Starkiller, secret apprentice to Darth Vader and protagonist of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, wields his lightsaber with an unconventional reversed grip. Although Starkiller is no longer a part of the official Star Wars canon, he is the second apprentice of Anakin Skywalker to hold a lightsaber differently, the other being Ahsoka Tano. Starkiller's strange grip certainly adds some flair and personality to his fighting style, but it is actually a codified trait for a specific style of lightsaber combat.
When it first released in 2008, The Force Unleashed became an important part of Star Wars canon, depicting events related to Darth Vader and the formation of the Rebel Alliance between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. At the time, George Lucas himself would often have creative input at LucasArts, and even made some suggestions that almost gave Starkiller an awful title, Dark Icky. Avoiding such a silly fate, Starkiller became a fascinating part of what is now known as the Legends canon, which through many novels, games, comics, and more constructed an incredibly thorough history on different approaches to lightsaber combat.
The Force Unleashed's Starkiller is a practitioner of Form V, a defensive and opportunistic approach to using a lightsaber. There are seven forms in total, but some - including Form V - have multiple disciplines. Starkiller and his abnormal approach to holding a lightsaber come from the Shien discipline, which doesn't necessarily require a Jedi to use a reversed grip. Shien is typically used when fighting multiple enemies, and is most effective against blaster fire, which doesn't really help with slaying rancors in The Force Unleashed. The inverted grip, which results in the lightsaber being held behind the back, was specifically used to perform sweeping attacks, but many Jedi would argue that the leaving their front exposed is contrary to the defensive aims of the Shien variant and Form V.
Starkiller's Reversed Lightsaber Grip Is Still A Canon Technique
In the newer, official Star Wars canon, the reversed grip of the Shien discipline is most closely associated with Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi Padawan. Ahsoka dual wields lightsabers, frequently holding both of them with the blades pointed behind her back. By the time Ahsoka used the reversed Shien grip in the Clone Wars, it was considered antiquated, with detractors similarly claiming that the posture wasn't ideal for the defenses that preempt the quick counterattacks of Form V. Much of what is known about Form V and the inverted grip in the new canon comes from a rulebook titled Knights of Fate for one of the three Star Wars tabletop RPGs, Force and Destiny.
Current exploration of various lightsaber techniques may not be as thorough as it was prior to the Extended Universe being de-canonized, but Starkiller's method of wielding the Jedi and Sith's preferred weapon remains largely unchanged. This may be due to Anakin Skywalker's proficiency in Form V and the subsequent influence he had on both Starkiller and Ahsoka. None of the mainline films discuss Skywalker's mastery of both the Shien and Djem So disciplines, but his reputation as a powerful warrior is well known, and his own techniques would have had a major influence on his two apprentices. The Force Unleashed may no longer be an official part of the Star Wars timeline, but Starkiller's novel lightsaber grip is still well within the scope of the franchise.
