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The double-bladed lightsaber, also called a saberstaff or lightstaff, was a lightsaber variant that featured a blade emitted from both ends. Several variants on the type existed, including the hinged double-bladed lightsaber, the split saber, the lightsaber pike, and the double-bladed spinning lightsaber. According to the mythical Qel-Droma Epics, double-bladed lightsabers dated back to a Sith Lord named Exar Kun.
Description[]
- "This long, staff-like weapon has a blade on both ends and contains two kyber crystals and twice the amount of internal mechanisms."
- ―Luke Skywalker
Asajj Ventress' dual curved-hilt lightsabers joined together to form a double-bladed saber.
The double-bladed lightsaber was, simply, a lightsaber with blade emitters on both ends. Such a weapon could be wielded like a typical single-bladed lightsaber if only one blade was ignited.[1] This lightsaber style had several variants: hinged double-bladed lightsabers effectively consisted of two single-bladed lightsabers joined with a hinge at the ends. Notable wielders of this saber style included Pong Krell[5] and the Jedi Temple Guard.[10] Temple Guards also used lightsaber pikes, which had a much longer handle and shorter blades compared to typical double-bladed lightsabers.[11]
Split sabers had handles that detached, allowing their owners to fight with either one double-bladed weapon or two single-bladed weapons as they pleased.[12][13]
The Imperial Inquisitorius used distinctive double-bladed spinning lightsabers, which had relatively short handles and a ring around which the active blades could spin, allowing their wielders to even fly in certain locations.[14] However, the ring was also a weakness, as cutting it would instantly destroy the weapon. This weakness was used against the Grand Inquisitor on two occasions, the second leading to his death.[15][16]
History[]
Orla Jareni and Keeve Trennis, Jedi of the High Republic who wielded double-bladed lightsabers
The existence of double-bladed lightsabers dated back to the mythical Sith Lord Exar Kun of the Qel-Droma Epics.[17]
During the High Republic Era, the Jedi Master and Wayseeker Orla Jareni wielded a hinged double-bladed lightsaber that produced white blades.[18] Meanwhile, Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis fielded a green double-bladed lightsaber of her own.[19]
The Dathomirian Zabrak Sith Lord Darth Maul wielded a red double-bladed lightsaber he created himself.[1][20] Maul's lightsaber was damaged when he was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi during the Battle of Naboo.[1] Savage Opress, Maul's brother, also wielded a red double-bladed lightsaber he received from Count Dooku during his brief stint as the Sith Lord's apprentice.[21] When Opress recovered Maul from the junk planet Lotho Minor, Maul only had one half of his old lightsaber. He wielded it as a single-bladed lightsaber for a time,[22] but by the time of the Siege of Mandalore, he had rebuilt it into a double-bladed weapon. However, he lost the saber for good when he was captured by Ahsoka Tano during the Siege.[23]
A weapon that previously belonged to a different apprentice,[24] Count Dooku's personal assassin and apprentice Asajj Ventress had a pair of curved-hilt lightsabers that could be joined together at the hilt into a single weapon by a locking mechanism, becoming a double-bladed lightsaber. However, she rarely wielded her sabers in that fashion.[25] This was a configuration known as a split saber, one that was also fielded by Jedi such as Cal Kestis,[26] who built a double-bladed lightsaber from the pieces of his master Jaro Tapal's broken double-bladed lightsaber, which Kestis had used as a single-bladed weapon after Tapal's death and the loss of his own lightsaber, combining what was salvageable from Tapal's weapon with pieces of his new master Cere Junda's lightsaber.
Pong Krell wielding dual hinged double-bladed lightsabers.
During the Clone Wars, Besalisk Jedi Master Pong Krell wielded dual-hinged double-bladed lightsabers, one blue-bladed and one green-bladed, which could fold at the middle.[5] The Lasat Jedi Master Jaro Tapal also made use of a double-bladed lightsaber throughout the Clone Wars and to defend himself and his Padawan during the execution of Order 66, though the weapon was sundered in half by clone blasterfire.[26] The Jedi Temple Guard wielded a similar weapon, the yellow double-bladed lightsaber pike.[11] A yellow double-bladed lightsaber was also used by the Zygerrian Jedi Master Tosan.[27]
The Imperial Inquisitors, dark side adepts tasked at identifying and hunting down Jedi following Order 66, fought using their unique version of the weapon. Their red double-bladed spinning lightsabers could also be used as regular single-bladed lightsabers.[6]
The hinged double-bladed lightsaber of Rey's vision
During the Imperial Era, Maul used another double-bladed lightsaber, which could be disguised as a cane and bore strong visual similarities to the lightsabers wielded by members of the Inquisitorius.[14] Maul wielded this lightsaber until his death on Tatooine at the hands of his old enemy Kenobi a few years before the Battle of Yavin.[28]
While searching for the wayfinder on Kef Bir in 35 ABY, Rey fought a vision of herself as a Sith. In the vision, her dark side counterpart wielded a hinged double-bladed lightsaber with red blades.[29]
Behind the scenes[]
The prop of Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber used in The Phantom Menace.
The double-bladed lightsaber first appeared in the Star Wars canon in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.[1] It was originally conceived by writer Tom Veitch and artist Chris Gossett for the Star Wars Legends comic book series Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.[30] Gossett has said he thought of lightsabers as the personal "honor weapons" of the Jedi, and would be more customized to suit personal preference rather than standardized for all.[31]
During the development of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, screenwriter Michael Arndt became really interested in the motif of "fire and ice" and wanted to have one character wielding a double-bladed lightsaber, with one side red and the other blue.[32]
Appearances[]
Non-canon appearances[]
- Disney Infinity 3.0
- Angry Birds Star Wars II
- William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "All I Want For Life Day"- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Carving Up the Competition"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Obi-Wan vs Inquisitors"
- LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales — "Exit from Endor" (In flashback(s))
- LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Happy Celebration 45th Anniversary A New Hope"
- LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "LEGO Star Wars - 25 Years"
Sources[]
Non-canon sources[]
- Obi-Wan Wednesdays: LEGO Star Wars Obi-Wan Vs. Darth Vader and More! on StarWars.com (backup link) (Picture only)