Anakin Skywalker wielded 4 different lightsabers across the Star Wars timeline (including his years as Darth Vader). One of the galaxy’s most powerful Force-wielders during the prequel and original trilogies, Anakin Skywalker was incredibly gifted with a lightsaber as well. However, that didn’t mean the Chosen One was great at hanging onto his weapon, even after he became a Dark Lord of the Sith.
As a Padawan, Anakin Skywalker went through the traditional process of traveling to the Jedi world of Ilum to seek out a kyber crystal and construct his very own lightsaber. However, Anakin actually had two lightsabers during his Jedi career, with his second becoming far more important with a very complex legacy. His transformation into Darth Vader later saw him utilize two such weapons.
Anakin’s First Lightsaber (Destroyed In Attack of the Clones)
Anakin’s first lightsaber makes its on-screen debut in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. This lightsaber was very similar in design to his second with a blue plasma blade, though it featured a black band in the center of the hilt with a more complex emitter at the top. While he loses it during the pursuit of the bounty hunter Zam Wesell in the film’s first act, it’s retrieved and returned to Skywalker by his master Obi-Wan Kenobi who naturally chastises his apprentice’s carelessness: “This weapon is your life”.
However, this first lightsaber is ultimately destroyed shortly after Anakin and Padmé Amidala’s arrival to Geonosis to save Kenobi. Getting caught in the assembly line of a droid factory, Skywalker’s first blade is cut in two by machinery. As such, Anakin is forced to temporarily borrow a green-bladed saber for the movie’s final act and duel with Count Dooku.
Anakin’s Second Lightsaber (Inherited By Luke And Rey)
Following Attack of the Clones, Anakin constructs a new lightsaber he’d use during the Clone Wars and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Featuring the same black ridges at the bottom and blue plasma blade, the upper half is more streamlined in comparison to his first, while also featuring a new activation switch. However, this is the lightsaber Skywalker uses to slaughter countless Jedi during Order 66 after his corruption to the dark side. Ultimately, Anakin’s second lightsaber was recovered by Kenobi following their duel on Mustafar where Skywalker was defeated after sustaining heavy injuries, requiring his cybernetics and life support armor as Darth Vader.
Years later, Darth Vader’s son Luke inherits his father’s lightsaber thanks to Kenobi in A New Hope. Luke would then wield the lightsaber as a member of the Rebel Alliance, as well as during his training with Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back. However, Luke loses the lightsaber after Vader cuts off his hand, ending their duel on Cloud City just before Luke learns the truth about Vader being his father. Anakin’s second lightsaber would then find its way into the care of pirate queen Maz Kanata, where it’s later inherited by Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the saber’s final wielder before being buried on Tatooine.
Darth Vader’s First Lightsaber (Formerly Jedi Kirak Infil’a’s)
Having lost his lightsaber after Mustafar, Darth Vader’s first task following Order 66 was to gain a new blade. As such, 2017’s canonical Darth Vader #4 by Charles Soule saw the Dark Lord facing Jedi survivor Kirak Infil’a. Killing the Jedi Master, Vader claims the curved lightsaber and makes the green kyber crystal within bleed, turning it red with all his hate and pain according to Sith tradition. Using this saber for quite some time as he continued hunting Jedi alongside the new Imperial Inquisitors, Vader’s first Sith lightsaber was destroyed during an encounter with a family of bounty hunters. However, Vader was able to recover the kyber crystal.
Darth Vader’s Second (And Final) Lightsaber
Placing his red kyber crystal within a new hilt of his own design, Darth Vader’s second lightsaber seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi and the original trilogy bears similarities to his first two lightsabers as Anakin Skywalker. Having the same black ridges on the bottom, Vader’s final lightsaber features a return to the black band at the center with the activation switch, while also having a new solid black emitter at the top. The lightsaber has a dual-phase function which allowed Vader to alter the plasma blade’s length. As such, the saber on the whole is an intimidating upgrade worthy of his transformation as a Sith Lord.
Having been lost after Luke returns the favor and cuts off Vader’s hand during their final duel in Return of the Jedi, the fate of this second Sith saber is largely a mystery in the Star Wars galaxy. However, a group of Sith cultists known as the Acolytes of the Beyond believed they had recovered Vader’s blade following the destruction of the second Death Star. As such, they destroyed it in the hope that it would be returned to Vader in the afterlife.