Star Wars Human Lifespans

NhikRath · Post by **NhikRath** » 2004-04-15 01:09am

We see no human in Star Wars die of natural causes. What's the oldest SW human we know of?

And the finale:
What is the expected lifespan of a normal human in Star Wars?

PS -
In Dune, the only futuristic sci-fi I know of that mentions it, humans are expected to live about 300 years.

Vohu Manah · Post by **Vohu Manah** » 2004-04-15 01:25am

100 - 200 would be appropriately generous, given the overall state of medical technology in the SW universe.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-04-15 01:32am

IIRC, The WEG RPG states that Humans have an average lifespan of about 100 years.

EDIT: The oldest Human in Star Wars that I know of is Vima-Da-Boda, a fallen Jedi Knight who was 200 years old when she was encountered in Dark Empire.

Tribun · Post by **Tribun** » 2004-04-15 08:39am

I think the oldest hman we see in the movies is Palpy. He seems to be well over 80 but still seems to be not in the slightest weak, dispite the slow destruction of his body through the dark side.
If we take away dark side rot, human ages of over 100 seem to be totally normal, at least in the core and inner rim.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-04-15 12:40pm

are we talking average humans here or force-users? naturally a force-user would be likely to live longer, given their recuperative abilities. and i believe there's various sources which state that palpatine was using the Force to extend his lifespan.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2004-04-15 12:40pm

With good medical care, 100-150 doesn't seem at all out of the question. Bakura, a well to do Outer Rim World had an average lifespan of something around 120. With the better care Core World elite money can buy it's not unlikely they can easily better that.

Of course how long you want to live seems to limited mostly by means and morals. In theory there are ways to virtual immortality.

Darth Phoenix · Post by **Darth Phoenix** » 2004-04-15 04:27pm

Stormbringer wrote:With good medical care, 100-150 doesn't seem at all out of the question. Bakura, a well to do Outer Rim World had an average lifespan of something around 120. With the better care Core World elite money can buy it's not unlikely they can easily better that.

Of course how long you want to live seems to limited mostly by means and morals. In theory there are ways to virtual immortality.

If IIRC in bakura the average lifespan was 160 years.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2004-04-15 04:47pm

The Dathomiri elder in TCOPL was over 300, I think. Of course, she was one of the witches, so take that as you will.

Techno_Union · Post by **Techno_Union** » 2004-04-15 05:29pm

Like said above, SW medical technology is just so advanced that you could live for at least 100 years and up with ease. Not to mention all of the treatments and artificial limbs you could get.

Agent R · Post by **Agent R** » 2004-04-15 06:04pm

How old was Admiral Pellaeon in NJO? He seemed pretty old but was still in fair condition, injuries aside, of course.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-04-15 06:13pm

Agent R wrote:How old was Admiral Pellaeon in NJO? He seemed pretty old but was still in fair condition, injuries aside, of course.

He was 50 in HOTE

Add about 25 years at NJO...he'd be 75~.

For average people I'd say easily 150 years given their level of technology.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-04-15 07:42pm

Question... could bacta be used to heal certain debilitations of old age such as arithitis, heart disease, etc.? If so, well, the theoretical upper limit for human age in our current era is around 120-130... the world's verifiably oldest person-- Jeanne Calment, in France, was like 126 when she died. To be sure, she was a exceptional case, but centarians aren't really all that rare; I'd say the SW-verse is more likely to have a upper limit of about 250, with 150 being about "normal" life expectancy.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-04-15 08:00pm

No, as far as I know. Bacta is only useful for healing physical wounds:

TCUSWE wrote:Bacta
a rejuvenatory fluid that circulates healing bacteria around a wound to speed recovery

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2004-04-15 11:47pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:No, as far as I know. Bacta is only useful for healing physical wounds:

TCUSWE wrote:Bacta
a rejuvenatory fluid that circulates healing bacteria around a wound to speed recovery

Yeah, but might that also include "wear and tear" stuff like joint damage or arthritis?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-04-15 11:47pm

Not that I know of, so I would say no.

Tychu · Post by **Tychu** » 2004-04-16 11:34pm

Humans in the SW galaxy probally have an average age of the lower 100's nothing more. Its been stated that Wookies who can live up to 500 years live way more and way past the average Human. Old Ben at the ripe "old" age of 60 or 70 said "Im getting to Old for this" Though it isnt a viable source to go on but if a Jedi feels hes getting to old for all the sneaking around and fighting at around the age of 70 Humans cant live that long.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2004-04-17 01:05am

Tychu wrote:Old Ben at the ripe "old" age of 60 or 70 said "Im getting to Old for this" Though it isnt a viable source to go on but if a Jedi feels hes getting to old for all the sneaking around and fighting at around the age of 70 Humans cant live that long

Good point... however, one has to consider that Obi-wan had been living in the desert for about twenty years or so, very likely without much access to modern medicine and only with his Jedi healing to assist. To be sure, Jedi healing could do a good bit, but possibly it's one of those areas where individual aptitude can vary greatly?

Also, one has to remember that Obi-wan probably had a very active lifestyle... while it would've kept him healthy, true, it would've worn him out after awhile. There's no telling what the rigors of the Clone Wars were like-- he could've been injured, beaten up, all that.

And then, there's the "shadow" coming over the Force that Yoda observed.... i don't remember his exact words, but it definitely was a darkness. it quite possibly could've limited the Jedis' abilities in some areas... just a hypothesis though.

Peregrin Toker · Post by **Peregrin Toker** » 2004-04-17 01:10am

Does it count the way that Palpy cloned new bodies for himself and transferred his soul over to them?

If he's not the only one capable of doing so, some humans in the SW universe must be potentially immortal...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-04-17 01:17am

No, it wouldn't count. That's an insanely rare Force skill that's virtually impossible to perform successfully.

Concerning Obi-wan being "too old for this" at ~65, from what I've seen, SW Humans age relatively normal (but maybe a little slower), and seem to just grow older and older for the most part. Ben was still "old" in a sense, just not "really old."

Though maybe he had arthritis.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2004-04-17 10:19am

Bacta definatley can't cure old age anyway. IIRC Jace in the X-Wing books had to return him to Tyffera(sp?) because his uncle was dying. When asked if Bacta could cure the uncle he replied "Even Bacta can't cure old age".

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-04-17 12:11pm

Peregrin Toker wrote:Does it count the way that Palpy cloned new bodies for himself and transferred his soul over to them?

If he's not the only one capable of doing so, some humans in the SW universe must be potentially immortal...

only Sith Lords are actually able to use that particular ability. You could count the number who have mastered it on one hand.

Kazuaki Shimazaki · Post by **Kazuaki Shimazaki** » 2004-04-17 08:48pm

Ghost Rider wrote:
Agent R wrote:How old was Admiral Pellaeon in NJO? He seemed pretty old but was still in fair condition, injuries aside, of course.
He was 50 in HOTE

Add about 25 years at NJO...he'd be 75~.

For average people I'd say easily 150 years given their level of technology.

He was more like 70 in HTTE (I assume you meant to say HTTE rather than HOTE). He had 50 years in the Fleet. He was probably close to 20 before he joined up. This is one of the evaluations used to show Pellaeon ain't all that hot.

1337n1nj4 · Post by **1337n1nj4** » 2004-04-17 11:40pm

Guardsman Bass wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:No, as far as I know. Bacta is only useful for healing physical wounds:

TCUSWE wrote:Bacta
a rejuvenatory fluid that circulates healing bacteria around a wound to speed recovery
Yeah, but might that also include "wear and tear" stuff like joint damage or arthritis?

Probably not. The process of healing a wound is a nice little dance of growth factors and inflammatory agents-- if the bacteria only accelerate this process, it isn't likely they'd be useful for degenerative diseases, and most certainly not for issues of cell senescence.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2004-04-19 06:37pm

Sio Bibble and Chancellor Vallorum appear to be old guys (white hair, wrinkles) and they aren't force users, but AFAIK nobody in the movies is identified by age except for Yoda.

Then we've got Palpatine, Obi-Wan in ANH, that Jedi Librarian and Dooku, but maybe Jedi can make themselves live a bit longer than normal people.

So maybe people live a long time in Star Wars, but they still show signs of aging.

NhikRath · Post by **NhikRath** » 2004-04-20 12:52am

Yeah, I agree with the ~150 years estimate. I was interested to know what others thought.

Interesting find with the "Even Bacta can't cure old age." quote. I would've thought that something in Star Wars could at least medicate the basic aging processes. The word "cure" is quite specific, maybe there's a life-prolonging drug out there that doesn't cure, but simply gives 50-100 more years.

It brings up the question of what bacta does exactly. Can it cure severe burns? If so, what's the difference between that and curing skin cancer? Does bacta make cells multiply faster, is it a miracle "super-antibiotic" that prevents scars, or is it actually "smart?" (Does it do something similar to that regenerative machine in The Fifth Element?)

Or maybe there's many types of bacta that do different things?

"bacta: a rejuvenatory fluid that circulates healing bacteria around a wound to speed recovery"

So does this mean bacta is the fluid or the bacteria? What the hell is healing bacteria?

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Star Wars Human Lifespans

What is the expected lifespan of a normal human in Star Wars?

Star Wars Human Lifespans

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