Blasters are ubiquitous to both continuities in the Star Wars franchise, but recent canon material is changing how deadly they are. Every major faction in Star Wars uses blasters, and the weapons are commonly used by smugglers, bounty hunters, and civilians as well. Although there are numerous varieties of blaster weaponry, there are consistent traits among all of them, particularly their effectiveness against humanoids. As shown throughout the canon timeline and the original continuity, the Expanded Universe (now called Legends), blasters are extremely lethal when their bolts strike a humanoid in the head or torso, yet the recent canon properties, The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Bad Batch, have characters surviving wounds that normally kill beings almost instantly.

Blasters are directed energy weapons, firing pulses of irradiated explosive gas called blaster bolts. There are numerous varieties of blasters, with civilian-grade weapons being common, simple, lacking in features, and generally ineffective against armored beings, such as Clone Troopers, Stormtroopers, or Super Battle Droids. High-quality armor-piercing blasters, like those used by the major factions of the Star Wars saga (as well as smugglers and bounty hunters) easily penetrate most materials, save for beskar or many reinforced starship hulls. Blasters also have various modes and power settings, though a single low-powered bolt is nearly always instantly lethal when hitting a humanoid in the torso or head.

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In the eleventh episode of The Bad Batch, “Devil's Deal,” Orn Free Taa is blasted by Crosshair on Admiral Rampart’s orders, as part of a conspiracy to frame Cham Syndulla for crimes against the ever-present and iron-fisted Empire. Senator Taa was struck in the head with a deadly, armor-piercing, blaster bolt from Crosshair’s weapon, which normally results in instant death. In the following episode, however, Admiral Rampart reveals that Taa is simply injured, and is expected to make a full recovery. This is perplexing, especially considering that Taa was unarmored and a massive blast point is visible on the side of his head. For better or worse, this isn’t the first time a character has survived a lethal blaster wound in the canon continuity.

Crosshair in Bad Batch

In The Mandalorian season 1, the mercenary Fennec Shand is blasted and seemingly killed by the bounty hunter Toro Calican. Calican blasted Shand in the abdomen at point-blank range, which also typically results in near-instant death. Despite this, the seemingly dead Shand is later found by Boba Fett and revived via a cybernetic replacement for her disintegrated abdomen. In an unused Star Wars: The Clone Wars storyline, Boba Fett wins a standoff against Cad Bane, blasting the bounty hunter through the head while surviving a headshot from Bane, thanks to his beskar helmet. In one of Bane’s appearances in The Bad Batch, he sports a metal plate on his head, strongly implying that his unreleased The Clone Wars arc happened at some point and that he somehow survived being blasted in the head.

Even at their lowest power setting, blasters are extremely deadly weapons. In all other canon and Legends stories, blaster wounds are typically only survivable if the bolt hits a humanoid’s limbs. These notable exceptions have so far only happened to major characters who are either being saved for future storylines (like Fennec Shand and Cad Bane) or are confirmed to be alive later in the canon timeline (Orn Free Taa appears in the novel Lords of the Sith, which is set years after his The Bad Batch appearance). Although the Star Wars canon continuity appears to be changing how deadly blasters are, these instances are more likely the result of plot armor.

Next: Star Wars: Blasters' Powers & Abilities Explained