Pao's rifle

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▶️ to a preview of Pao's rifle being fired
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Pao's rifle was an illegal black market boiler rifle purchased by the Drabatan rebel Paodok'Draba'Takat. The weapon was modified with an external tibanna gas chamber to amp up the its destructive output. The modification burned through galven barrels quickly, requiring constant upkeep. Pao utilized this blaster during the Battle of Scarif in 1 BBY, where he perished.

Description

Pao's rifle[2] was an illegal black market boiler rifle that was modified to have an external tibanna gas chamber that amped up the its destructive power output. This modification burned through galven barrels quickly, requiring the weapon to undergo constant upkeep. Pao wore four replacement galven barrels for the blaster on each wrist. The rifle had a scope and a sling for the user to wear the weapon across their torso. The weapon shot red blaster bolts.[1] When firing the weapon, Pao let the recoil slide the barrel over the palm of his hand.[3]

History

Pao used the rifle during the Battle of Scarif.

Pao used the rifle during the Battle of Scarif.

During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the rifle was purchased by the Drabatan Rebel Alliance Special Forces Commando Paodok'Draba'Takat.[1] In 1 BBY,[4] Pao used the rifle as part of the rebel team Rogue One during the unsanctioned mission to obtain the plans for the Imperial Death Star battle station.[3] Pao was killed during the battle[5] and the Death Star fired its superlaser at Scarif, destroying the Citadel Tower—where the plans were originally held—and everything within its vicinity.[3]

An illustration of the rifle was included in an artist's journal as part of a section on Drabatans.[6] At some point no earlier than 34 ABY,[7] the journal came into the possession of the Graf Archive—a depository owned by the Graf family.[6]

Behind the scenes

"Was the gun heavy?"
"No the gun was alright. The gun was really light."
―Brian Ballance and Derek Arnold on "The Interesting Podcast."[8]

Pao's rifle first appeared in the first Anthology Series film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story[3] alongside Matt Forbeck's junior novel adaptation of the film,[9] Pablo Hidalgo's reference book Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide,[1] and Jason Fry's young-readers book Star Wars: Rogue One: Secret Mission,[10] which were all released simultaneously on December 16, 2016.[11] Before the movie released, the rifle was first seen during an exclusive trailer shown at the Star Wars fan convention Celebration Europe,[12] which ran from July 15 to July 17, 2016.[13] The weapon was later identified as Pao's rifle in a card dedicated to the blaster released in 2023 on the mobile game Star Wars: Card Trader.[2] During an interview on Brian Balance's podcast "The Interesting Podcast," Pao's actor Derek Arnold confirmed that the prop for the rifle was really light.[8]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Star Wars: Rogue One: The Ultimate Visual Guide
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: Card Trader Set: Join the Rebellion!, Card: Pao's Rifle
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  4. ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story to 1 BBY.
  5. ↑ "The Heroes of Rogue One" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Alien Archive
  7. ↑ Star Wars: Alien Archive, which is presented as a restored in-universe journal, mentions Poe Dameron's mutiny against Amilyn Holdo, which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 34 ABY, meaning the document must have been published at some point no earlier than that year.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Premium-Era-real Ep. 32 Derek Arnold - The Interesting Podcast (with Brian Ballance) (Podcast) on soundcloud.com (backup link)
  9. ↑ Star Wars: Rogue One: A Junior Novel
  10. ↑ Star Wars: Rogue One: Secret Mission
  11. ↑ StarWars.com Rebel Reading: A Guide to Rogue One Books on StarWars.com (backup link)
  12. ↑ Celebration-favicon Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — Celebration Europe exclusive trailer
  13. ↑ Celebration-favicon Europe Tickets on the Celebration Europe official Star Wars Celebration website (original link is obsolete)