The severed arm of Ponda Baba from Star Wars (1977).
Severed limbs refers to the permanent separation of a limb (arm or leg) from a living organism. In medical practices, the deliberate surgical removal of a limb is called amputation. In many sci-fi stories, people who suffer from missing limbs may often look towards cybernetic prosthetics as a replacement; providing that they do not die from blood loss or other injuries sustatined in whatever circumstance caused the loss of their limb(s) to begin with.
Film director George Lucas seems to enjoy interjecting severed limbs into his work, in particular the Star Wars film franchise. Each installment of both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy shows examples of people having their arms or legs cut off. In the first film, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi used his lightsaber to cut off the arm of an Aqualish named Ponda Baba at Chalmun's Cantina shortly before the onset of the Battle of Yavin. (Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) A few years later, Obi-Wan's protégé, Luke Skywalker used his own lightsaber to defend himself from a Wampa ice creature on the planet Hoth. When the Wampa lunged at him, Luke cut the creature's arm off with his blade. Shortly thereafter, Luke felt the sting of a lightsaber himself in Cloud City on Bespin when he lost his right hand in a duel with his father, Darth Vader. (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) At the close of the Galactic Civil War, Luke had a rematch with his father aboard the Death Star II. In this final battle, Luke avenged his missing limb by cutting of Vader's robotic sword arm. (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)
In the prequel trilogy, severed limbs abound, though most of these were relegated towards robotic characters. In the year 32 BBY, young Obi-Wan Kenobi and his mentor, Qui-Gon Jinn, dispatched numerous B1 battle droids with their lightsabers, usually by cutting them in half or slicing off their arms and legs. (Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) Ten years later, continued his apparent love of severing arms at the Outlander Club on Coruscant when he literally disarmed the bounty hunter known as Zam Wesell. During the First Battle of Geonosis, Jedi padawan Anakin Skywalker (destined to one day become Darth Vader) cut down many Geonosians with his lightsaber, severing arms, legs, torsos and heads. Anakin's liberal dispatching of an opponent's limbs would come back to haunt him several times over however. At the conclusion of the battle, Anakin lost his own sword arm in a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku. (Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones) Two years later, Anakin would once again give up some valuable appendages when he engaged in a brutal fight with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. Having succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force, Anakin was now the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. On the planet Mustafar, Obi-Wan cut off his one remaining arm, as well as both of his legs. Anakin survived, but had to undergo a complete cybernetic overhaul. (Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith)
Of course, the Star Wars trilogy is not the only franchise in which one can find examples of severed limbs. On the TV series Farscape, an alien character named NamTar demanded the severed arm of the bio-mechanoid character known as Pilot as payment for using his scientific wizardry to find a way to send Pilot's allies back home. Desperate to safely return to the worlds of their birth, Ka D'Argo and Dominar Rygel XVI eagerly cut off one of Pilot's arms in exchange for the information. As a characteristic of his species, Pilot's arm eventually grew back, but it would have been nice of D'Argo and Rygel to ask first. (Farscape: DNA Mad Scientist)
Appearances[]
Films[]
- Child's Play 2
- Child's Play 3
- Revenge of Frankenstein, The
- Seed of Chucky
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones - Count Dooku cuts off Anakin Skywalker's arm with his lightsaber.
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith - Anakin cuts off Dooku's hands and Mace Windu's arm. Obi-Wan cuts off Anakin's remaining arm and legs.
- Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - Obi-Wan Kenobi cuts off Ponda Baba's arm with his lightsaber.
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back - Darth Vader cuts off Luke Skywalker's right hand with his lightsaber.
Television[]
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: All the Comforts of Home - Ruby Hale cuts of Yo-Yo's arms with a chakram.
- Preacher: Finish the Song
- Preacher: Mumbai Sky Tower
Comics[]
- Boys, The 1 - A-Train super-speeds through Robin leaving behind only her severed hands.
- Daredevil 505 - Bakuto hallucinates that a Hand ninja is a monster and cuts off his arm with a katana.
- Dollface 1 - Lila cuts of Janey's zombie arm, and Janey cuts off Lila's doll arm.
- Doom Patrol Vol 2 74 - Candle-Maker rips off Robotman's arms in video game.
- Dollface 2 - Elva breaks Lila's doll arms off pre-upgrade.
- Sandman Vol 2 23 - Dream cuts off Lucifer's wings at his request.
- Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 3 - Anakin cuts off Mace Windu's arm. Wookiees rip off many battle droid arms. They're known to do that.
- Star Wars: Republic 67 - Master Tohno cuts off multiple Geonosian limbs with her lightsaber.
- Vamps 1 - The Vamps dismember David by pulling his arms & legs off with their motorcycles.
- Walking Dead 82 - Michonne cuts off Morgan's right arm after he gets bitten by a zombie.
- Walking Dead 83 - Rick cuts off Jessie Anderson's hand to get her to let go of Carl.
- Walking Dead 161 - Magna cuts off Connie's hand after she is bitten.
- Walking Dead: Michonne Special 1 - Michonne cuts off Mike & Terry's arms and lower jaws.
- Zombie Tramp Vol 3 3 - Janey Belle gets chopped up in helicopter rotor blades.
- Zombie Tramp Vol 3 10 - Vampblade cuts off zombie Walt's right arm.