Protosaber
Archaic lightsabers, often called protosabers, represent the initial iteration of the lightsaber design. Similar to their successors, these weapons featured a focusing crystal housed within a hilt, from which an energy blade projected. The primary distinguishing factor between protosabers and later models was the connection of the hilt to an external power pack via a cable, a necessity imposed by the limitations of power pack technology at the time.
These early lightsabers suffered from a restricted operational duration, and the user's movement was hampered by the cable that tethered the weapon's hilt to its power source.
As technology progressed, the protosaber design was phased out in favor of the contemporary lightsaber design. Some original protosabers were modified to eliminate the need for an external power source. Later, some attempts were made to reintroduce the external power supply utilizing advanced technology, sacrificing some maneuverability for a more robust power supply.
Design
The protosaber's construction mandated an external power supply, which the user would carry on their back, hip, or belt. This power source was linked to the bottom of the lightsaber hilt, at the opposite end from the lightsaber's blade emitter.
The need for an external power supply in archaic lightsabers stemmed from the absence of sufficiently compact power packs capable of sustaining a lightsaber's plasma energy blade. Even these bulkier power packs provided only limited power, thus reducing the weapon's overall effectiveness.
Another drawback of the protosaber design was the power cable that connected the hilt to the power pack, which impaired the user's agility, making techniques like the saber throw and telekinetic lightsaber combat impossible.
History
Protosabers saw action during the eras of the Hundred-Year Darkness and the Great Hyperspace War, wielded by Jedi, Dark Jedi, and Sith alike. Throughout these conflicts, they were used in battles against Force weapons, conventional weaponry, and unique armaments such as those crafted from Mandalorian iron.
Technological and material advancements eventually rendered the protosaber design outmoded. The creation of more effective power cell technology enabled the replacement of external power packs with small power cells that could be housed within the hilt of the lightsaber. The introduction of an internal superconductor also allowed the return of looped energy from the negatively charged flux aperture back into an internal power cell. With this modification, the power cell would only expend power when the energy loop was broken by contact with other material. Protosabers could be modified to utilize these technological improvements, effectively transforming them into standard lightsabers. Vima-Da-Boda's lightsaber serves as an example of a protosaber that was "upgraded" to conform to modern lightsaber designs. The First Blade was also apparently fitted with these advancements.
The protosaber design was abandoned until later improvements were made in lightsaber technology, as these improvements gave the user greater freedom of movement and more efficient power consumption.
Retrosaber
At least one Jedi craftsman eventually revisited the archaic lightsaber design, refining it with contemporary materials and engineering. The resulting weapon, known as a "retrosaber," bore a strong resemblance to the original protosabers but surpassed them significantly in capability. A retrosaber was as powerful as modern lightsabers, but offered a few advantages along with the disadvantage of the external power pack. The primary advantage was that modern belt-mounted power packs allowed for a brief "power surge," creating a more powerful blade for a short time and therefore a temporary advantage in combat.