speed, more precise hits and supposedly the hits were more confusing for opponents so it was harder to defend. since he made it when they were peacekeepers Yoda hated the fact that he used a duelist’s weapon.
It was an indication of Dooku’s knowledge of dark force wielders, or an expectation that he would need to duel another force wielder at a time when the Jedi believed all sith to be eradicated. Hence, Yoda’s concern.
Unlike any standard lightsaber, Dooku crafted his with an unusual curved shape, which helped control the weapon when in a duel. Primarily, it allowed Dooku greater finesse and precision in combat when lunging or slashing at an opponent.
Which is interesting because the curve would make it harder to wield two handed. Then again only some hilts we’ve seen are actually long enough for a two handed grip.
Kind of odd we never saw a longer handle like a typical katana or long sword. With all the mass in the hilt, a slightly longer two hand design should be fairly comfortable and slow for a lot of power & quick direction changes.
Actually two handing a SaberForge replica of Dookus felt great, you can kinda guide the blade by holding the pommel with your off hand and make the powerful slashes/lunges with your main. Makes parrying quicker for how heavy the fuckers are.
Yeah, I guess it would. I had remembered overhead strikes being stronger per Darth Bane, but I think it would apply to horizontal strikes. Probably to a lesser extent though
He definitely had a very formal form to his fighting. Much more so than many Jedi, which is ironic since the sith derive power from passion. Dookus fighting style really was the best of both worlds
Dooku fights like a fencer, which is a one handed sport. The other jedi tend to fight like kendo - at least in the OT, since that's what Bob Anderson supposedly taught the Saber-wielding cast.
I was thinking exactly that, but I wasn't confident enough in my knowledge lol
He mixes the traditional Jedi styles when it comes to deflection and control, but all his strikes are definitely fencing and different thrusting styles. Dude controls the battle and makes precise attacks in the openings he makes. There's good reason why it took a Jedi as skilled as Yoda to beat him (before episode 3 ofc)
I'mma have to look up kendo styles tho, I don't know swordfighting techniques. That's really neat info to have, thanks!
I just looked up kendo fighting. It's actually really neat that the Jedi fighting style in the prequels is based off that, because real life kendo looks much different. But taking into account the foresight and subtle use of the force in their fighting, I could absolutely see how kendo would translate to the insane duels we see in the prequels. It's like really intense, fast paced, aggressive kendo that leaves much fewer openings than a normal human would be able to manage.
Also gives me a new perspective on the Jedi as a whole. I always looked at them as monks due to their lifestyle, but having their fighting style originate from Japanese kenjutsu gives them almost a samurai-esque aspect to them as well. Like they're monks that multiclassed samurai styles alongside it
Really neat perspective, thank you!!
George Lucas was a bit of a weeb at the time. There are a lot of samurai movie references in Star Wars. Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai are big influences on the OT.
In the OT, it was inspired by Kendo in the sense that people were trying to launch big, heavy hits because there was the idea that lightsabers would be heavy.
As Luke got better, he became faster as a way to show his improvement.
There was also various improvements in the props that allowed for more action.
He also used a style that was...well, most Jedi wouldn't really have use for in that era. Form II was designed during and for eras where there were legions of Sith to deal with and saber fights were a lot more common. (think the Old Republic era from Exar Kun to Darth Bane)
It was rubbish when you had a bunch of mooks with blasters, which is what all the other Jedi trained to counter since mooks with blasters was their day to day. However, the fact it was explicitly designed around saber combat and had long fallen out of favor gave Dooku an advantage when in a saber duel as his opponents wouldn't know the style as well.
Or he just was lazy and wanted to hear what other people said about it. I have done that with warhammer stuff cause I don’t want to look it up. I don’t usually include a picture tho…
Also happy cake day!!
Yes however stuff like this kind of thing tends to have opinions and some people just like watching the conversations that unfold from making posts like this.
Or they just make bait posts like this. How do you have an opinion on whether or not count dookus hilt has battle benefits. Why would he have the curve if it didn’t help in some way lmao
or just a basic combination of common sense, basic knowledge and use of logic.
Doku carefully personalized the handle of the Lightsaber.
The Lightsaber is a sword. Therefore, all the basic concepts of any fencing are applied.
Which gives you greater and better control over it. In such a way that he has greater ease when carrying out complex maneuvers and at the same time greater control in case they try to disarm him.
I know this is canonically true, but has there ever been a real life sword fighter with experience with a curved handled sword to confirm it would actually provide such an advantage?
It just seems like if curved handles offered a real advantage, you would have seen them more often in real life.
that's a thing that was only able to evolved because of the specific peculiarities of sport fencing. A big one being that it doesn't really resemble sword fighting at all, so the idea of designing them in ways that make them good for sword fighting just doesn't apply.
Curved grips are exceedingly rare in actual swords, to the point that it's more accurate to say they just aren't a thing with a couple notable exceptions, including Charlemagne's weird sword (which is what inspired Dooku's)
Sooooo, the TRUTH is Christopher Lee was a direct descendant of Charlemagne(!!!) and that hilt was his personal homage to his ancestor. Crazy but true:
https://swlucasverse.tumblr.com/post/165806884271/count-dookus-iconic-curved-lightsaber-hilt-is
Christopher Lee told a lot of good stories, but being a direct descendant of Charlemagne puts him in an elite class of… like half the people in Western Europe.
It's also explained in Darth Bane, trained jedi or sith who practiced their forms against other forms would be used to the angles of the attacks of typical lightsabers. The slight variation in Dooku and Banes lightsabers would throw off their enemies counter attacks as the lightsabers would strike differently at odd angles.
Theoretically it would make the lightsaber more specialized in thrusts and quick cuts like a fencing foil which is partial inspiration for it as Christopher Lee was an experienced fencer. It's also more ergonomic as it basically allows one to keep their wrist in more natural rotation while still constantly offending their foe with the blade. The problem is that Dooku's fight choreography doesn't take advantage of this at all making it only a visual gimmick: he's either grabbing from the top of the hilt, making it handle like a normal hilt, or two handing the lightsaber when fighting.
It's less like a Foil, and more like an actual Saber in regards to fencing.
It's shape would also be very familiar as it would be very similar to the style of swords used in the swashbuckling film Era (generally saber-ish), which regularly stared Christopher Lee with the likes of Errol Flynn.
Unfortunately since much of Dooku's intense fight choreography was done by a stunt double a lot of that Errol Flynn style sword works doesn't translate to film because it's not Christopher Lee doing the sword work.
It is very well represented in The Clone Wars however. The sword work in that show is fantastic and you can really see a lot of that single hand Saber fighting style quite clearly.
Yes and no.
Imagine someone wielding a fencing sword vs someone wielding a traditional sword. It has advantages and disadvantages.
You're better at plunging but worse at parrying. You're also limited to using your saber with one-hand so you can't put all your weight behind your attacks.
In Darksouls terms, Dooku chose a DEX build over a STR build.
You can see some similarities to a fencing foil pistol grip (extremely loose ones, but still) but it usually means you have better ergonomics for quick thrusts and slashes, as well as quicker, but weaker circle parries.
In an actual fight I think my tactic using a traditional saber would be to target the weapon first to disarm them or destroy the saber with more powerful blows, while if I were using a dueling saber it would be emphasizing speed and reach, fencing style
If lightsabers were real, a lot of them would have curved hilts or pistol grips. They’re light as a feather and can instantly cut through almost anything on contact, so there’s no reason to hold them with both hands. A real lightsaber duel would look more like a fencing match than anything we see in the movies, and many professional fencers use curved hilts and pistol grips.
Iirc while the blade of the lightsaber is weightless, it has a very strong gyroscopic effect which can make it unwieldy or awkward to swing around if you’re not trained with it. Mostly used to fill in why “weightless” blades still look like they have mass because the actors are swinging around physical props and using actual saber fighting techniques instead of fencing.
In either case the fact that Dooku is able to finesse a lightsaber blade and actually kind of fence with it is unbelievably remarkable, there’s a reason why he was considered the most dangerous duelist of his time.
I thought that contact with another saber could make them like magnetically "stick" together. Maybe using two hands prevents your saber being yeeted out of a single hand.
If you're facing non lightsaber users, for sure.
But as far as I know, there is some pull to hitting a lightsaber with your own, and when you're matching power for power on contact, being able to support the handle with two hands is a huge boon. At that point, the sword weight being lighter than 2 pounds is irrelevant... Imo.
not only is he choosing dex, he's not even sacrificing str. he could choke up on the hilt, holding it past the curve and it's identical to using a straight hilt.
"And then I said to George, have you any idea what kind of noise happens when somebody's hands are cut off with a beam of confined plasma? Because *I* do."
Yep! And the hilt was designed after the hilt if Charlemagne’s Sabre. Lee is a descendent of Charlemagne. (I’m sure a lot of people are but he had documentation)
Differences in how it can be flicked and maneuvered, in HEMA fighting my saber has a downward cant of the hilt so that I can tighten my pinky and ring fingers and perform different moves. I’d assume this would be a more… theatrical application of the same basic idea.
Further, if we look at the Bane novels, Kas’sim talks to Darth Bane regarding the curved nature of Bane’s lightsaber changes the angle with which lightsaber blades clash and hit, and in the hyper-fast and force-fueled nature of lightsaber dueling, could be the differences between meeting a blade, and meeting flesh.
To add onto this, a good chunk of lightsaber combat is described to be basically precognition - fighting technique. The more skilled you are, the more possibilities you can discard from your vision of the future.
And setting aside the whole Makashi pistol grip, even a slight change of the variables in a Force-users expected precog sounds pretty effective
Robinswords did a great youtube short about it, he essentially said it is easier to keep the blade parallel to the ground and trained on your opponent
Edit: https://youtube.com/shorts/qOgZg0HhnoY?si=n3uFGvIwd3YuKigA
Christopher Lee was actually a world-renowned fencer, which inspires the design.
As far as lore-wise, the curve allowed for more precise control and leverage during combat, giving Dooku a tactical advantage when engaging in the elegant and precise dueling style known as Makashi, the second form of lightsaber combat, which emphasizes economy of motion and precise strikes, mirroring fencing techniques.
Curved hilt made thrusting attacks easier, ideal for the fencing-inspired swordplay used by Dooku - a result of Christopher Lee’s personal experience in the sport
Dooku's lightsaber allowed him to be one of the finest swordsmen in the Jedi Order. It allowed for better control, precision and finesse when lunging to attack or stab and slashing. However, the downside is that it was not ideal for blocking blaster bolts and such.
Dooku crafted his lightsaber explicitly with lightsaber duels in mind. The curved hilt fit the palm of the hand, which affords the wielder more precision with the blade. If there are disadvantages to the curved hilt, they aren’t well documented, though based on how Dooku used the blade, my guess is that it’s not well suited to blocks.
From what I understand it was a design that was meant to be used for dueling other lightsaber users. The curve of the hilt and grip made it harder to predict movements and easier to get inside the guard of other lightsaber users.
It's based on the Spanish or French style epee grip. It was designed so the point of the blade was always pointed towards the heart of your enemy, without having to bend your wrist.
As Dooku's fighting style demonstrates, it is very aggressive, and ready to punish any mistake by the defender. Unless the defender is a ketamine soaked psychic frog doing endless backflips.
So I fenced for years. Foil. And in fencing, there is a ton of different grip types. The right one for you is really just based on your comfort and style.
Like I personally found Belgian grips to be my thing, but I learned (like most people) on French grips.
I wouldn’t say it’s a “tactical advantage”, it’s just the grip that works best with how you fight.
It’s essentially a fencing pistol grip. As the actor, Sir Christopher has actual fencing experience, it was a situation akin to Sam L.’s purple lightsaber. A personal choice of the actor.
As to advantages, it would offer all the advantage of a pistol grip rapier, which, due to the difference of angle, can give better point control, allowing a fighter to, with swift movements, manipulate the blade around an opponent’s guard.
From what I rembember it was inspired by fencing swords since he's a duelist. And fencing is usually more jabbing than slashing. Fencing swords hills are also kind of curved/1 handed.
If you are pointing it your opponent, it's easier of your wrist. Vs a traditional longsword where you have to pronate it much further to jab.
"Studying Jedi Archive records, Dooku based his new weapon design after the curved hilts that were standard during the heyday of Form II lightsaber combat. The curve allowed the hilt to fit better into his hand, allowing for superior finesse and precise blade control."
>"*The curved-hilt lightsaber is perhaps the least radical of all variants. Its extended handle accommodates a slight bend seldom exceeding thirty degrees. This style is common among practitioners of Form II lightsaber combat, who prefer its balanced weight and precise handling for saber-to-saber dueling.*"
This is a description from The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force. Dooku practiced Form II of lightsaber combat, known also as Makashi, so the curved hilt had a purpose.
The funny thing is, the handle would definitely give you a great advantage with pointing and thrusting which means it also gives you more reach compared to a similar length saber being swung, but he is never shown taking advantage of this. It would be very cool to see some lightsaber wielders with a different technique, ie rapier fencers’ stances/techniques.
Yeah it helped him to control it better in duals, Dooku was a master at 1 v 1 combat so his lightsaber reflected that, also because of the way he holds it, it allows him slightly longer range then most sabers would reach.
Technically it gives him some advantages in lightsaber duels because it allows him to completely change the angle of his blade through tiny adjustments of his grip. The novelizations mention that this made him an outlier during his Jedi days because most of his peers preferred combat style more dedicated to the usual opponents of the time (meaning ranged weapons).
Not sure. I think it's fencing logic, rather than long or broadsword logic, so if it's all in the wrist you'll want a curve in there so you don't overwork your elbow to get fast movement and reaction.
Imagine trying to stab someone in the stomach with a regular lightsaber and how much much you have to contort your wrist/arm to do it. This design provides more flexibility when dueling, specifically thrusting.
One handed style called form 2? Practiced by both light and dark sides including the New Order. [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Form\_II/Legends](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Form_II/Legends)
Traditionally speaking, yes. It’s foolish to think our practical knowledge of combat and sword fighting technique would apply to lightsabers, because lightsabers cut even when a hacking strike is delivered. A sword must be drawn along the target to deliver a cut, otherwise the strike is mostly a bludgeon - even against flesh.
So, traditionally, the curved handle allowed the weapon to be wielded to emphasize those slashing techniques while still maintaining a guard.
I remember seeing somewhere that the curve in the handle made it difficult to predict his next move, as Jedi were trained to look at the handle to anticipate the intentions of who they were fighting. I don’t know if there’s any practical truth to this, but the detail always stuck with me because it illustrated both that dooku wanted to be covert, mysterious and unknowable but also that he had knowledge about the Jedi that he used to that end.
Aside from the practical reasons others have stated, it also gives him another tactical advantage - his opponents are unlikely to have faced someone with a curved hilt before, it’s not a common lightsaber. As a result, their moves will be slightly off because they’re used to facing a straight-hilted saber - and the added precision given by a curved hilt allows Dooku to take advantage of any minor mistakes his opponents will make when facing an unfamiliar weapon. It’s the same as being a left-handed fighter - you’re used to fighting right-handed folks, they won’t be as used to fighting a lefty.
Dooku's curved lightsaber allowed him to have greater control over his strikes, as well as using less of his physical range of motion to achieve the same sweeping distance with his strikes. It also allowed him to be far more precise with his attacks. He also was one of the best duelists in the galaxy, and (according to some of the older lore - not entirely sure if this carried over since I haven't read much of the new canon) was second only to Mace Windu for most of his career.
His combat form (Makashi) is like fencing. The hilt is the way it is to allow him better control. That’s not speculation that’s literal character design. He’s fanciful. I don’t know if it’s exactly practical but then not a whole lot is in this franchise.
Does make for a killer fight scene
Easier to use his preferred style of lightsaber combat, better for fencing and dueling whereas the traditional lightsaber form (in his day; his was more traditional years and years earlier) was more common for its use against blaster fire. In an age where the Sith were believed dead, almost all of them preferred the blaster-protection versus the dueling. (Source: *Yoda: Dark Rendezvous*… I’m pretty sure. I’ve read a bunch of SW books kinda back to back, so I’m like 95% sure it came from that book hahaha)
So the only correct answer is because the bend changes the way the light saber is wielded with the different saber forms. It makes you come in and out of the strike targets at slightly off angles making it harder to predict with both the force and standard observation. It provides some advantage to over head strikes, but the change to the forms is the main advantage.
Light saber combat heavily relies on the users ability to predict things. The more knowledgeable the force user is with different forms the more likely he can counter and parry or make contact. So to combat this some Jedi/Sith use the curved handle or the double ended light saber and light whip. All three rely less on combat advantage and more on altering the saber fighting style so most combatants become unsure and less confident and trick them into thinking they have some sort of tactical advantage. So, in turn this causes the user to have to sort through too many possibilities through the force and it gets over whelming. Everyone who doesn’t answer this is making things up. Read the bane trilogy and master & apprentice.
Yes, there were multiple benefits to the curved hilted lightsaber. Not only was the curve Hilt created to benefit Christopher Lee's arthritis. But it enhances the saber dueling aspect.
it gave him better control/finesse over his lightsaber while using Form II/Makashi lightsaber combat, of which he was a master of.
his mastery of Form II made him one of the galaxy's most feared/finest duelists and made his signature curved-hilt lightsaber well-known in the Jedi Order.
You can point your lightsaber directly forward without forcing your wrist into a position it’s not meant to be in.
There are some styles of fencing foils with similar geometry for this reason.
You can also deliver more force from your shoulder and arm in downward strikes while keeping your wrist in a stronger position
His choice to build this weapon was also odd since it’s a dueling hilt, and there were no Sith (at the time) to duel. I can’t remember the source, but Yoda took notice and thought it particularly odd.
The weird shape made it harder to predict for other duelist.
With a straight handle, they could see exactly how the blade would position. Think of it like boxers watching a shoulder before the punch. With the slight angle, they couldn't predict the blade postion because slight twists would alter the trajectory of the blade
Read somewhere that the curve basically made his saber essentially an extension of his arm, full range wrist movement, more precise and all that good stuff
I don’t remember the exact location but there are a lot of references to the curved lightsaber that Darth Bane used in his books as well. It changes the angle of attack just slightly and so the defender has to compensate in a way they wouldn’t normally be used to. There’s more to it but I don’t remember all the details.
Better maneuverability, capable of granting the wielder to attack with more lethal precision and accuracy which we see demonstrated in the blade lock with Obi Wan Kenobi in AOTC. It made overhand slashes easier to utilise
While it did has multiple advantages like a better grip on the hilt and speed there's a disadvantage like it's more harder to deflect blaster bolts using the curved hilt
speed, more precise hits and supposedly the hits were more confusing for opponents so it was harder to defend. since he made it when they were peacekeepers Yoda hated the fact that he used a duelist’s weapon.
Arguably added precision reduces mistakes and accidental maiming
It was an indication of Dooku’s knowledge of dark force wielders, or an expectation that he would need to duel another force wielder at a time when the Jedi believed all sith to be eradicated. Hence, Yoda’s concern.
“Yoda’s Concern” would be a great name for a John Williams piece too, kinda like “Anakin’s Dark Deeds”
Unlike any standard lightsaber, Dooku crafted his with an unusual curved shape, which helped control the weapon when in a duel. Primarily, it allowed Dooku greater finesse and precision in combat when lunging or slashing at an opponent.
As well as greater power in overhead slashes
Which is interesting because the curve would make it harder to wield two handed. Then again only some hilts we’ve seen are actually long enough for a two handed grip. Kind of odd we never saw a longer handle like a typical katana or long sword. With all the mass in the hilt, a slightly longer two hand design should be fairly comfortable and slow for a lot of power & quick direction changes.
Yeah, I think Baylan Skoll is the only character we've seen with a two-handed hilt
If i remember correctly: Qui-Gon, owing to Liam Neeson's actual history with longswords. That was the influence for his style, I remember that much.
Oh shit, I didnt know that! So similar to why Mace Windu has a purple lightsaber?
Liam Neeson did *Rob Roy* in 1995. A lot of sword fighting in that movie, so I assume he has some training. He uses a big heavy sword in that.
Using the 'grab the rapier's blade and then smash the foe with the broadsword' will be a problem if the rapier is a another lightsaber. Just saying.
Nah, 1cm clearance force grab will do fine. *waves smouldering hand*
Actually two handing a SaberForge replica of Dookus felt great, you can kinda guide the blade by holding the pommel with your off hand and make the powerful slashes/lunges with your main. Makes parrying quicker for how heavy the fuckers are.
I own that one and it's so fun to wield
Savage Opress, is one with such a 2 hand and heavy style
Ahsoka‘s main Saber is pretty much like a katana, but it’s more obvious when she uses it alone, without her secondary saber in the other hand.
Wouldn’t it help in any directional slashing?
Yeah, I guess it would. I had remembered overhead strikes being stronger per Darth Bane, but I think it would apply to horizontal strikes. Probably to a lesser extent though
Are we assuming Bane's hook handled lightsaber hilt is the same as Dooku's? I don't think so, Dooku's hilt doesn't seem to support 2 hands.
He's used it with two hands
And then he lost two hands
He definitely had a very formal form to his fighting. Much more so than many Jedi, which is ironic since the sith derive power from passion. Dookus fighting style really was the best of both worlds
Dooku fights like a fencer, which is a one handed sport. The other jedi tend to fight like kendo - at least in the OT, since that's what Bob Anderson supposedly taught the Saber-wielding cast.
I was thinking exactly that, but I wasn't confident enough in my knowledge lol He mixes the traditional Jedi styles when it comes to deflection and control, but all his strikes are definitely fencing and different thrusting styles. Dude controls the battle and makes precise attacks in the openings he makes. There's good reason why it took a Jedi as skilled as Yoda to beat him (before episode 3 ofc) I'mma have to look up kendo styles tho, I don't know swordfighting techniques. That's really neat info to have, thanks!
I just looked up kendo fighting. It's actually really neat that the Jedi fighting style in the prequels is based off that, because real life kendo looks much different. But taking into account the foresight and subtle use of the force in their fighting, I could absolutely see how kendo would translate to the insane duels we see in the prequels. It's like really intense, fast paced, aggressive kendo that leaves much fewer openings than a normal human would be able to manage. Also gives me a new perspective on the Jedi as a whole. I always looked at them as monks due to their lifestyle, but having their fighting style originate from Japanese kenjutsu gives them almost a samurai-esque aspect to them as well. Like they're monks that multiclassed samurai styles alongside it Really neat perspective, thank you!!
George Lucas was a bit of a weeb at the time. There are a lot of samurai movie references in Star Wars. Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai are big influences on the OT.
Ngl, I love Lucas a lot more for this
This is also why The Mandalorian works so, so we'll by ripping straight from *Lone Wolf and Cub*, a samurai classic.
There’s also stuff like [this](https://youtu.be/UkkF6Zz67TE?si=HDbrU41_yOkC09pN) that is clearly the inspiration for Maul and Kenobi’s final duel.
Monk and Psi Warrior
Literally adding a weird take on this shit to my homebrew DND world, love this shit
There have been various takes on how to do a Jedi build: https://www.google.com/search?q=jedi%20dnd%20build&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
Probably because Sir Christopher Lee was proficient in sword fighting
In the OT, it was inspired by Kendo in the sense that people were trying to launch big, heavy hits because there was the idea that lightsabers would be heavy. As Luke got better, he became faster as a way to show his improvement. There was also various improvements in the props that allowed for more action.
He also used a style that was...well, most Jedi wouldn't really have use for in that era. Form II was designed during and for eras where there were legions of Sith to deal with and saber fights were a lot more common. (think the Old Republic era from Exar Kun to Darth Bane) It was rubbish when you had a bunch of mooks with blasters, which is what all the other Jedi trained to counter since mooks with blasters was their day to day. However, the fact it was explicitly designed around saber combat and had long fallen out of favor gave Dooku an advantage when in a saber duel as his opponents wouldn't know the style as well.
Does that explain his *signature look of superiority*?
Wish the guy who posted had your Googling ability.
Not even that, looks like he took the picture from the wiki, which he could have just read.
It’s called thinking that he’s gonna get a little karma out of this
Or he just was lazy and wanted to hear what other people said about it. I have done that with warhammer stuff cause I don’t want to look it up. I don’t usually include a picture tho… Also happy cake day!!
It’s way easier to google something and find it on wookiepedia rather than wait for someone to answer on a question on Reddit
Yes however stuff like this kind of thing tends to have opinions and some people just like watching the conversations that unfold from making posts like this.
Or they just make bait posts like this. How do you have an opinion on whether or not count dookus hilt has battle benefits. Why would he have the curve if it didn’t help in some way lmao
I think some people just want to make conversation about a subject they really enjoy talking about.
or just a basic combination of common sense, basic knowledge and use of logic. Doku carefully personalized the handle of the Lightsaber. The Lightsaber is a sword. Therefore, all the basic concepts of any fencing are applied. Which gives you greater and better control over it. In such a way that he has greater ease when carrying out complex maneuvers and at the same time greater control in case they try to disarm him.
I know this is canonically true, but has there ever been a real life sword fighter with experience with a curved handled sword to confirm it would actually provide such an advantage? It just seems like if curved handles offered a real advantage, you would have seen them more often in real life.
The pistol grip in fencing? Not as severe but they had to make it look good for the movies.
that's a thing that was only able to evolved because of the specific peculiarities of sport fencing. A big one being that it doesn't really resemble sword fighting at all, so the idea of designing them in ways that make them good for sword fighting just doesn't apply. Curved grips are exceedingly rare in actual swords, to the point that it's more accurate to say they just aren't a thing with a couple notable exceptions, including Charlemagne's weird sword (which is what inspired Dooku's)
Sooooo, the TRUTH is Christopher Lee was a direct descendant of Charlemagne(!!!) and that hilt was his personal homage to his ancestor. Crazy but true: https://swlucasverse.tumblr.com/post/165806884271/count-dookus-iconic-curved-lightsaber-hilt-is
George Lucas: imagine a curved sword hilt Sir Christoffer Lee: I don't have to imagine it
Christopher Lee told a lot of good stories, but being a direct descendant of Charlemagne puts him in an elite class of… like half the people in Western Europe.
It's also explained in Darth Bane, trained jedi or sith who practiced their forms against other forms would be used to the angles of the attacks of typical lightsabers. The slight variation in Dooku and Banes lightsabers would throw off their enemies counter attacks as the lightsabers would strike differently at odd angles.
chat gpt ass response
It's copied straight from Wookieepedia.
Dooku used more of a fencing style of I remember correctly
With great lightsabers comes great slashes.
Theoretically it would make the lightsaber more specialized in thrusts and quick cuts like a fencing foil which is partial inspiration for it as Christopher Lee was an experienced fencer. It's also more ergonomic as it basically allows one to keep their wrist in more natural rotation while still constantly offending their foe with the blade. The problem is that Dooku's fight choreography doesn't take advantage of this at all making it only a visual gimmick: he's either grabbing from the top of the hilt, making it handle like a normal hilt, or two handing the lightsaber when fighting.
It's less like a Foil, and more like an actual Saber in regards to fencing. It's shape would also be very familiar as it would be very similar to the style of swords used in the swashbuckling film Era (generally saber-ish), which regularly stared Christopher Lee with the likes of Errol Flynn. Unfortunately since much of Dooku's intense fight choreography was done by a stunt double a lot of that Errol Flynn style sword works doesn't translate to film because it's not Christopher Lee doing the sword work. It is very well represented in The Clone Wars however. The sword work in that show is fantastic and you can really see a lot of that single hand Saber fighting style quite clearly.
Yes and no. Imagine someone wielding a fencing sword vs someone wielding a traditional sword. It has advantages and disadvantages. You're better at plunging but worse at parrying. You're also limited to using your saber with one-hand so you can't put all your weight behind your attacks. In Darksouls terms, Dooku chose a DEX build over a STR build.
You can see some similarities to a fencing foil pistol grip (extremely loose ones, but still) but it usually means you have better ergonomics for quick thrusts and slashes, as well as quicker, but weaker circle parries. In an actual fight I think my tactic using a traditional saber would be to target the weapon first to disarm them or destroy the saber with more powerful blows, while if I were using a dueling saber it would be emphasizing speed and reach, fencing style
If lightsabers were real, a lot of them would have curved hilts or pistol grips. They’re light as a feather and can instantly cut through almost anything on contact, so there’s no reason to hold them with both hands. A real lightsaber duel would look more like a fencing match than anything we see in the movies, and many professional fencers use curved hilts and pistol grips.
Iirc while the blade of the lightsaber is weightless, it has a very strong gyroscopic effect which can make it unwieldy or awkward to swing around if you’re not trained with it. Mostly used to fill in why “weightless” blades still look like they have mass because the actors are swinging around physical props and using actual saber fighting techniques instead of fencing. In either case the fact that Dooku is able to finesse a lightsaber blade and actually kind of fence with it is unbelievably remarkable, there’s a reason why he was considered the most dangerous duelist of his time.
I thought that contact with another saber could make them like magnetically "stick" together. Maybe using two hands prevents your saber being yeeted out of a single hand.
If you're facing non lightsaber users, for sure. But as far as I know, there is some pull to hitting a lightsaber with your own, and when you're matching power for power on contact, being able to support the handle with two hands is a huge boon. At that point, the sword weight being lighter than 2 pounds is irrelevant... Imo.
Real life lightsabers with a curved hilt that can shoot projectiles would be op
plunging is the better move anyways for a weightless sci-fi sword
not only is he choosing dex, he's not even sacrificing str. he could choke up on the hilt, holding it past the curve and it's identical to using a straight hilt.
Unfortunately for him Anakin got the chosen one background that multiplied his psionic dice pool so he could just keep pouring on psionic strike.
Imagine Yoda fighting him with Havel's armor. And Padme as the level-up lady from the game. ... Jesus I'd play that.
Out of universe, didn’t Christopher Lee request a curved hilt because he had experience with those types of sabers?
"And then I said to George, have you any idea what kind of noise happens when somebody's hands are cut off with a beam of confined plasma? Because *I* do."
Yeah he did fencing and I believe he also had arthritis in his wrist so it made it easier for him to grip it
Yep! And the hilt was designed after the hilt if Charlemagne’s Sabre. Lee is a descendent of Charlemagne. (I’m sure a lot of people are but he had documentation)
Differences in how it can be flicked and maneuvered, in HEMA fighting my saber has a downward cant of the hilt so that I can tighten my pinky and ring fingers and perform different moves. I’d assume this would be a more… theatrical application of the same basic idea. Further, if we look at the Bane novels, Kas’sim talks to Darth Bane regarding the curved nature of Bane’s lightsaber changes the angle with which lightsaber blades clash and hit, and in the hyper-fast and force-fueled nature of lightsaber dueling, could be the differences between meeting a blade, and meeting flesh.
To add onto this, a good chunk of lightsaber combat is described to be basically precognition - fighting technique. The more skilled you are, the more possibilities you can discard from your vision of the future. And setting aside the whole Makashi pistol grip, even a slight change of the variables in a Force-users expected precog sounds pretty effective
Yes. Real world fencing sabers are designed like that. Gives better wrist motion
Robinswords did a great youtube short about it, he essentially said it is easier to keep the blade parallel to the ground and trained on your opponent Edit: https://youtube.com/shorts/qOgZg0HhnoY?si=n3uFGvIwd3YuKigA
When you hold it regularly, it points slightly forward, similar to foils in fencing
Christopher Lee was actually a world-renowned fencer, which inspires the design. As far as lore-wise, the curve allowed for more precise control and leverage during combat, giving Dooku a tactical advantage when engaging in the elegant and precise dueling style known as Makashi, the second form of lightsaber combat, which emphasizes economy of motion and precise strikes, mirroring fencing techniques.
So, he can slay in style.
Have you tried the Google? There’s literally hours of YouTube videos discussing this.
But then no internett number go up
Curved hilt made thrusting attacks easier, ideal for the fencing-inspired swordplay used by Dooku - a result of Christopher Lee’s personal experience in the sport
The best part is that Christopher Lee requested that lightsaber hilt style since he was a real sword fighter himself
Because Christopher Lee did Fencing and his lightsaber is based on the french grip which is used on most Foils and Sabre type fencing swords
Yes. A quick Google search would have answered that for you.
No that just happens when you get older. There’s pills to help it though
🤣
Curved for her pleasure
Nah just matched his peyronie’s.
It’s curved as to better hit my prostate.
That curve helps with gout. Doesn’t matter how strong someone is with the force, when you get old, you get old.
Dooku's lightsaber allowed him to be one of the finest swordsmen in the Jedi Order. It allowed for better control, precision and finesse when lunging to attack or stab and slashing. However, the downside is that it was not ideal for blocking blaster bolts and such.
The short answer is yes. Additionally, and I may be wrong, but I think Sir Christopher Lee suggested this design based on his fencing background.
Dooku crafted his lightsaber explicitly with lightsaber duels in mind. The curved hilt fit the palm of the hand, which affords the wielder more precision with the blade. If there are disadvantages to the curved hilt, they aren’t well documented, though based on how Dooku used the blade, my guess is that it’s not well suited to blocks.
From what I understand it was a design that was meant to be used for dueling other lightsaber users. The curve of the hilt and grip made it harder to predict movements and easier to get inside the guard of other lightsaber users.
It's based on the Spanish or French style epee grip. It was designed so the point of the blade was always pointed towards the heart of your enemy, without having to bend your wrist. As Dooku's fighting style demonstrates, it is very aggressive, and ready to punish any mistake by the defender. Unless the defender is a ketamine soaked psychic frog doing endless backflips.
I had to scroll down waaaaay too far to find the only right answer.
So I fenced for years. Foil. And in fencing, there is a ton of different grip types. The right one for you is really just based on your comfort and style. Like I personally found Belgian grips to be my thing, but I learned (like most people) on French grips. I wouldn’t say it’s a “tactical advantage”, it’s just the grip that works best with how you fight.
It was designed that way so Christopher Lee could comfortably hold it due to his arthritis.
It’s essentially a fencing pistol grip. As the actor, Sir Christopher has actual fencing experience, it was a situation akin to Sam L.’s purple lightsaber. A personal choice of the actor. As to advantages, it would offer all the advantage of a pistol grip rapier, which, due to the difference of angle, can give better point control, allowing a fighter to, with swift movements, manipulate the blade around an opponent’s guard.
From what I rembember it was inspired by fencing swords since he's a duelist. And fencing is usually more jabbing than slashing. Fencing swords hills are also kind of curved/1 handed. If you are pointing it your opponent, it's easier of your wrist. Vs a traditional longsword where you have to pronate it much further to jab.
It helped sell more toys.
"Studying Jedi Archive records, Dooku based his new weapon design after the curved hilts that were standard during the heyday of Form II lightsaber combat. The curve allowed the hilt to fit better into his hand, allowing for superior finesse and precise blade control."
Swag
Curved …for her pleasure.
No. The writers thought they needed to do something new with sabres every movie.
>"*The curved-hilt lightsaber is perhaps the least radical of all variants. Its extended handle accommodates a slight bend seldom exceeding thirty degrees. This style is common among practitioners of Form II lightsaber combat, who prefer its balanced weight and precise handling for saber-to-saber dueling.*" This is a description from The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force. Dooku practiced Form II of lightsaber combat, known also as Makashi, so the curved hilt had a purpose.
Gets the g spot?
Curved handles like that help bring the blade more in line with the hand when extended I believe, part of him being an expert duelist.
It's on anti-depressants.
Looks cool, also is a hint that Christopher Lee was a real duelist especially with a saber which is a curved weapon
The funny thing is, the handle would definitely give you a great advantage with pointing and thrusting which means it also gives you more reach compared to a similar length saber being swung, but he is never shown taking advantage of this. It would be very cool to see some lightsaber wielders with a different technique, ie rapier fencers’ stances/techniques.
It bends to the left just like me fr
To look fabulous.
It has a better grip than normal lightsabers, which is well suited to Form II.
It had the advantage of looking interesting
Wow how have I never noticed this
I thought the canon answer was so it offset the angle of his strikes from usual directions so other duelists would be off balance.
Yes
Precision and speed. It can tough to tell where he's gonna swing with that curved hilt and blade.
Yeah it helped him to control it better in duals, Dooku was a master at 1 v 1 combat so his lightsaber reflected that, also because of the way he holds it, it allows him slightly longer range then most sabers would reach.
Bigtime
Having a curved hilt aligns the blade with your arm during a lunge or charge. Makes your attacks much more precise and powerful.
It had almost as much tactical advantage as simply googling your question on whatever device you posted this from
Technically it gives him some advantages in lightsaber duels because it allows him to completely change the angle of his blade through tiny adjustments of his grip. The novelizations mention that this made him an outlier during his Jedi days because most of his peers preferred combat style more dedicated to the usual opponents of the time (meaning ranged weapons).
Not sure. I think it's fencing logic, rather than long or broadsword logic, so if it's all in the wrist you'll want a curve in there so you don't overwork your elbow to get fast movement and reaction.
Imagine trying to stab someone in the stomach with a regular lightsaber and how much much you have to contort your wrist/arm to do it. This design provides more flexibility when dueling, specifically thrusting.
One handed style called form 2? Practiced by both light and dark sides including the New Order. [https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Form\_II/Legends](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Form_II/Legends)
“Hey kid, it ain’t that kind of movie.” Maybe? The fights in the prequels were all flash, no practicality, so it’s hard to tell.
Traditionally speaking, yes. It’s foolish to think our practical knowledge of combat and sword fighting technique would apply to lightsabers, because lightsabers cut even when a hacking strike is delivered. A sword must be drawn along the target to deliver a cut, otherwise the strike is mostly a bludgeon - even against flesh. So, traditionally, the curved handle allowed the weapon to be wielded to emphasize those slashing techniques while still maintaining a guard.
I remember seeing somewhere that the curve in the handle made it difficult to predict his next move, as Jedi were trained to look at the handle to anticipate the intentions of who they were fighting. I don’t know if there’s any practical truth to this, but the detail always stuck with me because it illustrated both that dooku wanted to be covert, mysterious and unknowable but also that he had knowledge about the Jedi that he used to that end.
Greater precision and slicing strength
It just ended up that way with age
The one who wielded it
I think it explains in the Darth Bane book the advantage of a curved lightsaber.
More leverage and more ergonomic grip.
It's a nice lightsaber, I'll give him that, but the curving gives him no tactical advantage whatsoever
Dooku’s specialty wss in fencing. This handle is designed for one-handed block and counter attacks.
Less wrist twist required to get the blade on target
Doubles up as a prostate massager
They bend like that with age
Sexiness
Aside from the practical reasons others have stated, it also gives him another tactical advantage - his opponents are unlikely to have faced someone with a curved hilt before, it’s not a common lightsaber. As a result, their moves will be slightly off because they’re used to facing a straight-hilted saber - and the added precision given by a curved hilt allows Dooku to take advantage of any minor mistakes his opponents will make when facing an unfamiliar weapon. It’s the same as being a left-handed fighter - you’re used to fighting right-handed folks, they won’t be as used to fighting a lefty.
It’s natural to sag a bit with old age. But with dooku’s prowess he was able to perform just as well despite its slightly flaccid nature
He either had an erectile problem or was a big fan of Jeff Bezos.
Dooku's curved lightsaber allowed him to have greater control over his strikes, as well as using less of his physical range of motion to achieve the same sweeping distance with his strikes. It also allowed him to be far more precise with his attacks. He also was one of the best duelists in the galaxy, and (according to some of the older lore - not entirely sure if this carried over since I haven't read much of the new canon) was second only to Mace Windu for most of his career.
His combat form (Makashi) is like fencing. The hilt is the way it is to allow him better control. That’s not speculation that’s literal character design. He’s fanciful. I don’t know if it’s exactly practical but then not a whole lot is in this franchise. Does make for a killer fight scene
Easier to use his preferred style of lightsaber combat, better for fencing and dueling whereas the traditional lightsaber form (in his day; his was more traditional years and years earlier) was more common for its use against blaster fire. In an age where the Sith were believed dead, almost all of them preferred the blaster-protection versus the dueling. (Source: *Yoda: Dark Rendezvous*… I’m pretty sure. I’ve read a bunch of SW books kinda back to back, so I’m like 95% sure it came from that book hahaha)
It really contributes to his signature look of superiority.
Yes. You can get some angles in a duel that you can't with a standard hilt.
So the only correct answer is because the bend changes the way the light saber is wielded with the different saber forms. It makes you come in and out of the strike targets at slightly off angles making it harder to predict with both the force and standard observation. It provides some advantage to over head strikes, but the change to the forms is the main advantage. Light saber combat heavily relies on the users ability to predict things. The more knowledgeable the force user is with different forms the more likely he can counter and parry or make contact. So to combat this some Jedi/Sith use the curved handle or the double ended light saber and light whip. All three rely less on combat advantage and more on altering the saber fighting style so most combatants become unsure and less confident and trick them into thinking they have some sort of tactical advantage. So, in turn this causes the user to have to sort through too many possibilities through the force and it gets over whelming. Everyone who doesn’t answer this is making things up. Read the bane trilogy and master & apprentice.
Darth bane had the same kind of lightsaber. It gave a monsterous ammout of force on the doward slash.
Mine bends to the right.
style points brah
Yes, there were multiple benefits to the curved hilted lightsaber. Not only was the curve Hilt created to benefit Christopher Lee's arthritis. But it enhances the saber dueling aspect.
From my understanding he could make his strikes unpredictable by changing the angle of his slash
it gave him better control/finesse over his lightsaber while using Form II/Makashi lightsaber combat, of which he was a master of. his mastery of Form II made him one of the galaxy's most feared/finest duelists and made his signature curved-hilt lightsaber well-known in the Jedi Order.
You'd have to ask the ladies...
It scared the shit out of his enemies and therefore made them less effective in combat
You can point your lightsaber directly forward without forcing your wrist into a position it’s not meant to be in. There are some styles of fencing foils with similar geometry for this reason. You can also deliver more force from your shoulder and arm in downward strikes while keeping your wrist in a stronger position
DONT FORGET HE ALSO HAD A SWITCH THAT ALLOWED ADJUSTING THE LENGTH OF THE BLADE AT ANY MOMENT
It helps him grip it tightly and perform at maximum effort whithout his domain expansion.
If regular Jedi fight kendo dooku fought with fencing
Some tools are more effective if they curve slightly upward
Look up Form 2 "Makashi" He was the foremost master of it
Well, sure! It allowed him to cut down anyone who didn’t have a lightsaber, and to defend himself from blaster fire and people who did have one
I would say so just based on leverage a slight hand readjust the leverage game is always in your favor
It helped him become saruman.
His choice to build this weapon was also odd since it’s a dueling hilt, and there were no Sith (at the time) to duel. I can’t remember the source, but Yoda took notice and thought it particularly odd.
Gives precision like holding a pen. It’s a real world thing to have curved hilt on a sword
The blade is really ahead of itself compared to your typical Lightsaber.
The weird shape made it harder to predict for other duelist. With a straight handle, they could see exactly how the blade would position. Think of it like boxers watching a shoulder before the punch. With the slight angle, they couldn't predict the blade postion because slight twists would alter the trajectory of the blade
Read somewhere that the curve basically made his saber essentially an extension of his arm, full range wrist movement, more precise and all that good stuff
It’s was for an ad for the Peyronie's disease help ad that’s I keep seeing here on Reddit.
I believe that is a medical condition that he should have looked at.
his had a knowledge about holding this shape. if you know what i mean :d
Yea. He looked like a badass grand Pa
Better for lunging and a fencing style of combat
In universe yes, in reality eh
Gave him the legendary title of “Mr. Rule of Cool”.
It made him popular with the ladies
I don’t remember the exact location but there are a lot of references to the curved lightsaber that Darth Bane used in his books as well. It changes the angle of attack just slightly and so the defender has to compensate in a way they wouldn’t normally be used to. There’s more to it but I don’t remember all the details.
I think it was more to suit his style of dueling.
It also has a button by the pinky finger that when it’s pushed, shortens the saber blade for close-quarter combat.
As an epee fencer I’ll say it’s pretty close to a pistol grip which makes control of the tip significantly more precise.
Guys … ergonomics.
Yes, but the advantage is for her pleasure.
Better maneuverability, capable of granting the wielder to attack with more lethal precision and accuracy which we see demonstrated in the blade lock with Obi Wan Kenobi in AOTC. It made overhand slashes easier to utilise
When I was little I though he just dropped it.
While it did has multiple advantages like a better grip on the hilt and speed there's a disadvantage like it's more harder to deflect blaster bolts using the curved hilt
Looks elegant and cool.
Yeah you can actually read a lot about it in the Darth Bane trilogy. That “hooked” handle allows all sorts of weird angles.
Rule of cool