Darth Maul's saberstaff, alternatively known as Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, marked the debut of the double-bladed lightsaber as a personal weapon for Darth Maul. This Sith Lord participated in both the Invasion of Naboo and the Clone Wars. During their battle on Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi cleaved the Sith lightsaber in two. Maul continued to fight using the remaining portion until he briefly lost it during his duel against his former master on Mandalore. After his release from imprisonment, he reclaimed the half and reforged it into a double-bladed weapon. However, he permanently lost this weapon following a duel with Ahsoka Tano, which led him to acquire another double-bladed lightsaber that he used until his demise.
The saberstaff was constructed by joining two lightsabers, creating a weapon with blades extending from both ends along a straight axis. Each blade had independent activation via blade modulation controls, allowing for adaptability based on the combat situation and the opponent. Its design originated from ancient schematics discovered within a Sith holocron held by Darth Sidious.
Having mastered the double-bladed lightsaber, Sith apprentice Maul constructed his own weapon based on a design he discovered within Darth Sidious' Sith holocron. Maul employed his lightsaber during his duel against Eldra Kaitis on the moon of Drazkel.
Darth Maul utilized his lightsaber in his duel with Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. Activating only one blade, Maul immediately launched an attack, but Kenobi directed the Queen's pilot to move their ship closer to the fight, enabling Jinn to board and escape. Maul was left in a state of fury on the desert surface. During the Battle of Naboo, Maul engaged Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, with his lightsaber. Maul managed to defeat Jinn by striking him in the chin with the hilt of his weapon, followed by a fatal stab to the stomach, mortally wounding the Jedi Master. Enraged, Kenobi attacked Maul and managed to damage the lightsaber hilt, bisecting the weapon and rendering one half useless against a wall. This left Maul with only one functional half. Despite this, Maul managed to push Kenobi back, kicking his lightsaber into a pit, and used his own blade to shower sparks at the young Jedi, forcing him to release his grip. When Maul became careless, Kenobi seized the opportunity and leaped toward him. Using Jinn's lightsaber, Kenobi seemingly killed Maul by bisecting him. Maul and his lightsaber plummeted down the shaft, presumed dead and lost.
Maul, however, survived, and was discovered on Lotho Minor by his brother, Savage Opress, who brought him back to Dathomir for healing by their mother, Talzin. Maul's lightsaber was returned to him by his brother, and he wielded it in his pursuit of revenge against Kenobi.
Maul used it to kill innocent villagers on Raydonia to lure Kenobi. Upon Kenobi's arrival, Maul and his brother fought and subdued him. Maul intended to use his lightsaber to inflict torture upon Kenobi until Asajj Ventress intervened. Maul and his brother battled Kenobi and Ventress until the latter pair escaped.
Maul continued to wield this lightsaber as he and his brother carved a path of destruction through the Outer Rim. Maul employed his lightsaber against Jedi Knight Finn Ertay and an unidentified Nikto Jedi at an Outer Rim spaceport, fatally striking the former from behind while she was distracted. Subsequent to his duel with the two Jedi, Maul used his lightsaber to cut through several security droids at the Cybloc Transfer Station to raid the station. After locating a vault, Maul turned his lightsaber against his brother to assert his dominance, establishing Savage as his apprentice.
On Florrum, Maul used his lightsaber to coerce several pirates under Jiro of Captain Hondo Ohnaka's gang to join his cause. After killing one of Hondo's loyal lieutenants, Maul engaged Kenobi in combat while Savage fought Adi Gallia.
When Maul and Opress were discovered by the Mandalorian Death Watch, Pre Vizsla seized Maul's lightsaber while the two Zabraks recuperated. Maul regained his lightsaber after Vizsla agreed to an alliance between Death Watch and Maul. Maul wielded his lightsaber against various criminals from Black Sun and the Hutt Clan as part of his plan to create a unified criminal organization known as the Shadow Collective.
Following the Shadow Collective's takeover of Mandalore, Death Watch betrayed Maul and Savage, imprisoning them. Bo-Katan wore Maul's lightsaber on her belt. After escaping from the Sundari prison, Maul challenged Vizsla to a duel to the death, and Vizsla ordered Katan to return Maul's weapon to him so that Maul could duel Vizsla. Despite losing it during the duel when Vizsla shot it out of his hand, Maul defeated Vizsla and used Vizsla's Darksaber to behead him.
Maul later retrieved both weapons, briefly using the Darksaber before recovering his half-functional saberstaff. He reforged the broken end of his original lightsaber to create another double-bladed weapon, which he employed during his duel with Ahsoka Tano during the Siege of Mandalore. At the end of the duel, a disarmed Ahsoka grappled with Maul, severing the catwalk he stood on and causing him to fall. However, Ahsoka saved Maul and he was subsequently taken into custody by her forces, while the lightsaber fell into the city below, ultimately forcing him to replace it.
In an interview on The Star Wars Show, Sam Witwer revealed that the production team for Solo: A Star Wars Story initially planned to reintroduce Maul's double-bladed lightsaber during his scene with Qi'ra. However, Witwer suggested using either the Darksaber or his Star Wars Rebels lightsaber, and the latter was ultimately chosen.
During Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016, Ray Park mentioned that the original design for Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber had it being the same size as a regular single-hilt lightsaber.
The new second half of the saber as seen in Season 7 of The Clone Wars is visually similar to concept art for Ventress's lightsaber, which was ultimately unused because the episodes in question were adapted into the novel Dark Disciple.