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I recently came across this cover art while reading through The Other Lost Missions: Rare Clone Wars Comics and Literature, Part 2, and I couldn't help but notice the way the guy in the picture, Telloti, is holding his lightsaber. It appears he's holding it against the ground, with his left arm being supported by it. True, we can't actually see the blade touching the ground, but I can't think of a good reason why anyone would hold their sword like that while keeping it in the air.

So is it possible for (activated) lightsabers to not pierce through things, and actually support weight like this?

I suppose it's also true that the floor could be resistant to lightsaber blades, but as far as I know, all the materials that can deflect lightsabers are extremely rare and expensive, and would likely not be used in construction of a building of any size.

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    The way he is holding it is odd but it doesn't look like he's putting any weight on that hand.
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    May 18, 2018 at 16:31
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    Maybe he's doodling little plasma burn drawings on the floor.
    – Radhil
    May 18, 2018 at 16:37
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    I feel like that image was just based on a common fantasy roguish-king pose, without thought about what the blade would do. My guess is that, assuming the floor was a lightsaber-resistant material, the blade would be frictionless and would skitter around too much to be used as a cane.
    – Vanguard3000
    May 18, 2018 at 16:46
  • @Vanguard3000 I agree, but it still brings up the question
    – DCOPTimDowd
    May 18, 2018 at 18:53
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    Maybe there's a little cortosis lined indentation in the floor to hold the tip specifically so he can look all imposing in that pose...
    – Forral
    May 22, 2018 at 17:26

2 Answers 2

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In a word, yes. The entire principle of the lightsaber is that it's bright plasma that (normally) cuts straight through solid matter. That plasma stream can be powered down and encased in a forcefield that can be turned up to 11 to make a blade that's basically impervious to matter.

The Jedi use these when teaching children, presumably because it's a real drag having to explain to Coruscant Social Services why there's a bunch of one-armed kids running around the place.

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Attack of the Clones: Visual Dictionary

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The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force

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  • I suspect it's probably the other way around - you dial the strength of the field down to allow the plasma to interact with things.
    – T.J.L.
    May 18, 2018 at 20:00
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    @T.J.L. - That was my point. Dial it up and it's basically a solid forcefield that looks pretty. Dial it down and matter can pass through the field and interact with the plasma
    – Valorum
    May 18, 2018 at 20:49
  • Any citation or source?
    – Paul
    May 18, 2018 at 21:11
  • so using training blades would be the equivalent of using dowel rods?
    – Skooba
    May 18, 2018 at 21:16
  • From the Jedi Apprentice books, the training saber or training mode just means the saber will leave a bad 1st-degree, maybe 2nd-degree burn. I've never seen anything that describes them phasing through solid matter rather than cutting it like a plasma torch. Do you have a source for that Valorum? Or @T.J.L. ?
    – TylerH
    May 18, 2018 at 21:18
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It is possible that the lightsaber would create a small puddle of molten rock underneath and around the point of contact. My only source for this assumption is when Qui-Gon used his lightsaber to cut through the blast doors on the Trade Federation ship in The Phantom Menace. When doing so, the blast doors slowly melted into clumps of molten metal. Perhaps information on what metal which the blast doors are made is out there, as well. There may even be a better example of what would have happened in the Extended Universe.

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    That scene was what my mind went to as well. As long as you're walking on a dense material maybe the saber could support you for a split second before it starts to sink into the floor.
    – Harabeck
    May 18, 2018 at 22:02
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    The blast door did actually melt, though, complete with glowing orange-hot. I suspect it wouldn't be comfortable to stick around for any length of time. "Hey kids, this time the floor really is lava!"
    – Cadence
    May 19, 2018 at 7:52

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