Every Star Wars Character That Has Wielded The Darksaber

Here’s every character to possess the fabled Darksaber in Star Wars canon. The Star Wars universe is full of amazing weapons, and chief among those is the iconic Jedi lightsaber. In a unique twist, Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced a variation on the traditional with the Darksaber. The Darksaber was created by the first Mandalorian inductee into the Jedi Order and remained a treasure of the people of Mandalore ever after, both as a symbol of leadership and as a formidable blade in battle. Due to the Darksaber’s symbolic importance, ownership of the item has proved a contentious issue throughout Star Wars history.

As a result, the weapon has been held by both Mandalorians and non-Mandalorians, and featured in a wide variety of comics and animated Star Wars productions. While never gracing the main line of big screen releases, the Darksaber finally made its live-action debut in the season 1 finale of The Mandalorian, immediately sparking renewed interest in this fascinatingly goth-tinged take on the Jedi’s standard issue lightsaber.

Whether in live-action, The Clone Wars, or Star Wars: Rebels, wielding the Darksaber has always felt like a big deal. Initially belonging to a single Mandalorian house, the Darksaber has since taken many masters, and the passing from one owner to the next is somewhat of a ceremonial event, since the weapon can only be legitimately taken by defeating the current holder in combat. Just as the Jedi form a link of sorts with their own blades, the feelings of those using the Darksaber affect the black energy itself. These are all the warriors who have been honored with the Darksaber across the various works of the Star Wars franchise.

Tarre Vizsla

The very first owner of the Darksaber was the man who created it, Tarre Vizsla. Very little is canonically known about Tarre Vizsla, other than the fact he lived during the Old Republic era and was, at that time, the only Mandalorian to have ever been accepted as a Jedi. As is customary, Tarre was required to build his own lightsaber as part of his Jedi training, but instead of opting for the standard blue or green varieties, Tarre went even more outlandish than Mace Windu and build the distinct, unique Darksaber that was pitch black and shaped more like a katana than the standard saber. Although Star Wars hasn’t revealed much about Tarre Vizsla’s life, the character possessed and wielded the Darksaber while he was leader of Mandalore, and a statue was erected of him after death. It can be assumed that the Jedi Order took ownership of the Darksaber after Tarre’s death, since the relic spent years holed up in the temple on Coruscant.

Pre Vizsla

During the various conflicts between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, House Vizsla managed to steal back their ancestor’s Darksaber, reclaiming what was thought to be their birthright stolen by the typically self-absorbed Jedi. Following the weapon’s retrieval, House Vizsla possessed the Darksaber for many years, with the item inherited from one leader to the next. This part of Darksaber lineage is unexplored in Star Wars canon, right up until the era of the Clone Wars, in which Pre Vizsla is wielding it. As seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Pre Vizsla led the Mandalorian Death Watch, who sought to reclaim Mandalore and revert the planet back to its supposed glory days, and struck a deal with the Confederacy in order to achieve this goal, once again pitting the arch enemies of the Jedi and Mandalorians against each other.

Pre Vizsla used the Darksaber throughout the Clone Wars, battling against Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano, but it was another ill-judged allegiance that brought about Vizsla’s downfall and the Darksaber changing hands. Having already been betrayed by Count Dooku, Vizsla joined with Maul, but promptly turned on his spiky-headed friend once the civil war was won. Not best pleased, Maul challenged and defeated Pre Vizsla to take control of the Death Watch and the Darksaber.

Darth Maul

Although Maul won the Darksaber fairly from Pre Vizsla via the Mandalorians’ own rules, the fact Maul himself wasn’t one of their own caused controversy within the Mandalorian ranks. Obtaining the Darksaber was more of a symbolic achievement for Maul, earning him control of the Death Watch and power among the Mandalorians, but he would also use the blade in battle in conjunction with his familiar red Sith lightsaber. Maul uses the Darksaber against a selection of big-name villains in the Star Wars franchise, including General Grievous and Palpatine himself, the latter temporarily stripping his former apprentice of the weapon. Maul also made use of the Darksaber in battle against the Jedi. Maul temporarily loses the Darksaber after his fight with Palpatine on Mandalore, but comes to possess it once again in the Son of Dathomir comic book series, in which he fought Jedi, droid and Sith with the ancient Mandalorian weapon.

Ezra Bridger/Kanan Jarrus

Neither Ezra nor Kanan truly possessed the Darksaber, but both would hold it during a transitional period in the weapon’s history. Maul was never challenged or defeated by a would-be Darksaber owner, instead the blade lay secret and dormant on Dathomir within Maul’s hideout. Eventually, the sword found new owners after the former Sith took Ezra Bridger back to his mysterious dwelling to partake in an ancient ritual that would ultimately reveal Obi-Wan Kenobi to his red nemesis. Following the ritual, the duo were attacked by the spirits of Nightsisters, and Bridger briefly used the Darksaber to destroy the altar from which the spirits were arising. As Maul left to pursue Obi-Wan, Sabine Wren seized the Darksaber but, unsure whether or not she was worthy enough for such a storied weapon, she passed it onto her friend Kanan Jarrus for safe keeping. After discovering the full significance and lineage of the Darksaber, Jarrus became determined to make Sabine face her destiny.

Sabine Wren

Talked into accepting the Darksaber, Sabine Wren underwent training from both Ezra and Kanan. It was during this period that Sabine realized the power behind the Darksaber could unite her people, and her reservations were settled. Sabine finally accepted the legacy of the Darksaber and claimed the weapon from Kanan Jarrus, putting the ancient sword back into Mandalorian hands for the first time since the days of Pre Vizsla. Sabine would wield the Darksaber on her mission to liberate the people of Mandalore, but her claim was disputed by virtue of not defeating Maul to obtain it. Although Sabine briefly lost the Darksaber to both her mother and Viceroy Saxon, winning in battle against the latter finally legitimized Sabine as a worthy inheritor, and she became the ruler of the Mandalorians proper. Having succeeded in her goals, Sabine Wren would use the Darksaber to rescue her father, but ultimately still felt that she wasn’t the rightful owner, and instead offered the relic to Bo-Katan Kryze.

As an interesting aside, Sabine did briefly wield the Darksaber before laying claim to the sword officially. While in Maul’s cave on Dathomir, Sabine was taken over by one of the Nightsister spirits and seized the Darksaber while possessed, attempting to attack Ezra Bridger with it.

Bo-Katan Kryze

While defeating Viceroy Saxon and unifying the Mandalorians proved Sabine Wren’s worth, she came to believe her role was merely to pass the Darksaber onto Bo-Katan Kryze. Back when Maul was in possession of the Darksaber, he executed the then-leader of Mandalore, Satrine Kryze and assumed power for himself. Satrine was Bo-Katan’s sister, and so instead of Maul, the lineage of the Darksaber should’ve fallen to the younger sibling. Just like Sabine before her, however, Bo-Katan initially turned down the Darksaber due to concerns over her worthiness. After Sabine and House Wren reiterated their support, Bo-Katan Kryze accepted the Darksaber, but her reign leading Mandalore with the weapon on her hip remains largely unexplored for now.

Moff Gideon

At some point between the conclusion of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the fall of the Empire, the Darksaber transfers from Bo-Katan Kryze to Moff Gideon, leader of the Imperial remnant forces in The Mandalorian. The full story behind this transition is currently not known, but it’s safe to assume the Empire’s purge of Mandalore is the root cause. The Empire ransacked Mandalore and took most of their treasures for themselves, forcing the survivors into a nomadic existence. In the chaos, Gideon somehow managed to obtain the Darksaber, although whether or not he defeated Bo-Katan Kryze for that honor is yet to be addressed. Although the season finale of The Mandalorian shows Moff Gideon cutting his way out of a crashed TIE Fighter using the black blade, Star Wars fans haven’t yet seen whether or not the Imperial is actually a proficient sword fighter. With Gideon alive and seeking round 2 against Din Djarin, the Darksaber could soon find itself in more worthy, and more Mandalorian, hands.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3625 Articles Published)

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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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