Darksaber/Legends

"This lightsaber was stolen from your Jedi Temple by my ancestors during the fall of the Old Republic. Since then many Jedi have died upon its blade. Prepare yourself to join them!"

- Pre Vizsla to Obi-Wan Kenobi

The darksaber was an ancient lightsaber that was stolen by the Mandalorians during a collapse in power of the Galactic Republic. It was passed down through Clan Vizsla, eventually coming into the ownership of Pre Vizsla, a member of the radical terrorist Mandalorian splinter group known as the Death Watch who wanted to reclaim Mandalore. The darksaber would be used by its new master in a duel with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mandalore's moon, Concordia. Though Vizsla's skill with the darksaber was such that he could fight evenly with Kenobi for a time, the ancient blade could not defend Vizsla from the Jedi Master's Force powers. Only the timely intervention of Vizsla's Death Watch soldiers ensured their leader's victory by forcing Kenobi to retreat.

Unique among other lightsabers, the darksaber possessed a flat, black-colored blade that came to a sharp point much like a traditional vibrosword, rather than the rounded beam of more standard lightsabers. It had a uniquely black core surrounded by a white glow and gave off a higher pitched hum when active than more widespread lightsabers were known to make by the time of the Clone Wars.

Specifications
The darksaber had many unique features that distinguished it from almost all other known lightsabers. The hilt was slightly longer than the standard saber length. The blade was flattened and pointed making its general shape closer to a vibrosword in appearance. The blade color was black, which is unique in a lightsaber. However&mdash;more peculiarly&mdash;the core of the blade was black, while the outer edges glowed white. This ran opposite to all other known blade colors, where the central core was white and the edges glowed in the more recognizable color. Additionally, the edges of the blade were not flush with the emitting end of the hilt, but were slightly off-center. Along with the unusual appearance of the blade, it possessed unusual audio properties: the ignition sound, and hum the blade produced seemed to be higher pitched and softer than heard by more common lightsabers. Interestingly, unlike most sabers, when the darksaber struck another lightsaber, it did not produce a clashing sound. Instead, the blade made a "twang" or whistling sound when struck against another energy blade. It seemed that many aspects of the darksaber were diametrically opposed to regular lightsabers. Death Watch also had the crystal removed and replaced with a black voided core which gives it its unique features.

History
"I claim this sword and my rightful place as leader of Death Watch."

- Darth Maul, after killing Pre Vizsla

The darksaber had been kept in the Jedi Temple on the galactic capital world, Coruscant, until the time when the Galactic Republic suffered a collapse in power. During this event, Mandalorians from the Vizsla clan stole the darksaber and, over time, passed it down through the clan's generations. Over the ages, it was reputed that the darksaber was responsible for the deaths of many Jedi. By the time the Republic clashed with the droid forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems in a conflict known as the Clone Wars, the darksaber had come into the possession of Pre Vizsla. At that point in time, Pre Vizsla had taken his place as the leader of the radical Mandalorian splinter group known as the Death Watch, a violent faction founded by Pre's clan kinsman, Tor Vizsla, many years earlier.

Pre Vizsla, publicly the benevolent New Mandalorian governor of Mandalore's moon, Concordia, secretly kept the darksaber in his possession while plotting against the New Mandalorians' leader, Duchess Satine Kryze. He would later wield the black-bladed saber during a confrontation on Concordia, where Vizsla engaged Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, a friend and protector of Duchess Satine. Though Vizsla's skill with the darksaber allowed him to battle Kenobi evenly for a time, the Jedi Knight's Force-abilities turned the tide and Vizsla was left with no other recourse than to call on the aid of his Death Watch soldiers, who forced the Jedi and Duchess to retreat.

Later in the war, Vizsla wielded the darksaber against Padawan Ahsoka Tano on the planet Carlac after Lux Bonteri had foolishly made a deal with Death Watch to find justice for his mother's murder. The duel was equal for a while, until they were forced outside of the tent. Vizsla had to now deal with dodging the droids R2-D2 re-built, and defeating Tano as well. Finally, Ahsoka struck Vizsla's jetpack, causing it to explode. This caused a diversion long enough to let Tano, Bonteri, and R2 escape.

In 20 BBY, Vizsla used this lightsaber to cut a hole through an escape pod, where he found the Sith Lords Darth Maul and Savage Opress. The two formed an alliance and began rallying an army with the Pyke Syndicate, Hutt Cartel and the Black Sun. On Nal Hutta, negotiations with the Hutt Grand Council failed and in that skirmish, Vizsla used this weapon against several Nikto soldiers. On Mandalore, the plan for conquest was to use Maul's criminals to strike out against the people with Vizsla and his forces saving them. He used this weapon briefly in a mock duel with Savage. After Vizsla betrayed his allies, he wielded this lightsaber against Maul in a duel to the death, which saw Maul claim the weapon and decapitate Vizsla, where the Sith Lord then claimed the leadership of Death Watch for himself.

Darth Maul then used this weapon to murder Satine Kryze and later dual-wielded it along with his own lightsaber in his battle against Darth Sidious.

Behind the scenes
The darksaber made its first appearance in the Star Wars universe in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series' second season episode, The Mandalore Plot, which premiered January 29, 2010. It was the first lightsaber to officially possess a black-colored energy blade in canon.

Originally intended to be a vibroblade, George Lucas decided that, to preserve the uniqueness of the Jedi weapon, a lightsaber should not be seen to be blocked by sword-like weapon that is not a lightsaber. With that in mind, Lucas and the show's crew conceived of an ancient precursor to the lightsaber which they named the darksaber.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Defenders of the Lost Temple
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Defenders of the Lost Temple
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy