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A Russian "The Force Awakens" trailer apparently had tons of stuff not shown in English ones.

One of the most intriguing pieces for me was a scene where

... Finn ...

armed with a lightsaber fights a stormtrooper armed with some sort of weird weapon - which Blocks the lightsaber!.

enter image description here

What is that weapon and how does it manage to block?

UPDATE: found an animated GIF of the fight. I hope nobody gets a headache, sorry in advance:

enter image description here

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  • NOTE1: I didn't post the screenshot after the block demonstrating that it was indeed successful with no seeming damage to the weapon. Just to save space. But you can verify for yourself in linked Youtube trailer.
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 19:38
  • NOTE2: This is from Russian trailer. So I'll be satisfied with an answer if it conclusively proves that this shot was from a trailer only and not from the actual film
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 19:38
  • Cortosis is an energy-conductive material from Legends continuity that can make armor and weapons lightsaber-resistant. According to Wookipedia (starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cortosis) it has become part of canon. So at first I thought the weapon might be something like a mace/warhammer like weapon enhanced with cortosis-weave. Maybe even some strange sort of vibroblade. But Nathan Campbells answer seems good as well. It might have been fashioned after the electrostaff. Or maybe it's even a combination of both.
    – Sebastian_H
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 19:54
  • 3
    This actually is a scene from the film.
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Dec 18, 2015 at 8:20
  • FWIW, I found an actual project that someone made of this. makezine.com/2015/12/22/…
    – Josh B.
    Commented Jan 7, 2016 at 19:00

1 Answer 1

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The weapon is a Z6 riot control baton and is carried by the First Order Riot Control Stormtrooper (in the film you can see him toss aside the shield before taking on Finn)

Z6 riot control baton: Visual Dictionary

The Z6 riot control baton, also known simply as the Z6 baton, was type of baton used by First Order riot control stormtroopers to shock or pummel an opponent. It was also capable of resisting the plasma blade of a lightsaber. Stormtroopers normally used it in conjunction with a betaplast riot shield, and the weapon itself was capable of being spun around by its handle.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Z6_riot_control_baton

http://www.starwars.com/databank/first-order-riot-control-stormtroopers

In the trailer - if you look closely, the part of the gun that is struck is glowing.

Thus - it is likely similar to the Magnadroid electrostaff

enter image description here

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Electrostaff

Electrostaffs were designed for single combat against lightsaber-wielders such as Jedi, and had the ability to block lightsaber strikes. Each end of the staff was tipped with electricity, and was powerful enough to stop a being's heart after five seconds' contact.

Here is a different gif that seems to show TFA version more clearly:

enter image description here

Also - it could be a shield of some kind - recall that in Episode 1 - Jinn and Kenobi flee the shielded battle droids because they "were no match for Droidekas"

enter image description here

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    Can you show the similar "glowing" thing on a new weapon?
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 19:56
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    @DVK - answer edited with different gif :)
    – NKCampbell
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 20:22
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    Awsome! (if combined with a question, epilepsy inducing). I will try to top this with novelization based answer later on, but so far, this is defnitely worth an accept.
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Dec 17, 2015 at 20:25
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    I always saw it as a newer/modern version of the magnaguards staff
    – Thomas
    Commented Dec 18, 2015 at 16:32
  • 1
    Looks like the lightsaber blade slips of the electro bit, any reason it didn't slice the middle of the blade in half like hot butter?
    – user20155
    Commented Dec 28, 2015 at 1:36

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