Seven Unique Metals Found In The 'Star Wars' Galaxy
Image Source: StarWars.com
The Star Wars galaxy is full of many strange places, unique people, and crazy creatures. However, the galaxy far, far away also has a wide range of fictitious materials that, alongside real minerals and materials from our world, help galactic citizens get through their day. Some of these may be rarer than others, or more specialized, but all of them are specific to the Star Wars galaxy. Today, we explore seven of these unique metals, be they unaltered or alloys.
7. Aurodium
Image Source: StarWars.com
Rarer than gold, aurodium certainly keeps gold’s gleaming yellow hue when forged, but also holds the same positions as gold does in our real-world society. Used to decorate all manner of people via fine jewelry, it also held a place within galactic currency, as the aurodium standard was one used by the Galactic Republic. The currency of Cantonica was made from aurodium and was backed by this old standard, as New Republic currency was considered too volatile. Some notable examples of aurodium include the aurodium-plated dice that were so important to Han Solo and Kazuda Xiono’s prized possession, a trophy earned when he first won a race.
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6. Cortosis
Image Source: StarWars.com
An extremely rare metal, likely rarer than aurodium, cortosis has several unique properties that made it highly sought after by various factions and individuals across galactic history. Its major use is utility, due to its unique ability to absorb high amounts of energy, and it is capable of redirecting great amounts of heat. Despite these uses, it is incredibly brittle and thus difficult to shape in its natural state, though it can be woven into other materials as a mesh. There is one other key trait of cortosis that makes it sought out by many, and that is its ability to short out lightsabers. Weapons made with partial cortosis lacked this effect but could still go toe to toe with lightsabers, unable to be cut by the kyber-generated blades. As a result, groups such as the Ascendant and Mandalorians made use of the material in their fights against the Sith and Jedi, respectively. Other notable examples of cortosis include cortosis-mesh clone trooper armor created by Serennian nobles loyal to Count Dooku, the cyborg Count Vidian’s skin graft, and The Stranger’s cortosis helmet and vambrace.
5. Doonium
Image Source: Wookieepedia
More common than the two metals mentioned above, doonium is a heavy, hard, white-grey colored metal that is largely used in the construction of starships. Such a commonplace metal could be mined from a variety of locations across the galaxy, but the rise of the Empire and the needs of the Death Star demanded vast quantities of doonium to be acquired. Besides its use as part of countless Imperial starships and the Death Star, doonium was also used in a first-generation model of droid that later became the infamous buzz droid, used across the Clone Wars.
4. Durasteel
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Another commonly used material, durasteel, is a grey alloy created using some portion of the ore zersium, and can be found in all kinds of contexts. It is incredibly malleable, which allows it to be used in the creation of everything from gloves to starships, though generally it is used in places where strength is necessary. It can be used in armor for individual people, seen with objects like Darth Vader’s helmet and General Grievous' body parts, in construction with grand structures like the support frame of the Mos Espa Grand Arena, and as mentioned earlier, in starships, as the Millennium Falcon was protected by a durasteel shell.
3. Lommite & Transparisteel
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Lommite and transparisteel are closely associated, given that one metal goes into the creation of the other, though if lommite is another substance, it has not been made clear. Lommite ore, at the very least, is harvested from various worlds for use in the creation of transparisteel. This is a transparent, incredibly strong material that is used in the creation of starship cockpits and windows. It is capable of being made blaster-proof. Some notable examples of transparisteel use include in the cockpits of TIE fighters, X-wings, and the Millennium Falcon, while Darth Vader’s helmet eye sockets also used the substance.
2. Sarrassian Iron
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This material has a more sinister history than others on this list, even cortosis. Sarrassian iron, a red mineral mined from an asteroid belt called the Aniras Belt, likely near a world called Sarassia, has special particles that resonate with the Dark Side of the Force. This is not the first time Force-linked materials have appeared in Star Wars, though it is currently rare for them to be so directly linked to the Dark Side. Kyber crystals, for instance, are neutral-Light Side, and must be bled to become tools of the Dark Side. Regardless of how this link with the Dark Side is possible, sarrassian iron was once used by ancient Sith alchemists, and its most notable use at present was in the repair of Kylo Ren’s destroyed helmet. Hopefully, this material will appear in the future when more Sith make their way into stories in Star Wars canon.
1. Roxodium
Image Source: Wookieepedia
The most recently introduced metal on this list, roxodium was seemingly a metal only mined in one part of the galaxy, the Khepi system. A terrible disaster led to the near extinction of the Khepi people when a meteorite collided with their planet, but a portion of their people survived in a retreat to a newly built Great Tomb. Roxodium was likely mined before this event, but after the Khepi vanished, various external parties came to the star system in search of legendary riches but also general prosperity. Roxodium was among these riches, as it could be refined into plating for starships, allowing them to shrug off ionic charges from either natural or sentient-made sources. Roxodium’s other notable uses included the many artifacts of the Khepi found strewn across the galaxy, and within their legendary Tomb.
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