Protosaber Archaic lightsabers — commonly referred to as protosabers — were the first known design of lightsaber . Like later lightsabers , their focusing crystal was set inside a hilt from which a blade of energy was emitted . The main difference between protosabers and later lightsabers was that the hilt was connected via cable to an external power pack due to limitations in power pack technology . These lightsabers had limited operational time and the mobility of the user was restricted by the cable linking the hilt of the weapon to the power supply . As technology improved , the protosaber design was abandoned in favor of the modern lightsaber design , with some archaic lightsabers modified to remove the necessity of an external power supply . Some later attempts were made to reintroduce the external power supply using modern technology , trading less mobility for a stronger power source . Design . Protosaber design called for an external power supply that would be carried by the user on their back , hip , or a belt . This power supply would be connected to the bottom of the lightsaber hilt , opposite of the lightsaber ' s blade emitter . An external power supply was required for archaic lightsabers as no sufficient miniaturized power pack existed at the time that was capable of powering a lightsaber plasma energy blade . Even these larger power packs provided only temporary power , limiting the weapon ' s effectiveness . Another limitation of the protosaber design was that the power cable between the hilt and the power pack limited the mobility of the user , preventing techniques such as the saber throw and telekinetic lightsaber combat . History . Protosabers were used during the Hundred - Year Darkness and Great Hyperspace War by Jedi , Dark Jedi , and Sith alike . During these conflicts , they clashed with Force weapon s , conventional weapons , and exotic weapons such as those made of Mandalorian iron . The protosaber design was eventually rendered obsolete by improvements in technology and materials . The invention of more potent power cell technology allowed users to replace external power packs with small power cells fitted within the hilt of the lightsaber . An internal superconductor was also introduced that transferred the returning looped energy from the negative - charged flux aperture back into an internal power cell . With this modification , the power cell would only expend power when the energy loop was broken by coming into contact with other material . It was possible to modify protosabers to take advantage of these improvements in technology , thereby making them into standard lightsabers . Vima - Da - Boda ' s lightsaber is one example of a protosaber that was " upgraded " at some point to match modern lightsaber designs . The First Blade was apparently installed with these improvements as well . With these improvements granting the wielder greater freedom of movement and more efficient power consumption , the protosaber design would be abandoned until further advancements were made in lightsaber technology . Retrosaber . At least one Jedi artisan eventually returned to the archaic lightsaber design , improving it with modern materials and engineering . The resulting weapon — dubbed a " retrosaber " — greatly resembled the original protosabers , but far exceeded their abilities . A retrosaber was just as potent as modern lightsabers , but offered a few advantages along with the disadvantage of the external power pack . The primary advantage was that modern belt - mounted power packs allowed for a brief " power surge " , creating a more powerful blade for a short time and therefore a temporary advantage in combat .