Blaster (Star Wars)

Blaster
A prop E-11 blaster carbine, as used by Imperial stormtroopers.
Plot element from the Star Wars franchise
Production company	Disney Lucasfilm
First appearance	Star Wars (1977)
Created by	George Lucas
Genre	Science fiction
In-story information
Type	Raygun, Particle-beam weapon
Function	Shooting
Affiliation	Galactic Republic Confederacy of Independent Systems Galactic Empire Rebel Alliance Other

The blaster is a fictional energy weapon that appears in the Star Wars universe. Lucasfilm defines the blaster as "ranged energized particle weaponry". Many blasters mirror the appearance, functions, components, operation, and usage of real life firearms. They are also said to be able to be modified with certain add-ons and attachments, with Han Solo's blaster being said to be illegally modified to provide greater damage without increasing power consumption.

The design of the blaster is based on the real-life Sterling sub-machine gun used by the armed forces of the United Kingdom over the second half of the 20th century, with changes made by the filmmakers such as alterations to the magazine.

In the films, the design of the blaster rifle was based on the Sterling submachine gun. The design of the blaster pistol owned by the fictional character Han Solo was based on the 7.63-caliber Mauser C96, an early and successful automatic pistol that was used in World War I and World War II. Lucasfilm's prop department added a scope and an emitter nozzle to the pistol. The blaster made for the 1977 film A New Hope was lost, and a second blaster was made with resin from the cast used for the first one. The blaster was subsequently used as a prop in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Functional Sterlings firing blank cartridges were used in some scenes with the laser bolt added later in post-production. These blank cartridges are responsible for the muzzle flash seen on screen and, in some scenes, the cartridges themselves can be seen being ejected from the guns, or the actual sound of the blank cartridge is not dubbed over by a sound effect.