Lightsabers and Star Wars go hand in hand. We probably first think of Luke’s blue or green lightsaber or Darth Vader’s red one. Yet, these traditional lightsabers represent only a portion of the wide variety in the galaxy.
Here is a list of the 10 most useful unorthodox lightsabers in Star Wars.
Table of Contents
1. Ezra’s Hybrid Lightsaber
Ezra Bridger’s lightsaber was built out of spare parts but is quite useful. As a hybrid lightsaber-blaster, it performs two functions.
In lightsaber mode, it is used for combat and has an adjustable blade, while the blaster mode is set to stun to incapacitate opponents.
Jedi Kanan Jarrus used it with his own two-piece lightsaber to defeat the Grand Inquisitor, reflecting the usefulness of Bridger’s lightsaber.
Fans tend to agree, with many indicating how Ezra’s is the most useful since it is “a blaster long-range and a lightsaber up close” that allows him “to fight both ranged and melee.”
This versatility makes this unorthodox lightsaber particularly useful.
2. The Inquisitor’s Lightsaber
Another fan on the above Reddit post argues that the Grand Inquisitor blades win out for being the least useful.
However, this Star Wars video countdown places it at number 5 on their list for being an effective double-bladed version with a disc handle.
The Inquisitor’s lightsaber operates with single or double blades and can spin in a circular motion with the double-blade option.
This video breaks down the deadly power of this lightsaber from the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and how its speed intimidates opponents before dispatching with them. That is useful to the bearer.
3. Kylo Ren’s Lightsaber
Kylo Ren’s lightsaber is known as a crossguard lightsaber with three blades, a primary one and two smaller ones below it.
As we saw in the sequels, Ben Solo first designed this lightsaber, but it took on its distinct form after Kylo Ren destroyed the Jedi Temple and changed its plasma color from blue to red.
However, the kyber crystal was cracked as Kylo reforged the weapon, so he added the vents on the sides of the handle.
This unique design heralds back to the Great Scourge of Malachor, the ancient battle between Jedi and Sith. This lightsaber is unique, historical, and deadly, as we saw right away in The Force Awakens.
4. The Darksaber
As this article claims, the Darksaber could be “Star Wars’ most unusual lightsaber.”
Its black blade rejects the look of usual lightsabers, which makes sense since it goes mainly with Mandalorians and would-be usurpers.
We could add that it is also useful because of its sword-like blade.
Forged by Tarre Vizsla, who entered the Jedi Order, the Darksaber was taken back by the Mandalorians when the Old Republic fell.
This black, sword-blade lightsaber can be quite useful in battle, as this compilation with Pre Vizsla using it in the Clone Wars series demonstrates.
As explained on Padawan Outpost, the Darksaber was designed to go with a Mandalorian wielder but also to “harmonize with the combat styles” of both a Jedi and a Mandalorian.
This “fusion of two worlds” makes the Darksaber unorthodox and useful, if the wielder can control it properly, and that’s a big if.
The Clone Wars also showed Darth Maul in possession of the Darksaber for a time. Yet, his own lightsaber is worth recognizing.
5. Darth Maul’s Double-Bladed
Darth Maul’s distinctive red double-bladed lightsaber is as effective as it is deadly, with Maul going off on “countless missions” with it.
As we know, Maul took down Qui-Gon Jinn and at least seven other Jedi with this lightsaber. His defeat of Pre Vizla likewise reflects this lightsaber’s utility in bringing an end to his opponent.
Fans have voiced the advantages of this lightsaber because to wield it requires an “entirely different fighting technique” to match its unorthodox design, which a Jedi is often unprepared for.
6. Lumiya’s Lightwhip
Lumiya’s lightwhip is unusual among the unusual.
As the Dark Lady of the Sith, Lumiya designed this weapon based on ancient Sith traditions and completed it with a hilt made of Mandalorian iron.
In Legends, she defeats Luke Skywalker with it and takes on opponents for forty years with it.
As a Legends weapon, the lightwhip has a long blade like a whip that can be used in multiple directions by the Sith during and after the Empire.
This video explains how this lightsaber had tiny kyber crystals embedded throughout the whip that allowed it to be longer and more flexible than traditional lightsabers.
Lumiya also had several tassels integrated into her lightsaber to make it even more useful and her more dangerous.
7. Ahsoka Tano’s Lightsabers
Ahsoka Tano showed off her unique lightsabers in the Clones Wars animated series and the live-action Ahsoka show.
She first used a standard green lightsaber but moved on to dual sabers, one of which is short and known as a shoto blade.
The combination of longer and shorter lightsabers came in quite handy against Marrok, using them to fight off two opponents at once.
8. Lightsaber Pike
As this list conveys, the lightsaber pike is indeed “one of the more interesting variations of the double-bladed lightsaber.”
As a weapon of the guards at the Jedi Temple, the lightsaber pike has a long hilt combined with shorter blades to function like a staff.
The hilts can also fold in half like a switchblade, making it compact and portable.
This video examines the hilt and two yellow plasma blades of the lightsaber pike, pointing out how they were put into action against Anakin Skywalker to restrain him after Ahsoka’s trial.
The guards also use them to stop a duel between Anakin and Barriss Offee.
These lightsabers did not stop the tragedy at the Temple with Order 66 but proved useful up until that time.
9. Curved Count Dooku’s Lightsaber
Let’s not forget about single-bladed lightsabers, especially those with a curved hilt.
The Jedi and Sith used the curved hilt lightsaber, providing “great precision” in their fights.
Count Dooku used one while being both, giving him a better grip to face adversaries.
This lightsaber provides more precise movements in a lightsaber duel when using a Makashi one-hand fighting style to throw off an opponent.
As another article indicates, this lightsaber was perfect for Count Dooku since he focused on this form of fighting, and the curved hilt design became “the ultimate expression of Dooku’s own character.”
10. Asajj Ventress’s Splitsaber
With the splitsaber, the assassin Asajj Ventress improved upon Darth Maul’s lightsaber.
Ventress can wield two lightsaber blades and lock them together as a double-bladed lightsaber.
Using the splitsaber takes a skilled user like Ventress and a technique called Jar’kai. Along with Ahsoka and Anakin, Ventress is one of the few who practices Jar’kai in canon.
To make the splitsaber useful to its user thus takes great training but it can serve a Jedi or assassin well.
Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan. He has covered such topics as Darth Vader, the Jedi, Boba Fett, and AT-AT Walkers. Todd has published a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.