Notes:   This was the first lightsaber built by the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, a symbol of his progression through the Jedi training.  It was his intention to give the saber to his son, Luke Skywalker, in the hopes that he, too, would become a Jedi.  However, Anakin was seduced by the powerful Emperor Palpatine, and fell from grace to become the evil, twisted machine called Darth Vader.  The plans of Luke's father did not go unfulfilled, though, as the saber was taken by Obi-Wan Kenobi and later given to Luke on Tatooine.  Luke trained under Ob-Wan and then Yoda, but failed in his confrontation with Vader at Cloud City, where he lost both his father's weapon and his right hand.  This led him to construct his own saber.  It is rumored that Vader retrieved his former weapon and presented it to the Emperor, but this cannot be confirmed. 

It is suspected that Anakin added both a blade length control and a variable activator speed control to his saber. As is indicated in the saber's first activation, the blade is capable of instant activation, rather than the "growth" activation shown by other sabers.  It also includes a belt ring.