Reign of the Empire

Choosing within the era.

Which characters carry the most choice

If you have been scrolling the Imperial Era shelf without landing on anything, the choice usually comes down to a handful of characters who each offer several takes on their own saber. Cal Kestis has the deepest run of any hilt in this era, from his Episode 3 and Episode 4 hilts through V2, a weathered V3, V4 in grey and in black, an SE version, a weathered crossguard build, and double-bladed hilts that join his saber with Cere Junda's. Ezra Bridger follows close behind with his first, second and third sabers, V2 and V3 versions, and an ancient crossguard hilt unlike anything else he carries. Starkiller rounds out the short list with a standard hilt, V2, V3, an SE version, and a Kyber Crystal hilt — also offered weathered — built to show the crystal itself rather than hide it.

The hilt shapes this era gave the catalogue

Two shapes stand out in this era. The crossguard hilt is carried by Cal Kestis and by Ezra Bridger's ancient hilt, and the double-bladed hilt joins Cal Kestis and Cere Junda's sabers into one, appears with Maul in Star Wars Rebels, and again with the Grand Inquisitor. Alongside these, Starkiller's Kyber Crystal hilt takes a different approach entirely, built to put the crystal on display rather than conceal it behind the emitter.

Display or duel

Every design from this era comes as a Neopixel build — SNV4 PRO, Proffie 2.2 or Xenopixel V3 — with the blade lit along its full length, suited to display and to light duelling. Most of these same designs are also available as a baselit duelling build, in S-RGB or RGB-X, made to take the knocks of contact duelling rather than just look the part. Which one to choose comes down to what the saber is actually for, and the Saber Core guide explains the differences between these cores in full.