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This is me trying to track down a vague rumor from childhood, so be warned. When I was in elementary school, somewhere in the late 1980s to the early 1990s, I remember being told that Emperor Palpatine, in expanded materials, had a lightsaber with a curved blade. Specifically, while it was nominally a normal lightsaber, he used the force to curve it to show off his power or for some tactical advantage like being able to to circumvent an opponent's guard (the normal reason for a curved sword, concentrating the force of a blow, allowing more powerful slashing blows with a lighter weight, does not really apply to a lightsaber). They swore that it was in the books — I want to say that it was somehow tied into an idiot savant weapon designer who mumbled new designs in his sleep, but was functionally retarded otherwise.

I've found a few references with people claiming that this was supposed to have been introduced into Episode 2. And there are other people asking after canonical references. Obviously, this is something that has heavily weighed on people's minds, if only because people like to think of ridiculous lightsaber variations.

The closest match I've found so far is the Darksaber, which has a curved edge (somehow), but that was introduced way later than the timeframe I remember hearing about this. It's also possible that they might have been thinking about an Echani blade or the like, but the description of it being curved by the means of the force doesn't quite match there. It's also possible they were just making it up, I guess. It was elementary school and goodness know we all made some pretty huge fibs back then.

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    If you heard about this in the late 80's, it would have likely been something in a comic (Marvel had the license back then). The real big wave of EU stuff didn't happen until the 90's with the Dark Horse comics and Zahn's books.
    – phantom42
    Feb 20, 2015 at 13:40
  • If it's not made up, then it's really obscure - the only differences in lightsaber blades I've been able to find are the Darksaber and the Lightwhip Feb 20, 2015 at 14:12
  • I agree - I've been reading SW since the 80's, first the Marvel comics, then the books and everything since - but I've never heard of this.
    – Omegacron
    Feb 20, 2015 at 16:22
  • Well, that could be the answer then... huh.
    – FuzzyBoots
    Feb 20, 2015 at 16:31
  • @JasonBaker: The 'Darksaber' was a modified Death Star built by a Hutt, wasn't it? It was called that because the revised cylindrical design (with the firing port on the end) reminded the designer of a lightsaber.
    – Jeff
    Mar 6, 2015 at 16:24

2 Answers 2

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You may be thinking about the original Force Wars on Tython. This was after the force had just been discovered, and was prior to the creation of the lightsaber, however, the war was fought using "force-forged swords" that were strengthened using the force. They were metal, and had many varieties (many very similar to standard lightsabers), but one of the most prevalent forms looked like a Katana, which has a curved blade.

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Just to provide another data point, Darth Noctyss is depicted in Dark Legends wielding a curved lightsaber, but it sounds like it might have been added by the artist.

Image of Darth Noctyss with curved lightsaber

"As this story was one of the last to be added, and due to approaching printing deadlines, I had to proceed with the illustration without knowing whom or what the main characters were. What I did know was that this story took place on Exegol and was going to have a strong Dr. Frankenstein and Ygor vibe. At the time, I only had the trailer visuals to go off of. Inspired by a screenshot, I built up the scene and shrouded our Sith in a hood to hide their identity. With a bit of Force lightning to showcase the villain's power, I was able to increase the drama in the composition. The curved saber was added later, and if I am not mistaken, is specific to a particular Sith."
―Grant Griffin

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