Do the different colors of lightsabers mean anything? (1 Viewer)

[LDfan]

Don't know if this has been discussed before but was wondering about this.
Does red signify being evil? Is the green the color of a more senior jedi and the blue one for the younger, less experienced ones?
Jeff

 

[Leroy]

I don't think there has ever been an official reason for it. But, I'm guessing AOTC will answer it at least in part, when we see what other colors lightsabers the other Jedi will be weilding(Mace Windu's was purple on the cover of SW Insider magazine).

 

[Nick Sievers]

I have no idea but I would say red is evil
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[Geoffrey_A]

officially, the colours have no meaning. The ranking system doesn't work, because Obi-wan has a blue saber when he's a master as well as when he was an apprentice.
One thing seems certain, red signifies evil. If you want to assign signifigance to colours, the only thing we can really say, based on evidence in the films, is that the more unconventional, rebellious jedis seem to carry green sabers, while the traditional, more practical and well centered jedi have blue. This is of course a highly suspect theory considering that we have so few examples.
The advent of the green saber, in actuality, was a filmic consideration. the blue saber didn't show up well against the blue sky in the tattooine scenes of Jedi, and so the colour was changed to green, to stand out better.
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[Patrick Sun]

Yeah, you're running out of colors (white, yellow, orange) after a while on the light sabers. But given that only Jedi's and Siths are the only wielders of them, maybe there won't be too many of them, especially after the 3rd episode.
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[Tom-G]

There is no significance to the colors other than red is Sith. Red is an agressive color and symbolic of the Sith. According to the Star Wars Encyclopedia, the color of the blade depends on the adegan crystals that are used when constructing the light saber.
Mace Windu Spoiler:will be wielding a purple light saber
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[Patrick Sun]

Isn't Mace's the one that has Spoiler:"Bad ass mother fucker" on the light saber handle?
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[Paul Spurgeon]

In the multiple books that represent the years following Episode 6, there is a lot of explanation involving lightsabre construction. The construction of the lightsabre is one of the final tasks in becoming a Jedi, and each lightsabre is (supposed to be) personally created by the apprentice. The meditation used to meld the lightsabre from a collection of parts into a functional weapon can take weeks, and takes a lot from the apprentice. The color of the sabre is in fact a result of the crystal used to focus the energy. Using a faulty crystal (ie accidentally using a fake diamond instead of a real one) can cause the lightsabre to short out in moments of intense use; lightsabres can also be created that use 2 crystals (not at once, it's either one or the other) to focus the energy differently, thus enabling 2 different lengths (and diameters).

 

[Howard Williams]

Wowzers !!!
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[Carlo_M]

Just out of pure curiousity:
In these threads there's always references to "The Books" that come after the movie. Are these officially Lucas' approved theories that are written in the novels? I've never read one so I don't know, but people are starting to cite them like they're gospel so I was curious how Lucas fits them in. Does he write his scripts around the myriad of SW novels that are already out?

 

[Paul Spurgeon]

With reference to the books:
I became interested in how much input Lucas (and the writer) has after one of my favorite fantasy authors, RA Salvatore, wrote a recent Star Wars novel in which something very disturbing to Star Wars fanboys occurred. This occurrence had everyone writing Salvatore hatemail.. even death threats. This is an excerpt from an interview conducted with Salvatore at rasalvatore.com ... no spoilers are included in the excerpt, but reading the entire interview certainly would spoil it.
"...Who made that last call? It came out of a meeting at Skywalker Ranch, I'm told, between the folks at the book publisher, Del Rey, the folks at Lucasfilm, and a couple of the previous Star Wars authors.
I have no idea how involved George Lucas was in that decision..."
Salvatore also believes that Lucas decided which character was going to be involved in the act and what act was going to occur.
So to answer your question, everybody really gets a chance to have input on the books, but a general spanning storyline is always kept in mind and held to by the various authors, at least according to what I've read.

 

[TheoGB]

The whole coloured lightsabre thing is an afterthought. They originally tried to just use reflective material (I'm guessing like the suit Jor-El wears on Krypton) but it didn't look good when they printed it so they cel-animated the lightsabres and coloured them into the bargain. As Ben and Luke's are identical I guess the red of Vader's was simply to provide a contrast in his battle with Ben.
You can of course see the original effect in Vader's sabre as he starts towards the Falcon after Luke cries 'No!' and shoots the lock. For some reason Lucasfilm never turned it red for that shot. Until I discovered years later about how the effect was done I had always assumed that Vader had taken Obi-Wan's sabre.
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[Tom-G]

quote: there's always references to "The Books" that come after the movie. Are these officially Lucas' approved theories that are written in the novels?[/quote]
Carlo, they are approved by Lucas but there are stories that he won't give approval for--like the clone wars--because Lucas wants to expand on them in the movies.
Some people rely on the books (referred to as the "Expanded Universe") to give the backstories to the movies, but the books do NOT serve in that capacity. Although some of the books are very good, especially those written by Zahn, the books are not canonical material. Here is a link that explains what is and isn't considered canon.
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As for the bad rap about the characters--hey, I've seen space operas that put their emphasis on human personalities and relationships. They're called "Star Trek" movies. Give me transparent underwater cities and vast hollow senatorial spheres any day. --Roger Ebert on The Phantom Menace
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[Edited last by Tom_G on November 06, 2001 at 12:13 PM]

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I can't believe Jeff Kleist hasn't chimed in yet.

This guy knows lightsabers right down to their serial numbers.
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[Tom Ryan]

I became interested in how much input Lucas (and the writer) has after one of my favorite fantasy authors, RA Salvatore, wrote a recent Star Wars novel in which something very disturbing to Star Wars fanboys occurred. This occurrence had everyone writing Salvatore hatemail.. even death threats. This is an excerpt from an interview conducted with Salvatore at rasalvatore.com ... no spoilers are included in the excerpt, but reading the entire interview certainly would spoil it.

You're talking about Vector Prime, aren't you? I didn't have too much of a problem with that decision, as much as I love the one it affected. Truly, it's got a lot more emotional impact when you meddle with a character that's been around for a long time and is well loved.
Anyways, as far as the books go, I believe they are approved by Lucas or some affiliate of his. However, that doesn't mean he isn't going to throw them out if he wants to. For instance, supposedly there's a character that's named Jango Fett in Episode II, and he is Boba Fett's father (this isn't a spoiler, it's pretty common knowledge...believe it's been posted on The Site).
In the books, Boba Fett is never mentioned as having a bounty hunter father, and indeed his origins are unknown (except for one source that says he came from Concord Dawn). Also, Boba Fett is not his real name, just the name he assumed. So, if Boba Fett has a father named Jango Fett, it's obvious that everything the books built upon is being thrown out. It's a pity, too, because a lot of the books have better plots than The Phantom Menace did..there are quite a few books that follow Fett, as well (see The Bounty Hunter Wars).
-Tom

 

[Jeff Kleist]

I'm here

Everything here is correct for the most part. In fact there's a deleted (dunno if it was filmed) scene where Luke is finishing his green saber in ROTJ.
What I want to know is, does Anakin build his Graflex )original Luke) saber in Episode 2?
Spoiler:The teaser shows in the first shot, Anakin and Obi-Wan running toward the camera, and Anakin has a GREEN saber (Qui-Gon's?). In the shots from the final battle, he has a BLUE saber. This could also explain why it looks so different from the other sabers, as he may cobble it together on Tatooine while hiding with Amidala.

 

[DanR]

I think if there is anything to this whole saber color thing, we'll find out as Anakin turns.
Also Jeff, don't read too much in Anakin weilding different colored sabers in the preview. It's rumored that he just picks one up off the ground while running to engage in the final fight shown in the teaser. That's all i will say to avoid spoilers.
Regards,
Dan

 

[Paul Spurgeon]

Is the "Fett" in "Boba Fett" his last name, or a title? I have forgotten what is stated in the 3 books with Boba as the main character. If it is in fact a title, then the character in the movie may simply hold the same title as Boba and not really be his father... or something like that

 

[Rollie]

As stated before, a saber's color is pretty much the preference of the user. The Episode One Insider's Guide for PC has the saber colors of Jedi on the Council. Their colors range from purple to crimson to blue, and I'm sure there are more too.
In "Expanded Universe" Exar Kun, who was THE Badass Dark Lord of the Sith, wields a blue double-bladed lightsaber. Then again this isn't cannonical. Even though, he did try to take over the Republic with his nifty lightsaber and army of Mandalorians. But, I doubt Lucas reads EU.

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[Kevin Leonard]

Since we're on the subject of lightsabers, here are two questions that have always been nagging me:
1) As was stated earlier, one of the final steps in becoming a Jedi was to construct your own saber. That's all good and fine, but how do they get a saber when they're starting out ("Padawan"...I think is the word)? Do they rent a previously-owned lightsaber and then give it back when they've completed their own? I've always wanted to know about that.
2) Is the official spelling "lightsaber" or "lightsabre?" I've seen it go both ways.
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