Exar Kun ' s lightsaber The lightsaber of Jedi Knight Exar Kun was a device that was initially created to produce a single beam of blue - white energy . However , upon his ascension to Dark Lord of the Sith , Kun redesigned his lightsaber based on instructions hidden within an antiquated Sith holocron . The finished product was a double - bladed weapon imbued with dark side energy , from which sapphire blades materialized up to 1 . 5 meters from either end of the hilt . Kun wielded the single - bladed version of his lightsaber during his time as a student of Jedi Master Vodo - Siosk Baas , and , with it , he earned a reputation as one of the galaxy ' s greatest lightsaber duelists . The modified , double - bladed saber that heralded his rise as Dark Lord of the Sith was revealed a year later , when Kun confronted and slew his former Master with it on the floor of the Galactic Senate Hall on Coruscant . With Kun ' s own defeat at the end of the Great Sith War , his lightsaber was lost on Yavin 4 , only to be rediscovered decades later by an agent of a secret covenant of Jedi bent on the eradication of all things Sith . Quarantined and preserved for a time in the Sanctum of the Exalted on the planet Odryn , Kun ' s infamous lightsaber was among the Sith artifacts pillaged by the bounty - hunting Moomo Brothers , and it changed owners several times before it was eventually returned to the protection of the Jedi Council . Description . Unique design . Jedi apprentice Exar Kun ' s original lightsaber consisted of a metallic hilt that finished in a single blade emitter shroud and fastened neatly to clips on his right thigh . The intensity of the blue - white beam of plasma that it produced was adjustable ; at its highest setting , the lightsaber was able to rend Mandalorian iron , a unique ore highly prized for its lightsaber - resistant qualities . Minor modifications were made to include three additional emitter shrouds and a ring at the base to facilitate a belt clip . In 3996 BBY , Kun ' s lightsaber underwent extensive alterations , the most significant of them being the incorporation of a second emitter assembly that was identical to the one already installed . A single power cell activated both ends of the newly - created saberstaff — together or independent of one another — which was recharged by a hidden socket situated just below the ubiquitous black handgrip . Dual focusing cores complete with lens crystal assemblies were crossed by a pair of power conduits that wired into a single red activation stud at either end of the hilt . Three smaller , colored , and vertically - aligned buttons were on the black surface of the protruding emitter assemblies , which were protected by four symmetrically - placed , pronged emitter shrouds . Included were paneled controls that adjusted the blade length between 0 . 5 and 1 . 5 meters , as well as diagnostic systems . Opposite the octagonal dual - phase control was an identically - shaped mechanism that adjusted the intensity of the lightsaber ' s twin blades , which , at their lowest setting , served little more purpose than a glowrod , neither able to inflict damage nor resist opposing weapons in combat . At full power , the lightsaber resisted the blades of others and cleaved through virtually anything else with which it came into contact , including weapons empowered by the Force . Advantages . Extendable belt clips jutted from the base of each emitter shroud and allowed the lightsaber ' s handler to conveniently affix the device to their person from either end . Following his embrace of the dark side of the Force , Kun ' s weapon was infused with the negative energies of its creator , and those who faced him were unsettled by its insidious nature . Inheritors of the weapon who were sensitive to the Force found themselves infected with the lightsaber ' s residual malevolent power , while those with no such affinity remained unaffected . The efficiency of Kun ' s preferred combat style of Form VI : Niman was further complemented by his saberstaff ' s improvements . In an era when such weapons were all but forgotten , the double - bladed nature of Kun ' s lightsaber bewildered enemy combatants . A single ignited end often preceded the opposite and served to offset the opposition when finally activated in the heat of battle . Offensive attacks were blocked by one blade as the hand grip was quickly spun to deliver a killing blow with the other . Swift adjustments of either blade ' s length or intensity caused enemies to overextend themselves and allowed the Dark Lord of the Sith to counterattack with lethality . Combined with his incredible mastery of the Force , Kun was a nearly unbeatable warrior when also armed with his double - bladed lightsaber . History . Exar Kun ' s weapon . As a Jedi trainee , Exar Kun created a single , blue - bladed lightsaber during his years of training under the legendary Jedi Master Vodo - Siosk Baas , a Krevaaki Jedi scholar and reputed connoisseur of lightsaber construction . With his original saber , Kun surpassed fellow apprentices Crado and Sylvar ; he also faced Baas with his own weapon and that of Crado ' s , a practice bout that resulted in Baas ' defeat and the splintering of his Force - imbued quarterstaff . Later , while he defiantly pursued knowledge deemed forbidden by his Master , Exar Kun ventured to the tomb of a long - dead Sith sorcerer and tested his weapon against the strength of its walls , specially wrought of lightsaber - resistant Mandalorian iron . Initially unsuccessful , the blade ' s highest intensity was ultimately required to penetrate the unyielding structure . Kun ' s lightsaber was also the bane of two Sith cult ists who tried to waylay the errant Jedi upon his return from the tomb , to their cost . As he grew stronger in Sith lore and power and became a Dark Jedi , Kun was relieved of his lightsaber on several occasions by the spirit of Freedon Nadd — the same Sith sorcerer whose tomb Kun had desecrated with difficulty — only to have it returned when he completely surrendered himself to the dark side . The lightsaber itself became infused with dark side energy as Kun relied more on Sith power . Over time , he was no longer able to sustain himself or utilize his weapon through any other means , having forsaken the light side of the Force . As he sought to consolidate his power in a bid for galactic Sith supremacy , Kun , who by then had begun to consider himself the greatest living swordsman in the galaxy , wielded his weapon against another Jedi of similarly recognized skill , Ulic Qel - Droma , in a duel that ultimately ended without decision , as both chose instead to join forces as Sith Lords and wage the Great Sith War against the Galactic Republic . As the newly - christened Dark Lord of the Sith , Kun continued to use his single and blue - bladed lightsaber — despite a traditional Sith preference for bloodshine blades — sometimes alongside another of similar design , left to swing freely from his belt when not in service . He increased his own dark side knowledge through study of a variety of resources , including an ancient Sith holocron with instructions for the creation of an especially exotic lightsaber : one that produced a blade from either end of the hilt . The improved lightsaber was soon afterward wielded in combat against Kun ' s former Master , Vodo - Siosk Baas , who was slain in the Grand Chamber of the Galactic Republic Senate Hall upon revelation of the double - bladed nature of the Dark Lord ' s weapon . When the Brotherhood of the Sith attacked the Jedi world Ossus , Kun ' s lightsaber saw further action in a duel with the Great Jedi Library ' s aged Keeper of Antiquities , Ood Bnar . Kun was forced to abandon his body at the end of the war , and for a time , his lightsaber was thought lost in the conflagration . Recovery and later usage . Several decades after the demise of Exar Kun , the recovery of his lightsaber became an issue of great importance for the Jedi Covenant , a secret subsect of the Jedi Order dedicated to preventing the spread of Sith influence of any kind . After its discovery by Covenant Shadow Celeste Morne , Kun ' s lightsaber was quarantined on the planet Odryn in the Sanctum of the Exalted , a storehouse of Sith artifacts considered extremely dangerous by the Order . The weapon was encased in protective nullification resin to stifle its residual dark side influence , complete with a microtag that warned of the danger posed by removal from said protection . In 3963 BBY , the Ithorian bounty hunting siblings known as the Moomo Brothers infiltrated the Sanctum of the Exalted and stole a number of Sith artifacts , including Kun ' s lightsaber . The Dark Lord ' s weapon was taken from the Moomo Brothers soon afterward by the Mandalorian scientist Demagol , who successfully removed it from containment for examination and immediately noticed an amplification of his own persuasive Force abilities . He in turn gave it to a former student of his , an Arkanian Offshoot named Jarael , to complement her particular fighting style . Although she was not sensitive to the Force , Jarael handled the lightsaber with deadly accuracy . With it she attacked Demagol ' s daughter , her longtime enemy Chantique , who ultimately acquired it and experienced an immediate surge in her ability to manipulate the Force . Also armed with the confiscated lightsaber of former Jedi Zayne Carrick , Chantique attempted to avenge herself against Demagol with the two weapons , only to be stabbed in the back by her father and have them taken away . When he later dropped them in anger , he tried to take up Carrick ' s lightsaber to defend himself from Chantique , but due to his untrained Force powers combined with Carrick ' s Force balancing ability he had selected Kun ' s double bladed lightsaber instead . When he turned it on , both blades ignited and fatally impaled both himself and his daughter with the saberstaff . With their deaths , Kun ' s double - bladed lightsaber was returned by Carrick to the Jedi Council for safekeeping . Legacy . Exar Kun ' s double - bladed lightsaber reintroduced the unique weapon as a design option to duelists in the galaxy at large . While recognized as a development of the ancient Sith , double - bladed lightsabers became prevalent among Jedi in subsequent years and saw widespread use during the Jedi Civil War despite its deliberately offensive design . The double - bladed lightsaber also remained very popular among the factions of Sith that succeeded Kun ' s Brotherhood . As the first in a considerable period of time to use one in combat , Kun was erroneously credited with the saberstaff ' s design conception , an impression that was corrected in a prepared by Jedi historian Tionne Solusar , from information found in the Tedryn Holocron . Behind the scenes . One of many original concepts created by Tom Veitch and visual depictions rendered by Christian Gossett for the " " comic book series , Exar Kun ' s lightsaber initially appeared in its single - bladed form alongside its owner in the first four issues of " " , and it was penciled by Gossett without any intricate detail . The lightsaber appeared in the final issue of the series , " " , wherein Art Wetherell drew all depicted lightsabers with a similar appearance to one another . Dario Carrasco , Jr . was the artist for " " , the next " Tales of a Jedi " comic series in which Kun appeared with his lightsaber , which was shown worn unconventionally from his belt . The device maintained its single - bladed exclusivity for the first two issues of the story arc , but the saberstaff variant was revealed in the third , titled " " . The lightsaber ' s final " Tales of the Jedi " appearance was in the fifth issue of " The Sith War " , " " . Exar Kun ' s lightsaber became a major plot device in the " " story arc , in which it is finally transferred to the wardship of the Jedi Order . It appeared in the and holographic accounts made by Jedi Archivist Gnost - Dural , a character from BioWare ' s , " " , and was briefly mentioned in the novel " " by Michael Reaves . An action figure of Kun , complete with a removable double - bladed lightsaber , is included in " " , made by Hasbro . A mini - statue of a double - bladed lightsaber - equipped Kun is also numbered among those of the " " set of " Star Wars Miniatures " . A fully detailed schematic was provided for Kun ' s double - bladed lightsaber in " The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology " , and clarification of Kun ' s inspiration for its creation was given in " " . While brief mentions were made in " The Essential Guide to Characters " , " The Dark Side Sourcebook " , the " Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide " , and " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , " The Secret Journal of Doctor Demagol " , a short story made available to members , gives an account of the device while in possession of Demagol of the " Knights of the Old Republic " comic series . Kun ' s StarWars . com Databank entry identifies his lightsaber as the first double - blade in the " Star Wars " universe , preceding the appearance of Sith Lord Darth Maul ' s saberstaff by several out - of - universe years .