Palpatine rarely used lightsabers in the Star Wars franchise for several reasons, despite being one of the saga’s most skilled combatants. Palpatine was the saga’s ultimate villain in both the canon and Legends continuity, representing the pinnacle of Darth Bane’s dynasty of Sith Lords who follow the Rule of Two. Each generation of Sith grew more powerful after Bane, and the lineage ended with Palpatine, who was easily one of the most powerful Sith Lords in galactic history. Palpatine’s skills with a lightsaber and the dark side were rivaled by only a few, yet there were only a few instances in both continuities of him demonstrating his legendary lightsaber skills.

Much of Palpatine’s backstory was revealed in the Legends-era novel, Darth Plagueis. Born into a wealthy and influential noble family, Palpatine (whose first name is Sheev in canon and unknown in Legends) astounded Plagueis with his intrinsic predisposition to the dark side of the Force and his pure malice, making him an ideal Sith apprentice. As he ascended to Sith Lordship, Palpatine was trained in the draconian ways of the Sith, honing his unnatural abilities and perfecting his skills with a lightsaber.

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Palpatine mastered all seven forms of lightsaber combat but preferred Form VII, Juyo. This seventh form was ideal for Sith Lords, utilizing their aggression for a ferocious form that favored offense. Palpatine only wielded a lightsaber in one saga film, however: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Despite his many appearances in the Star Wars saga, most of Palpatine’s lightsaber uses are in canon and Legends non-movie material. Palpatine’s seldom use of the weapons was due to preference, pragmatism, and a general belief that lightsabers weren’t necessary for Sith Lords.

Palpatine Star Wars Lightsabers

The few instances of Palpatine wielding a lightsaber were particularly memorable. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 5, Palpatine fought his former apprentice, Maul, and Savage Oppress with a pair of identical lightsabers, toying with the two and easily trouncing them (killing Savage without effort). Palpatine used one of the weapons in an issue of Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir and the canon novel Lords of the Sith as well. In Legends, Palpatine struck down countless Bothan soldiers, as shown in Star Wars: Empire at War, but perhaps his best-known use of a lightsaber in Legends was in Dark Empire. In a cloned body, the resurrected Emperor dueled Luke Skywalker aboard his nightmarish flagship, the Eclipse, nearly besting the Jedi Knight.

In the Legends-era novel, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Palpatine voiced his belief that Sith “outgrew” the use of lightsabers but only continued to train with and use them to humiliate the Jedi. Indeed, the first lightsaber was a Jedi weapon, but the Sith modified them, turning them into a dark side weapon through dark side-aligned synthetic crystals in Legends and corrupted Kyber crystals in canon. Palpatine was a profoundly skilled lightsaber user, but he was much more interested in applying the dark side in battle, with Force lightning being his signature ability.

Despite his skills with a lightsaber and offensive dark side powers, Palpatine’s most profoundly deadly ability was his skill as a leader and manipulator. Palpatine was a shrewd and cunning mastermind, perhaps only rivaled by Grand Admiral Thrawn in intellectual prowess. It was Palpatine’s Machiavellian leadership that overthrew the Galactic Republic and replaced it with the Sith-led Galactic Empire, a coup that required few uses of Palpatine’s lightsaber. While Palpatine delighted in besting Jedi in lightsaber combat, his real power in the Star Wars franchise came from his sinister and brilliant mind, making him truly worthy of the titles of Sith Lord and Emperor.

More: Star Wars Had A Sith As Powerful As Palpatine After The Skywalker Saga

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