Lightsaber

Lightsabers were the iconic weapons used by members of the Jedi Order, as well as by their primary historical foes, the Sith. Consisting of a blade of plasma emitted from a device which served as the weapon's hilt, lightsabers were used in a manner very similar to that of traditional swords, with the plasma blade generating enough heat to allow the weapon to 'cut' by melting or burning nearly instantaneously through almost any substance, even thick metals and armor such as those used in the construction of heavy blast doors. Lightsabers could also be used defensively, as the electromagnetic bottle effect used to form the plasma blade could be used to deflect both the blades of other lighsabers as well as incoming blaster bolts. Usage of lightsabers was typically restricted to Force users, mainly because some of the critical steps involved in their construction required the use of the Force, but also because using a lightsaber effectively in an era dominated primarily by advanced ranged weaponry necessitated reflexes far beyond the natural capabilities of most species capable of wielding them.

Origins
The earliest known examples of energy blade melee weapons predate the Republic, having been used by the Rakata during the reign of their Infinite Empire, and were known as Forcesabers.

Polesaber
A polesaber, also often known as a saberpike or lightsaber pike, was a lightsaber, usually with a shortened blade, with a dramatically elongated hilt, almost always constructed from a lightsaber-resistant material such as phrik or cortosis.

Saberstaff
Also known as a double-bladed lightsaber or dualsaber, a saberstaff was simply a lightsaber with emitters on both of its ends, producing two blades. One of the earliest significant variations of lightsaber design, saberstaffs were originally developed by the Sith, and were simply two separate lightsabers welded pommel to pommel. The design quickly evolved to allow for two blades to be generated by a single power source, though some rare examples throughout history maintained separate power sources to enable the weapon to be separated into two halves which could then each be used as individual, fully-functional lightsabers in Jar'Kai fighting techniques.

In general, saberstaffs were particularly well-suited to aggressive, highly offensive fighting styles, with the dual blades enabling rapid flurries of successive strikes. Early double-bladed sabers operating from a single power source often had hilts not much longer than that of a standard lightsaber, but it eventually became more common for saberstaff hilts to be closer in length to those of their early, welded counterparts, enabling the user to gain additional leverage and apply more force behind their blows. Saberstaffs could also be used like conventional, single-bladed lightsabers by simply igniting only one of the blades, lending the design a significant degree of flexibility in usage. It was also not uncommon for saberstaff hilts to be coated in phrik alloy, allowing the user to block an opponent's lightsaber strikes with the hilt itself.

Despite their creation by the Sith and strong association with the Sith, with the most famous saberstaff user being Jedi Knight turned Sith Lord Exar Kun, saberstaffs also enjoyed relatively wide usage by the Jedi Order, particularly in times of great conflict such as the Galactic Wars against the resurgent Sith Empire or the New Sith Wars.