Dismemberment

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"What do they do with the severed limbs? Ponda, find out!"

―Dr. Cornelius Evazan, to Ponda Baba^[1]

DV7-only-an-arm — Darth Vader severed the Sixth Brother's hand as a lesson in loss.

Dismemberment was the loss of one or more limbs, such as the hand, foot, arm, or leg. Limbs could be lost intentionally, in battle, or accidentally. It was relatively common for such an injury to be inflicted during lightsaber combat, as lightsabers could cut through almost any substance. Individuals who had lost limbs were usually outfitted with cybernetic prosthetics.

The term was also used in reference to severing the limbs of droids, or limbs that were already prosthetic.

History[]

"It is only natural. He cut off your arm, you wanted revenge."

―Sheev Palpatine, to Anakin Skywalker, referring to the latter's execution of Dooku^[2]

High Republic Jedi Santari Khri cut off Dagan Gera's right arm, when he attempted to take a Abyss compass.^[3]

During the Battle of Naboo, Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi severed Darth Maul's torso from his waist to avenge the death of his Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn at Maul's hands.^[4]

Bounty Hunter Zam Wesell had her right arm cut of by Obi-Wan after trying to kill him.^[5]

TisButAScratch-AotC — Anakin Skywalker's right arm was severed by Darth Tyranus during the First Battle of Geonosis.

During the First Battle of Geonosis, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi cut off the two front legs of a Acklay before killing it. Mandalorian bounty hunter and clone trooper template Jango Fett joined the battle to kill Jedi Master Mace Windu. Windu was able to cut his head off, killing the Separatist mercenary. Later, the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus severed Obi-Wan's Padawan Anakin Skywalker's right arm in a lightsaber duel.^[5]

During the Mission to Vassek 3, Gor's tail got cut of by Padawan Nahdar Vebb and his hands by Jedi Master Kit Fisto, before being killed.^[6]

During the Battle of Saleucami, Tactical droid TV-94 attempted to kill Jedi Master Eeth Koth, but had his right arm cut off and was destroyed by Anakin Skywalker.^[7]

Bounty hunter Twazzi had her right arm cut of by Anakin during the kidnaping of Palpatine.^[8]

ARC Trooper Echo lost his right arm and both of his legs after getting caught in an explosion and captured by the Separatists during the Battle of Lola Sayu.^[9]^[10]

Savage Opress lost his left arm to Obi-Wan and Maul's left leg to Jiro during a skirmish.^[11]

General Grievous ripped off the left arm of a Nightsister Zombie, during the Battle of Dathomir.^[12]

During the Battle of Anaxes, Anakin cut of Admiral Trench's left arms for the sequence to disarm the bomb in the Anaxes assembly complex.^[13]

Three years after the First Battle of Geonosis, Skywalker exacted revenge by cutting off both Tyranus' hands with his lightsaber during the Battle of Coruscant. Later decapitating him with Tyranus' Lightsaber under the insistence of Darth Sidious, under the alias of Chancellor Palpatine.^[2]

Grievous suffered multiple dismemberments during the Clone Wars. During the Mission to Skytop Station, Padawan Ahsoka Tano cut off his right hand while distracted, to escape.^[14] During the Mission to Vassek 3, Jedi Master Kit Fisto cut off his legs, and later his upper left hand.^[6] During the Battle of Dathomir, Nightsister Asajj Ventress cut off his upper right arm.^[12] During the Battle of Utapau, Obi-Wan Kenobi cut off his upper hands.^[2]

Following the issuing of Order 66, Maul, now a renegade Sith, engaged with multiple clone troopers during a skirmish aboard the Venator-class Star Destroyer^[15] Tribunal,^[16] having been a prisoner onboard the ship before Ahsoka Tano released him as a diversion for the brainwashed clones. Encountering a squad in one hallway, Maul drove them back using the Force before telekinetically pulling one trooper's right arm through a closing blast door, with the arm being severed when the door closed.^[15] This allowed Maul to steal the trooper's wrist-comm and eavesdrop on the clones' transmissions.^[17]

After turning to the dark side of the Force, Skywalker severed Mace Windu's right hand to save Darth Sidious when Windu tried to kill the latter.

VaderOperation-ROTS — Darth Vader lost his left arm and both legs when Obi-Wan Kenobi defeated him on Mustafar.

Skywalker later dueled his former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and lost both legs, as well as his left arm. The loss of all of his remaining limbs, burn injuries and subsequent reconstruction as a cyborg caused the fallen Jedi to all but fully embrace his new Sith identity as Darth Vader, Sith Lord and apprentice to Emperor Palpatine.^[2]

As a Dark Lord of the Sith, Vader oversaw the training of the Inquisitorius—a group of fallen Jedi who turned against the Jedi Order in the aftermath of Order 66. To teach his Jedi hunters a lesson in the pain of loss, Vader dismembered the right hand of Fifth Brother and the left forearm of Sixth Brother.^[18]

During the skirmish on Wayland, Echo cut off the hand of an inventory droid and attached it onto his right arm under his disguise as a TK stormtrooper.^[19] Clone Commander Crosshair also had his right hand cut off by Clone X trooper CX-2.^[20]

The Ninth Sister lost her right leg to Sixth Brother,^[21] and her right hand to Cal Kestis.^[22]

The Jedi Knight Cal Kestis severed the limbs of many hostiles he encountered, including cutting the arms off Jotazs on Zeffo and the undead Nightsisters on Dathomir.^[22]

Greez Dritus lost his right upper arm to the Fifth Brother.^[23]

Chewbacca ripped the arms off a Pyke sentinel during the Raid on Kessel.^[24]

After the Third Sister threatened to cut of the hands of people in Anchorhead if they did not turn in a Jedi, she cut of the right hand of a Woman after she spoke out against the Empire.^[25]

During Cal's Quest for Tanalorr, he dismembered many hostiles including, Goroccos, Mogus, and Sutabans.^[3]

The Bedlam Raider leader Rayvis had his right arm cut off by Cal, but was able to reattach it due to his Gen'Dai abilities. He then had both arms cut off, before being killed by Cal.^[3]

The Eighth Brother threatened to cut off Ezra Bridger's right hand and make him fall, if he didn't hand over a Sith holocron during the Mission to Malachor.^[26]

During the era of the Galactic Empire, Kenobi dismembered the Aqualish thug Ponda Baba's right arm in self-defense of Luke Skywalker.^[27]

Hutt Grakkus Jahibakti Tingi had two of his twelve cybernetic legs cut off by Kreel.^[28]

Lukenohandsma — Luke Skywalker's right hand was severed in battle by his father, Darth Vader.

A Wampa lost its right arm to Luke after attempting to eat him, later, Skywalker lost his right hand in a duel against his own father.^[29]

Skywalker fought Vader once more during the Battle of Endor, and this time he emerged victorious after severing his father's right cybernetic hand.^[30]

Krrsantan tore the left arm off a Trandoshan in a drunken rage after watching him gamble.^[31]

In the last day of the New Republic, Chewbacca ripped off the right arm of the Crolute junk boss Unkar Plutt after he threatened the Jakku scavenger Rey, the Wookiee's newest friend.^[32]

Sometime afterwards, when Rey was brought before Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order, the dark side warrior Kylo Ren took advantage of the situation to kill Snoke and usurp his throne, cutting through Snoke's waist and wrists.^[33]

Cultural and species significance[]

Wookiees were known to pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose.^[27]

Trandoshans were able to regrow their limbs if they were severed.^[34]

In some cultures in the the galaxy, people were punished for theft by having a hand amputated.^[35]

Although most species experienced cauterisation when a lightsaber amputated their limbs, Aqualish were known to bleed.^[27]

Behind the scenes[]

"Yet another in the series of Star Wars severed limbs. I've actually tried to talk to George [Lucas] about the whole reason for the severed limbs in these movies and he always just sort of smiles and chuckles and never gives me the real answer"

―Rob Coleman on the dismemberment gag of the saga films^[5]

So far, all Star Wars movies of the Skywalker Saga have featured dismemberment of either organic or artificial limbs. In the commentary track of the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, Rob Coleman discussed that while he tried to talk with George Lucas about the reason of the gag, Lucas just smiled and chuckled at him without giving him the answer.^[36]