Saturday, April 27, 2024

Star Wars: A History of Lightsaber Design

darth maul original design

While it doesn’t have a unique name, Darth Maul’s lightsaber is sometimes called a saberstaff because of the length the hilt requires to accommodate its dual blades. In Legends, Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber was born out of necessity. He’d been sent to kill Siolo Ur Manka, a powerful Jedi, and found himself physically bested. Instead of trying to win a fight he could not win, Maul relied on his cunning — he retreated to his ship, built two lightsabers and welded them together.

Star Wars: Darth Maul - Shadow Hunter (

Ray Park also had a hand in developing Maul’s fighting style, and asked that the hilt of Maul’s double lightsaber be lengthened so that he could use it more efficiently. The Den of Geek quarterly magazine is packed with exclusive features, interviews, previews and deep dives into geek culture. Star Wars lore is so detailed that this article could stretch on infinitely.

Asajj Ventress’ interconnecting lightsabers

Like Maul, Dooku needed a unique weapon that would set him apart from other characters and help keep the franchise fresh. The swanky professionally-crafted-looking lightsabers fit that pitch to a tee. The design phase of The Phantom Menace was on a much larger scale than that of A New Hope.

Canceled Star Wars Darth Maul game's concept art shows unique Jedi and Sith characters - PC Gamer

Canceled Star Wars Darth Maul game's concept art shows unique Jedi and Sith characters.

Posted: Sun, 15 Jan 2017 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order allows lightsaber dismembering "in select cases"

Darth Maul gets his lightsaber (along with the Darksaber) back and crafts an additional one to forge to its end. During the Siege of Mandalore, he uses this double-bladed lightsaber to fight Ahsoka Tano. While Ahsoka shows him mercy and doesn’t kill him, Maul’s original lightsaber falls and is forever lost. The original Darth Maul lightsaber was the double-bladed one seen in The Phantom Menace (cue “Duel of the Fates”) for what seemed like the first and last time.

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Now a single-bladed lightsaber, Darth Maul uses the weapon to gain power in the criminal underworld, forming the Shadow Collective. Darth Maul has a double-bladed lightsaber because he trained extensively to use one, channeling his rage and hatred of the Jedi to make himself the ultimate weapon of the Sith. Maul’s prowess with his lightsaber gave him the choice to use only one blade or pop both to engage more than one enemy at a time. In the original script for Revenge of the Sith, someone else was in charge of creating the senior Skywalker. Even though most people had already assumed this to be the case, it’s not hugely surprising it didn’t make it in. Now that Maul has finally died in canon, it seems like his story might have ultimately wrapped up on a message of hope.

This led to Maul’s battle with Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla, who he dispatched violently and without mercy to assume total control of the planet. Throughout this time, Maul dueled Obi-Wan Kenobi on numerous occasions, and in an act of pure hatred, killed Obi-Wan’s former love, Duchess Satine Kryze. His revenge would prove double-edged, however, as the act created a dark side ripple sensed by his former Master, Darth Sidious.

Star Wars: New Concept Art from Canceled Darth Maul Video Game - ComicBook.com

Star Wars: New Concept Art from Canceled Darth Maul Video Game.

Posted: Thu, 12 Jan 2017 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The Graflex SE Lightsaber

darth maul original design

Although Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s Phantom Menace lightsabers could be deemed a little standard-issue, the same definitely doesn’t go for Episode I’s other lightsaber – that of Sith apprentice Darth Maul. The saber carried by Ray Park was a thing of beauty, with a sleek longer hilt and two ruddy blades on it. Darth Maul, with his striking red and black face, devilish horns, and wicked double-bladed lightsaber, looked like nothing we’d seen in a galaxy far, far away before. Unfortunately, the script let Maul down badly, and he was despatched pretty quickly, only to be brought back through the power of popularity in the animated series Clone Wars. StarWars.com has shared an extensive oral history of the franchise, which includes comments from concept artist Iain McCaig.

Darth Maul’s double-bladed lightsaber

The differences between these designs – as subtle as they may have been to the viewing public – are part of the vast detail that made the Star Wars galaxy immediately visually impressive. The individual touches also help the world feel lived-in and individualized. Luke’s was built from the flash attachment of a Graflex 3 cell unit, while Vader’s was made from a different flash attachment – one from a British 3-cell MPP Microflash. Of course, the minutiae of old cameras doesn’t mean much to us these days, but that explains why the two weapons aren’t identically shaped.

THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY

As it stands, this piece is already twice the length of our average feature (which don’t tend to be short at the best of times), and we haven’t managed to fit quite a few things in. Sometimes, he needs to be a smuggler, so he can use his weapon as a blaster. But when the time comes, he can press a different button and activate lightsaber mode.

In the custody of Ahsoka Tano and the Republic troops, a Mandalorian vault blunted Maul's Force powers so that he could be delivered to the Jedi Council. But with the execution of Order 66 and the clones onboard turned against Ahsoka Tano, her only recourse was to free the powerful former Sith Lord to create a diversion and give her a chance to save herself and her friend, Rex. If you love Star Wars, check out our list of the best sci-fi series, or if you fancy something a bit more magical, we have a guide to the best fantasy movies. Maul is one of the few characters known to have wielded the Darksaber, a rare distinction. Hardcore fans will know that Lucas originally meant for the saga to be a tale from a fictional bible known as the “Journal of the Whills,” but we never got an explanation of the Whills in the film.

He recalled that Maul was described in the script for Episode I as “a vision from your worst nightmare” and McCaig drew from his own fears as he came up with how Maul should look. The result was something so disturbing that George Lucas was horror-stricken upon seeing it. Darth Maul’s new lightsaber is a significant change from the original, with a hooked grip-guard similar to those of the Inquisitors, possibly having been built from the scraps of an Inquisitor’s lightsaber. It still produces two red blades — or perhaps “crimson” is a more apt description, as he takes control of the Crimson Dawn criminal organization while using it. Maul would conceal the hilt with wood, using it like a walking stick in public.

Maul took the first opportunity to betray the Jedi, blinding Kanan with a merciless lightsaber strike to the eyes. The Zabrak escaped the planet in a stolen Inquisitor ship, readying his next move. The Phantom Menace features the Battle of Naboo, during which Maul fights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Darth Maul’s lightsaber skills are impeccable, and he’s able to kill Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan uses advanced lightsaber moves to beat Darth Maul, cutting his lightsaber — and him — in half. Maul and his lightsaber plummet down the reactor shaft, chopped in half and left for dead.

As soon as the opening scroll is done, the audience is brought into a shiny spaceship where young Obi-Wan and his master Qui-Gon Jinn are on a mission to negotiate with the pesky Trade Federation. Incredibly soon, said Federation begin gassing the Jedi under the command of Darth Sidious. Out come the lightsabers – shiny, new, and without that cobbled-together look of Lucas’ original Star Wars. Later, Maul orchestrated the siege of Mandalore as a means to draw Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to him with plans to kill Skywalker and deprive Darth Sidious of his new apprentice.

However, Maul’s shocking return also meant the return of this lightsaber (or part of it). A duel between Maul and Vader would have satisfied fans’ desire to see a fight scene between these two heavy-hitters, but Ahsoka’s story had more emotional weight, Filoni said. Without enough time in the episode to do both, Filoni decided to send Ahsoka to fight Vader, and, therefore, keep Maul alive. Sure, Darth Maul was a bit of a pushover for getting cut in half by a teenage Padawan. But in Son of Dathomir, he and his combined forces of Mandalorians and criminals capture both Count Dooku and General Grievous without lengthy battles. Once they’re in his clutches, Maul parades his success in front of Darth Sidious in one of the most telling parts of the comic.

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