'Star Wars': Our Gruesome Countdown of Every Lost Limb in the Galaxy
Do you sense a disturbance in the Force? Maybe that’s because May 25 will be the 40th anniversary of the original release of Star Wars in theaters. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, we’ll be posting Star Wars stories all month, including choice vintage interviews, original videos, and some of our favorite pieces from years past, like this one, a version of which was originally published in 2015. Just keep coming back here all month to see what’s happening in our galaxy.
When you think of Star Wars, “disarming” might not be the first word that comes to mind. But there’s no denying that characters in the space saga have a tendency to lose their limbs. Beginning with the Cantina alien who finds himself on the wrong side of Obi-Wan’s lightsaber in 1977’s A New Hope, many arms, legs, and hands have been sacrificed in the name of George Lucas’ epic story. The video above, inspired by a StarWars.com article, chronicles every chopped appendage in the original trilogy and prequels.
For story purposes, the most important behanding in Star Wars history is that of Luke Skywalker, whose lightsaber-clasping digits were sliced off by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back. (At the end of The Force Awakens, Rey returns Luke’s lightsaber, sans original hand.) But as we learned in Revenge of the Sith, Luke got off easy compared to his father, who lost both legs and an arm in battle. Altogether, there are 23 lost limbs in those six Star Wars films, encompassing Jedi knights, Sith warriors, droids, assorted aliens, and a Wampa. So far, the carnage doesn’t extend to the more recent Star Wars films — but few fans would be shocked if Rey or Kylo Ren comes out of The Last Jedi one hand short.
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