A video on Lightsaber variants. Not my video. Of course, this video does leave out the Trisaber, the weapon favored by Kylo Ren. Despite common consensus, the Trisaber is absolutely a viable option when it comes to lightsaber design. The disadvantages that the internet largely assumes must be present are largely non existent. Any competent swordmaster would be able to adjust their fighting style to accommodate the two extra blades. And the extra protection provided to the wielder's wrists would, in of itself, be worth any risk. The two shorter blades can also be used to injure an opponent, just as when Kylo injured Finn. The elongated main blade in conjunction with the two shorter blades, however, would necessitate more sweeping strokes of the blade, and a more aggressive fighting style. Defense, I assume, would be somewhat lacking. However, the rarity of the Trisaber means that there are very few swordsmen who would have trained against the blade, so surprise would be a definite advantage.
Couldnt help my self. Hes just a good/whiny villian hopefully not so much in the next one. #Maythe4thbewithyou - - - #cartoon #kyloren #sketch #draw #doodle #practice #starwars #darthvader #lightsaber #thedarkside #theforce #trisaber #sith #sithlord #happystarwarsday #art #artwork #digitalart #fanart #character #lucasfilms #georgelucas #maythefourthbewithyou
DEFENDING KYLO REN - And Why He’s Better Than Darth Vader
I’ve seen The Force Awakens five times so far and one of the things that gets better with each viewing is Kylo Ren’s character. The keyword here is ‘character’. While fans can debate ad nauseam about whose Force powers are greater, it’s relatively easy to see that as a character, Kylo Ren has surpassed Darth Vader in terms of depth and storytelling. Again, the keywords here are ‘depth’ and ‘storytelling’ and not ‘popularity’ or ‘pop-culture footprint’.
We’ve become so accustomed to liking our villains that we’ve forgotten what a villain is supposed to be; totally and utterly disliked. And while I still like Kylo Ren because of the turn his character takes, his traits are those of a true antagonist. He’s aggressive, impulsive, emotionally unstable, whiny, and fueled by nothing but hatred and anger. And because of that-thing-he-did-to-you-know-who, he’s also a cold-blooded psychopath. Of course, for the character to come full circle he will have to be redeemed at some point, but at the moment he has reached a standard that few villains go to these days; he’s genuinely hated for who he is and what he stands for.
The irony of this scenario is that Tom Hiddleston’s Loki - another popular villain under Disney’s banner - is equally if not more of a whiner and tantrum-thrower than Kylo Ren. He has the same physique, the “emo hair” as they call it, and an abundance of daddy-issues. Yet Loki is revered by the Marvel fanbase. Why so? The answer is ‘marketing’. While Loki was always meant to be a mischievous pain in the ass to his brother, Thor, Kylo Ren was advertised as the ferocious trisaber-wielding poster child of The First Order. But as we learn in The Force Awakens, he’s not as confident or as decisive as he’d like those around him to believe. And herein lies the line that has split Star Wars fans into opposing camps; those who like Kylo Ren and those who don’t. But what if I told you that this controversial twist was deliberate?
Filmmakers often use certain characters as surrogates so that the audience can relate to a scene on a deeper level. When Kylo removes his helmet in front of Rey, her expression mirrors that of the viewer. It’s a mixture of fear, confusion, and even fascination. It is at this precise point in the movie that Kylo’s character truly evolves into something else. He’s human.
Beneath all the theatrics and bulky apparatus is a man struggling to define himself; torn in half by the calling of the Light and the seduction of the Dark. Here’s a guy who dons a mask and scatters his voice in a mad attempt to replicate the tyrant before him. Without a doubt, the Kylo Ren we see during the first half of the movie is only a portion of who he truly is on the inside. And who he is on the inside is a far more complex, and oftentimes far more frightening individual.
He’s also everything Anakin Skywalker should have been. The old guard had six movies to tell Darth Vader’s story yet it’s almost impossible to connect the boy we see in The Phantom Menace to the teenager in Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith, and even harder to relate that same person to the genocidal monster we see in Episodes IV, V, and VI. In contrast, Kylo Ren’s character is brilliantly developed in a little more than 120minutes. He’s a core component in the trifecta that will spearhead the new Star Wars trilogy into the next decade or two.
Had Kylo Ren remained a fully formed villain with little to no weakness like so many other villains in today’s cinematic landscape (especially under Marvel’s wing), he would have paled in comparison to Rey and Finn - both of whom ride on such smooth, masterfully-told character arcs in The Force Awakens.
By the time Episode 9 is done, Kylo Ren would have cemented himself in Star Wars lore and overall pop-culture as a worthy villain to the saga. The fact that his character has only just begun and will endure more cycles of development over the next couple of films is enough to keep me - and I’m guessing everyone else - interested and invested. He may never surpass Darth Vader in terms of popularity or sentimental value, but the fact that he is talked about and very-much debated about means his character has made its mark, and believe me, that mark will only get bigger as time goes by.
WIP: Kylo Ren You don't resist the hype... You embrace it. Also screw you kylo ren for reasons i won't disclose here because potential spoilers for those who haven't watched the movie. #starwars #theforceawakens #kyloren #firstorder #empire #villain #jedi #sith #knightsofren #starwarsvii #lightsaber #trisaber #sketch #art #digitalart #fanart #sai
So lets ignore all the mechanics of how lightabers are supposed to ‘work’ because when it comes down to it they’re fantasy laser swords that resonate with space magic. Whether or not a lightsaber ‘works’ within the mechanics of its own universe should not determine the aesthetics of its design. Lore should really be the determining factor. For example we know that blue lightsabers are used by Jedi Guardians, green lightsabers are used by Jedi Consulars and purple lightsabers that say ‘Bad Motherfucker’ are used by Jedi Weapon Masters. When Luke shows up with a green lightsaber in Return of the Jedi it indicates a shift in his character to a more reserved, contemplative Luke than the previous films.
We know why Kylo Ren has a red lightsaber, but there doesn’t seem to be a lore reason for why said lightsaber has a crossguard (To be fair this may be something that is answered in future films). Now in all honesty there’s nothing wrong with a guard on a lightsaber given all of the dismemberment that’s happened in Star Wars, but historically most blade guards are circular: Gladii, Rapiers, Scimitars, Katana all these have circular guards because it protects more of the hand. The biggest reason European longswords have crossguards is because Jesus was popular in Europe around the time when lots of swords were being made. Also, as far as I know, there’s no cruciform iconography in Star Wars; so it feels wrong in the same way the saberstaff feels wrong: because there’s no lore reason (yet) for Kylo to go through all the effort to make a unique cruciform lightsaber. If anything you think he’d try to replicate Vader’s lightsaber since he seems to be such a big fan.
As a personal aesthetic preference I think the cruciform lightsaber evokes too much of a european feel; since the Jedi practice of spiritual enlightenment through martial practice conjures a distinctly eastern feel. (To me there are a lot a parallels between the Jedi and the Ikko Ikki of Sengoku Japan). Still, so much of Star Wars is conjured from Western mythology and archetypes that this is the least of my issues with the trisaber.
Last November the teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens was released and the most controversial image from those 88 seconds has been dubbed the ‘Trisaber’; A sith lightsaber with two miniature blades emitting from the hilt.
Reactions have ranged from
to
The trisaber is seen on screen for two seconds and has been a point of discussion for the last month and a half. Nobody actually knows the story behind it at this point, but let’s take a moment to examine the three possible explanations for this new lightsaber.
1 - It’s a gimmick to look cool and sell toys.
I really don’t want this to be true. If Hollywood has taught me anything, it’s that movie executives make stupid decisions with the intent to generate revenue regardless of the impact to the plot and plausibility. And if the Star Wars prequels have taught me anything, it’s to not expect anything good from new Star Wars movies.
Ruining Star Wars since 1999.
But this is the most pessimistic possible outcome. If this is truly the case and the Trisaber is just a shitty gimmick created for the sake of looking cool and selling toys, then we’re in for a rough trilogy. The kind where you won’t even acknowledge that the films exists.
I have no recollection of this film.
But fear not fellow nerds! This is the most unlikely answer. Everyone is hyper-aware of how poorly the prequels were received. Kicking it off with a pointless lightsaber variation is a sure-fire way to reignite the dormant prequel rage. It’s a bad move for the franchise and the bean counters. With Disney's Marvel movies they have proven that authenticity to source material is not only appreciated, but lucrative.
Live stream inside Marvel Studios.
So let’s just assume that it has a legitimate purpose, which leads to the next possible outcome…
2 - It’s the Claymore version of a lightsaber.
This seems to be the most widely held theory and for good reason: It’s really obvious. I mean, let’s be serious. What’s it look like? A crossbar on a sword, right?
Also known as a guard, crossguard or the 'T' thingie.
We have the main blade extending out like any other lightsaber, and then there’s two small horizontal emitters projecting smaller blades, the result of which looks much like a Claymore. Now this isn’t a terrible idea. The Star Wars universe has a history of limb loss and a crossbar is designed to prevent just such a thing. So it only makes sense that someone would slap one on the most elegant weapon of the civilized age.
The Claymore was the weapon of Scottish warriors in the 14th-17th centuries and of LARPing nerds in the 20th-21st centuries.
I’m not going to get into the logistics of whether or not this would actually work. Stephen Colbert has already made a pretty solid case for the crossbar, and we’ll assume that it does function as intended. But does a lightsaber actually need a crossbar?
When sword fighting (with real metal swords), the blades can clash and slide against each other. The result can lead one blade down the length of the other and into the hands of the wielder. The difference with a lightsaber is that there isn’t a smooth tactile surface for the blade to run along. In fact whenever we see two lightsabers connect, they simply lock together until pulled apart, so there isn’t the same danger of a super-heated plasma blade sliding into your knuckles (or robotic hand as the case may be).
His insurance is gonna go up after this potentially preventable injury.
While it makes some amount of sense to create a lightsaber crossbar, the problem of losing one’s hand in a lightsaber duel is not solved by said crossbar. What purpose does it serve then? I don’t know, because I don’t think it’s a crossbar. Which leads me to the impossibly awesome explanation...
3 - Exhaust ports!
Yes, it looks like a crossbar, and no this isn't the sexiest sounding possibility, but hear me out. Having established that a crossbar is not the most useful feature on a lightsaber there must be other explanations. To which we must refer to the context clues within the trailer and the known Star Wars Universe.
This episode is titled
and the voice-over informs us that, “There’s been an awakening…” on “The dark side, and the light.” At the end of Return of the Jedi, there is only one known trained force user left in the galaxy: Luke Skywalker.
Killed his dad, kissed his sister, saved the galaxy.
The quote from the trailer implies that there are new people around the Galaxy discovering that they too are Force sensitive.
We also know, thanks to a deleted scene from Return of the Jedi and the internet, that construction of a lightsaber is complicated and requires the highest amount of control in using the force in order to set the crystal in such a way that it is in tune with its wielder.
Image source: Instructables.com
If there are new Force sensitive folks popping up around the galaxy, it’s unlikely that they are all being found and trained by the last known Jedi. That would mean that some of them, particularly those drawn to the dark side, are self taught or at best referring to long lost holocrons; Their teaching is incomplete at best.
Holocrons: Cubes of Jedi Knowledge and the downfall of Star Wars Galaxies.
The owner of the trisaber, being of the dark side, is not likely to have been trained by Luke. We can also deduce that he (or she) created their own lightsaber. Now if you have an untrained Force user with a DIY lightsaber, it’s unlikely that they’ll master it with no guidance. And knowing what drives the Sith, they would most likely create a saber with too much power.
Unlimited power, shitty exposition.
This jives with what we see in the trailer because if you look closely you’ll notice that the saber blade is not as solid as other lightsabers in previous episodes. It appears less stable than what we’re used to. It has also been well established that exhaust ports are a necessity in the Star Wars universe, seeing as the Rebel Alliance made use of one to destroy the first Death Star.
I take it back, there is something sexy about exhaust ports.
If a self-taught Sith has created an over-powered and unstable lightsaber, it would make sense that exhaust ports would be necessary to siphon off the excess energy in order to make the saber functional.
This theory is also supported by the delay in ignition. When watching the trailer, we see the main blade ignite first, and the crossbars a moment later. If the crossbars were all a part of the same beam as suggested by Stephen Colbert, then they would ignite simultaneously.
Stomp, ignite, vent.
Furthermore, note that the crossbar beams are not particularly solid themselves. The ends flicker like candles, which is not an effect we’ve seen in previous lightsabers. This could also indicate that the smaller beams are not solid and are just a weaker amount of energy expelled in order to stabilize the main beam.
While the exhaust port theory makes a lot of sense to me, and seems to fall in line with everything that I’ve seen in the trailer, it’s likely not true. Not because the explanation doesn’t hold up, but rather because it makes more sense than we can expect for a Star Wars movie. Thanks to the prequels, the bar is set so low that the most likely outcome is that it truly is just a crossbar and the unstable flickering mini-blades just looks cool. However if they are exhaust ports (or something else), then we could be on the threshold of a trilogy that is fully thought out and teeming with new exciting features that could return the franchise to it’s former glory.
But we won’t know for sure for 11 months. Until then…
