Not as clumsy or random as a blaster, the lightsaber is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. Since the beginning of the Star Wars saga, fans have been obsessed with the laser swords carried by the Jedi and the Sith. The first couple of entries in the original trilogy established that Jedi Knights use blue lightsabers and Sith Lords use red lightsabers, which was simple enough.
Then, Luke Skywalker blew the whole thing wide open when he lost his weapon on Cloud City and replaced it with a green one. In the subsequent years, the Star Wars canon has been populated with a bunch of characters carrying unconventional lightsabers.
Darth Maul
The Phantom Menace divided Star Wars fans when it first hit theaters, but pretty much the entire fan base could agree that Darth Maul was an awesome new villain. His demonic facial design and his double-bladed lightsaber made him a terrifying presence.
George Lucas saved the reveal of Maul’s second blade for the climactic duel. He only uses one blade in his duel with Qui-Gon in the Tatooine desert and doesn’t show off the second one until John Williams’ stirring “Duel of the Fates” suite kicks in and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan prepare to fight him. The expanded canon later revealed that Maul built his double-bladed lightsaber based on a design he found in Palpatine’s Sith holocron.
Mace Windu
Mace Windu’s lightsaber is a lot like any other Jedi’s lightsaber, except his blade is purple. There are a couple of purple lightsabers in the now de-canonized Expanded Universe, but Windu is the only major Jedi character with a purple blade.
According to Digital Spy, Samuel L. Jackson specifically asked for Windu to have a purple lightsaber because purple is his favorite color. Lucas was reluctant to grant this request because he’d never considered the Jedi using purple lightsaber blades before, but when a legend like Jackson suggests an idea, it’s wise to take it.
Kylo Ren
Kylo Ren’s characterization closely mirrors that of his grandfather Anakin. He’s a Skywalker and a Force prodigy who was turned to the dark side by a powerful puppet master, slaughtered his fellow Jedi students, and left to run an evil empire.
But he has a lightsaber like no other character in the Star Wars universe. In addition to having an unusually blurry blade, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber also has a crossguard on the hilt with two little extra lightsaber blades sticking out of them. Kylo igniting his unconventional lightsaber in a snowy forest was one of the moments from The Force Awakens teaser that sparked the most discussion among fans.
Ahsoka Tano
After being framed for treason by Barriss Offee, Ahsoka Tano became disillusioned with the Jedi and ended up leaving the order. Once she was a ronin wandering the galaxy with no particular allegiance to a Force-related religion, she replaced her Jedi-standard blue lightsabers with neutral white ones.
Ahsoka’s white lightsabers – one single-bladed lightsaber and one shoto lightsaber – also have curved hilts. These white lightsabers hark back to the early concept art for the original Star Wars movie by Ralph McQuarrie.
Rey
Throughout most of the sequel trilogy, Rey wielded the blue lightsaber that was passed down from Anakin to Luke (via Obi-Wan), which somehow came into the possession of Maz Kanata after being dropped down a bottomless pit on Cloud City.
However, at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey finally built her own lightsaber. It has a yellow blade and the hilt is made out of the staff she used to carry around as a scavenger on Jakku.
Count Dooku
When Count Dooku left the Jedi Order and became Darth Sidious’ short-lived apprentice, he opted for a curved hilt on his fancy new red lightsaber. This non-traditional hilt allowed for sleeker swordplay when Dooku took on legendary Jedi Knights like Obi-Wan and a prime-of-his-life Yoda.
According to Sky News, Christopher Lee was a fencing champion who brought his skills to the Star Wars set. Lee’s advancing age showed in Dooku’s limited mobility in his prequel trilogy duels, but his swordplay was as smooth and elegant as the actor himself.
Ezra Bridger
The main protagonist of Rebels, Ezra Bridger, is a Force-sensitive orphan who gets picked up by the Ghost crew and begins his journey to becoming a hero. His first lightsaber was actually a lightsaber-blaster hybrid that he constructed out of spare parts that his crewmates on the Ghost donated.
This lightsaber is eventually destroyed by Darth Vader and replaced with a more traditional lightsaber by the time Ezra has become more powerful with the Force in season 3.
Din Djarin
The Darksaber is one of the most legendary weapons in the Star Wars universe. It’s the polar opposite of a lightsaber, with a blade of pure black, and the only substance it can’t cut through is pure beskar steel.
Following the shocking events of The Mandalorian’s second season finale, Din Djarin is the latest in a long line of warriors to wield the Darksaber. It was previously used by such iconic characters as Darth Maul, Sabine Wren, Moff Gideon, and Bo-Katan Kryze.