It was Force FX lightsaber the entrusted to Luke Skywalker by Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977’s A New Hope that launched Star Wars into cinematic history. This did not happen by accident. It turns out that all lightsaber colours have a story behind them, from the red blades wielded by Darth Vader and Kylo Ren to black and white blades seen in The Mandalorian.
The lightsabers’ blades were actually white when George Lucas’ saga was being filmed. Rotoscoping, which is a technique used by effects wizards, later added color. Ralph McQuarrie was the concept artist who came up with the idea of associating a character’s moral standing with the blade’s color. For May the 4th, let’s examine some of the character’s color choices, and look at how their weapons have been used throughout history.
The laser beam was made brighter, and the swords were colored, with one for the good guys and one for the bad,” he said. In the years since, there is a rainbow of colors – though some are part of the non-canon Legends continuity of novels, comics, video games, spin-off movies, and TV shows before Disney took over the series.
It is the kyber crystal that determines the color of the blade of a lightsaber in-universe. In an episode of the animated series The Clone Wars from the fifth season, the gathering of these force-attuned crystals was revealed as a Jedi rite of passage — the crystals presented themselves to their rightful owners.
In this lesson, we’ll observe lightsabers in all their shades and the characters who wield them. The following contains huge Star Wars SPOILERS for both movies and shows.
BLUE
This is the first color we see when we see a lightsaber, and it’s also the most common. Luke wields it, so it is easy to assume that it refers to the younger Jedi. In addition, Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, which passed from Anakin to Luke and then to Finn, was blue. Additionally, Obi-Wan’s blades were blue throughout his career. In Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection, set decorator Roger Christian told Daniel Wallace, “I knew this lightsaber was the Excalibur of this film.”
Rey examines The Last Jedi’s split hilt and notices the cyber crystal in this weapon. When she used the crystal and General Leia Organa’s saber to slay Emperor Palpatine during The Rise of Skywalker she had it repaired between those films. Tatooine’s sands became home to her two lightsabers.
Green
Return of the Jedi introduced us to the green lightsaber when Luke ignited his new weapon on Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge. The blade was originally blue for the initial edit (and early posters), but subsequently changed to green, so that it would stand out against the blue sky of Tatooine. A deleted scene from the movie also shows Luke building his lightsaber. In The Rise of Skywalker and The Last Jedi, we see Luke using this lightsaber in flashbacks, but it seems likely that it remains hidden in his hut on Ahch-To.
As its prequels were aired, green blades were noted to be the choice of more experienced Jedi, including Qui-Gon Jinn (Obi-Wan’s master) and Yoda (the order’s grandmaster).
Anakin’s Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, swung a green lightsaber in her early years, and added a second, shorter blade as she gained experience during the Clone Wars. Quinlan Vos, Depa Billaba, Bultar Swan, Stass Allie, Luciana Unduli, Kit Fisto, Eeth Koth, and Kirak Infil’a are among the other welders in the canon.
PURPLE
A purple blade can only be wielded by one person in canon: Mace Windu. The bounty hunter Jango Fett is decapitated by it in Attack of the Clones, and Darth Sidious’ Force Lightning is reflected by it, leaving his face disfigured – in Revenge of the Sith.
After Windu has been betrayed by Anakin, it is later found on the streets of Coruscant. During the climactic arena battle in Attack of the Clones, Samuel L. Force FX lightsaber Jackson actually asked Lucas if he could have a purple blade so his character would stand out. According to Jackson, Windu is the second most powerful Jedi in the galaxy next to Yoda, thus his wish was granted.
RED
In contrast, those who follow the dark path, especially the Sith, cannot connect with kyber crystals as they can with Jedi, so they must steal them or take them from slain Jedi. Users of the dark side Force must channel their anger and pain into crystals to make them “bleed.”
Marvel’s 2017 Darth Vader series by Charles Soule depicts Vader’s quest to acquire his crystal, as well as what happens when his green crystal bleeds, leading to haunting visions. As strange as Kylo Ren’s lightsaber seems, its crystal is cracked, and he may have stolen it or broken it as a result of his wavering devotion to the dark side.
According to The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, the cross-guard design is necessary because the cracked crystal produces excess heat, which results in the serrated appearance and unusual sound of the red blade. The Imperial Inquisitors, Vader, Sidious, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku, and Rey were all seen using red lightsabers during an appearance during The Rise of Skywalker.
Black
We have never seen a black blade outside of Tarre Vizsla’s Darksaber, an ancient weapon built by the first Mandalorian to join the Jedi Order. He was ultimately killed in battle, and it became a symbol of the struggle between the clans of Mandalore.
Maul receives the Darksaber during his seizure of control of the planet in season 5, the years between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, when he seizes control of the planet from Pre Vizsla. Sabine Wren receives the Darksaber between Solo and A New Hope in Rebels’ third season. She proves through combat that she is capable of wielding it. At the end, Pre Vizsla’s former lieutenant Bo-Katan Kryze uses the blade to unite the Mandalorians against the Empire.
Exactly five years after Return of the Jedi, the Darksaber appears in the season 1 finale of The Mandalorian, when Moff Gideon escapes his crashed TIE fighter with it. In the event that the Empire killed Mandalorians and scattered the survivors across the galaxy, Gideon was an official in the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), which could have given him the Darksaber as a prize to show dominance over a conquered people.
White
In Rebels, Ahsoka uses a pair of light saber with white blades when she returns triumphantly. During Season 2 of The Mandalorian, we also saw them in live-action for the first time.
As we learn in the Ahsoka novel, she obtained her crystals after defeating the Sixth Brother, an Inquisitor, and healing them from the bleeding effect. It is this purification that is responsible for the white color of the blades.
