Imagine watching Star Wars and seeing stormtroopers rushing into battle, lightsabers blazing instead of their classic blasters. Sounds strange, right? But believe it or not, this was almost exactly what happened. In the early stages of developing the Star Wars universe, George Lucas seriously considered arming Imperial troops with lightsabers—something that today feels unimaginable given how iconic and exclusive these weapons became for the Jedi and Sith.
Here’s the fascinating story behind why stormtroopers nearly wielded lightsabers and how this idea shaped what we now see as one of the galaxy’s most iconic weapons.
When George Lucas first envisioned the Star Wars universe, lightsabers weren’t originally exclusive to the Jedi and Sith. In fact, early concept art by legendary illustrator Ralph McQuarrie depicted stormtroopers equipped with lightsabers, along with handheld shields, making these iconic weapons standard issue for Imperial troops. The original intention was to portray lightsabers as common military gear, accessible to both sides in the Galactic conflict, rather than rare artifacts used by Force-sensitive warriors.
However, Lucas eventually reconsidered this idea to emphasize the mystical and symbolic nature of the Jedi. By reserving lightsabers exclusively for the Jedi Knights and their Sith counterparts, Lucas successfully amplified their uniqueness and importance, making them instantly recognizable symbols of power and skill throughout the galaxy.
You can even find some of McQuarrie’s original concept art showing stormtroopers wielding lightsabers, which serves as a fascinating reminder of how different Star Wars could have looked.
So, from the first concept art of Stormtroopers that I found from the book “Star Wars Costumes: The Original Trilogy (2014),” we can clearly see the concept of everyone wielding lightsabers—from Darth Vader and the Jedi, right down to the Imperial Stormtroopers. I’ll leave the images right down below so you can see it for yourself.
As we can see from the image, a stormtrooper is clearly depicted wielding a lightsaber and holding a shield while facing Han Solo and Chewbacca. Interestingly enough, even Han Solo himself is armed with a lightsaber in this early artwork.
That wild concept of stormtroopers using lightsabers didn’t stick around for long, though. As George Lucas continued refining the story, he realized the lightsaber needed to be something more—something symbolic. Instead of being standard-issue weapons, lightsabers became deeply tied to the Jedi and Sith, representing not just skill but a connection to the Force itself. By pulling them away from regular soldiers and giving them only to Force users, Lucas turned the lightsaber into a mythic weapon—rare, sacred, and instantly iconic.
But that wasn’t the last time we saw the idea of stormtroopers with lightsabers. In Star Wars lore, there’s actually a short story from a 2005 Star Wars Insider issue called “A Two-Edged Sword” that revisits this concept in a really wild way. It tells the story of a secret group of stormtroopers cloned from a Dark Jedi named Sa Cuis. These elite troopers were trained in lightsaber combat—yes, actual lightsaber combat—by one of Palpatine’s own Hands, a guy named Sheyvan. Their final test? A deadly trial involving Vader’s trusted officer, Lieutenant Erv Lekauf. But behind the scenes, Sheyvan had his own agenda: he planned to use these Force-trained stormtroopers to betray the Empire itself. It’s one of those deep-cut Legends stories that shows the lightsaber wasn’t always off-limits to troopers, just extremely rare and dangerous.
Still, the idea didn’t vanish entirely. In fact, in Marvel’s 2015 Star Wars comic series by Jason Aaron and Stuart Immonen, we meet Sergeant Kreel—an elite stormtrooper from Vader’s own 501st Legion. Kreel doesn’t just follow orders; he carries a lightsaber into battle and personally goes up against Luke Skywalker multiple times. He’s not a Jedi, and he never trained as one, but he acquired his weapon from a Hutt’s private collection of Jedi artifacts. While he lacked the Force, Kreel’s skill with the lightsaber made him a real threat—showing us that in the right hands, even a non-Force user could wield such a legendary weapon.
