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A ray-shielded blast door on Skytop Station
- "See this wavy light around my body? It's a ray shield. Blaster fire can't get in or out. Neat, huh?"
- ―Feylara Raed
A ray shield was a common type of deflector shield. It was designed to absorb blasts from energy weapons such as laser cannons and turbolasers. Ray shields absorbed a large amount of the impact of the weapons strike, rocking the ship and leaving the underlying armor plating scored.[2]
The energy requirements for keeping ray shields active was tremendous; as such, they were only raised when combat was expected. The ray shield permeated the hull, sheathing the vessel in layers of energy. The shield could extend out from the hull by millimeters or a few centimeters, and was so powerful that it was often fatal to anyone unlucky enough to come into contact with it.[2]
History and usage[]
A pair of fambaas with a Gungan deflector shield generator projector
Many starships contained ray shields as a defense against laser weapons. They absorbed lasers like a sponge, and they even deflected some. When a shield took too many hits, it burned out and needed to be recharged.
Ray shields varied in size according to what they were protecting. Large capital ships such as Imperial Star Destroyers had multiple arrays, and some wealthy systems even had planetary shields. Personal shields were on the other end of the spectrum: Jedi Kyle Katarn used one to protect himself during most of his battles, and Han Solo and Chewbacca used personal ray shields when they were gladiators in the Big Game.
The Imperial Agent Cipher Nine used ray shield to try to contain the Sith Lord Darth Jadus.
The Gungans in the Battle of the Great Grass Plains used energy shields for personal defense against the Trade Federation.
During the Clone Wars, bounty hunter Cad Bane used a ray shield to hold Padawan Ahsoka Tano hostage in an attempt to persuade her Master to open a holocron for him.
The Rebel Alliance uses ray shields during the Galactic Civil War.
The Republic military base on Coruscant used ray shields to keep captives inside its prison cells.
In 19 BBY, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the recently rescued Palpatine were captured by General Grievous in Hallway 328 of the Invisible Hand through the use of a ray shield to trap them in the middle of the hallway.
The Death Star's thermal exhaust port was protected by a ray shield, since a particle shield would prevent it from venting; therefore, Alliance proton torpedoes could penetrate it, a fact which was pivotal in the destruction of the battle station.
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
