Lightsabers are the iconic weapons of the Jedi and Sith in the Star Wars universe. These elegant energy blades emit a brightly colored plasma beam and can cut through almost anything. But what determines the color of a Jedi’s lightsaber blade? The color is significant and reflects something about its wielder.
Kyber Crystals
At the heart of every lightsaber is a kyber crystal. Kyber crystals are Force-attuned crystals that focus energy and lend power to a lightsaber. The Jedi obtain kyber crystals from certain planets like Ilum and mine them from caves and crystal beds. After obtaining a crystal, a Jedi will meditate and focus using the Force to attune the crystal specifically to them. This attunement results in the crystal gaining its distinctive color.
| Crystal Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Blue | Jedi Guardian |
| Green | Jedi Consular |
| Yellow | Jedi Sentinel |
| Purple | Jedi who blends consular and guardian traditions |
| Red | Sith/Dark Jedi |
| White | Purified red crystal or Adegan crystal |
| Black | Fallen/corrupted Jedi |
The table above shows the common kyber crystal colors and what they signify about the Jedi or Sith wielding them.
Blue, Green, Yellow – Jedi Guardian, Consular, Sentinel
The most common lightsaber blade colors among Jedi are blue, green, and yellow. These correspond to the three branches of the Jedi Order:
- Blue blades signify a Jedi Guardian who focuses more on combat training and physical discipline.
- Green blades signify a Jedi Consular who focuses more on meditation, diplomacy, and scholars.
- Yellow blades signify Jedi Sentinels who use a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits.
Most Jedi choose their class early in training which leads them to bond with a crystal that produces a blade color matching their discipline. Some exceptional Jedi train extensively in multiple disciplines leading them to bond with crystals that produce alternate colors signifying their hybrid roles.
Purple – Jedi Who Balance Guardian and Consular
Purple lightsaber blades are relatively uncommon but tend to signify Jedi who take a more balanced approach between the Guardian and Consular traditions. Jedi that extensively train body, mind, and diplomacy will often produce purple-bladed lightsabers. Important purple-bladed Jedi include the Jedi Council members Mace Windu and Master Windu.
Red – Sith Lords
Almost all Sith Lords wield red-bladed lightsabers. However, the Sith do not bond with kyber crystals like the Jedi do. The Sith instead use synthetically created crystals or Forcefully “bleed” normal crystals to produce red blades.
They pour their anger, hatred, and negative emotions into the crystals via the Force which corrupts them into the color red. Red crystals therefore represent the Dark Side affiliations of the Sith.
White – Purified or Adegan Crystals
White blades are very rare but tend to represent light-siders who purify red Dark Side crystals to “heal” them of their former corruption. The white purifies the red making the blades almost holy. The ancient Adegan crystals found on Ilum also produced naturally white blades.
Black – Fallen or Corrupted Jedi
Black blade are similarly extremely rare. They tend to represent fallen Jedi who have turned to the Dark Side or focused so deeply on negative emotions that they fully corrupt their crystal causing in to turn black. Dark siders who fully immerse themselves in the Dark Side can also produce black-bladed lightsabers.
Other Factors Affecting Color
Though a Jedi’s choice of class and crystal bonding are the primary factors, a few other influences can affect lightsaber color:
- Dual-phase crystals can change color based on whether the user taps into the light or dark side of the Force at any given moment.
- Bleeding or corrupting light side crystals through the dark side can turn green and blue to red or black over time.
- Purifying red or black crystals can revert them to white, green, or blue.
- The design of the lightsaber hilt and components like power sources and focusing lenses can also tint the blade colors slightly.
- The plasma beam itself can fluctuate slightly in intensity and hue based on power source fluctuations.
So while a Jedi’s core training and crystal bonding ceremonies are the primary determinants of blade color, many other factors can influence it as well.
Conclusions
In summary, a Jedi’s lightsaber color is primarily determined by:
- The type of kyber crystal the Jedi bonds with.
- The Jedi’s choice of class – Guardian, Consular, Sentinel – that determines which crystals they are drawn to.
- How aligned with the light or dark side the Jedi keeps the crystal through training.
Blue, green, purple are light side blades while red and black represent the dark side. Yellow and white are rare intermediaries. The weapons visually demonstrate a Jedi or Sith’s chosen path and mastery over the Force in the Star Wars galaxy.