#starWhat Weapons Were Used Before Lightsabers

Everyone knows what a lightsaber is. It’s a staple weapon in the sci-fi universe and we see it everywhere in the Star Wars movies and books but what weapons did the Jedi use before lightsabers?

As we look into the history of the Jedi, we can see that with the limitation of technology at certain points in the Star Wars timeline, they couldn’t wield lightsabers.

So they resorted to the old school ways of using staffs and swords.

The first Jedi were not warriors at all but simply peacekeepers as the way of the Jedi should be.

They trained like samurais with their staffs and swords but only used their weapons when deemed necessary.

However as time carried on and their understanding of the force increased, their weapons evolved with it.

This brings us to the evolved state of the Jedi’s swords and staffs in the form of Force Weapons.

This was a Force ability that allowed the user to imbue an unpowered weapon with the Force for a period of time.

By channeling energy into the weapon, it allowed the wielder to strike and do more damage than the weapon’s simple appearance would suggest.

As a useful side effect, a Force-imbued weapon could be used to block lightsabers without damaging the weapon.

It was almost like a rayshield that was around the weapon but it also made it stronger.

The ancient Jedi of Tython were perhaps the first to develop the ability, with their Jedi Forge ceremony.

Most of the users of this power were those outside the Jedi Order, many from cultures and Force traditions that were considered quite primitive, such as the Zeison Sha, who used this power to augment their disc blades, though there were some exceptions.

Jedi Master Vodo-Siosk Baas used this power in his duel against Exar Kun, using his humble walking stick to counter Kun’s lightsaber skills.

The Force-sensitive natives of Felucia were also known to employ such an ability, infusing their jawbone swords with the Force to increase their cutting power and allow them to block lightsabers.

Now Force Weapons are really cool but as the technology advanced in Star Wars, Jedi were able to create a new weapon called a proto saber.

Proto sabers were the first known design of lightsabers.

Like later lightsabers, their focusing crystal was set inside a hilt from which a blade of energy was emitted.

The main difference between proto sabers and later lightsabers was that the hilt was connected via cable to an external power pack due to limitations in power pack technology.

This power pack was an external power supply that would be carried by the user on their back, hip, or a belt.

Even these larger power packs provided only temporary power, limiting the weapon’s effectiveness.

Another limitation of the proto saber design was that the power cable between the hilt and the power pack limited the mobility of the user, preventing techniques such as the saber throw and telekinetic lightsaber combat.

Protosabers were used during the Hundred-Year Darkness and Great Hyperspace War by Jedi, Dark Jedi, and Sith alike.

During these conflicts, they clashed with Force weapons, conventional weapons, and exotic weapons such as those made of Mandalorian iron.

The proto saber design was eventually rendered obsolete by improvements in technology and materials.

The invention of more potent power cell technology allowed users to replace external power packs with small power cells fitted within the hilt of the lightsaber.

An internal superconductor was also introduced that transferred the returning looped energy from the negative-charged flux aperture back into an internal power cell.

With this modification, the power cell would only expend power when the energy loop was broken by coming into contact with other material.

It was possible to modify proto sabers to take advantage of these improvements in technology, thereby making them into standard lightsabers.

Vima-Da-Boda’s lightsaber is one example of a proto saber that was “upgraded” at some point to match modern lightsaber designs.

The First Blade was apparently installed with these improvements as well.

With these improvements granting the wielder greater freedom of movement and more efficient power consumption, the proto saber design would be abandoned until further advancements were made in lightsaber technology.

At least one Jedi artisan eventually returned to the archaic lightsaber design, improving it with modern materials and engineering.

The resulting weapon — dubbed a “retrosaber” greatly resembled the original proto sabers, but far exceeded their abilities.

A retro saber was just as potent as modern lightsabers, but offered a few advantages along with the disadvantage of the external power pack.

The primary advantage was that modern belt-mounted power packs allowed for a brief “power surge”, creating a more powerful blade for a short time and therefore a temporary advantage in combat.

But that came with the disadvantage of an external power pack and cable.

So that is a brief rundown on what weapons were used before the modern lightsaber.