I’m something of a casual Star Wars fan. I’ve seen all the main series movies but not delved into the spin-offs like The Acolyte, the latest Disney series about a former Padawan teaming up with her old mentor to investigate crimes from sinister forces. In it, Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh used a unique lightsaber called a lightwhip and Gizmodo chronicled its history in the Star Wars universe:
In the Expanded Universe, the Lightwhip was introduced as the weapon of the Dark Lady Lumiya, a Sith and one of the Emperor’s Hands (an elite order of the Empire’s top agents and secret operatives) from Marvel’s ongoing Star Wars comic. First appearing in 1985’s Star Wars #95, Lumiya’s lightwhip operated slightly differently to what the weapon would ultimately become in further interpretations—as well as a singular, extended energy beam, Lumiya’s whip had several extra tassels made from leather and studded with lightsaber-resistant Mandalorian Iron (better known in both current continuity and the EU by its name in the Mandalorian language, beskar).
Lumiya’s weapon lead to Luke Skywalker crafting another type of Lightsaber that would go on to have its own storied history in the Expanded Universe and beyond: the Shoto Lightsaber, a secondary weapon with a shortened blade that could counter the lightwhip’s multiple tassels, wrapping them up around his primary saber’s blade while using the shoto to sever the physical extensions.
After Lumiya’s weapon birthed the existence of the Lightwhip, more traditional forms were codified as ancient and extremely rare weapons wielded by the Sith during the time of the New Sith Wars, thousands of years before the events of the films. Unlike Lumiya’s weapon however, more often than not earlier lightwhips had a singular energy beam, like the lightwhip wielded by the Sith Lord Githany.
Unlike regular lightsabers, I doubt we’ll see lightwhip toys in stores for obvious reasons. (Although you can get a pixelwhip if you want)