Could Superman get cut down by a Lightsaber? [The More You Know]
It’s a question that sounds like something that characters in a Kevin Smith movie would debate for a solid hour of a movie, but fortunately Gizmodo’s crack team of sci-fi and superhero geeks have put their heads together to come up with an answer so we all can rest a little easier.
Yes
• If the lightsaber crystal was green, like green kryptonite, or if they actually used kryptonite as the crystal, then Superman would melt like a hot knife through even hotter dog droppings.
• Superman’s been injured by lasers before (see most aliens he’s fought), so an extremely focused laser like a lightsaber could possibly hurt him if applied directly to the skin for a long enough time.
• If he were under the effects of kryptonite, when even bullets can hurt him, then a lightsaber could definitely chop off parts of his body.
No
• What type of radiation does the lightsaber emit? It’s light, and Superman gets power from the sun, so the lightsaber could be a refreshing lamp.
• It would just burn off his clothes, like in Superman 2, but it wouldn’t hurt him.
• He uses lasers (his own heat vision) to shave himself, so the best the lightsaber could do would to singe his chest hair, or give him a nice shave down there.
• Jedis can’t actually cut through “everything” with the sword. Example: the big huge door in Episode I. They had to jam in their lightsabers and “melt” a doorway inside the door. The sword was fast to go into the door because they applied all the force to the tip, but was slow cutting because the Jedis are only so strong. Picture you cutting through a watermelon. In the same principle, a lightsaber technically might be able to cut through Superman, but there’s nobody strong enough to force it through. Unless you somehow get the Hulk to use a lightsaber. But the Hulk doesn’t exist.
Verdict: Superman wins!
Via: Gizmodo
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Comment by Allan on 2 February 2008:
Holy Jeebus, was anyone totally fixated on the image of the Hulk with a lightsaber?
Comment by Pikajedi3 on 2 February 2008:
[quote=Allan]
Holy Jeebus, was anyone totally fixated on the image of the Hulk with a lightsaber?
[/quote]
….terrifying…but yet, oh so cool….
more importantly, would Force Choke or Lightning work on Superman?
Comment by Ryan on 2 February 2008:
Lots of good points, but the problem is this would all have to be assumed that the battle would be done on a planet under the light of a yellow sun. Being that the Jedi’s are in a different galaxy no one can really tell if Superman would have the same kind of power as he does on Earth.
Comment by Rippy on 3 February 2008:
Now you’re splitting hairs. As a long time comic geek (and thus an old hat at these sorts of quandaries) one generally assumes ideal conditions for both combatants. If Superman is not under a yellow sun, he’s hardly Superman, thus negating the point of the question altogether. Don’t be an asshat. lol
Comment by Geek on 3 February 2008:
Why fixate on the lightsaber?
Use the force instead - superman is vulnerable to magic and the force is probably sufficiently magical to count. Use that force-lightning - nobody said we had to be a *good* jedi.
Or, it has been shown before - superman is vulnerable to mind control. The fight needn’t even take place.
*waves hand*
“I’m not the Jedi you are looking for.”
Comment by Ghee on 3 February 2008:
But the Hulk doesn’t exist….. need i point out why this is troublesome?
Comment by Jezabelle on 3 February 2008:
“But the Hulk doesn’t exist….. need i point out why this is troublesome?”
Let me point it out for those of you that can’t seem to see it…But Superman does exist?
I feel dumber having read that last line in this article.
Comment by Drob Vious on 3 February 2008:
hey stupid, superman and lightsabers doesn’t exist either
Comment by Green Lantern on 3 February 2008:
“superman is vulnerable to magic and the force is probably sufficiently magical to count” - Geek
The Force has nothing to do with magic, it is determined by the amount of Midi-chlorians in ones blood. So I still think S-man would win if there wasnt any kryptonite around ;)
Comment by CJ on 3 February 2008:
I for one want to see Yoda kick Superman’s ass.
Super you say hmmm? Your ass I will kick!
Comment by Yama on 3 February 2008:
Three words.
Kryptonite. Lighstaber. Crystals.
Comment by Tigers692 on 3 February 2008:
Ok, as probably the older person reading this, I thought this was a pretty good article. The joke of the hulk being real is a kick back to stand by me, where they argue over mighty mouse and super man…finally deciding that superman would win becaue mighty mouse isn’t real. (remember the live action superman was a “real” person)
I would think the way the jedi could beat supes is if they caused a bubble to appear in his airway and could keep it there for a long period of time. Force bubble is realy the only way I see it happening, but it would have to be sniper style. Because if he sees the Jedi he beats the Jedi! Also, you would have to assume there would be no way for him to talk to the rest of the justice league. Otherwise they would be there to help.
Comment by Qroberts on 3 February 2008:
Good arguments I have some points to add,
Judging by the array of materials light sabers can cut through, one has to assume that the blade’s temperature is immense, perhaps exceeding 100,000 celsius. Because the blade is essentially weightless, no matter how hard or fast it is swung, it generates very little momentum. Thus, it is safe to assume that its cutting power derives from its ability to vaporize or rapidly melt the material just in front of the blade quickly enough the the swing is not resisted. Thus as a material becomes denser, the time it takes for the leading edge of a lightsaber to vaporize/melt it increases. This sets a limit to the density of the material that a lightsaber can cut in a single swing. It also implies that a longer amount of time would be required to cut through denser objects, which would require a slower swing or the blade would simply bounce back.
Now considering superman, his seeming immunity to projectiles and massive mechanical damage implies one of two things. Either, his body is of a normal biological density and yellow suns cause him to generate a powerful energetic/gravitational/electromagnetic field about his body (in fact just above his skin and below his uniform because otherwise his uniform would only tear when he had been dealt a flesh wound or worse). Or, yellow sunlight causes his body’s molecular structure to rearrange to be of a much higher density than objects and organisms is our solar system (remember that atoms are mostly empty space and if compacted to the point that the electrons and proton/neutron core were nearly touching would be roughly 1000X more compact). If this was the case, then a bullet would need to be 1000X denser to pierce him as it would a normal being.
Each of these configurations implies that superman could not be cut by a light saber. Either, the blade would be repelled by his endogenous energy field (we know that light sabers cannot penetrate magnetic shielding). In this case the blade could not be swung fast enough to cut him and the only option would be to try and immobilize and stab him by applying a stupendous amount of force to the handle in a vertical fashion like a trip-hammer or pile driver. This would likely break the handle and thus the lightsaber before sufficient force had been applied to harm superman. Or, if superman is super dense the blade would hit a density barrier as it was swung into his flesh and simply bounce off. In this case the only option would be a slow stab as well, although a normal amount of force could be applied for a long amount of time to allow the blade time to burn through.
In each of these scenarios the jedi would be reduced to a fleshy mist before he could possible inflict any damage. And I hate to say that because I love jedi.
Comment by mean on 3 February 2008:
nerds.
Comment by cranberryzero on 3 February 2008:
One other thing to consider is that while Superman is Superman and has incredible physical strength, he can be beaten with brains. If Batman can kick his butt by outwitting him, there’s a good chance that he can be beaten by a Jedi– especially someone like Yoda for example.
Comment by False_Hollow_Phantom on 3 February 2008:
Kryptonite lightsabers sound like the coolest things in the world. Why not throw kryptonite blasters into the mix while you’re at it? Or a kryptonite Death Star? I bet *THAT* would take out that pompous Man of Steel. >=D
Comment by gwwiz on 3 February 2008:
No, sorry, Superman would lose.
Since we have to assume a best case for both parties (i.e. a yellow sun for Superman) then we are talking about his opponent being a truly epic Jedi Master. How powerful is that? One was able to pull a Star Destroyer from the sky and slam it into the ground without too much effort.
Two important points to remember: 1. Superman is not impervious, only very, very resistant. Doomsday did in fact beat him to death. 2. Superman does not have an indomitable will. He has been mentally dominated on more than one occasion.
Force Knowledge: The Jedi Master would “know” where Superman was going to be and what he was going to do.
Light Saber and Force Knowledge = Laser Vision is reflected and not an issue.
Force Grab = Holds Superman and / or Force Coercion = Superman forgets to fight for a few (read critical) moments or even longer.
An easy technique to end the fight could be coercion or hold to keep Superman on a ship long enough to “jump” away from our Yellow star. Change the venue mid fight and the only question is what you do with Superman before you kill him.
The other easy kill option starts with coercion or force again but ends with using a light saber on Superman’s forehead like it was a super-reinforced bulkhead…it would be “just a matter of time”.
In the end Jedi Master wins any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Now, If you will excuse me, I have to clean up the basement before Mom gets home.
Comment by Phr3nic on 3 February 2008:
Well, but what if the Jedi had higher ground? That seems to be important.
Comment by Darth Caedus on 4 February 2008:
Coercion only works on minds that are weak. A strong willed person can not be coerced.
Light saber would probably not be effective on Superman. It would hurt him, but not likely damage him beyond ability to fight.
Force use would be required. However, Superman is not of the Star Wars galaxy. The Yuuzhan Vong wars in the Star Wars novels shows that creatures from outside the galaxy may also be outside the Force. This means that the normal Force Awareness that allows Jedi or Sith to predict an opponents next move may not work.
This leaves the battle at Force vs. Superhuman Ability. Probably outcome is stalemate.
Comment by COMALite J on 4 February 2008:
Which Superman? The main Superman character that everyone knows is but one of several, and he himself has had numerous incarnations. His power has varied from the original “Able to leap 1/8th of a mile! Nothing less than a bursting shell can pierce his skin!” to “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (but not fly)!” to, in the Silver Age and beyond until the Crisis, being so ridiculously powerful that he could juggle the moons of Jupiter, and any matter from Krypton (other than Kryptonite itself) became equally indestructible to the point that one could hypothetically wrap Tsar Bomba (most powerful nuke ever made) in a single layer of sopping wet single-ply toilet paper from Krypton, under a yellow sun, and detonate the bomb, and anyone standing right next to it would hardly know that the bomb even went off, since the wet Kryptonian toilet paper would completely contain the explosion and radiation!
Since the Crisis on Infinite Earths, his power has also varied. Byrne originally had him about a thousandfold less powerful than he was in the Weisinger era, but still by far the most physically powerful hero in the DC Universe (nowhere near as weak as he was in the early 1940s). But other writers have made him more powerful since then, though still not quite at the levels of the Weisinger era.
In the far future (most likely an alternate timeline future, though it was originally billed as THE FUTURE of the DC Universe), he becomes known as Superman Prime, and has godlike levels of power beyond even Weisinger’s imagination.
Comment by Ray on 4 February 2008:
Superman could just pull the cellophane off his chest and wrap the Jedi up in it. Haha.
100,000 degrees celcius. And somehow not radiating it outward and melting everything within 500 yards, including the saber and the Jedi holding it? Jedi can walk on the sun now?
Comment by General Zod on 4 February 2008:
This argument is pointless. Both Superman and the Jedi will kneel before Zod!
http://www.zod2008.com/
Comment by LiberalZombie on 4 February 2008:
gwwiz: “…then we are talking about his opponent being a truly epic Jedi Master. How powerful is that? One was able to pull a Star Destroyer from the sky and slam it into the ground without too much effort.”
When has this level of power in a Jedi even been established in the Star Wars universe?
Methinks your SW fan-boi enthusiasm has got you reaching there.
Comment by Joshua on 4 February 2008:
Hello, jedi mind trick “superman, go jump in a black hole”… “Duh, ok”. Superman’s main weakness is his mind. He’s got some wisdom and good virtues, but his mind is slightly below average. In other words, weak minded.
Comment by Tyler Durden on 4 February 2008:
Ghee was being sarcastic… Some of you need to have your Internets taken away.
Comment by gwwiz on 4 February 2008:
LiberalZombie…mmhmm…learn your Star Wars more you must!!
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/21861.html
Phat trailer, phat game, and one dead (though beloved) Superman.
Oh and “mean” it’s Geeks not nerds. “Learn to like Geeks because you will work for one someday.”
Comment by Bob on 6 February 2008:
Why does no one ever factor in Superman’s speed? The guy can move faster than most minds can think. Yes, Jedi’s have some of this ability too, manifesting as a slight precognitive ability, but Superman is by far faster.
Any fight with Superman (by almost anyone, really) would go like this:
1-2-3 Beg-Your Dead!
That is assuming that he uses his speed to full effect - which he never does (there’s not much point in a comic that always ends before the villain can make his monologue.)
Comment by wow on 8 February 2008:
you all are stupid mother fuckers for wasting your time with this
Comment by josef on 27 April 2008:
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