The Grand Inquisitor's lightsaber

The weapon featured a ringed emitter which could partially detach from the cylindrical handgrip in the center, allowing the twin blades to rotate rapidly without effort from the wielder. For a Jedi hunter like the Inquisitor, this function likely served as a way to intimidate, or frighten opponents, as well as deflect any form of direct attack. On some occasion this function is known to catch opponents off balance. However, this was also the weapon's primary weakness, as a lightsaber-wielding opponent could simply permanently separate the emitter itself and sever the weapon in half, as was demonstrated by Lord Vader during his first duel with the Inquisitor and Kanan Jarrus during his final duel with the Inquisitor aboard the Sovereign. This is due to the hilt consisting of non-lightsaber resistant alloy or metal. The handgrip could be removed entirely from the ring-shaped emitter, allowing the Force-imbued circlet of metal to be used as a throwing disc.

The Grand Inquisitor wielded his lightsaber against Darth Sidious's new apprentice, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. During their fight, Vader was able to damage the Inquisitor's lightsaber. The Inquisitor repaired the weapon and continued to use his lightsaber in the following years after Order 66 while hunting down surviving Jedi, though at one point he utilized another lightsaber which was broken when he fought against Naq Med.

The Grand Inquisitor wielded his lightsaber in several battles against Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger. It was also used to execute Imperial officers Cumberlayne Aresko and Myles Grint both at once on Moff Tarkin's orders, after their repeated incompetence in capturing the rebels. In a final battle against the Inquisitor, after his rescue, Jarrus split the Inquisitor's weapon in two, causing the pieces to fall down a shaft. The two halves were then destroyed in an explosion when they fell into the Sovereigns reactor, followed shortly by the Inquisitor himself.

The spinning lightsaber was an unused concept for the video game The Force Unleashed.

In the Obi-Wan Kenobi television series, the lightsaber was used by Rupert Friend, the actor who played the Grand Inquisitor. In an early meeting attended by Dave Filoni and propmaster Brad Elliott, they discussed how to translate the animated Inquisitor lightsabers into realistic props. Filoni advised the propmaster to imagine the live-action came first, and the animated material was an exaggerated version of that. This allowed Elliott to keep the form factor of the props established in animation and to bring them in line with props made for human hands.

The prop making team did a substantial amount of research to make sure the lightsaber matched its appearance in Star Wars Rebels. The lightsaber was shifted to accommodate Friend's hands. Elliott and his team were careful to minimize the more fragile looking parts of the animated designs and they made sure that the size of the rings and handles would fit their intended character. Friend nearly fainted from amazement when he was handed his lightsaber. The actor enjoyed going through lightsaber training with the stunt guys who are master swordsmen and masters of several forms of martial arts.

• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "Obi-Wan vs Inquisitors"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "LEGO Star Wars - 25 Years"