortosis was an individual piece that could be used alongside regular armor to exploit certain properties of the material. However, Cortosis could also be used in a smithing technique called Cortosis Weaving, where a mesh of Cortosis Ore fibers could be bonded to armor or weapons made of other materials. This helps give it enough energy conduction to block a lightsaber blade, but Cortosis’ unique ability to short out weapons was dependent on the amount of Cortosis itself used in the weave. Given its rarity and difficulty of use, Cortosis-woven equipment was often only able to resist.
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