Curved-Hilt Lightsaber

The curved-hilt lightsaber was a type of lightsaber utilized by the Jedi and the Sith during the Clone Wars. Its curved hilt design allowed the lightsaber duelist to slash and lunge at their opponent with greater precision. In the last years of the Galactic Republic, the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus wielded a curved-hilt lightsaber. His choice of weapon was emulated by the Sith acolyte Asajj Ventress, who possessed two curved-hilt lightsabers which doubled as a saberstaff when joined together.

Description
The curved-hilt lightsaber was a type of melee weapon; elegant in design, its gracefully curved hilt enabled the wielder to utilize greater finesse when slashing and lunging at an opponent. The Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, an accomplished duelist who favored the second form of lightsaber combat, owned a red-bladed curved-hilt lightsaber throughout the Clone Wars. Asajj Ventress, a Force-sensitive assassin trained by Tyranus in the ways of the dark side of the Force, wielded two lightsabers that featured a curve-shaped hilt similar to her master's weapon. When joined together, Ventress's lightsabers formed a double-bladed lightsaber.

Darth Tyranus
Prior to the first battle of the Clone Wars, Count Dooku&mdash;a former Jedi Master who joined the Sith as Darth Tyranus, apprentice of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious &mdash;handcrafted a curved-hilt lightsaber which he used to defeat the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Anakin Skywalker on the planet Geonosis. However, he was ultimately bested by his former Jedi mentor, Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Order, and subsequently retreated from the battle.

Over the course of the galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Tyranus dueled with Kenobi and Skywalker on several occasions, as well as his prospective apprentices Ventress and Savage Opress. In his final bout which took place during the Battle of Coruscant, Tyranus was disarmed and beheaded by his nemesis Skywalker, who used his own lightsaber and the Count's weapon to carry out the execution.

Asajj Ventress
Though initially trained as a Jedi Padawan, Asajj Ventress switched her green-bladed lightsaber for a pair of red-bladed curved-hilt lightsabers during her years as Darth Tyranus's apprentice. Throughout her time in service to the Sith cause, Ventress utilized her lightsabers in several capacities&mdash;as her master's emissary and assassin, as well as a military commander of the Separatist Droid Army. She fought a number of Jedi on several occasions with varying degrees of success, such as Kenobi, Skywalker, Luminara Unduli, and Ahsoka Tano.

Ventress retained her Sith lightsabers after Tyranus discarded her on the orders of his master, Darth Sidious, and continued to use them as a Nightsister before pursuing a career as a bounty hunter. Both lightsabers were lost when the fallen Jedi Barriss Offee ambushed Ventress in the Coruscant underworld and took possession of her weapons, consequently forcing the bounty hunter to acquire a replacement. Offee was later forced to use Ventress's lightsabers when Skywalker confronted her in the Jedi Temple, and thereby revealed herself as the culprit responsible for framing Tano.

Behind the scenes
Oppo Rancisis was set to make another appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars series where his lightsaber would be visible. The show was cancelled before the blade made an appearance. Designs for the lightsaber were revealed by Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo in their The Untold Clone Wars panel at Celebration Anaheim in 2015. The design was based on Count Dooku's lightsaber and included the addition of a hilt-guard.

Non-Canon Appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes