Gadgets
Can a Lightsaber Cut Through Superman?

Can a gadget defeat a superhero? Here's a question our sister site io9 posed: can a lightsaber cut through Superman? We put both our nerdy gadget knowledge and our nerdy superhero knowledge to the test and came up with reasons why it could and reasons why it couldn't.


Yes
• If the lightsaber crystal was green, like green kryptonite, or if they actually used kryptonite as the crystal, then Superman would melt like a hot knife through even hotter dog droppings.
• Superman's been injured by lasers before (see most aliens he's fought), so an extremely focused laser like a lightsaber could possibly hurt him if applied directly to the skin for a long enough time.
• If he were under the effects of kryptonite, when even bullets can hurt him, then a lightsaber could definitely chop off parts of his body.

No
• What type of radiation does the lightsaber emit? It's light, and Superman gets power from the sun, so the lightsaber could be a refreshing lamp.
• It would just burn off his clothes, like in Superman 2, but it wouldn't hurt him.
• He uses lasers (his own heat vision) to shave himself, so the best the lightsaber could do would to singe his chest hair, or give him a nice shave down there.
• Jedis can't actually cut through "everything" with the sword. Example: the big huge door in Episode I. They had to jam in their lightsabers and "melt" a doorway inside the door. The sword was fast to go into the door because they applied all the force to the tip, but was slow cutting because the Jedis are only so strong. Picture you cutting through a watermelon. In the same principle, a lightsaber technically might be able to cut through Superman, but there's nobody strong enough to force it through. Unless you somehow get the Hulk to use a lightsaber. But the Hulk doesn't exist.

Verdict: Superman wins! [Thanks to Achal for his Superman knowledge.]

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Superman vs. a Jedi

By the Power of Sol, I Have the Power
Superman's powers come largely from his exposure to Earth's yellow sun, and the sun has been charging his solar batteries for nearly all of his life. While it's unlikely at this point that Superman's batteries could run down, we'll assume that all of these battles mentioned in this article take place on Earth or in the presence of a similar star.
We'll begin with the question that started it all -- would Superman win in a fight against a Jedi Knight? Booth's e-mail raised several specific questions. Would a Jedi be fast enough to sense Superman's approach? Could the Jedi manipulate Superman in mid-air? Could a lightsaber be made from kryptonite?

Jedi are fast, and part of their training involves fighting without using their sight or other senses. But they don't quite reach Superman's speeding-bullet status. Physically, Superman has the upper hand.

Because of Superman's strength and speed, using the Force to manipulate him mid-flight would be a lot like manipulating a starship. If the Force could manipulate starships in flight, Darth Vader could have crashed all the X-wings during the Battle of Yavin. Or, Luke Skywalker could have destroyed all of the Star Destroyers during the Battle of Hoth. The logical conclusion is that Jedi are not capable of stopping something as strong and fast as a speeding starship. Some portrayals, like the "Clone Wars" series, do show Jedi performing extreme feats with the Force, but those feats come with a price. To even attempt to stop Superman in mid-flight could seriously injure or kill a Jedi.

Finally, there are two reasons why a Jedi wouldn't have a lightsaber made from kryptonite:

* A lightsaber uses crystals to focus the blade, and gathering these crystals from the planet Ilum is a rite of passage for a Jedi. Under certain conditions, the crystals emit light and energy. Kryptonite is not typically crystalline; it's usually a metal or a rock. The crystalline versions of Kryptonite that have existed have emitted radiation, just like Green Kryptonite, rather than light or energy.
* Kryptonite affects Superman because of its radioactive properties. Adding kryptonite would only make a lightsaber more deadly to him if the resulting weapon emitted the same radiation.

However, a lightsaber may be useful against Superman even without the presence of kryptonite, since magical weapons can harm him. If the Ilum crystals are by nature magical, then the blade might slice through Superman just like it can slice through Vader's arm. You can read more about lightsabers in How Lightsabers Work.

With these points in mind, it seems unlikely that a Jedi could defeat Superman, regardless of who has the high ground unless lightsabers are magical.

A Sith Lord, on the other hand, could be a formidable opponent for Superman. Unlike Jedi, Sith Lords don't hold themselves to a code of balance or fair play. They give in to powerful emotions like passion and rage, and they use the Force with a vengeance. Sith Lords also use synthetic crystals and make other adjustments to their lightsabers. They may be more likely to entertain the idea of making a kryptonite or magical lightsaber. Failing that, a Sith Lord may tune his lightsaber in such a way that it bypasses Superman's protective field.

A Sith Lord's no-holds-barred approach to wielding the Force also provides a potential advantage. So while he might not be able to stop Superman in midair, a Sith Lord could act first, unleashing the Force while Superman was on the ground. The ensuing fight between a Sith Lord and Superman has the potential to be long and brutal, especially as the Force weakens Superman. A Sith Lord could win, depending on:

* How effectively and repeatedly he can strike Superman with a lightsaber or Force lightning
* Whether these weapons have an effect on Superman If the Force and lightsabers can affect Superman, they could allow a Sith Lord to overcome the natural advantage Superman seems to gain when fighting evil.

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Superman vs. the Death Star

Superman has x-ray and heat vision, freezing breath and an impenetrable field that surrounds his body and his clothing. He can move at tremendous speeds, and he can fly. The Death Star has 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,500 laser cannons, 2,500 ion cannons and 768 tractor beam projectors. It also has a Superlaser, which focuses the energy from the station's hypermatter reactor into a beam capable of destroying planets.

When fighting Superman, the Death Star's Superlaser might be a liability instead of an asset. The reactor's power output is comparable to that of a small star. Depending on how similar this energy is to that of a yellow sun, the laser might actually make Superman stronger. But even without a power boost from the Superlaser, Superman would still be invulnerable to the Death Star's other weaponry. Even if the Death Star managed to trap Superman in its tractor beams, it might not be able to penetrate his skin with its weapons.

In addition, Superman wouldn't need to find a two-meter-wide thermal exhaust port in order to destroy the Death Star. His strength and dexterity would allow him to punch his way through the hull to access to the space station's reactor. He could then use his heat vision to start a chain-reaction and fly out again to escape from the resulting explosion.

To defend itself against Superman, the Death Star could leave the vicinity of any yellow sun and stay so far away that Superman couldn't reach it before losing his powers. But this might only delay the inevitable -- Superman's body has stored so much energy from the Earth's sun that his batteries may never run out. Then, the Empire could retrofit its weaponry to use kryptonite ordnance. Otherwise, the Death Star would fall quickly.

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