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TPMCGYoda

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Shoto lightsabers were scaled lightsabers whose blades were considerably shorter than the normal. They were used by shorter combatants like Yoda, Yaddle, or Even Piell, whose stature made it impractical to wield a full-sized lightsaber, and also as off-hand weapons for duelists who employed twin-bladed techniques as part of Jar'Kai, like Ahsoka Tano and the Tenth Brother.

History[]

Republic Era[]

YodasLightsaber-SoH

Yoda's lightsaber was a shoto to match his diminutive size.

The long-lived Jedi Grand Master Yoda, on account of his diminutive size, built his lightsaber as a shoto.[4] The only slightly less diminutive Lannik Jedi Master Even Piell also owned a shoto[10] as well as Master Yaddle, who also had a shoto. Tholothian Jedi Knight D'urban Wen-Hurd had two shotos with a blue and green blade and adopted a unique lightsaber combat style which involved dual-wielding shotos, accompanied by acrobatic maneuvers and daggerlike thrusts.[11]

At some point prior to the Mission to Mortis, the Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano adopted the practice of Jar'Kai,[12] and constructed a shoto lightsaber to this end. This weapon was essentially an abridged version of her original lightsaber, and mimicked the saber's basic aesthetic, save for the shorter blade which possessed a greenish-yellow tinge.[13] This shoto would go on to serve Tano throughout the Clone Wars, up until the moment when she severed ties with the Jedi Order and relinquished both her lightsabers into the care of her former master, Anakin Skywalker.[14] Skywalker would ultimately return Tano's weapons to her when she agreed to help lead a 501st division in the Siege of Mandalore, although he substituted the crystals inside for blue ones; a change that he wryly remarked had improved them.[15]

Age of the Empire[]

AhsokasLightsabers-OldFriendsNotForgotten

Anakin returned Ahsoka's lightsabers to her

Tano would abandon her original pair of lightsabers after the execution of Order 66 in order to fake her death to the Galactic Empire. A year later, she constructed a second pair of lightsabers which also included a shoto during the uprising on Raada.[6][16]

The Imperial Inquisitor known as the Tenth Brother, formerly the Jedi Master Prosset Dibs, wielded a pair of shotos, in contrast to the double-bladed spinning lightsabers used by the rest of the Inquisitors.[5]

Behind the scenes[]

"One of them is shorter, almost like a lightsaber dagger, which I thought was really cool."
Ashley Eckstein, voice of Ahsoka Tano[17]

A shoto lightsaber first appeared in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, with Yoda's lightsaber.[1] The weapon's name was first given in the mobile game Star Wars Journeys: Beginnings.[18]

Appearances[]

Non-canon appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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