The favored combat implement of Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, was her lightwhip. This weapon was uniquely crafted by Lumiya herself. She discovered an ancient Sith design for the lightwhip while on a pilgrimage to the planet of Ziost. During this journey, she located an instructional tome detailing a weapon system utilizing both tangible extensions and concentrated lightsaber energy. As a Sith apprentice at the time, she constructed the hilt from nearly unbreakable Mandalorian iron. The weapon was powered by Kaiburr crystal shards, a gift from her Master, the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Lumiya first showed off her signature weapon at the start of the Nagai–Tof War against her nemesis, Luke Skywalker. She initially defeated him during their first encounter on Kinooine. However, Skywalker later triumphed over her in a rematch on the same world. He learned that combining a standard lightsaber with a short-bladed version effectively countered the lightwhip's complex design. For nearly four decades, Lumiya wielded her distinctive weapon, instilling dread with its mere mention and killing or severely injuring those caught in its grasp. Her lightwhip was a constant source of concern for many Jedi over the years, especially her long-time rival, Luke Skywalker. In 40 ABY, during a duel on Terephon, Lumiya used her lightwhip for the final time against Skywalker. Abandoning his shoto, Skywalker defeated and decapitated the Dark Lady of the Sith with only his lightsaber as the lightwhip fell into the abyss below their battleground.
The lightwhip, a signature item of the Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya, was a Sith weapon that combined pliable energy beams with physical components. The weapon's hilt, cylindrical in shape, was constructed from nearly indestructible Mandalorian iron and powered by Kaiburr crystal shards provided by her Sith Master, the then–Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader. While other lightwhips only generated single, flexible lightsaber energy blades, Lumiya's was unique, featuring three distinct extension types. In addition to strands of yellow plasma, the weapon also included multiple extensions of leather reinforced with Mandalorian iron studs, as well as flexible metal adorned with gems. Lumiya stored spare parts for the whip, including extra Kaiburr crystal shards, within a storage room in her asteroid home located near Bimmiel.
When not actively using her whip, Lumiya typically kept the extensions coiled. She also wore it around her waist as a belt or concealed it within one of her mechanical legs. The lightwhip had an equal number of each extension type and a range of up to six meters, although they could be retracted into the hilt for enhanced control. It was also possible to wield each of the three extension types individually and independently. The weapon operated similarly to a traditional lightsaber, requiring a switch on the hilt to activate the energy portion. When the energy extensions were in use, the weapon emitted a snap-hiss sound similar to a lightsaber. Its white-hot beams could cut through durasteel and sever organic and inorganic body parts. Even when deactivated, the extensions could inflict serious wounds.
Lightwhips were already rare and unusual weapons, and their single, flexible energy appendage—while weaker than a lightsaber—presented an unfamiliar challenge for most lightsaber users. As a result, lightwhip wielders often had a significant advantage over their opponents. However, Lumiya's unique whip design gave her an even greater edge against lightsaber-equipped foes, especially those unfamiliar with lightwhips and confused by her weapon's dual nature.
The lightwhip's range allowed Lumiya to attack from several meters away, making it difficult for opponents to engage her in close combat and allowing her to maintain control. The whip's tails could be spread vertically, enabling her to strike high, mid-level, and low simultaneously. Alternatively, fanning the whip horizontally created the illusion of a weaponized cloud, preventing opponents from dodging the attack. Attempting to defend with a lightsaber's shielding arc was also ineffective, as the lightwhip's reach extended beyond the blade's length. If her defenses were breached, Lumiya could use the whip like a short lightsaber to parry attacks or even as a staff to block enemy blades.
A warrior proficient in the Jar'Kai dueling style and equipped with both a standard lightsaber and a short-bladed shoto could defeat Lumiya's lightwhip. While the hilt was made from indestructible ore, the extensions were not. The whip's metal and leather strands could be cut, and the energy beams could short out if enough force was applied with a lightsaber. By trapping the whip's plasma energy with the longer lightsaber, an opponent could use their shoto to destroy the metal and leather cords. Once the tangible extensions were gone, they could then focus on destroying the energy beams.
Even with a single lightsaber, it was possible to defeat Lumiya's lightwhip through superior combat skill. On one occasion, an opponent used patience, cunning, and the exploitation of Lumiya's mistakes to avoid the whip and get within striking distance. Using speed to negate the whip's momentum and brute force to overwhelm her defenses was also effective. Certain projectile weapons, like a flechette launcher, rendered the lightwhip's range useless, and strong Force-pushes could slow the whip's speed.
Before completing her training as Darth Vader's apprentice, Lumiya was charged with creating her own weapon. She traveled to the Sith world of Ziost, where she found an ancient relic describing a weapon that combined lightsaber energy with physical matter. Lumiya then used this knowledge to build her lightwhip.
The lightwhip was first used against a Belderone native named Flint, whom Lumiya defeated in a brutal duel on Vjun. Later that year, Lumiya allied with the Nagai species during their invasion of the galaxy. While meeting with her attaché, Lumiya intercepted a team of Alliance of Free Planets scouts sent to scout Kinooine. Lumiya's whip killed nineteen of the twenty scouts, and the sole survivor, Faron Tolis, was repeatedly tortured with it. When Commander Luke Skywalker arrived to find Tolis' team, Lumiya attacked his companions, Kiro and Dani. Skywalker then dueled Lumiya to avenge his friends but lost due to his lack of experience against a weapon with both tangible and intangible components. Skywalker soon discovered the whip's weakness and used a red-bladed shoto with his regular lightsaber in their rematch with Lumiya. He destroyed much of the whip with his blades before finally defeating her, surprising her greatly.
After the Nagai-Tof War, Lumiya went on a mission for the Galactic Empire to the communications research space station Epsilon Nine. After ensuring a traitorous inhabitant's loyalty to the Empire, Lumiya used her whip to cut apart a large New Republic sigil, symbolizing the station staff's brief freedom. Later, her lightwhip was used in a duel against Mara Jade, a rogue Emperor's Hand, on Caprioril, which ended in a draw. After her confrontation with Jade, Lumiya went into hiding, but her weapon remained infamous. The legend of Lumiya and her unusual weapon was taught to the students of Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order.
As Lumiya regained prominence, so did her infamous flail. In 40 ABY, she lured Skywalker's nephew, Jacen Solo, and Jedi Knight Nelani Dinn, to her asteroid habitat in the MZX33291 star system, where the whip was briefly used in a duel with Dinn. The Jedi girl was unfamiliar with the weapon and was struck several times by Lumiya. During the Second Galactic Civil War, Lumiya traveled through the underlevels of the galactic capital of Coruscant, killing several transient inhabitants with her whip as she went to the Well of the World Brain to meet Solo, now her Sith apprentice.
The whip was later used in combat against Chev Jedi Master Tresina Lobi in Coruscant's Senate District's Fellowship Plaza. Spreading its extensions kept Lobi at bay, but acrobatic maneuvers and distractions allowed the Chev Jedi to avoid the whip before severing Lumiya's cybernetic weapon arm. As she was ambidextrous, Lumiya continued to wield her lightwhip with her remaining arm and used it to shear off both of Lobi's legs at the knee. Lumiya's accomplice, the Twi'lek darksider Alema Rar, then killed the Jedi Master.
Lumiya and her whip next appeared at the Roqoo Depot refueling station, where she fought her nemesis, Luke Skywalker. Many of the station's patrons were seriously injured, losing limbs, heads, and their lives to the lightwhip before the Grand Master finally intervened, using both his lightsaber and shoto to counter the whip's dual nature. He got close enough to strike, but the Dark Lady struck at his feet with the whip, preventing him from attacking. He then used his blades to cut away the whip's strands as Lumiya attacked from all sides, but she managed to sever his shoto-hand and slash him across the chest. Preparing for the final blow, Lumiya shortened the whip's extensions for better control after using the energy tendrils to disarm Skywalker. However, he defeated her by shooting her several times with a blaster. Lumiya's lightwhip faced Skywalker's twin blades again in battle on Gilatter VIII, and then those of his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker, on Hesperidium. During that duel, Jade Skywalker frustrated the whip's attacks by using blaster weapons before being ambushed by the Sith Meditation Sphere under Lumiya's command.
The final use of Lumiya's lightwhip occurred on the Inner Rim world of Terephon, where she once again engaged Luke Skywalker in single combat. Skywalker, abandoning his shoto, used an aggressive two-handed attack against the whip's linear assault. Lumiya could not achieve maximum velocity as Skywalker rushed her, forcing her to retreat to gain enough distance to swing her weapon effectively. She held the hilt like a staff to block Skywalker's attacks, but this was also ineffective. He ended the duel by decapitating Lumiya, and her lightwhip fell into the gorge below the cliff where they fought.
Lumiya's lightwhip first appeared in Marvel Star Wars' ninety-fifth issue, No Zeltrons, written by Mary Jo Duffy. Artist Cynthia Martin penciled the whip, initially depicting it only as an energy weapon. In the following issue, Duel With a Dark Lady, Duffy and Martin revealed that the whip included physical elements along with energy, all originating from a cylindrical hilt. The Star Wars 96: Duel With a Dark Lady comic was re-released in 2009 with Lumiya, Luke Skywalker, and both of his lightsabers action figures for Hasbro's Star Wars: The Legacy Collection series.
Michael Mikaelian's short story, Lumiya: Dark Star of the Empire, featured in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 3, expanded on the whip's creation. Several sources also touched upon the whip's origins, including Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties, The Emperor's Pawns, Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force (where artist Tommy Lee Edwards depicted the whip with a curved hilt), and 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. The lightwhip was prominently featured with its owner in Legacy of the Force: Betrayal, Legacy of the Force: Tempest, Legacy of the Force: Exile, and Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice, all Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels. An action figure of Lumiya and her lightwhip is included in the Legacy of the Force set of Star Wars Miniatures.