Stun

Stun was a setting available on some blaster weapons, designed to incapacitate a subject without permanently hurting or killing them by overloading their nervous system, knocking the target unconscious. It was primarily used for capturing those wanted as prisoners. Upon contact, the target would briefly turn a sharp blue as charged particles overloaded their nervous system, sending the receiver's biosigns wild. In less than a second, the target's nervous system would return to baseline as the electrical impulses forced the organism to mentally and physically reset due to the shock to their system. A similar process was used by medical anesthetics.

Upon being knocked unconscious, the target would remain limp, unable to move and comprehend their surroundings. This effect usually lasted for several minutes before the organism regained consciousness. However, powerful enough stun blasts against an inexperienced target could leave them unconscious for up to an hour. The more an individual was stunned, the quicker they were able to wake up. Furthermore, someone could be shaken while they were knocked out in an effort to wake them up. Items such as stuncuffs could be bound to the individual while comatose, effectively capturing them. Despite widespread use across the galaxy, stunning a target was not perfect, with most victims experiencing nausea, dizziness, and body aches for a short time after. While uncommon, irregular heartbeats and seizures could result from the procedure, and in rare cases, death.

Stuns appeared to have more effect on someone the smaller they were. For example, the child Cippa Tarko was knocked out for much longer than her fellows after she was stunned by the Path of the Open Hand. When used against droids with little or no armor, the target would be electrocuted and rendered inoperable for an indefinite amount of time. As opposed to traditional blaster bolts which could be reflected back at the shooter, stun shots would be dispersed when countered by a lightsaber.

Blaster weaponry carried by the Canto Bight Police Department was set to stun by default, as the slightest injury to a bystander or suspect on Canto Bight could have costly legal and public-relations consequences.

Text and facts from the “Stun” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.