Star Wars accidentally made lightsabers less special in the Expanded Universe, but canon has officially undone those mistakes. When it comes to the iconography of Star Wars, nothing can compare to the legendary lightsaber. When it was first introduced back in 1977, this "elegant weapon" was presented as little more than a simple metal hilt that emitted a single energy blade. However, after years of new Star Wars stories told across numerous films, TV shows, comics, and roleplaying games, the concept of the lightsaber evolved to include a number of increasingly complicated and intricate variants. Most of these crazy lightsabers are unique to the now non-canon Expanded Universe, which is currently known as Legends.
The original Star Wars EU was a wide and imaginative playground for writers, artists, and game developers to explore. With so many creative cooks in the kitchen, it’s little wonder that many unique versions of the lightsaber emerged across different stories. From ancient, power pack-fueled protosabers to variants like lightclubs, lightfoils, lightwhips, and quadruple-bladed sabers, the EU was filled with bizarre and eye-catching upgrades to the traditional depiction of the weapon.
There’s no denying that these lightsabers were weird, wild, and incredibly fun for Star Wars fans to experience. But as cool as they were, these complicated takes on the classic weapon strayed so far away from the initial idea that the original saber began to feel less special by comparison. Thankfully, the official Disney-created canon for the Star Wars universe has managed to reign everything in and make the original, humble lightsaber important again.
By the time Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, the Star Wars EU was so vast and often contradictory that nearly all of it was abandoned in favor of a new, simplified canon. Part of Lucasfilm’s plan to redefine the Star Wars universe from scratch was to completely reassess how the franchise dealt with lightsabers. In addition to altering the lore surrounding lightsaber construction and crystal color, an attempt was made to refocus the audience on the lightsaber that started it all: the simple, single-hilted, single-bladed weapon that fans first fell in love with back in 1977. That’s not to say that the new Star Wars canon isn’t filled with unique lightsaber variants. On the contrary, the modern Star Wars films, shows, comics, and games have introduced any number of head-turning sabers, including those wielded by the Inquisitors, Rey’s dual-bladed saber from her vision in The Rise of Skywalker, and the infamous Darksaber that appeared in The Clone Wars, Rebels, and will continue to play a big role in The Mandalorian. The recently released roleplaying book Star Wars: Gadgets and Gear also includes details on 48 different melee weapons, including multi-bladed energy knives, staffs, unique sabers, and even a dual-blade vibrosword. All of these lightsabers and lightsaber-inspired blades are considered canon.
The difference between the approach taken with the old EU and the new canon is how these variants are handled. Not only are these lightsabers unique and given limited exposure in these stories, but the sheer number of them has been reduced greatly. The original classic lightsaber is no longer buried by a constant barrage of crazy variants with spinning handles and multiple blades. Instead, these variants are allowed to coexist with the original version in an organic way that keeps the spotlight on the classic Star Wars saber we all know and love.
