Dooku's lightsaber/Legends

"Belongs to Dooku, that lightsaber does."

- Yoda

A curved-hilt lightsaber was constructed by and served Dooku during his career as both a Jedi Master and a Sith Lord.

Specifications


When Dooku first set about creating this weapon, he chose a configuration that had no connection to either the weapon wielded by his first tutor, Yoda, nor to the style in fashion at the time. Studying Jedi Archive records, Dooku based his new weapon design after the curved hilts that were standard during the heyday of Form II lightsaber combat. The curve allowed the hilt to fit better into his hand, allowing for superior finesse and precise blade control.

The emitter featured both an angular blade guard and a thumb trigger that activated the weapons dual-phase setting, shortening the blade for a close quarters surprise attack. The first third of the weapon casing was a solid piece that contained an inclined focusing chamber and a series of thermal radiator grooves along the inside of the curve. The crystal chamber was positioned in the joint between this piece and the handgrip. Concealed beneath the fabric covering of the handgrip was a magnetic adhesion plate that secured the weapon to Dooku's belt when not in use. The final third of the hilt contained the activator and the three power cells. The first cell, a compound power cell, was contained in the bend in the hilt directly below the handgrip. The second, a Phase A cell, was positioned next to the activator, a red pinky trigger. The last cell, the reserve, was contained in the weapon's pommel.

History
"It is obvious that this contest cannot be decided by our knowledge of the Force, but by our skills with a lightsaber."

- Dooku

Dooku constructed his lightsaber shortly after becoming a Jedi Master, deliberately using a design that had little connection to the standard lightsaber he had wielded as a Knight. The Master had entertained a long interest in such designs, including a short, handwritten comment to that effect in his copy of the The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force next to the brief description of a curved-hilt lightsaber. Notably, this weapon saw use against the True Mandalorians during the Battle of Galidraan. When Dooku left the Jedi Order, he took his lightsaber with him. When he joined the Order of the Sith Lords, Dooku converted the weapon into a Sith lightsaber by replacing the original blue crystal with a scarlet synthetic gem, improving the blades cutting power at the expense of maneuverability. However, despite renouncing the Jedi way, Dooku would continue to greet opponents with the traditional Makashi salute.

At the start of the Clone Wars, Dooku would brandish the lightsaber against Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Dooku brought down Kenobi with light - though damaging - cuts across his right arm and leg, while Skywalker's fury forced Dooku to resort to forcibly amputating the young Jedi's arm. Dooku was subsequently confronted by Jedi Grand Master Yoda, who engaged Dooku in a titanic lightsaber duel. Yoda's might forced Dooku to retreat.

As the political leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Dooku rarely engaged in battle, and his lightsaber remained largely idle. However, Dooku would on occasion get his hands dirty, and the lightsaber was wielded in several lightsaber duels, some of them rematches with Anakin Skywalker. He would also engage in sparring matches with the cyborg Grievous and various members of his Dark Acolytes. Most notably, Dooku would wield the lightsaber in a rematch with Yoda on Vjun, even managing to score a hit on his former Jedi mentor, though he was again forced to retreat. After crash landing on Vanqor, Dooku was provided with transport by Hondo Ohnaka and his pirate gang, who quietly stole the lightsaber during the trip before capturing Dooku upon their arrival on Florrum. Ohnaka attempted to ransom Dooku to the Galactic Republic, displaying the lightsaber as proof of capture. Dooku later managed to escape, though how he retrieved the lightsaber remains unknown.

Towards the conclusion of the war, Dooku wielded the lightsaber in a final rematch with Kenobi and Skywalker aboard the Invisible Hand. The basic fighting moves and tactics employed by the Jedi early in the fight lulled Dooku into a false sense of confidence, and left him completely off-guard when they switched to the advanced fighting forms that they had mastered in the interim. Notably, Skywalker's Form V power attacks overwhelmed Dooku's defenses, driving his blade back so far that it scorched his own shoulder. Dooku only narrowly defeated Kenobi thanks to his greater power in the Force, though this only enraged Skywalker, who lashed out at Dooku in a fury. Dooku was driven back and brutally disarmed by Skywalker, who cut off both of Dooku's hands and seized the lightsaber. Skywalker held both Dooku's lightsaber and his own in a cross at the Sith Lords neck, and after continuous goading from Palpatine, decapitated the defeated Count.

Skywalker abandoned the lightsaber with Dooku's corpse, and it was destroyed soon afterwards when the Invisible Hand broke in half, and the rear portion containing Dooku's remains burned up in the atmosphere.

Behind the scenes
When Dooku was originally being conceived for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, early concept art depicted him as a female Sith. However, as the character was developed, and Christopher Lee was cast, the concept art was shelved, with the curved hilt of Dooku's lightsaber being the lone holdover from it. The final hilt was designed to resemble a rapier handle, down to the guard.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron