What You Need to Know About The Acolyte's Lightsaber-Shorting Metal

With a plaything of a wrist gauntlet, and the head-butt of a sinister helmet, The Acolyte’s mysterious acheronian Stranger carved a way into Star Wars past this week with a single, shocking move: strikes that sent the laser blades of his Jedi foes sputtering retired of existence. But portion we’ve seen lightsaber-resistant worldly successful Star Wars plentifulness already, what could origin this unusual effect? An infamous worldly from the Expanded Universe.

What Is Cortosis?

A precise uncommon and precise brittle material, cortosis was archetypal introduced successful 1998 caller I, Jedi by Michael Stackpole. On apical of its rarity, cortosis was highly hard to excavation owed to its conductive properties. Like respective different materials successful the postulation far, acold away, it was susceptible of absorption to modular vigor weapons similar blasters—but dissimilar others, cortosis recovered a niche with the find that it could besides behaviour the vigor of a lightsaber blade, shorting retired the limb for a play of up to respective minutes.

Although cortosis featured heavy successful the Expanded Universe arsenic a premiere anti-Jedi material—although immoderate interpretations of it treated it similar immoderate different energy-resistant metals—it did besides marque its mode backmost into existent continuity beauteous aboriginal on. After archetypal being canonized successful the 2015 Rebels prequel caller A New Dawn, by John Jackson Miller, cortosis has made appearances successful respective comics, chiefly Darth Vader and Aphra, but its astir salient quality anterior to its usage successful The Acolyte arsenic the worldly the Stranger’s helmet is made retired of was successful Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn: Alliances successful 2018.

There, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, and the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force serviceman known arsenic Mitth’raw’nuruodo—the aboriginal Grand Admiral Thrawn—discovered a cortosis excavation connected the satellite Mokivj, which was being utilized to make a scope of cortosis-enhanced Super Battle Droids (as good as, astatine the behest of Darth Sidious, cortosis-enhanced Clone Trooper armor to beryllium utilized during Order 66). The trio destroyed the mine, but astatine large outgo to Mokivj itself, erstwhile Anakin failed to relationship for cortosis’ unsocial energy-redirection properties, sparking volcanic enactment that yet radically transformed overmuch of the world’s ecosystem.

How Does Cortosis Work?

Screenshot: Lucasfilm

In some the aged Expanded Universe and existent continuity, cortosis fibers had precocious vigor absorption and conduction properties, making the directed vigor of a blaster bolt that struck the worldly dissipate crossed the fibers with minimal damage. While this trait is communal successful different materials successful the postulation far, acold away, cortosis’ utmost absorption and conduction is unique, to the constituent that striking it with an vigor leaf similar a lightsaber’s would origin the vigor tract maintaining the leaf to dissipate, causing a feedback loop that would temporarily unopen down the lightsaber itself. Previous Star Wars material has been inconsistent successful conscionable however agelong a lightsaber is disabled by cortosis—in immoderate instances, it’s lone a stop-gap, and a de-activated lightsaber tin beryllium instantly re-activated; successful others, the limb is rendered inoperative for respective minutes.

While The Acolyte provided our archetypal on-screen look astatine cortosis successful action, it besides seemingly introduced a spot it’s ne'er had before. While dueling Jedi Master Sol, the Stranger implies that his cortosis disguise besides inhibits telepathy somehow, telling the Jedi that helium refuses to instrumentality his disguise disconnected truthful Sol can’t work his thoughts. Whether that’s grandstanding connected the Stranger’s portion oregon an existent caller spot of cortosis itself, however, remains to beryllium seen.

What Other Materials Resist Lightsabers?

Image: Lucasfilm

Like we said, cortosis is acold from the lone worldly successful Star Wars susceptible of blocking a lightsaber leaf successful either the Expanded Universe oregon existent continuity. Of course, we person the Mandalorian iron, beskar, but there’s besides phrik—the metallic alloy utilized to conception electrostaffs. Other metals susceptible of resisting a lightsaber leaf from some continuities include:

• Neuranium, which the statue Palpatine hid his lightsabers successful was made of
• Songsteel, concisely canonized successful the 2022 caller Shadow of the Sith arsenic the worldly an amulet owned by Rey’s father, Dathan, was made retired of
• Armorweave, a kevlar-esque worldly that could beryllium fashioned into apparel and undergarments

The Expanded Universe besides introduced Vonduun crab armor, the spiked cogwheel worn by the footsoldiers of the Yuuzhan Vong—which was described arsenic having a crystalline operation that made it susceptible of blocking blaster occurrence and lightsaber bolts—as good arsenic Ultrachrome, an past metallic with precocious superconductive properties utilized successful crafting starship armor that appears successful Star Wars: The Old Republic and is mentioned successful the Mace Windu caller Shatterpoint.

Why Use Them Over Cortosis?

Image: Douglas Wheatley, Michael David Thomas, and Ronda Pattison/Dark Horse

But if cortosis could some dissipate blaster occurrence and disable a lightsaber for a play of time, wherefore was it truthful infrequently utilized compared to different materials? Well, similar we said, successful some the EU and the existent canon cortosis is an highly uncommon material. But adjacent if you can find it, it’s precise hard to make into a lightsaber-resistant worldly astatine scale. Cortosis required cautious refining arsenic it was besides highly brittle—making it hard and often useless to trade full weapons oregon suits of armor retired of it, compared to thing similar beskar oregon the much communal armorweave.

Small blades, oregon helmets and gauntlets similar those utilized by the Stranger, were the preferred deployment of cortosis—individual pieces that could beryllium utilized for the material’s circumstantial properties alongside regular armor. However, cortosis could besides beryllium utilized successful a smithing method known arsenic cortosis-weave, wherever a mesh of fibers of cortosis ore could beryllium bonded to armor and weaponry made from different materials. While this would assistance assistance capable vigor conduction to artifact a lightsaber blade, cortosis’ unsocial quality to abbreviated the limb retired would beryllium reliant connected the magnitude of cortosis itself utilized successful the weave—given its rarity and trouble to use, much often cortosis-weave cogwheel was lone susceptible of resistance.

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