Flamethrower/Legends

"Fill your enemies with primal fear, then fill their lungs with fire!"

―Ancient Gand proverb^[3]

A flamethrower or flame projector was a weapon which fired a burning stream of liquid or gas.

Description

Boba Fett using a wrist-mounted flamethrower

The flame projector shot a jet of ignited liquid that had a short range but inflicted great damage and could set targets on fire. They were useful in close-quarters combat and attacks on caves and bunkers. They were also effective in boarding operations.

For all their power, flame projectors had a key weakness. Because they employed volatile chemicals under pressure, the weapon could sometimes explode if damaged.^[1]

Flamethrowers were extremely useful against lightsaber wielders as the flame could not be blocked by a blade. A skilled enough Force wielder could use the Force to shield themselves from the flames, but this took considerable effort and uncommon strength in the Force.^[8]

Merr-Sonn and Czerka were leading manufacturers of flame projectors.^[1] Some models of flamethrowers included the Model C-22 flame carbine, the Model CR-24 flame rifle, and the Oppressor flamethrower which was used by the storm commandos of the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps. Some flamethrowers were miniaturized so that they could be worn on the wrist, such as the ZX miniature flame projector and CZ wrist-mounted flame projector, Dash Rendar also modified his blaster pistol to be used as a flamethrower. Larger flamethrowers called flame cannons were mounted on vehicles such as the CZ-28 Flamestrike flame cannon and Model CR-28 flame cannon.

History

The sale of flamethrowers was primarily restricted to legitimate military organizations and police forces.^[2]

Because of their usefulness, flamethrowers were sometimes used by bounty hunters, most notably Durge, Jango Fett, and Boba Fett. Cad Bane also had a flamethrower built into his wrist gauntlets. Walon Vau also had one. Sebulba, a notorious Dug Podracer, installed a flamethrower in his podracer to use against other racers. During the Clone Wars, clone blaze troopers and flame troopers had massive flamethrowers capable of melting most materials. Some ARC Troopers integrated miniature flamethrowers into one of the gauntlets on their armor. Certain models of assassin droids were equipped with flamethrowers, such as ASN-121, IG-88, and L8-L9, as well as the HK-series assassin droids prominent during the Old Sith Wars, who seemed to take perverse delight in setting their enemies on fire.^[3] The Overlord Pre Vizsla and his Death Watch warriors used flamethrowers at Ming Po town on the planet Carlac. During the Jedi Civil War, Revan may have purchased droid flamethrowers for his two droids, HK-47 and T3-M4, during his quest for the Star Forge. One model of droid flamethrower was the Baragwin flame thrower.

The Galactic Empire and the Corporate Sector occasionally used flamethrowers against rioters, due to their horrific and demoralizing effects. Around the beginning of the Galactic Civil War, the clone of Galen Marek encountered several large flamethrower-wielding Incinerator war droids on Kamino.