Summary
Consistently, for years, theStar Warsfranchise has managed to intrigue fans with one of the most original weapons in cinematic history, the lightsaber. From the early days of the franchise, when designs and lightsaber appearances were limited, to the wide variety of modern weapons appearing in the series, there have always been great new designs.
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However, while there have been many lightsaber designs universally beloved and some that have been reviled by many critics and fans, there are some head-scratching designs that have confused everybody as well. Whether it was an actor’s choice or a specific design chosen for a reason, lightsabers have continued to change and evolve production-wise, and therefore, in-universe inStar Wars.
7Mace Windu’s Purple Saber
One of the biggest lore changes in theStar WarsUniverse regarding lightsabers came because of Samuel L. Jackson. When the actor was cast as Mace Windu in the prequel trilogy and had to make a choice regarding his character’s weapon, he decided not to go for one of the more traditionally colored lightsabers.
Instead, Jackson wanted Mace Windu to wield a purple lightsaber. Since the color of lightsabers has some significance to their characters, extra lore had to be added to the franchise’s canon to explain the reasoning for whyMace Windu has such a strange colorwhen it has hardly ever been seen outside this single character’s blade.
6Kylo Ren’s Saber
While the lightsaber has been compared to various other designs and historical swords (some not even canon anymore due to their only being included inLegendsmaterial), nobody before the sequel trilogy ever tried to make a lightsaber with a dangerous hilt,but Kylo Ren changed thiswith a uniquely designed red blade.
Ren’s Sith lightsaber has slight protrusions on either side of the blade, making it look more like a medieval great sword than the more common, sleek, and thinly designed lightsabers that fans are more used to seeing throughout the franchise. This was a fascinating new design, and Ren was shown to utilize the smaller lasers available on the side of his blade at different times.
5Jocasta Nu’s Lightsaber Rifle
One of the weaker Jedi in a fight, Jocasta Nu was designated the job of librarian in the Jedi Temple. She seemed to enjoy this job, but obviously, when the Jedi Temple fell, it was only a matter of time before she had to get into the fight herself to at least some degree.
In theStar Warscomics, Jocasta managed to escape the initial destruction of the Jedi Order, but she was later hunted down by Darth Vader. In her final moments, Jocasta revealed a gun-like weapon that used her lightsaber as fuel, allowing her to effectively have a lightsaber gun. This was by far one of thestrangest concepts introduced in theStar Warscomicsover the years.
4The Grand Inquisitor’s Disc-Saber
It is hard to know how to refer to the Grand Inquisitor’s lightsaber; this design is definitely one of the strangest in the history of theStar Warsfranchise. Though the hilt is a traditional lightsaber one, it is connected to a disc that the double blade can spin around, making for one of the most terrifying weapons in the franchise.
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The Grand Inquisitorhas always been an intimidating figure since his initial introduction inStar Wars: Rebels. The different lightsabers of the Inquisitor Order were a strange bunch of designs, but none of them was nearly as uncommon or difficult to handle as that of the Grand Inquisitor himself, who didn’t often get a chance to showcase this incredible blade in action.
3The Darksaber
Another weapon first seen in animatedStar Warstelevision that has made its way into live-action, the Darksaber was a weapon created for the first Mandalorian who was inducted into the Jedi Order, and ithas been a piece of vital historyto the Mandalorians who later considered the wielder to be the rightful leader of Mandalore.
Though the Darksaber was destroyed by Moff Gideon inThe Mandalorianseason three finale, there is nothing to say that it couldn’t be re-forged somewhere down the road. Either way, this dark blade has had a long-running history and remains one of the strongest blades in theStar Warsfranchise, whether it is considered a true lightsaber or not.
2Darth Maul’s Double-Bladed Lightsaber
Darth Maul was already a pretty strange character to introduce in theStar Warsprequels, buteven though the underused villainreappeared in the animated shows, his biggest mark on the franchise has been his introduction of the double-ended lightsaber.
This weapon, which helped Maul take on Obi-Wan and kill his master Qui-Gon Jinn inThe Phantom Menace, is now legendary. Many other strange lightsaber designs have been introduced, particularly for Sith and Dark Jedi, because of the impressive way that Maul’s blade connected with fans and was beloved by them.
1Ahsoka Tano’s White Blades
Ahsoka Tano has proven she has a lot of impressive and unique force abilities over the years, but the most uncommon of all was her ability to purify of the Kyber crystals housed inside the lightsaber of the Sixth Brother from the Inquisitor Order.
The power to purify Kyber crystals is a rare one, and almost no other Jedi has ever been shown using white blades,making Ahsoka and her weapons doubly unusualas far as lightsabers go in theStar Warsfranchise.
