Curved-hilt lightsaber/Legends



"It feels strange."

- Darth Bane

The curved-hilt lightsaber was a standard lightsaber design that was often seen during the prime of Form II lightsaber combat, both among the Jedi and Sith Orders.

History and use


The use of curved hilts allowed for more precise movements as well as near-perfect flexibility when engaged in lightsaber-to-lightsaber combat. It was also more complex and gave the creator of such a hilt more of a challenge in aligning its crystals, requiring a minor variation in holding the grip. Curved hilts needed to be held more in the palm, farther away from the fingertips. The hilt's curvature also gave the wielder more power when delivering overhand strikes and would change the angle of the attacks by the merest fraction of a degree; this was usually just enough to confuse and disorient an unsuspecting opponent, as evident when Obi-Wan Kenobi quickly lost to Count Dooku in their duel on Geonosis.

Some moves were more difficult when using a hooked hilt, but many others became far more effective. This hilt design was not limited to Form II; its advantages in dueling carried over to every form including Form V, as in the case of Darth Bane. Unfortunately, one major side effect of wielding a curved-hilt lightsaber was that they were more difficult to use in blaster-bolt deflection. This, coupled with Form II's weakness in this area, made a Makashi user wielding a curved hilt particularly vulnerable to blasterfire.

Notable wielders of curved-hilt lightsabers

 * Dooku
 * Lycan
 * Tyvokka
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Komari Vosa
 * Na'daz
 * Darth Bane