Did the Dark Lords of the Sith originally use Lightsabers?

Having recently re-watched the sequel trilogy I took notice of two quotes. The first of which was "the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force," from A New Hope, and "take your Jedi weapon" from Return of the Jedi.

Which brings me to my question. Did the Dark Lords of the Sith initially use Lightsabers? We know that Darth Vader used one, but he was a fallen Jedi.

The Emperor, with the latter quote, seemed to look down on them, and fact that he didn't use a Lightsaber reinforces that idea. The former quote, which was from Darth Vader, makes similar implications; that the Force overwhelms even the greatest technological achievements in terms of power and efficiency.

We further have Yoda, who also seemed to have grown beyond the use of a Lightsaber by moving Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp.

This is more appropriately asked in the EU forum. And the answer would be yes.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
This is more appropriately asked in the EU forum. And the answer would be yes.

In the extended universe, with the books and KOTOR games, it is proven that they used lightsabers

But that is, indeed, a EU thing. Moving.

Originally posted by Astner
Having recently re-watched the sequel trilogy I took notice of two quotes. The first of which was "the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force," from A New Hope, and "take your Jedi weapon" from Return of the Jedi.

Which brings me to my question. Did the Dark Lords of the Sith initially use Lightsabers? We know that Darth Vader used one, but he was a fallen Jedi.

The Emperor, with the latter quote, seemed to look down on them, and fact that he didn't use a Lightsaber reinforces that idea. The former quote, which was from Darth Vader, makes similar implications; that the Force overwhelms even the greatest technological achievements in terms of power and efficiency.

We further have Yoda, who also seemed to have grown beyond the use of a Lightsaber by moving Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp.

Yea, the 'some powerful force users don't use sabers' implication was dropped outside the OT, both Emperor and Yoda used 'em in the PT, and almost everyone uses 'em EU.

And the Sith lightsabers do have some construction differences from Jedi ones, red and all.

In original concept art, Lucas intended for the Stormtroopers to have lightsabers, so they weren't even Force-exclusive. But yeah, outside the OT, lightsabers became a staple of like every Force-user.

Originally posted by Astner
Having recently re-watched the sequel trilogy I took notice of two quotes. The first of which was "the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force," from A New Hope, and "take your Jedi weapon" from Return of the Jedi.

Which brings me to my question. Did the Dark Lords of the Sith initially use Lightsabers? We know that Darth Vader used one, but he was a fallen Jedi.

The Emperor, with the latter quote, seemed to look down on them, and fact that he didn't use a Lightsaber reinforces that idea. The former quote, which was from Darth Vader, makes similar implications; that the Force overwhelms even the greatest technological achievements in terms of power and efficiency.

We further have Yoda, who also seemed to have grown beyond the use of a Lightsaber by moving Luke's X-Wing out of the swamp.

The reasons for the emperor frowning on them is because they represent the jedi. It is the most recognizable image of the Jedi, and would have been a reminder to Palps that even his time will be done.

They were exceptional tools for defense and were meant to be rarely used to injure an opponent. The Sith's use of the blades was often a bastardization imv.