Kylo Ren Is Not The Only Person To Use The Crossguard Lightsaber

Star Wars

Jan 15

There are many iconic moments in Star Wars history that forever changed the franchise. Vader telling Luke he’s the father. Han returning to the Death Star in A New Hope. Vader tossing Palpatine over the edge. The podrace from The Phantom Menace. It is part of the draw for the franchise, the things that keep fans coming back and awing newcomers. One of those moments came not in the actual movie but from the trailer. The second that unstable red lightsaber flashed on screen…with blades coming out the side, Star Wars was never going to be the same.

Soon enough, Kylo Ren’s lightsaber became one of the best-selling lightsabers of all time. The design was incorporated into the game Star Wars: The Old Republic, so players could build lightsabers for their toons with crossguards. Gone were the traditional singular blade and hilt, reminiscent of the katanas of the samurai of old that Lucas was fascinated by and based Jedi discipline on.

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As the story goes, the crossguard comes from a cracked kyber crystal. A series of focusing crystal activators split the energy from the crystal out the sides through vents, which are called quillons. These new blades take on a semblance that is closer to the many European and Middle Eastern swords that feature crossguards at the top of the hilt. It turns out that Kylo Ren was not the first to utilize such a hilt. The hilt has a long history of use by the Jedi and Sith alike.

The Makashi

Count Dooku — Image Source: Star Wars Fanon

The Makashi were Jedi who preferred to use Form II of lightsaber combat. This graceful and precise form was primarily used for duels, and utilized by skillful fighters such as Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, the Grand Inquisitor, and Ki-Adi-Mundi. However, by their time in the galaxy, the crossguard hilt had fallen out of fashion. Thousands of years before, users of this form, commonly referred to as Makashi, favored crossguard hilts. They famously fought at the Great Scourge of Malachor. The Great Scourge is referenced in comics, and in Rebels when Ezra Bridger finds a crossguard saber and learns about the great battle.

Darth Atrius

Image Source: Saber Sourcing

Long before the movies, the Sith were far more widespread and wielded power and influence in the galaxy. One such Sith, Darth Atrius, preferred not one, but two crossguard sabers in combat. He used them to slay enemy after enemy. In time, his rage and hate grew so great that it actually infected the blades. Long after he died, his corruption spread from the blade to the people who wielded it, as happened to a crime boss who came to possess it and went mad wielding the blade. It came into Luke Skywalker's possession, but he destroyed one of them when he sensed that it was too dangerous to keep around. The other blade came into Darth Vader’s possession. He also crushed it after sensing the troubling nature of the blade.

Creighton Sun

There is not much information about this Jedi Master other than he was a virtuous Jedi, and was often seen as overly serious. He was introduced in The High Republic: Convergence, set about 150 years prior to the first phase of The High Republic initiative. Master Creighton Sun utilized a blue lightsaber with a crossguard.

Stellan Gios

During the High Republic Era, when the Jedi were at their precipice, the crossguard lightsaber was still in fashion. One of the greatest users to wield a crossguard blade was Jedi Master Stellan Gios. His hilt was characterized by a pair of curved crossguards that fold in when the blade is inactive, and fold down when the sword ignites. He was one of the most gifted lightsaber fighters in the ranks of the Jedi and played a central role in the burgeoning crisis involving the Nihil.

Burryaga Agaburry

Stellan Gios was not alone in the High Republic era with a preference for the crossguard blade. One of the Jedi Padawan, a Wookiee, also used a crossguard blade. Typical of Wookiee sabers, Burry coated his in the white amber of an extinct white wroshyr tree, similar to the brown type commonly found on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. He utilized a green blade, which also came out the sides with an electrum crosspiece.

Cal Kestis

Cal Kestis was one of the survivors of Order 66. Only a Padawan at the time of the slaughter, he went into hiding and took odd jobs here and there until he was discovered on Bracca and saved from Inquisitors by Cere Junda and Greez Dritus. After his hunt for a holocron with the location of other Force-sensitive children in the galaxy, Cal, Cere, Junda, Greez, and a Nightsister named Merrin will continue their journey in the sequel to Jedi: Fallen Order, Jedi: Survivor, which comes out this March. In the trailer for the game, Cal reveals an adjustment to his lightsaber, a common theme from the first game, but this time around, it’s got a crossguard beam.

It’s safe to say that Kylo Ren’s iconic crossguard saber style is here to stay, and with more shows and movies to come, it will be exciting to see what other direction Lucasfilm takes the ongoing evolution of the lightsaber.

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