Lightsaber hilt

Lightsaber hilts, also known as the pommel of a lightsaber, was the basic, all-encompassing part of that type of weapon. A combination handgrip, blade emitter, activator switch and power source, it held within the inner workings of the lightsaber that allowed it to produce its distinctive energy beam. The first hilts were produced as early as the advent of the lightsaber itself, approximately 15,500 BBY; though cumbersome and requiring a backpack-mounted power source, the Jedi Order nonetheless began to embrace the technology. Eventually these hilts evolved to only require a small belt-mounted pack, and again to a fully self-contained weapon system; such designs saw service as early as 5,000 BBY at the start of the Great Hyperspace War. Over the thousands of years that followed, power technology and indeed the construction of lightsaber hilts continued to evolve, eventually encompassing shotos, shorter hilts used in the off-hand, as well as double-bladed, curved-hilt, and dual-phase designs.

Both the Jedi and the Sith Order used lightsaber hilts; the former regarding their weapons as tools rather then weapons, while the latter sought to use their sabers to fuel their quest for power. Double-bladed hilts were commonly associated with the Sith, practitioners of the dark side of the Force, while those who followed the light side commonly used only single hilts in battle. Despite two attempts to eradicate the Jedi, the technology of lightsaber hilts continued to live on as the Order that had originally supported them rose anew.

Types of hilts
Though each hilt was unique to the Force-user who created it, a number of basic designs evolved over the millennia. Included among these were the shoto, a shorter design that was balanced to allowed for a Jedi or Sith to use it comfortably in the off-hand; the curved-hilt lightsaber, which was developed to accommodate the needs of Form II: Makashi; the double-bladed lightsaber, also known as the lightstaff, which projected a beam from each end of the hilt; and, least common of all, the dual-phase lightsaber, of which only two were ever known to have been created. Dual-phase hilts were unique in that they allowed the person who had created them to adjust the beam length of their weapon; one setting typically used a standard blade length of approximately a meter or more, while the other setting could extend the blade out to three full meters. Such weapons were rare because there was no known style.

Appearances

 * Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy