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!.
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:
Answer
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)
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
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:
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"
Comments
Post a Comment