The Legendary Shoto Lightsaber: A Tale of Dueling and Legacy

The Debut of the Shoto Blade

Ahsoka Tano may have made the shoto lightsaber famous, but Star Wars actually introduced it 29 years earlier - wielded by Luke Skywalker against the Dark Lady of the Sith, Lumiya.

Luke Skywalker uses his lightsaber shoto against Lumiya in Star Wars Legends.

Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka is known for using two lightsabers in battle. Ahsoka's second blade is unusually short, described as a 'shoto.' The shoto is a distinctive type of lightsaber, typically held in a combatant's off-hand and giving them an advantage in duels.

Ahsoka Tano Lightsabers

There's actually another variant of the shoto, the guard shoto, which features an additional hilt at a 90-degree angle - allowing for unusual blocks and parries.

Luke Skywalker vs Lumiya

The Shoto Blade in Star Wars Legends

Star Wars: The Clone Wars drew heavy inspiration from the old Expanded Universe, which served as the main Star Wars timeline from 1977 to 2014, when Disney rebranded it as 'Legends.'

Although Ahsoka is the most well-known Jedi to use a shoto, it had made its debut in 1985, in Marvel's Star Wars #96, where Luke Skywalker clashed with Lumiya, the new Dark Lady of the Sith.

Luke Skywalker’s shoto has a red blade, a color that traditionally denotes membership in the Sith Order or similar dark side splinter groups.

The Purpose and Legacy of the Shoto Blade

The shoto blade was always used for combating skilled opponents. In his duels with Lumiya, Luke used his shoto to counter her lightwhip – a unique lightsaber variant with flexible tendril-like blades.

The current Star Wars canon uses lightsaber shotos in the exact same way as Legends. Ahsoka Tano, who used a shoto as her backup weapon in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, continued to favor Jar’Kai during the reign of the Empire.

The Tholothian Jedi Knight D'urban Wen-Hurd, introduced in Mike Chen's novel Brotherhood, notably uses a pair of shotos in combat.