Superweapon
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
A superweapon was a weapon capable of destroying entire planets or star systems. The most famous superweapons were probably the Death Stars.
Imperial superweapons were inspired by the Tarkin Doctrine of "rule through fear of force, rather than force itself." These included the Death Stars, the World Devastators, the Sun Crusher, and the Galaxy Gun, among others.
Other superweapons were created at other periods in galactic history, such as the Mass Shadow Generator used during the Mandalorian Wars. World-devastating weapons were also created by alien civilizations, such as the ancient builders of Centerpoint Station and the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong, although the latter's Vongforming technology more often fell into the category of bioweapons. Another famous example would be the Star Forge, built in pre-Republic times by the ancient Rakata.
During the era of Ulic Qel-Droma, the Sith had constructed a superweapon known as the Dark Reaper. The thought bomb was designed to kill all living beings in a certain area around it. It was used in the Seventh Battle of Ruusan against Lord Hoth and the Army of Light.
Superweapons were typically designed and manufactured by interstellar governments, as most minor factions could not afford the materials and technology required to build them. However, at certain points in Galactic history, superweapons were commissioned by powerful crime lords. Sise Fromm commissioned the Trigon One, and Bevel Lemelisk designed the Darksaber for Durga the Hutt.
It should be noted that large capital ships, such as the Confederacy of Independent Systems' Providence-class carrier/destroyers, the Empire's Imperial-class Star Destroyers, or even ancient ships such as Interdictor-class cruisers, were capable of rendering entire planets lifeless, but not completely annihilating them. Unlike the use of superweapons, this usually required a sustained bombardment, a combined assault from a fleet of ships, the sabotage of planetary shields, or some combination thereof.
In later years, the Galactic Empire was criticized for its overuse of ultimately ineffective superweapons. Han Solo once discussed how the Empire might have reacted to the Yuuzhan Vong War:[1]
- "What the Empire would have done was build a supercolossal Yuuzhan Vong-killing battle machine. They would have called it the Nova Colossus… Galaxy Destructor or the Nostril of Palpatine or something equally grandiose… And you know what would have happened? It wouldn't have worked. They'd forget to bolt down a metal plate over an access hatch leading to the main reactors, or some other mistake, and a hotshot enemy pilot would drop a bomb down there and blow the whole thing up. Now that's what the Empire would have done."
- ―Han Solo to Vana Dorja[src]
