Color bombs, which are also called paint bombs, were small explosive devices designed to disperse clouds of paint. These were invented by Sabine Wren, the youthful weapons specialist from Mandalore. During a distraction on Lothal, she utilized a color bomb by placing it on a TIE fighter. The explosive detonated, causing several stormtroopers to fall and covering their armor with paint. This distraction enabled the starship known as the Ghost to get away.
These weapons function by using explosives filled with diverse materials, resulting in a range of different effects.
Star Wars Rebels was the first time paint bombs were seen. A children's book titled Star Wars Rebels: Head to Head depicted a competition between Wren and Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko, where Wren infiltrated the Imperial Academy located on Lothal in order to plant a paint bomb within his office.
In Angry Birds Star Wars II, Wren deployed her paint bombs as a means of evading Imperial stormtroopers.