Stormtrooper concept. As you can tell they were originally going to have lightsabers. But Lucas or somebody else wanted the weapon to be special. [quote]Early concept art depicts lightsabers being wielded by Rebel and Imperial soldiers alike. George Lucas later limited the lightsabers to exclusively the Jedi in order to make them feel more unique, and heighten the mystique of the Jedi. Also, in early drafts of the script, lightsabers were referred to as "lazerswords."[/quote]