The lightsaber is easily one of the most identifiable symbols to come out of Star Wars. Being a franchise with such a long history, most fans who grew up watching the movies remember playing with the toy sabers on holidays and birthday parties. Many fans went on to contribute to the ever-growing story, from writing lore books, to building fan websites like Wookieepedia, and adding even more depth to the Star Wars galaxy — especially in the area of lightsabers.
Update November 3rd, 2022: This article has been updated following the release of more Star Wars series like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Tales of the Jedi, and Andor to include additional lightsabers and even higher quality.
While it is common knowledge that the color of the lightsaber indicates good and evil (in the cases of Darth Vader’s red lightsaber and Luke Skywalker’s blue and green ones), there are also many styles of lightsabers, each holding significance, that aren’t as commonly recognized. To understand this, it’s important to first remember that the lightsaber draws its power from the kyber crystals. Young Jedi receive their crystals and fashion them into the beloved weapon, a weapon that responds to the wielder.
In many cases, the weapon is symbolic of its user’s moral standing, and much of the Star Wars extended story is directly linked to the use of specific sabers. These lightsabers can have tragic backstories, bestow power onto the holder, indicate a role, or contain a function that aids in combat. Often, lightsabers that are just as corrupt or powerful as their wielder can make them all the more intimidating. Here are the coolest lightsabers of the Star Wars franchise.
10 Mace Windu’s Purple Lightsaber
Mace Windu has been a fan-favorite since his first appearance in The Phantom Menace, and it was the second film Attack of the Clones that introduced his signature iconic purple lightsaber. It is fairly common knowledge that his saber is the result of Samuel L. Jackson’s special request as purple is his favorite color. This being the case, the Star Wars fandom went a step further to create an entire backstory to explain the color difference.
According to Wookieepedia, Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber was actually the second one he built. The only Jedi that could wield sabers with an electrum finish were those on the high council, and the amethyst crystal is incredibly rare. Many speculate that the purple color hints at an ability to understand and harness dark-side knowledge without being corrupted.
9 Count Dooku’s Arched, Dual Phase Lightsaber
A dual-phase lightsaber is essentially a lightsaber that has two crystals; the wielder may switch between the two crystals in order to change the length of the blade. The most noticeable user of such a blade is Count Dooku, as seen in Attack of the Clones, who uses an arched, dual-phase lightsaber. This saber in particular is recognized as a Sith weapon because the shifting blade size is both seen as dishonest and has a unique ability to kill opponents. Darth Vader is rumored to have based his red lightsaber on Dooku’s.
Dooku's arch handle also signifies a certain level of control the former Jedi-turned-Sith has over his weapon, making him one of the most skilled and dangerous swordsmen in the galaxy.
8 Darth Maul’s Homemade Cane Double-Bladed Lightsaber
The fan-favorite Darth Maul also used a double-bladed lightsaber; however, unlike Count Dooku’s, the two crystals on Maul’s saber were on either side of the hilt. This allowed both blades to be used simultaneously, in order to create a bigger weapon. While Darth Maul did wield a double-bladed lightsaber in The Phantom Menace, it was in Star Wars: Rebels that his signature weapon became a key character detail.
As an example of Sith's dishonesty and trickery, Maul disguised himself as a feeble old man. Having fashioned a removable piece of wood over one side of the saber to make it appear as a walking stick, Maul tricked Ezra into trusting him all the while keeping his weapon concealed.
7 Asajj Ventress’s Curved-Hilt, Paired Lightsabers
Similar to Maul’s weapon, Asajj Ventress (a character exclusive to The Clone Wars animated series) wielded a curved-hilt, paired lightsaber. Her lightsaber had the ability to separate into separate sabers during combat, giving her an added advantage fitting to a Sith apprentice. Given that she, like Maul, comes from the planet Dathomir and gained an apprenticeship with Count Dooku, her lightsaber allows her to act as a parallel character to Maul.
6 The Inquisitors’ Double-Bladed, Rotating Lightsabers
In the Star Wars galaxy, the Inquisitors have been given a big push in recent years following their appearances in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order and the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi, but they play the biggest role in Star Wars: Rebels which is also when they were first introduced to the franchise. They are a dark-side group of killers whose primary mission is to hunt down and destroy the Jedi that survived order 66.
The Inquisitors' lightsabers are dual-bladed, have two crystals fastened in the same way as Mauls, and have the unique ability to spin giving them flight similar to a helicopter. Given that the depicted Jedi had little training, these rotating lightsabers made the Inquisitors incredibly dangerous.
5 Ezra Bridger’s Lightsaber-Blaster Hybrid
Ezra Bridger comes from Star Wars: Rebels, and he wields a lightsaber-blaster hybrid. This sets him apart from other Jedi, in that he doesn’t have the life experience of being a part of the Jedi order. Originally, he stole from people, using his force abilities to aid in his struggle for life. Most lightsabers are crafted with extensive training and understanding of the Jedi's responsibility.
Ezra’s master, Kanan, was only a padawan during order 66 and never officially completed his training. In this way, Ezra’s lightsaber being a blaster-hybrid is indicative of Jedi culture evolving, not just to fit into commoner life, but also to help defend itself.
Ezra eventually trades in his lightsaber-blast hybrid for a more traditional lightsaber in season 3, but this first makeshift lightsaber the young Jedi wielded makes him one of the most unique characters in the franchise.
4 Ahsoka's White Shoto Blades
Shoto blades are commonly associated with particularly fierce Jedi, and the beloved Ahsoka Tano popularized these for fans. Shoto blades are two separate lightsabers that are wielded together; additionally, one is shorter than the other. The Mandalorian fans will recognize the white blades, but these are actually her second pair in the franchise.
Ahsoka traded these out about a year after the end of the Clone Wars and purified them into the white color herself. Ahsoka’s white lightsabers indicated the completion of her moral transition to gray Jedi and her final rejection of the Jedi order.
3 The Mandalorian Darksaber
The darksaber is a black, glowing lightsaber, which grants leadership authority over the planet Mandalore to whoever wields it. Its popularity has increased after its presence in The Mandalorian, but it has been a crucial symbol for the show since The Clone Wars. The darksaber has a long, bloody history (dating back to the early days of Mandalore) and it has had many masters of varying goals and moral alignments over the course of this history.
Characteristic of the Mandalorians’ violent ways, the darksaber is passed from owner to owner solely through ritual combat that often ends in death. The image of a black blade surrounded by white light makes the Darksaber a unique weapon among lightsabers and one that has now become a fan favorite.
2 Kylo Ren Crossguard Lightsaber
The day the first teaser trailer for The Force Awakens hit the internet, the image of a new lightsaber with a handle that also emitted blades caught everybody's attention. It was immediately recognizable but also something brand new, the creative ethos of The Force Awakens.
Unlike past lightsabers which were smooth elegant weapons, this saber cracked with an anger that made it a true representation of the dark side. It matched the psychological profile of its wielder Kylo Ren, a violent uncontrollable, and dangerous individual that lacks the disciple of Jedi and Sith in the past.
1 Skywalker Legacy Lightsaber
Arguably the most famous lightsaber in the Star Wars saga, this lightsaber has been wielded by the main heroes of each trilogy. Originally the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, it becomes the first lightsaber of his son Luke Skywalker. Luke lost it and his hand in a duel with the saber's former master who now is known as Darth Vader. Finally, it found itself the lightsaber of Rey from Nowhere, who would go on to adopt the surname Skywalker. This lightsaber has been passed down through generations from different heroes and is the Star Wars equivalent to Excalibur from the King Arthur myth.