Sith lightsaber/Legends
Sith lightsabers were lightsabers wielded by members of the Sith. For the most part, the design differences were minimal, due to the typical modern lightsaber being based on original Sith designs. Sith lightsabers almost always utilized synthetic crystals as opposed to the natural crystals favored by the Jedi, a fact they considered to be a mark of superiority. Also, most Sith weapons featured an overall more aggressive design aesthetic. One of the variations on typical Sith lightsabers was the double-bladed lightsaber. Being of Sith design, these staff-weapons were sometimes referred to as Sith lightsabers, though were not to be confused with the genuine article.
The design of these weapons changed greatly over the centuries since the founding of the Sith, sometimes featuring a standardized mold, other times being designed by individual wielders. Despite this evolution, they were almost always distinguished by their scarlet bloodshine blades, a result of the red coloration usually taken on by synth-crystals. Ultimately, the Sith wielded these weapons to mock the Jedi, a trait demonstrated by the regularly greater combat effectiveness the aggressive Sith Lords possessed.
Specifications
Mechanics and Distinguishing Features
The early Sith lightsabers were simply an improvement on the preexisting Protosabers favored by the Jedi Order. The protosabers, while leaps and bounds ahead of the original lightsaber prototypes with their unstable blades, suffered from severe issues regarding energy consumption, necessitating a belt-mounted power pack. The Sith design introduced an internal superconductor, which transferred the returning looped energy from the negative-charged flux aperture back into an internal power cell. With this modification, the power cell would only expend power when the energy loop was broken, such as when the lightsaber cut something, solving the power supply problem.[1][2][3]
The ancient Sith Lords took this miniaturization a step further with the creation of the double-bladed lightsaber. These original saberstaffs featured sophisticated designs, effectively a single mechanism with twin emitters on either end of a standard length hilt. Later designs would be considerably simplified, with the result being a double-length hilt consisting of two separate lightsaber mechanisms.[1][4] Of lesser note was the design of the Lightfoil by the Sith-aligned Mecrosa Order, which also miniaturized the standard lightsaber design to create extremely well balanced one-handed weapons.[5]
History
Origins
When the Dark Jedi dissidents rebelled against the greater Jedi Order and started the Hundred-Year Darkness, they retained the use of their Jedi Protosabers, wielding them against their former brethren. At the conclusion of the conflict, the Darksiders were disarmed and exiled from Republic space, founding a new society based around their corrupted Jedi philosophy and the necrotic Force magicks of the conquered Sith peoples. During this early era, notables such as Karness Muur continued to display their protosabers, indicating that some had managed to hold on to their weapons.[6][7]
A militant culture, Sith weaponry developed quickly. The original protosaber design was upgraded, allowing for the removal of the belt-mounted powerpack and resulting in the modern lightsaber. The usage of red synth-crystals appears to have been standard amongst the Sith in this time period, at least amongst those who favored lightsabers.[8] For the most part, many Sith Lords eschewed lightsabers in favor of Sith swords. When the Sith Empire engaged the Galactic Republic in the Great Hyperspace War, the swords were extremely prevalent, but certain groups, such as the crew of the Omen, were equipped with lightsabers.[3] These early Sith lightsabers no doubt made their way into Jedi hands, who then copied the designs to upgrade their own weapons.
Use during the Great Sith War
- "Time to make this more interesting. Do you like the modifications I made to my lightsaber, Master?"
- ―Exar Kun reveals the second blade of his lightsaber
A reasonably notable development was the creation of the Lightfoils by the Sith-aligned Mecrosa Order. Lightfoils were a masterwork of design and craftmanship; a perfectly balanced one-handed lightsaber that provided far greater precision. These weapons were designed for use by adherents of the Makashi lightsaber style, as the form's focus on precision and balance put the attributes of the lightfoil to good use. However, while the archaic lightfoil design was a sophisticated masterpiece, later imitations fashioned by nobles of the Tapani sector proved to be far less effective. These knockoff lightfoils were used by "Saber rake" duelists in honor duels between nobles.[5]
When Exar Kun fell to the dark side of the Force and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith, he and his followers continued to wield their original Jedi lightsabers, likely due to their ignorance regarding the customary Sith bloodshine blades. However, this likely facilitated their infiltration of the Jedi Order, allow Kun to enter the Ossus Great Jedi Library and steal a Sith holocron, and his followers to get close to their former masters and carry out the Jedi pogrom.[10]
However, while Kun failed to institute the widespread use of synth-crystals, he did modify his own lightsaber considerably, basing the changes on Sith designs accessed in a holocron. The result was his double-bladed lightsaber. Being based off of classical Sith schematics, Kun's saberstaff retained the standard hilt length, allowing him to pass it off as a regular lightsaber, before revealing the extra blade in the heat of combat and catching his opponent off-guard.[1][9] Kun's weapon was infused with the negative energies of its creator,[11] and those who faced him were unsettled by its insidious nature.[12]
Usage under the Galactic Empire
While Palpatine continued to adhere to the Rule of Two, he did establish a number of organizations composed of Sith Acolytes who served at the whim of he and Vader. Many of these groups favored the use of lightsabers, and often wielded red blades as a sign of their reverence for Sith ideals. Most of Palpatine's servants and disciples, such as his Hands or his Dark Side Elite, favored the simple standard lightsabers. Notably, Palpatine did not enforce the use of bloodshine blades amongst the Elites, and while most did later take to wielding such blades after a time, many favored blue lightsabers.[13][14] One of his Hands, Lumiya, defied convention and wielded a lightwhip. Her whip was heavily inspired by Sith designs, with a hilt composed of nigh-indestructible Mandalorian iron, and producing numerous tendrils of energy, further backed up by the inclusion of several additional whip tails composed of studded leather and flexible metal.[1][15]
Behind the scenes
Technically, the first Sith lightsaber designed was Darth Vader's. However, there were no early plans to make Vader's weapon distinct from the other lightsabers depicted, beyond the black styling on the hilt itself. The concept art of Vader's lightsaber hilt was based off of George Lucas's descriptions of the weapons as jewel-studded cylinders. Ultimately, the hilt carried by David Prowse was machined from the flash attachment of a British 3-cell MPP Microflash, which was used on forties-era press cameras. The ridged grip was made by gluing portions of windshield-wiper blades onto the bare cylinder, and the switch plate had been fashioned from the LED display of a 1974 calculator. The original lightsaber effect was provided by the reflective, spinning dowel that made up the blade, which appeared to glow to the camera. However, Lucas was unsatisfied with these early effects, and had the glows further augmented by rotoscoped animation. During this phase, it was decided to make the lightsabers have different color blades to further differentiate them, and Vader was given a red blade. While the methods used to create the lightsabers would change over the course of the next two movies, the presentation of Vader's lightsaber itself would remain consistent.[16]
The red coloration unique to Darth Vader's lightsaber throughout the original trilogy would give rise to the idea that the blade color of lightsabers was dictated by the moral alignment of the wielders, rather than internal mechanics, a viewpoint supported by the Marvel adaptation of Return of the Jedi, which depicted Luke Skywalker's lightsaber emitting a red blade when Vader ignited it.[17] It would not be until the release of Shadows of the Empire that lightsaber colors would be established as being determined by the internal crystals. However, not all Sith presented in subsequent years would wield red blades. The Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi story arcs Dark Lords of the Sith and The Sith War, both depicted Sith Lord Exar Kun and his followers continuing to wield their original Jedi lightsabers, while the arcs The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire depicted the Sith Lords extensively favoring Sith swords rather than lightsabers, suggesting that they didn't have access to them. The Vector story arc of the Knights of the Old Republic comic and the Lost Tribe of the Sith E-books both retconned this, and took it a step further by suggesting that the Sith in fact pioneered the modern lightsaber design.
The double-bladed lightsaber made its first appearance in The Sith War story arc, wielded by Exar Kun. The design was conceived by artist Chris Gossett, who invisioned lightsabers as the oft-customized honor weapons of the Jedi.[18][19] The double-bladed lightsaber would make its first mainstream appearance in the hands of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. On the StarWars.com databank would be an article devoted to the weapon, which referred to it as a "Sith lightsaber", the first usage of the term. Originally, this name applied exclusively to double-bladed lightsabers, but eventually came to encompass all lightsabers of Sith design.
Appearances
Notes and references
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