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The Star Wars Battlefront game trailer features the use of a man-portable area deflector shield at the Battle of Endor (taken from this Youtube video starting at 44 seconds):

enter image description here

The shield generator is carried by a Rebel infantryman, powered up in the middle of battle, and used to protect several Rebel infantrymen from AT-ST fire. Does such a device have a predecessor from the Clone Wars era?

Similar (but generally much larger) area shield generators already exist in canon. For example, the Gungan shield generator seen in Episode I:

enter image description here

The area shield seen at the Battle of Christophsis:

enter image description here

The area shield protecting the Ray Shield Fortress:

enter image description here

However, none of these previously known area shields are man-portable (the Gungan shield generator comes closest, but is carried by a pair of fambaa war beasts).

(The Gungans do have a personal energy shield which is of course man-portable, but this shield does not protect an area -- it doesn't even fully protect one infantryman -- so such a shield isn't really a predecessor of the shield generator seen in Star Wars Battlefront.)

It seems odd that there doesn't seem to be any device from the Clone Wars era similar to the one seen in the trailer, despite the fact that similar (but larger) shield generators as well as smaller personal shields were in use by the Gungans well before the Clone Wars. I would think that the Republic would want to use shields like the one in the trailer to help protect their valuable and expensive clones, and perhaps even the Separatists would want to use them to protect their relatively expensive super battle droids.

To be clear on criteria, I'm looking for a shield generator that is

  • Man-portable (stationary shields and/or shields that require large animals to carry them don't count)
  • Able to cover an area large enough to protect at least two human-sized infantrymen (i.e. personal shields like the Gungans' don't count).
  • Used for blocking blaster bolts, whether from small arms or vehicles like an AT-ST
  • From the Clone Wars era
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  • Well, there are the ray shields from RotS. They appear to operate in a similar way. (images4.fanpop.com/image/answers/250000/…)
    – Rogue Jedi
    Commented Sep 8, 2015 at 23:04
  • @RogueJedi Yes, but that one is not portable. And it was used to trap people, not actually block blaster bolts. It's an open question whether they were designed to trap people, block blasters, or something else. The technology seems to be there for man-portable area deflector shields, which is why I'm puzzled that they aren't used in battle.
    – Null ♦
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 2:37
  • This is like the TIE Defender where a concept is first introduced via video game. Besides you can still trample them even with the shield... which is always fun! TIE Defender started in the game Tie Fighter.
    – Mark Rogers
    Commented Sep 24, 2016 at 2:41
  • Also as I recall the shield in the game only lasts for a minute or two rather than indefinitely like most other shields featured in the series. For that reason you could hand wave why they are suddenly in use.
    – Mark Rogers
    Commented Sep 24, 2016 at 2:48

2 Answers 2

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Droideka shields come to mind:

  • Their consistency/looks are similar enough (with different profile, but that can be explained by higher center of the sphere than other shields we can see): Droideka image from Wookiepedia

  • Portable (maybe not quite man-portable, but close enough)

  • Same qualities - Clone Wars episode: A War on Two Fronts shows that it also doesn't protect against low speed impacts like thermal generators passing through, while providing almost impenetrable barrier against small arms fire.

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  • It should be noted that the Destroyer Droid shields were weaker than the one in the trailer appears to be as Anakin was able to destroy them with a Naboo ship.
    – Rogue Jedi
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 11:53
  • @RogueJedi if shield maximum surface of protection is a sphere (resonable assumption) than Droidekas version is significantly moredeployed than the trailer one - but yes, granted.
    – Deltharis
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:06
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    I thought about explicitly excluding droidekas in the question, but decided not to because of the second bullet point. Droidekas are only 1.83 meters tall (about the height of a man) so their shields would not cover an area large enough to protect at least two human-sized infantrymen. I admit it's close to what I'm looking for, but I'm still surprised that the Republic didn't seem to use shields like the one in the trailer to protect their valuable (and expensive) clones, and even the Separatists might have wanted to protect super battle droids with them.
    – Null ♦
    Commented Sep 9, 2015 at 13:33
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The Death Watch portable shield comes to mind. First appearing the the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "The Lawless," this shield is mounted on Mandalorian armor gauntlets and can deflect blaster. However, unlike the other shields that cover the entire body, this one basically relies on the wielder to be used correctly and safely. Here's a picture.enter image description here

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  • Is the shield shown in the picture the full extent of the covered area? That's a pretty small shield.
    – Null ♦
    Commented Sep 24, 2016 at 4:52
  • That is, in fact, the full extent of the area. You just have to be good at wielding it.
    – Donatello Swansino
    Commented Sep 25, 2016 at 23:15
  • Thanks for bringing this to my attention, but this isn't really what I'm looking for. As I mentioned in my question, we've already seen Gungan personal shields which have similar functionality. I'm looking for a shield that protects a small area (at least two human-sized infantrymen).
    – Null ♦
    Commented Sep 26, 2016 at 3:08

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