A split saber was a type of lightsaber engineered to separate into two individual lightsabers. Frequently, split sabers were seen as double-bladed lightsabers capable of being divided into two single-bladed lightsabers. Jedi Keeve Trennis during the High Republic Era, possessed a green double-bladed lightsaber, which she disassembled into its two single blades for storage when not engaged in combat. Asajj Ventress, an assassin serving the Sith Lord Count Dooku during the Clone Wars, wielded a pair of curved-hilt lightsabers designed to connect at the hilt. However, she seldom used them in this combined form, doing so only briefly during the Battle of Teth. Several members of the Imperial Inquisitors, such as the Third Sister, the Fifth Brother, and the Sixth Brother, utilized double-bladed spinning lightsabers with the ability to split into two separate blades. During the Imperial Era, former Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis employed a split saber as part of his quest to rebuild the Jedi Order. Jedi Master Dagan Gera, who was in stasis during the High Republic Era, wielded a yellow-bladed lightsaber with a similar splitting feature.
However, other variations of split sabers were also in existence. Near the end of the High Republic Era, a Sith known only as the Stranger utilized a single-bladed lightsaber featuring an extended hilt, which could be separated into a standard-sized lightsaber and a shoto lightsaber.
Split sabers represented a lightsaber design that allowed for division into two distinct lightsabers. These paired lightsabers could have their hilts securely joined, although one version used a fiber cord that allowed swinging like a flail. When used separately, the two halves of a split saber would appear as ordinary lightsabers to those unfamiliar with the weapon's design.
At least two distinct split saber types are documented. One was a double-bladed lightsaber capable of splitting into a matching set of single-bladed lightsabers. The other was a single-bladed lightsaber with an elongated hilt, which could separate into a full-sized lightsaber and a shoto lightsaber.
During the High Republic Era, Jedi Knight Keeve Trennis wielded a green-bladed split saber. She typically fought using its double-bladed configuration, only splitting the hilt to store it on a bandolier. Jedi Master Dagan Gera constructed a yellow-bladed split saber as his primary weapon during the same period. He used it in the Jedi's defense of the planet Tanalorr, but also to murder several Jedi after falling to the dark side. Towards the end of the High Republic era, a Sith known as the Stranger wielded a single-bladed split saber.
In the late Republic Era and during the Clone Wars, Asajj Ventress, an assassin and apprentice to Sith Lord Count Dooku, used a pair of curved-hilt lightsabers capable of connecting at the hilt. However, Ventress rarely fought with the blades connected, preferring to dual-wield, only briefly utilizing the split saber function during the Battle of Teth. Ventress used these blades until the fallen Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee stole them as part of her plot to frame Ahsoka Tano for the bombing of the Jedi Temple hangar near the end of the Clone Wars, after which she replaced them with a single yellow lightsaber acquired on the black market. During the early Imperial Era, she had a curved hilt similar to her old twin red lightsabers.
Early in the Imperial Era, the Inquisitor known as the Sixth Brother used a double-bladed spinning lightsaber which could also split into two separate blades. He attempted to use this aspect of his weapon against Ahsoka Tano during the uprising on Raada, but she defeated him by using the Force to cause his lightsaber to explode, killing the Sixth Brother and allowing her to take the kyber crystals for her new lightsabers. The Third Sister also used a split saber during her hunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi, although she rarely used it in a Jar'Kai style and typically relied solely on a single blade. The Fifth Brother also had this feature but he rarely used it.
After his master's lightsaber was destroyed during a visit to Dathomir, the Padawan Cal Kestis constructed a split saber on Ilum to replace it.
After Dagan Gera's awakening in 9 BBY, the fallen Jedi corrupted his saber's kyber crystals and used the weapon in three duels against Cal Kestis. After Gera was killed on Koboh, Bode Akuna secretly took one of the lightsabers and used it after betraying Kestis and the crew of the Stinger Mantis to the Empire. It was later discarded after Akuna was killed in a duel with Kestis and Merrin.
The split saber concept was first seen in canon with Asajj Ventress' lightsabers in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. The video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was the first to identify it.