10 Deadliest Superweapons In Star Wars

Alongside Lightsabers and the Millennium Falcon, one of the most iconic aspects of Star Wars is its constant use of superweapons. Both chronologically and in terms of release order, the franchise seems to have put an equal amount of focus onto these superweapons as it does on the Jedi's era-spanning struggle against the Sith.

These weapons and their destructive capabilities have been, and always will be, a mainstay across the Space Opera, with the writers of the films, shows and games seemingly always finding a way to either utilise a pre-existing superweapon from Star Wars Legends or canon, or invent a completely new terror machine for the heroes to inevitably blow up.

Still, the potential threat these weapons pose to the galaxy is terrifying, considering a large portion of said machines can be used to eradicate an entire people, destroy planets, or even star systems. Whilst Vader will insist that the power of these technological terrors are nothing next to the power of the Force, they still are incredibly dangerous, and perhaps pose just as much peril to the galaxy's population as any Sith Lord could.

The World Devastators, or World Smashers, were created by the Dark Empire in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and were one of the most useful superweapons used by the Imperials. The large machines were equipped with strong tractor beams on their lower halves, meaning they were able to tear the surface beneath them, causing complete chaos.

Unlike the Death Stars, these World Devastators were not merely planet-killing machines. These superweapons could be used to ruin a planet's surface, stomping out rebellious defiance, whilst harvesting the resources of the planet it was wreaking havoc upon. These resources would later be used to both power the machine's foundries, which produced warships and weaponry, as well as fuelling itself, making the World Devastators very sophisticated, yet terrifying mechanisms.

The World Devastators were first seen in the Star Wars: Dark Empire comic book line in 1992, where they began to devastate the New Republic's temporary home world, Mon Calamari. It was only through R2D2 creating a virus, which was then fed to the machines, that Luke Skywalker able to destroy the World Devastators, and free Mon Calamari from the Imperial destruction.