If you were a Jedi or Sith, what kind of lightsaber would you create?

Dai - katakana. Invisible if possible. Otherwise as dark as I could for color.
Simple and elegant hilt like Sidious, crimson, but longer.

 

Were you envisioning a curved lightsaber blade, or just the length?

 

Standard Single Like luke's in ROTJ

 

Just the length. I think the curve on steel helps with strength. Would look original though.

 

I'd have to go with the Swiss Army Knife Lightsaber-

 

Everyone remembers the telescoping Lightsabers the original Kenner action figures of Luke Skywalker, Obi-wan and Darth Vader had. The handles on those I always thought would be cool and I always loved those toys. Dooku's curved hilt reminds me of the handles on those. And I always wanted to see a yellow Lightsaber like Luke's action figure had. Now we have all seen or heard of swords with a smaller knife or dagger type blade that springs out of the back of the handle, Like Sorcha's sword in Willow. Now I'm no artist, and this is the best I could do with paint. But my Lightsaber would look like this one \m/



Laugh if you will but it's what I would use if I were a Jedi \m/

 

Wow you made quite a point, multiple ones.

It's looks unstable, but hey your weapon of choice is your weapon of choice.

 

You could be right on it being unstable....

But it would have to handle better than @padawan529 Nunchuk Lightsaber....



It was such a interesting idea @padawan529 I just had to have a go at it \m/

 

I take your point, I still think your weapon would make quick work of your opponent.

 

Just a couple comments here. Call it more "analysis," than "critique." I might get an off-topic for this, but figured I'd go into a little information about swords and weapons.

@padawan529 I see a "nunchuck" light-saber working fine with a toggle switch. The hilt in your hand turns on the hilt that is twirling, and shuts off when the hand is removed, like a dead-mans-switch. A cool option would also be for the chain to retract, so that the weapon could become a saber-staff. Other than that, a lightsaber "morning star"/ball-and-chain could be cool.

Keep in mind that lightsabers are not weightless--they are supposed to have a strong gyroscopic effect, making them move on their own. If the nunchuck (or flail portion) of the weapon did not cut cleanly through the target, there would be a rebound, though for fantasy sake, I would assume your "jedi" would ue the force to help control the weapon.

For @WookieeMonster, the problem I see with the pommel-blade is when used in tight offense/defense. Even with the blade swept forward, it could be possible to slice the bicep or chest (the for-arm would be easily saved, I think).

I mentioned this before (here, or in another thread), but I did midieval re-enactment fighting with a variety of weapons from 16 years old to around 32, have a coal-fired-forge, and have seriously studied blade and melee weapons since my "tweens." I'm closing on 36, for reference of time in this.

One thing you do not typically see in movies is the "rebound" from a sword-strike--for dramatic purposes, warriors often "lock" blades, then growl at each other in a gritty fashion.

Imagine swinging a 3-4 lb hammer at something hard. It bounces, and might hurt your wrist. Now make that two hammers hitting each other, but both are 3-4 feet long, flexible, and made of a springy material so that the energy exerted is partially returned. In your arm, you have three fulcrum points--shoulder, elbow, wrist (plus twisting motions). I mention this because one goal in fighting properly isn't just using precision strikes, but being able to turn your returned energy + your opponents energy into a return strike.

We don't really see this in Star Wars--often the blades just bounce off, or "lock," like there's some sort of energetic attraction. To me, it'd be neat to see some more realistically "physical" fights.

I guess, while I'm at it:

@CHOLOBOT

The Dai-Katana/Katakana (also called tachi) is essentially a Claymore or German Zwiefhander, if you have no curve to the blade. From what I have read, the Dai Katakana was used against cavalry, much like the Claymore, while the Zweifhander was used more by infantry against pole-arm/pike/pole-ax infantry. In most weapons, the curve doesn't really provide any more "strength," to the weapon, but provides an easier cutting edge with a slash. A lot of cavalry used this weapon, as you need just stick your arm out, the curve of the blade would help pull/slice through the target.

Japanese blades are a little different, as they had very poor steel compared to the western world (especially the middle east and Viking culture), and less forging technology. By poor, I mean there was too much carbon, which makes a hard, yet brittle steel. What they created was more than the sum of their parts, however. Typically, a high-carbon steel needs tempered in oil, or it will shatter--the Japanese did not use this, but came up with a clay mixture to coat their blades with when tempering. They coated the back edge of the blade heavily which left it softer, and made the cutting edge coating thinner, which left the edge harder. This tempering technology, accompanied with the curve of the blade, let the blade "twist" when it hit a surface, this making it stronger that it would be as a straight blade. The pretty line you see running up the spine of a katana is called a hamon, and shows the heat difference in the temper.

Sadly, most Katana still broke easy and never survived the first battle, however, the swords that did survive became legendary. From some things I have read, most wakazashi and tanto were made from broken Katana.

 

@Suicide Samurai so can u tell me which Hilts would be best to use? Like would a curved Hilt be more stable and help with the rebound or would a Sithcalibur type Hilt be better? And just to ask, taking into account what you said above. Would a Double Bladed Lightsaber be a bigger burden to use compared to the advantage you would gain with it?

 

Take your pick.

 

Not sure I was sent the image from a friend on another sw website it maybe look eu.

 

I hope that this is informative, and I'm not sounding like a know-it-all-jerk. I just really like the history of weapons, and know that there are a lot of misconceptions. I've said it before, and I'll say it again--this is all fantasy, so there are no real "wrong" ideas about how things can operate in the films/games/et cetera.

I'll tackle the saber-staff first.

I've used a "staff/stave" a bit, but I'm not an expert at it. I more so preferred spears or pikes/pole-arms. Darth Maul made it look cool, but they were choreographed fights. You can see the weakness of the staff being cut in half, easily.

Also, to use a saber staff you lose a lot of movement compared to the use of a sword. To refer back to pivot-points, to strike a 90+ blow forward from your torso, you have to also pivot your ankles, knees, hips, torso, shoulder, elbow, and wrists across both sides of your body. In the films, Maul did a lot of flips and spins to counter this--what I will call "radial/arcing attacks." He had to move his body to move his weapon.

With a real staff in European or Asian combat, the staff was gripped by either the middle 1/3rd, or the first 1/3rd of the weapon, and us often used like a spear/pool cue, in that thrusts are a common attack. Imagine, you are fighting a sword with a piece of hardened wood. You you not want to stop a blow with a direct parry, but instead wish to brush the weapon aside so that you may deliver a strike.

Wong Fei-hung, a historical Chinese figure who became legend (and has had a multitude of films based upon him--Drunken Master, Iron Monkey, to name a few), was adept at the use of the staff, and reportedly bested 30 armed men with just a staff, to give you the idea of the power one can wield with such a simple weapon as a stick.

Again, Star Wars is fiction, so one must take into consideration that a warrior adept with such a weapon could easily overcome the limitations of only using 1/3rd of the weapon for gripping.

As for curved hilts, my experience with them is limited.

The purpose however, is to add a fulcrum point to a wielders arm. Count Dooku, if you notice, fights in a style very similar to rapier fighting. If you hold a pencil, drum-stick, knife (whatever...) in your hand, you will notice that if you hold your arm out straight, the blade will point forward (180) from your body. In your right hand, you should be able to pivot (axial) to the left about 90 degrees, and to the right slightly less, without moving your elbow or shoulder. You can of course go full 90 (or more) but have to use the elbow and shoulder.

A curved blade provides more movement, thus less effort to make a strike. The less effort needed, the faster (and harder) a strike can be delivered.

It's possible they they gave Christopher Lee curved hilts to help him appear to move faster/more range when he wasn't doubled in stunts. Or, maybe it was just for looks.

Another note about hilts--that neat trick you see in the "Robin Hood" style of films, where a person is disarmed with a twirl of the blade... that hurts like a son-of-a-Bastich. That has to do with the axial movement I detailed above with the wrist. You can only bend so far until your hand is forced open. Having a curved hilt might help with this--avoiding being disarmed--but I did just watch the Dooku/Anikin duel on youtube and noticed that Dooku does not hold his weapon at the lower part of the curve, but by the top of the sword--perhaps this is different in different fights.

As for Sithcaliber, I like Stephen Colberts answer--they're connected blades, so a sword can't cut through the metal part, so they's work as a cross-guard. As for injuring yourself, it's possible, but keep in mind that European soldiers used these weapons for centuries. They didn't have the force, and knew that if they hit themself with their cross-guard, it could be a stumble that lead to their death. I've used mock clay-mores and swords with cross-guards 10-12 inches (25-30 cm) across, and never had a problem.

Claymores (which I think Sithcaliber is closest to) were for killing horses. One hand on the handle, on hand on the cross-guard--let the horse ride into your blade. These large gross-guards were more about being extra handles than for blocking a slash. They were used to help steady a blade in a wrestling match, or used as a pull-bar to help remove the weapon from the corpse that had been run through.

If you want a crossguard, the roman, viking, and Japanese went simple. The Tsuba (cross-guard equivalent on a katana) is only a disk about the size of a soda-can.

The only saber-weapon I really hate that I have seen in Star Wars so far are the Tonfa Batons (Maris Brood used these in Force Unleashed). To me, they seem to unweildly, and offer a very limited range of attack when in the defensive position (blad towards body), and offer limited offensive power when the blades are aimed forward.

Still, they do look cool, and that's what this is all about. The looks, and the force-wielders ability to make the weapon part of who they are.

If anyone wants to check out a cool documentary about a very special type of sword, and has Netflx, check out "Secrets of the Viking Sword: Nova."

 

I like dual singles, mainly cause it would allow me to better develop technique, to counter a two-hand, single blade lightsaber. And since there are two, it would allow me to look really awesome as well

 

"A second sword is a poor excuse for a first shield."

A knight in one of the groups I fought with told me that once, but you know... other than Gungans, we don't have shields in Star Wars. I always favored a 4 foot long sword, and a 22 inch rapier. Duel wield, you can call "Florentine."

And for this...

I pulled 5 videos of tournament fighting from 4 different re-enactment groups. These are all different weapon constructions, or types. Three are "boffur," all with different construction/weight requirements, one is of rattan (imagine bamboo as strong as oak), and one is rapier, using steel blades with dull tips.

While you will see armor in use, it is disregarded. Some groups allow head-shots. Most count head or torso as death, or two limbs as death.

I post this to illustrate how quick sword-fighting can be, when done by people who fight 5-10+ hours a week, years on end. Even the best fighters against each other usually score a kill in the first 5 strikes.

Amtgard

S.C.A. Heavy Fighting

Belegarth

S.C.A. Rapier

Darkon

Amtgard is the group I was part of for the longest--sorta semi-retired at the moment. I've fought SCA rapier, and have fought people from Belegarth and SCA heavy, thought not in armor as an SCA heavy fighter. We used either flat blades to simulate a "real" sword, or round blades, so fighting was much like what fighting with a light-saber would be, as far as weapon control goes.

If anyone is interested in this stuff, let me know, and I can probably help you find a group.

 

@Suicide Samurai

You did come across as a know it all.... but that's because you were explaining something you know a lot about to someone who knows nothing at all about it....
LOL, I mean that as a joke. Knowledge is power and knowing is half the battle. I in no way shape or form thought you came across as a know it all \m/

Seriously, THANK YOU!!! \m/ \m/

THANK YOU for taking the time to reply with a detailed response, you could've just gave me short answers. But you didn't, so THANKS a million I loved the read. Very informative and not only answered my questions, but others as well. I never would have guessed that the Curved Hilt would give you more control or more speed.

I do have Netflix and I am going to check out the Documentary "Secrets of the Viking Sword: Nova" later today. Thank you for the heads up on that also (chewie)

Alright everyone I am sorry to throw out another funny windows paint Lightsaber. I'm sure it's getting old to you all but I spent my 1st night not smoking. I am quitting to live a healthier life and needed something to do with my time, so here is my idea for a Lightsaber Chainsaw lol

 

Good luck with the quitting smoking. I battle that one, myself. Almost quit, then bought a friggin' carton...

The pics are cool. Simple, but dynamic with the coloring.

As for the swords and the know-it-all-stuff, every sort of nerdom has it's geek arguments. I've had my share of them, and try to cull information from multiple sources before talking about stuff. Don't take what I've said as gospel, but a good, level truth. Humans have used edged, metal weapons for at least 3,000 years, and a LOT of information has been lost in time, not only about the construction of some of the weapons (such as Damascus steel), but also the use and function of a lot of weapons. Books on the topics were rare, but exist in several cultures. Actual function replicated today can only be done from these texts, and what feels "natural."

I don't really want to de-rail this thread too much more, but thought it'd be neat "insight," into reality vs. what we see on the screen in not only Star Wars, but other films as well.

The choreographers who work in Hollywood are very much artists, like a dancer would be. They need to balance the possible talents of the actors (and extras/stunt performers), as well as the strength of the prop. The OT kept having saber-props break, so the fights were toned down. the origonal saber props actuall had blades that spun in the handles, to reflect light, before they decided to roto-scope them. In a way, it helped create the persona of Obi-Wan and Vader in "A New Hope." An old man and a cyborg--slow, focused combat. As the films progressed and props got better, they added some faster movements and more fury. The props and special effects were better in the PT, so the fighting could be increased--also, most of the actors were younger.

I'm hoping we see something we haven't yet seen in a Star Wars film--unbridled fury.

Maul was too graceful, and almost chivalric--other than the hilt-punch to Qui-Gon's face. Dooku was a gentleman in his combat, and Sidious was just bat-blast crazy with his spins, twirls and flips. I want to see fights where the GROUND would shake.

Armour would also be a cool addition to Star Wars on film. It's been done in books and the comics--I can't remember about the cartoons.