Star Wars" Saberstaff Origin Explains Why the Sith Redesigned Lightsabers

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The Star Wars saga’s iconic saberstaffs debuted in a Legends comic well before their famous onscreen debut in the prequels, and their origin is closely tied to the Sith Order. The most famous saberstaff is the lightsaber of Darth Maul, who famously dueled Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but it was the ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun who first wielded such a weapon. Kun’s sinister intentions when crafter the double-bladed lightsaber highlight key differences between Jedi and Sith, despite both factions using the weapons.
Four years before The Phantom Menace, the saberstaff first appeared in issue 3 of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi – The Sith War, by Kevin J. Anderson and Dario Carrasco, Jr. Having fallen to the dark side and become a Sith Lord, Exar Kun dueled and defeated his former Jedi Master with his unconventional saberstaff, using its enhanced offensive and defensive capabilities to his advantage. While the saberstaff is a more offensively aggressive weapon than the classic single-bladed lightsaber, it is also less precise and often more vulnerable to damage, making it a fitting foul for the original lightsaber design just as the Sith Lords are to the Jedi Knights.