Lightsaber combat occurred when two or more opponents using lightsabers, or at least one of the combatants used a lightsaber while the other used a different bladed weapon, engaged in a duel. Such opponents were often, though not always, Sith and Jedi. Though lightsaber combat decided the results of some important conflicts throughout the galaxy, often when two Force-sensitive opponents were nearly evenly matched, they had to resort to other means to settle the conflict, such as drawing on other Force powers.
There were seven known forms of lightsaber combat: Form I, Form II, Form III, Form IV, Form V, Form VI, and Form VII. A grouping of so-called "Forbidden Forms" had also been used by some members of the Sith Order during the Sith Wars.
The advent of the Clone Wars brought about a resurgence in the use of lightsaber combat.
During the Republic Era, the Jedi Knights served the Galactic Republic as peacekeepers and ambassadors of the Galactic Senate. In their capacity as guardians of peace and justice in the Republic, the Jedi could resort to "aggressive negotiations," using lightsabers to settle disputes if diplomacy failed. However, it was the hope of the Jedi that they could resolve matters without violence, with High Republic Era Jedi Padawan Bell Zettifar regarding his lightsaber as a last resort when peaceful actions failed. He further believed the light and hum of a lightsaber served as a way to give enemies another chance to surrender, as the weapon was easy to notice. He believed Jedi should only be called to fight to protect "light and life."
Upon the advent of the Clone Wars, however, pushed by the militant stance of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious manipulating matters for his own ends, "aggressive negotiations" through lightsaber combat became commonplace. During the war, the Jedi led the Grand Army of the Republic on the ground as Jedi Generals. Padawans were made into Jedi Commanders. The Jedi thus wielded their lightsabers as warriors against the Confederacy of Independent Systems and its Separatist Droid Army, damaging the Order's reputation as peacekeepers.
Skilled duelists in lightsaber combat fighting on the side of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic included Agen Kolar, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Shaak Ti, Saesee Tiin, Luminara Unduli, Mace Windu, and Yoda. Those fighting against the Jedi—either for their own reasons or in support of the Sith or the Confederacy of Independent Systems—included General Grievous, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, and Asajj Ventress. Still others fought at one point for the Jedi, but later fell to the dark side of the Force. These included Pong Krell, Barriss Offee, and Anakin Skywalker, who became the feared Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Anakin Skywalker's first lightsaber duel with Count Dooku resulted in the loss of his right arm.
Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker confronted Count Dooku at the onset of the Clone Wars, intending to end the conflict quickly by capturing the Separatist leader. Dooku had great mastery of dueling, however, and was prepared to fight the two Jedi. With his abilities augmented by the dark side of the Force, the Count bested Kenobi and his headstrong apprentice, disarming both of them and severing Skywalker's right arm. Dooku was forced to contend with Grand Master Yoda soon after defeating Kenobi and Skywalker. Dooku proved himself to be capable of competing with his former master, but was unable to defeat him and ultimately retreated. In the aftermath of the First Battle of Geonosis and after yet another duel between both of them during the siege of Hisseen, another duel ensued between Dooku and Skywalker during the latter's return to his homeworld of Tatooine.
As they fought on Tatooine, Dooku was impressed to discover that Skywalker had grown more powerful since their first duel on Geonosis. In truth, the many duels between Skywalker and Dooku that would erupt over the course of the war were thanks to the machinations of Sidious. Sidious hoped to corrupt Skywalker to the dark side, replacing Dooku with Skywalker as his apprentice if Skywalker proved powerful enough by beating the count. If Skywalker lost whatever the current duel was, Sidious knew Skywalker was not yet powerful enough to be fully turned. If Dooku managed to kill Skywalker, Sidious would believe Skywalker was not worthy of becoming his apprentice. Skywalker and Dooku would again cross paths in 21 BBY when Skywalker arranged himself to be captured, allowing Kenobi to sneak aboard Dooku's frigate. Both Jedi confronted Dooku and drew their lightsabers, but Dooku escaped before they could capture him.
Both masters of the lightsaber, Mace Windu and Dooku also dueled during the mission to Ridlay, during which Dooku accused his former friend of holding himself back with a lack of imagination. After General Grievous was captured by the Gungan Grand Army in a skirmish on Naboo in 20 BBY, Dooku, on Sidious's order, lured Skywalker to his lair on Naboo and overpowered him with the help of his IG-100 MagnaGuards. Playing on Senator Padmé Amidala's love for Skywalker, whom she had secretly married shortly into the war, the Sith managed to establish a prisoner transfer between Grievous and Skywalker. During his efforts to recreate the Zygerrian Slave Empire as a Confederate puppet state, Dooku confronted a recently escaped Skywalker, who used a Zygerrian electro-whip to counter Dooku's lightsaber. Dooku quickly overpowered the lightsaber-less Skywalker and convinced the Zygerrians that Skywalker had killed their queen, Miraj Scintel, before the Jedi escaped.
As part of a plan hatched by both Sith Lords to make Skywalker feel isolated from the Jedi Order, Dooku again fought Skywalker on Naboo while the young Jedi was alone with Palpatine. Angered by Kenobi's secret undercover mission to prevent a plan to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine, during which Skywalker believed Kenobi had been killed, Skywalker found himself confronted by Dooku and a group of MagnaGuards. Destroying two of the droid guards before engaging Dooku, Skywalker fought to protect Palpatine, unaware that the secret Sith Lord was once more testing him to see if he was powerful enough to best Dooku. As they fought throughout the Theed Royal Palace, Skywalker proved to be a formidable opponent and nearly overpowered the Count on the steps, much to Sidious's delight, but Dooku managed to push back the Jedi with a blast of Force lightning. Kenobi arrived and joined the duel before helping to rescue the Chancellor. As he escaped, Dooku declared Kenobi had been a worthy opponent, but Skywalker was not.
Dooku was defeated by Skywalker during their final contest in lightsaber combat.
Skywalker and Dooku again battled on Tythe, but Skywalker once more failed to defeat the Sith Lord. During the Battle of Coruscant, Dooku confronted Skywalker and Kenobi for the final time. The two Jedi Knights had infiltrated a Separatist warship, the Invisible Hand, to rescue Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. Ignoring the Count's request to surrender their lightsabers, they challenged the Sith Lord to a duel in lightsaber combat.
Despite their teamwork, however, Dooku was a formidable opponent. He overpowered Kenobi with the Force, rendering the Jedi Master unconscious, only to be bested by Skywalker in turn. Giving in to the dark side, the younger Jedi Knight severed Dooku's hands and decapitated the Count at the urging of Chancellor Palpatine, fulfilling Sidious's long fostered hope that Skywalker could best the Count and prove himself powerful enough to become a Sith Lord. Skywalker regretted his actions, though, noting that he had acted against the Jedi Code. However, the chancellor reassured him that the desire for retribution was natural, recounting their first duel when Dooku severed Skywalker's arm.
Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi fought against General Grievous during the Battle of Utapau.
The Battle of Utapau commenced as an invasion by the 212th Attack Battalion. Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi arrived on Utapau ahead of his battalion to confirm the location of his target, General Grievous, a cyborg who learned the art of lightsaber combat from Count Dooku. The generals engaged in lightsaber combat, with Grievous using his cybernetic arms to wield four lightsabers against Kenobi. The Separatist warlord lost his lightsabers after Kenobi dismembered and overpowered him with the Force, causing Grievous to retreat from the battle. Kenobi temporarily lost his lightsaber while pursuing Grievous, and was forced to rely on a blaster, a weapon which he considered "uncivilized" in order to kill his enemy.
Sheev Palpatine revealed his true identity as Darth Sidious, and his skill in lightsaber combat, to the Jedi Order.
Mace Windu, Kit Fisto, Saesee Tiin, and Agen Kolar were on their way to meet with Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine when Anakin Skywalker informed Windu about his discovery regarding Palpatine's secret identity as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. The Jedi Masters proceeded to confront the chancellor in his office at the Senate Office Building, and declared their intention to arrest him on behalf of the Galactic Senate. The chancellor resisted their efforts to remove him from power, accused the Jedi of treason, and attacked them with his own Sith lightsaber. Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto were swiftly defeated by the Sith Lord, leaving only Windu to fight for the survival of the Republic and the Order.
While Sidious succeeded in dispatching three Jedi Masters with his skill in lightsaber combat, Windu was a master practitioner of Form VII, also known as "The Ferocity Form." He had perfected the art of Vaapad, a variant of Form VII, to channel his inner dark side into serving the Jedi cause. The duel in Palpatine's office ended when Windu disarmed Sidious, causing the Sith Lord to lose his weapon by the time of Skywalker's arrival. Skywalker severed Windu's right hand to prevent him from killing Sidious, which gave the Sith Lord the opportunity to kill Windu.
Having survived the purge of the Jedi Order, Yoda challenged Darth Sidious to a duel of lightsaber combat.
Following the proclamation of the New Order, Grand Master Yoda confronted the newly-installed Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the Senate Building on Coruscant. With the Jedi Order purged through Order 66, Yoda made a desperate final attempt to destroy the Sith before Sidious could consolidate his reign as Galactic Emperor. Sidious and Yoda were both masters in the ways of the Force; they fought fiercely in the Senate chamber until Sidious resorted to the use of his Force powers. The Emperor ultimately overwhelmed Yoda with his strength in the dark side, forcing Yoda to flee in defeat and exile.
The duel on Mustafar tested Darth Vader's lightsaber skills against that of his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
In the aftermath of Order 66, Obi-Wan Kenobi returned to Coruscant where he discovered that Anakin Skywalker had turned to the dark side of the Force, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader and leading the attack on the Jedi Temple. Kenobi confronted his former apprentice on Mustafar. Despite his initial unwillingness to fight Vader, having formed a friendship with his former persona, Kenobi resolved to defeat the Sith Lord in lightsaber combat. Vader accepted the challenge and the duel on Mustafar began with an all-out attack from the former Jedi Knight who had mastered the art of Form V "Djem So." Kenobi, a practitioner of Form III "Soresu," fought defensively as they dueled across the fiery landscape of Mustafar. They also fought in hand-to-hand combat after briefly losing their lightsabers. The duel ended in a stalemate, however Vader refused to concede. As a result, Kenobi severed Vader's remaining limbs and left him to die on Mustafar, although Vader survived and was reconstructed as an armored cyborg.
Despite the near extinction of the Jedi Order, lightsaber combat was still practiced during the Imperial Era.
During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire and the Galactic Civil War, Kanan Jarrus trained Ezra Bridger, a young Force-sensitive from Lothal, in the ways of the Force and to use a lightsaber, and he later trained his fellow rebel the Mandalorian Sabine Wren in using Tarre Vizsla's Darksaber. Bridger utilized recordings of Anakin Skywalker's lectures on lightsaber combat forms in order to improve his skills. Despite this, he was defeated by Darth Vader on multiple occasions, the second resulting in the Mission to Malachor destruction of Ezra Bridger's lightsaber on Malachor.
There were many Jedi survivors who used their lightsabers in combat to battle the Empire or protect themselves from Inquisitors, for example, Cal Kestis utilized his lightsaber to defend himself against Inquisitors when he was discovered on Bracca and against Vader on Nur. Additionally, Kestis encountered the former Jedi General Taron Malicos Whereas Kestis had undertaken a quest to restore the Jedi Order, Malicos converted to the ways of the dark side as a result of the Great Jedi Purge and his time on Dathomir. As a result, Kestis and Malicos fought against each other, using the lightsaber combat skills that they learned as members of the Jedi Order.
Darth Vader engages the dark sider Ren in a brief duel during a heist on his Mustafar castle.
Having claimed the lightsaber from his predecessor, the dark side user "Ren" used a lightsaber of the same name during the Imperial Era. Ren believed it it embodied the ideals of the Knights of Ren, whom he led. Although they were not actively being hunted by the Sith, Ren believed it was only a matter of time before Sidious moved against his knights and thus allied with Lady Qi'ra in Crimson Dawn's secret war against the Sith. Ren raised his lightsaber against Vader in a brief duel during a heist on Vader's Castle, where the Knights hoped to steal the Screaming Key for Qi'ra's plans. As Ren's Knights escaped, Vader decried Ren as unworthy to wield a lightsaber, which Ren rebuked by declaring he had earned the blade and everything else he held to his name. Vader forced Ren onto the backfoot and struck him, convincing the Knight to flee the castle.
Ren and his Knights escaped Mustafar with the Key and later returned to the Crimson Dawn flagship Vermillion, which they found under attack by T'onga's crew of bounty hunters. Ren used his lightsaber in battle against the interlopers, but Qi'ra ultimately let T'onga's crew go free on the belief they could prove useful later. The Knights later traveled to a dark side hellscape with "the Archivist" to use the Screaming Key to acquire the Fermata Cage. Ren was forced to use his lightsaber against awakened by their arrival until the Archivist used the Key to claim the Cage, returning the creatures to their slumber in the process. The Knights would soon abandon Crimson Dawn after the Fermata Cage sent out a rippling in the dark side that they were sure Sidious and Vader could track.
Darth Vader duels the Spark Eternal-possessed Doctor Aphra, who wielded a cortosis blade against his lightsaber.
After a sparring match with Vader, Sidious and his apprentice personally led Imperial forces into the battle at the Amaxine Station, where both Sith used their lightsabers to cut through Crimson Dawn forces. The battle was a rare moment where Palpatine could take a direct hand against his enemies, much to his enjoyment. As the Sith advanced, Crimson Dawn Squad Two and Squad Three unveiled electro-based melee weapons to direct engage Vader and Sidious, but both effortlessly cut through the soldiers. The soldier who survived the longest only managed to because Vader was toying with him. Their next challenge came with the Spark Eternal, an anti-Sith artificial intelligence created centuries prior by the Ascendant. In possession of the body of Vader's former agent Chelli Lona Aphra and wielding the cortosis-based Null Blade, which could temporarily shut down a lightsaber, the overconfident Spark engaged Vader in a duel. After Vader threw the Spark from Aphra's body with a Force push and reclaimed his lightsaber, both Sith faced the Fermata Cage and were nearly trapped by it, only for the Knights of Ren to arrive; believing Sidious would escape in the end, the Knights elected to save and pledge themselves to the Sith rather than be destroyed.
A new generation of Jedi learned the art of lightsaber combat under the guidance of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker, attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War. During the New Republic Era, Skywalker started a training temple to pass his knowledge to a new generation of Jedi. His most gifted apprentice was his own nephew, Ben Solo. Possessing the raw power of the Skywalker bloodline, Solo progressed faster and farther in his than any of his fellow students. One of Solo's peers, the Jedi apprentice Voe, aspired to surpass him. Despite Voe's efforts, however, Solo excelled her in every area of Jedi training, from Force techniques like telekinesis to lightsaber combat. In the later years of the reborn Jedi Order, a Twi'lek female named Enyo served as a lightsaber combat instructor to some of the younglings at Luke's academy.
The art of lightsaber combat remained lost, in all of its forms, to the galaxy at large as a result of Ben Solo's conversion to the dark side as Kylo Ren. The destruction of the Jedi Temple and the deaths of Skywalker's other students left Ren as one of the few individuals who possessed lightsaber skills by the time of the First Order-Resistance War. In 34 ABY, Ren encountered a scavenger from Jakku, Rey, while leading a First Order raid on Takodana. At the time neither Ren nor Rey knew that together they formed a rare and powerful Force dyad, but through their Force-bond, Rey acquired some of Ren's knowledge about Jedi training, thereby awakening her dormant connection to the Force.
Luke Skywalker conjured an illusion to save the Resistance from Kylo Ren, who was unaware of his uncle's deception.
During the Battle of Starkiller Base, Rey managed to defeat Ren who was physically injured as well as emotionally unbalanced after committing the act of patricide against his father, Han Solo. Ren was chastised by his master, Supreme Leader Snoke for losing to a girl who was inexperienced in lightsaber combat. However, Ren believed that Rey only defeated him because of the wound that he sustained from Chewbacca's bowcaster. Luke Skywalker confronted Ren at the Battle of Crait, distracting the new Supreme Leader from his objective to destroy the Resistance. Ren tried to kill his estranged uncle through lightsaber combat, but the Jedi Master fought defensively by avoiding Ren's attacks. Skywalker ultimately revealed that his presence on Crait was an illusion that, at the cost of his life, he projected across the galaxy from his location on Ahch-To.
Kylo Ren and Rey fought their last duel in the Death Star ruins, where their ancestors died.
In 35 ABY, Ren and Rey engaged in lightsaber combat through their bond, fighting through Force despite being in different locations in the galaxy. Their final duel took place in the Death Star ruins on Kef Bir. Rey became frustrated by her inability to break past Ren's defenses and her attacks grew increasingly desperate, but was knocked to the ground by Ren's counterattack. Ultimately, though, the duel was interrupted by Ren's mother, Leia Skywalker Organa Solo, who reached out to her son through the Force on her deathbed, thereby preventing him from killing Rey. In the Battle of Exegol, Rey, wielding Leia's lightsaber, and Ben Solo, wielding the Skywalker saber, both used their skills in lightsaber combat to defeat Darth Sidious' Sovereign Protectors and the Knights of Ren. With the support of fallen Jedi of years past, Rey would end up redirecting Sidious's Force lighting back at him with both lightsabers, destroying the Sith Lord once and for all.
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