"Your father's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age."
Any "Star Wars" fan would know what film this quote came from and, more importantly, who said it. But in the general scope of things, this quote is THE one that introduced mover goers in the late 70s and future generations to the lightsaber.
A Brief History of the Lightsaber
Lore-wise, a lightsaber (also referred to as a laser sword by that wide-eyed boy from Tatooine) is a distinctive sword used by the Jedi and their sworn enemies, the Sith. It is a complex instrument made of a pommel cap, handgrip, control module, main hilt, focusing lens, and a blade emitter with an energy core powered by a kyber crystal. When ignited, it emits a blade of pure plasma about three feet in length and is suspended in a force containment field, protecting the wielder and allowing the plasma to keep its shape, per Star Wars' aptly named Wiki, Wookiepedia, and the Official Star Wars website.
The plasma blade emitted by the lightsaber is weightless and has a gyroscopic effect. As such, the overall weapon requires its wielder to be strong and dexterous enough to effectively use it. Mastering the use of the lightsaber means that the wielder has incredible skill, confidence, dexterity and attunement to the Force, a metaphysical, spiritual, binding, and ubiquitous power in the Star Wars universe.
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Every lightsaber is unique as it was built by its wielder to match their specific needs and fighting style. According to a separate Wookiepedia page, there are seven forms of lightsaber combat, and each practitioner of any of these forms shapes their lightsaber hilt to the form they use the most. For example, a practitioner of the "perseverance" form would make their hilt more suited to aggressive attacks, while a "resilience" form practitioner would make their hilt more suitable for blocking both lightsabers and blaster fire.
However, an apprentice or padawan learner can similarly build their lightsaber to their master's or mentor's lightsaber as a sign of respect.
In real life, the first lightsaber shown in "A New Hope," Anakin's canonical second lightsaber, was made from a Graflex camera side-attach flash with rubber windshield wipers for its handle grips. Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber, the second lightsaber to appear on film, was made from parts of an Armitage Shanks Starlite Model Handwheel, Browning ANM2 machine gun booster, WW1 No. 3 Mk.1 British Rifle Grenade and a Rolls-Royce Derwent Mk.8/Mk.9 Jet Engine Balance pipe.
What is Your Favorite Color?
A lightsaber blade's color depends on the weapon's kyber crystal, which is found by a Jedi apprentice during a ritual known as "the Gathering," per a separate Star Wars page. During this ritual, an apprentice must overcome obstacles to find the kyber crystal attuned to them the most.
The color of the apprentice's kyber crystal also has a meaning of its own. According to Screen Rant, a blue crystal - the most common lightsaber crystal - represent righteousness, bravery, and the apprentice's strong "spiritual alignment" with the crystal. Anakin's lightsaber, later Luke's, and Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsabers are examples of blue-bladed lightsabers.
A green crystal means harmony, helpfulness, cooperation, spirituality and demonstrable goodwill. Jedi Grand Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Luke Skywalker had green-bladed lightsabers.
A purple crystal means moral ambiguity, uncertainty and reconstruction, a sign that the wielder has both the dark and light side of The Force within himself. Only Jedi Master Mace Windu has this unique lightsaber blade color due to his mastery of Vaapad.
Vaapad is a variation of the seventh lightsaber form of Juyo, the form favored by the Sith. Only master Windu has mastered this variation of Juyo.
In real life, Master Windu's actor, Samuel L. Jackson, requested George Lucas to make his lightsaber color purple as that was Jackson's favorite color.
However, Sith Lords and their apprentices have to synthesize kyber crystal using special dark side furnaces. This need was due to Ilum being closely guarded by the Jedi Order. The resulting kyber crystal is usually red, with the occasional silver. This red color means their unity and unwavering dedication to the Dark Side of The Force, per Ultrasabers' article. Sith Lords like Darth Sidious, Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Darth Tyranus, also known as Count Dooku, have red-bladed lightsabers.
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