Lightsabers are a key part of Star Wars, and they’ve been around since the first movie came out in 1977. Lightsabers and lightsaber dueling have changed drastically as he Star Wars Universe expanded. We went from heavy sword dueling in the original trilogy to the double-bladed duel of fates in Phantom Menace, a more sophisticated fencing style from Count Dooku in “The Attack of the Clones” and on to Yoda’s off the wall acrobatic fighting style and Darth Sidious’ dual saber ass kicking. And those are just a few honerable mentions from the films. I’ll have to follow up with my favorite lightsaber duels after this.
For now, here’s a list of some of the coolest lightsabers according to me.
The Darksaber – Clone Wars, The Mandalorian
The Darksaber was a lightsaber created by the first Mandalorian Jedi. The weapon can only be transferred through victory in combat. In fact, it doesn’t appear at all during Season 1 or 2 of The Clone Wars series! But when it does show up in Season 3 (the second half), we do get our first look at how impressive this beautiful purple blade looks when lit up against someone else’s lightsabers:
Lord Corvax’s Lightsaber – Vader Immortal
Lord Corvax’s story comes from the Quest VR game, Vader Immortal. Lady and Lord Corvax lived in harmony with the natives of Mustafar. They were force sensitive (not Jedi or Sith) and powerful enough that Lord Corvax was able to create a lightsaber, and a beautiful one at that. Imagine Indigo Montoya’s hand-made Spanish steel sword, but as a lightsaber.
Anywho, they were eventually attacked and Lord Corvax fell… died. Lady Corvax was so stricken with grief that she stole the most sacred artifact of the Mustafarian’s in an attempt to travel time and bring him back. Prior to that, Mustafar was actually a lush and beautiful planet – almost like what we see at the beginning of Rise of Skywalker. Taking the artifact caused the planet to fall apart and morph into the hot mess it is when we see it in Revenge of the Sith.
Darth Maul, Star Wars – Episode I. The Phantom Menace and many more!
Darth Maul was a Dathomirian Zabrak male who lived during the last days of the Galactic Republic and served as an apprentice of Darth Sidious, later known as Emperor Palpatine. The Phantom Menace was the first time we saw a double bladed lightsaber on the big screen. This is easily one of our favorites because of what it did for lightsabers and lightsaber dueling on the big screen and in every other format.
After his revival from the scary/crazy spider creature he became after being cut in half and dumped on a garbage planet, he continued to use the other half of his double bladed lightsaber as a single. In fact, he used it to beat Pre Vizla (leader of the Mandalorian Group the Death Watch) in combat and claim the Dark Saber.
The Grand Inquisitor’s (and other Inquisitors’) double bladed spinsaber(s)
The Grand Inquisitor’s double-bladed spinsaber is one of the most interesting lightsabers in the entire Star Wars universe. The Inquisitors were corrupted Jedi (mostly via torture) who pledged to help the Empire hunt down the remaining Jedi following Order 66.
We first see this spinning lightsaber used in Star Wars Rebels and had its live-action debut in Obi-Wan. My favorite story where these lightsabers come into play is during the Episode(s) “The Twilight Apprentice” in Star Wars Rebels. In this episode, our heroes discover an underground Sith temple. Lots of lightsaber goodness and potentially my favorite Star Wars story.
Ezra Bridger’s Pistol-hilted lightsaber – Star Wars Rebels
Ezra Bridger created his first lightsaber after finding his kyber crystal in an old Jedi temple on Lothal — his home planet. At the time of Rebels, the Jedi are still being hunted, so Kanaan and Ezra try to hide their Jedi-ness as often as possible. This is a big reason why Ezra builds a blaster into his lightsaber, so he can still protect himself without having to reveal that he is a Jedi – or padawan in this case.
Maris Brood’s Twin Lightsabers – The Force Unleashed
In The Force Unleashed video game, you get to a point where you cross paths with a Jedi Padawan who survived the great purge. She took shelter in the dark heart of the planet Felucia after being recused by Master Shaak Ti.
Her lightsabers are essentially a pair of Tonfa but … lightsabers. It’s pretty bad ass and between her interesting set of force powers and the bull Rancor she tags in, it made for a great boss fight.
Ben Solo / Kylo Ren, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, who was trained by Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi. However, Kylo Ren was manipulated and turned to the dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke and Luke’s near-murdery tendancies.
The “Ren” part of Kylo Ren comes from a secret organization that he performed a hostile takeover on. A group of force-wielding acolytes called “The Knights of Ren”. The Ren itself is the lightsaber/crystal that the leader of The Knights of Ren wields. Kylo put that crystal into a saber with a cross guard — which is the first time we actually see this type of saber. In that episode of Rebels I mentioned, there is a brief scene where Ezra finds a similar Jedi lightsaber in the ruins of that sith temple. Some of my research showed that Ben actually discovered a similar artifact on his journeys with Luke, which is what inspired the lightsaber we see him wield in the newest trilogy.
