PT The Significance (or lack thereof) of Lightsaber Colors

In KOTOR, the lightsaber color signified the type of Jedi one aspired to be. Of course, since the movies are primary canon, what KOTOR said is irrelevant.

This prompts the question: Do Lightsaber colors hold any symbolic value in the Star Wars films, besides the fact that red is Sith?

I made this topic, because I saw online that TPM Yoda's lightsaber was yellow. Can anyone confirm this? If this is legit, did he change the color for an important or unimportant reason?


(I put this topic here, because I doubt Luke knew if the Jedi Order had assigned symbolic significance to lightsaber colors.)

 

Personally I never have considered colour significent red doesn't have to mean Sith at all.

 

Yoda's lightsaber was never yellow.

As for colors, it was blue for the good guys, red for the bad. Green was introduced due to blue not being visible enough against the sky in RotJ and from then on it became a default color like blue. Mace only got purple at Jackson's request, thus making it an exception to the rule. Yellow was slipped into the Temple Guards in TCW through Filoni. It stayed because George didn't notice or care.

 

i know the EU gave them signifigance, and had a few other colors, but in the films i think just 'cool' colors -Jedi "hot" color -Sith

 

That's what I thought. I always thought Yoda's lightsaber was green. Would you say that this picture is a fake then?

 

Yes, the hilts are taken from official photos but the colors were photoshopped in.

 

That's pretty neat. I think Han in ESB and Ani in RotS? say all that need saying about lightsabres: It's implied strongly one doesn't need the Force to use one nor do colours actively appear to define anything.

 

Here's some of my personal spins on what the lightsaber colours might mean (particularly after the six films were finished, as we know that originally it was simply blue=good and red=bad, with the green saber in ROTJ being a necessity because of contrast to sky colour). This is more about symbolism at specific times than any overall rule.


ROTS - Anakin, at one of the most significant crossroads in his life, crosses a red saber and a blue saber at an unarmed Dooku's neck, and ends him. The use of Dooku's own saber being used to decapitate him (plus the contrast to Luke sparing Vader in ROTJ) is obviously foreshadowing Anakin will replace Dooku as the new apprentice (and eventually have a red saber of his own). Additionally, the red/blue contrast here can represent the conflict in Anakin, emphasises that he is being "offered" a two-way path by the force, and highlights the general greyness of the character.


ROTS - Anakin fighting Obi-Wan is the only blue vs blue duel, representing brother vs brother. It also shows their connection to their old order; Anakin, having turned just recently, still holds some resemblance to the Jedi he once was (for now). Obi-Wan, on the other hand, is one of a handful of Jedi still alive, and despite the loss of the Order you can perhaps see he still holds himself to the same standards as a Jedi that he did before Order 66.


TPM/ROTJ - The circular nature of the six films cyclically makes for a lot of links between the current start and end of the saga. There are some parallels between the Theed reactor where Maul is fought in TPM and the DS2 throne room in ROTJ.
The use of a green saber in these two arcs is significant I think.
Obi-Wan in TPM is initially defeated by Maul and loses his blue saber. He composes himself, and surprises Maul, killing Maul with his Master's green saber. He promises to a dying Qui-Gon to train Anakin. Obi-Wan is knighted becoming both his own master and Anakin's master, quite aptly signified by using Qui-Gon's saber here, and for a while after (according to EU).
In ROTJ, Luke angrily defeats Vader with a green lightsaber. Unlike Obi-Wan, Luke doesn't become a Jedi by killing a Sith, he becomes a true Jedi by sparing one. He throws away his own saber, not willing to kill his father, and becomes his own master in the process. This inspires the return of Anakin, who sacrifices himself to save Luke (Sidious being thrown down a shaft to his death, much like Maul in TPM). Anakin dies in Luke's arms (like Qui-Gon with Obi-Wan), and Qui-Gon's premonition comes full-circle.


ANH/ESB/ROTJ - Luke starting on the Jedi path is largely inspired by his perception of his dead father. He is given Anakin's old blue saber by Obi-Wan, which Luke much later uses facing against Vader. Vader overwhelms Luke, and on painfully cutting off Luke's hand he reveals he is actually Luke's father, not the man who killed him, and that he wants Luke to join and rule with him. This simultaneously occurs with the loss of Anakin's old saber, the symbol of the good father Luke thought was literally dead. Pretty good metaphor, that here Luke "loses" both his father and his father's old saber. In the next film Luke has constructed his own green saber, symbolising he is now following his own path, not just living in Anakin's shadow. He is becoming his own Master, culminating in throwing this very saber away in defiance of The Emperor at the climax of ROTJ.

 

I always kinda wished they'd gone all out and let the Jedi use all the different colors (except Red).

 

For some reason --not sure where and when I read it --I've always been under the impression that red blades could only be the result of artificial crystals.


The Sith, unlike the Jedi, manufacture artificial crystals that give their sabers a red (and stronger) blade. The Jedi use natural crystals in their sabers, and natural crystals won't produce a red blade.

 

Well, you don't need the Force to turn it on/off and swing around with it, but to use it properly (deflect laser bolts, dueling, etc) you need the Force.

 

I don´t know where was introduced that the Sith use synthetic crystal for their lightsabers either, but there is a little book called "Star Wars Lightsaber: A guide to the weapons of the Force" that confirms what you are saying. Here is what the book says about it.

Selecting a crystal
The focusing crystal in a Jedi lightsaber is usually collected from the sacred Jedi caverns on the snowy world of Ilum. However, other jewels have been used throughout Jedi history with varying effectiveness.

Sith sabers
A Sith lightsaber is constructed using similar methods, but the underlying philosophy is quite different. Jedi let the Force flow through them, allowing it to guide their actions. Sith, on the other hand, focus their anger and hate to mold their device. Sith prefer using synthetic or artificial crystals they craft. To do this, they melt a variety of minerals into acids, which are reformed as crystalline solid inside a pressurized furnace. A Sith Lord helps shape the crystal in the furnace by concentrating on his or her anger and the dark side of the Force.

 

^^^

Good find, sir.

I knew I'd seen it somewhere.

 

Jedi had only blue and green lightsabers in the Original Trilogy and this was carried over into TPM. Obi-Wan has a blue lightsaber and Qui-Gon had a green lightsaber. You knew that the good guys had blue and green and the bad guys had red. Then Samuel Jackson said his favorite color was purple so George bowed down to him and broke the longstanding tradition. So it kind of lost significance after AOTC.

 

No, it just made Mace Windu an exception.

 

Out of universe the lightsaber color is a visual cue for the audience, nothing more. Blue/Green for the good guys and Red for the bad guys, the characters themselves are color blind to this. Much in the same way the old westerns had the good guys wearing white hats, and the bad guys wearing black hats. However, if the two were walking down some dusty road and saw each other, the good guy wouldn't know he was looking at the bad guy based on his hat, it was just a visual cue, a motif, for the audience to see.

That is why in TPM, Qui Gonn never says that his attacker was carrying a Red Lightsaber as proof, as it doesn't matter to the characters. The colors are not there for them, the colors are there for us.

With that said though, fans want an in-universe answer to everything, thus through the EU the colors went on to signify something more.