9 Ways Star Wars Canon Has Changed Jedi & Sith Lightsabers

The lightsabers of Jedi and Sith underwent significant changes when the Star Wars franchise supplanted the Legends continuity with the modern canon. Lightsabers are one of the most recognizable elements of the Star Wars mythos, with the weapons appearing in almost every Star Wars movie and TV show. Naturally, the vast lore of Star Wars has provided lightsabers with a long and fascinating history in both timelines, and the franchise’s partial reboot in April 2014 saw the introduction of new and different traits for the weapons. As is often the case, the original Legends-era lightsaber lore inspires the modern canon’s.

In both continuities, lightsabers are the traditional weapons of the Jedi and their ancient enemies, the Sith. Although Jedi and Sith have significantly different philosophies and cultures, they share a common origin. The first true Sith Lords in both the Legends and modern canon timelines were fallen Jedi who embraced the dark side of the Force. Unsurprisingly, the Sith continued to use lightsabers, though they modified theirs to differentiate them from Jedi weapons. There are numerous Force-using (and dark side-using) organizations in canon and Legends, but lightsabers are, for the most part, exclusive to Jedi and Sith.

9 Lightsaber Crystals Must Bond To Get Their Color

Crystals Used To Be More Easily Obtained

In the Star Wars Legends continuity, lightsabers are powered by special types of Force-imbued crystals. Lightsaber crystals were found on many planets throughout the galaxy, with the most popular among prequel-era Jedi being Adegan crystals from the Adega system and the Unknown Regions planet of Ilum. The construction of a lightsaber is a vital rite of passage for a Jedi, and Padawans of the old guard Jedi Order would typically travel to Ilum to obtain a crystal to power their lightsaber. In Ilum’s crystal caves, Jedi would choose a crystal, giving their lightsaber either a blue or green blade.

The modern Star Wars canon reimagined lightsaber crystals in the 2008 series Star Wars: The Clone Wars – a series that was intended to not be separate from the Legends continuity. While Padawans still travel to Ilum to obtain a lightsaber crystal, the gem must bond with a potential Jedi. A Padawan will find a particular crystal which will eventually change from a neutral clear color to a specific hue – which then becomes the color of their lightsaber blade. Most Kyber crystals turn either blue or green.

8 Red Lightsabers Come From Dark Side “Bleeding”

This Color Used To Be Used By Both Jedi And Sith Alike

Red lightsabers are typically associated with the Sith in the Star Wars Legends continuity, though there are notable examples of Jedi who use such weapons. Luke Skywalker notably constructed a red-bladed shoto (short-bladed lightsaber) to serve as both a backup weapon and a counter to the deadly lightwhip of the Dark Lady of the Sith Lumiya. Several prequel-era Jedi are depicted as wielding red-bladed lightsabers, with Adi Gallia and Depa Billaba being notable examples, though their weapons are typically retconned into always having been a more traditional blue or green.

Although red-bladed lightsabers do not necessarily have any connection to the Sith or dark side in the Legends continuity, this is not the case in the modern Star Wars canon. The newer continuity establishes that a Kyber crystal cannot turn red through natural means; it must endure a torturous dark side ritual called “bleeding.” When a dark side user (typically a Sith) bleeds a Kyber crystal, they pour their malicious dark side power into it, corrupting it rather than bonding with it.

7 Dark Side Lightsaber “Bleeding” Can Be Undone

This Process Is Rare, But Not As Rare As It Once Was

Any lightsaber crystal in the Legends continuity can be tainted by the dark side, though no specific color is necessarily associated with the dark side. In one specific case, however, a Jedi cleansed the dark side from a lightsaber crystal, resulting in its color changing. This instance occurred in the 2011 novel Riptide, by Paul S, Kemp, depicting Jaden Korr of the New Jedi Order using the Force to rid a red crystal of the dark side. This process turned the crystal yellow as an aftereffect.

In the modern Star Wars canon, the ability to remove the dark side from a Kyber crystal is known as purification, and while still rare, there are far more occurrences of it in the newer timeline. The ability may have been developed by the Fallanassi, a Force-using organization with loose ties to the Jedi Order. While the Fallanassi purified bled Kyber crystals left behind by slain Sith, several Jedi (or former Jedi) also used the ability, including Jora Malli, Ahsoka Tano, and Luke Skywalker. Purified Kyber crystals and their lightsaber blade are white.

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6 Rare Lightsaber Colors Can No Longer Be Chosen

These Crystal Colors Happen Mostly By Chance

Lightsaber blade colors are chosen by Jedi and Sith in the Star Wars Legends continuity. Red is the traditional blade color of Sith weapons and, while there are Sith who use lightsabers with other blade colors, most construct red-bladed weapons. Since Adegan crystals are exclusively blue or green, the two are typically seen as the signature Jedi colors. For a Jedi to construct a weapon with a blade color other than blue or green, they must obtain another type of lightsaber crystal. Mace Windu, for example, uses a Hurrikaine crystal, giving his weapon its distinctive purple blade.

Rarer lightsaber blade colors are a bit more difficult to obtain in the modern Star Wars canon. Most Kyber crystals turn blue or green upon bonding with a potential Jedi, but there are some cases when the crystal turns purple, yellow, orange, or any other rare hue. There is only one known instance of a Kyber crystal turning black, with the Mandalorian Darksaber – the weapon of the first Mandalorian Jedi – being the sole example.

5 There Is Only One Kind Of Lightsaber Crystal

There aren’t crystal variants for lightsabers

There is a wide variety of lightsaber crystals in the Star Wars Legends continuity, with rarer crystals producing rarer blade colors. Some were named after famous Jedi and Sith and others even had unique properties. For instance, the Kaiburr crystal of Mimban could enhance one’s connection to the Force, as long as the crystal was in the Temple of Pomojema. The farther away from the temple, the weaker the Kaiburr crystal’s Force augmentation became, and its ability was lost when it was off Mimban, making it function like a conventional lightsaber crystal.

In the modern Star Wars canon, however, Kyber crystals are the only reliable type of lightsaber crystals. That said, Kyber crystals are found on a variety of worlds, with Ilum being the most famous, while other worlds, such as Lothal, also produce the coveted gems. Depending on their planet of origin, some Kyber crystals have alternate names, with the Kyber crystals found on Christophsis being referred to as “Christophsis crystals,” for instance.

4 Synthetic Lightsaber Crystals Are No Longer Useful

Kyber crystals have all but replaced them

Traditionally, Sith did not use natural lightsaber crystals in the Legends continuity. Instead, they synthesized their own crystals using the dark side and a special furnace. The creation of synth-crystals allowed a Sith to choose their color, with red almost always being their choice. Jedi knew how to create synth-crystals with the Force instead of the dark side, but they typically only made them in emergencies. After the Galactic Empire destroyed most natural sources of lightsaber crystals, synth-crystals became the standard for Jedi of the New Jedi Order, with Luke Skywalker himself creating a green synth-crystal for his weapon.

Synthetic Kyber crystals exist in the modern Star Wars canon, but they are not fit for use in lightsabers. Synthetic crystals are highly volatile, making them prone to destructive detonations. While the famous Sith Lords of the original six saga movies all use synthetic lightsaber crystals in the Legends continuity, their modern canon counterparts all use Kyber crystals that have been bled by the dark side.

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3 Lightsabers No Longer Require Special Modifications To Work Underwater

They can now naturally work in the water

In Star Wars Legends, lightsabers typically short out when submerged in water, making it one of their few weaknesses. Some Jedi added a modification to their lightsabers, however, that allowed them to function normally underwater. This was known as a bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse, and it was a feature of both Anakin Skywalker’s and Kit Fisto’s lightsabers. Having used his father’s lightsaber for years between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker constructed his green-bladed lightsaber with a bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse, and the modification became a standard feature among members of the New Jedi Order.

The need for a bifurcating cyclical-ignition pulse is seemingly nonexistent in the modern Star Wars canon. As shown in various properties, lightsabers appear to be waterproof without requiring any special modifications. The Mon Calamari arc in The Clone Wars, notably, shows the lightsabers of Kit Fisto, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano functioning normally underwater and there is no mention of lightsabers having a weakness to submersion in water in modern canon sources.

2 A Lightsaber Blade Color Can Change Without Being “Bled”

New crystal bonds can change the blades’ colors

Aside from Jaden Korr’s cleansing of a dark side-imbued synth-crystal in Riptide, a lightsaber crystal and blade cannot have its color changed. In the Star Wars Legends continuity, lightsaber colors are more of a reflection of a crystal’s planet of origin or the affiliation of a lightsaber user than their use of the Force or the dark side. In most cases, when a Jedi becomes a Sith, they simply remove their original crystal and replace it with a red synth-crystal created with the dark side to signify their new allegiance.

In the modern Star Wars canon, a Kyber crystal can change its color in more ways than being bled by a dark side user. As shown in the final story arc of The Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker modified Ahsoka Tano’s original lightsaber and shoto, causing both their Kyber crystals to bond with him, changing from green and yellow-green to blue. How this process works has yet to be specified, as Rey repaired and modified Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber following its bisection, yet the repaired weapon’s blade remained blue rather than turning yellow.

1 Lightsaber Wounds Are Now Far Less Deadly

More and more characters in canon survive these wounds

Another, perhaps unintentional, way that the modern Star Wars canon has changed lightsabers from their original Legends incarnation is how deadly they are. Lightsabers are exceptionally dangerous melee weapons that can easily kill and dismember beings. With only a few exceptions, stabs, slashes, and bisections from a lightsaber resulted in death in the Legends continuity.

A common criticism of the modern Star Wars canon is that lightsaber wounds are now inconsistent, if not trivial. While Qui-Gon Jinn died from lightsaber impalement, other characters like Cal Kestis, Sabine Wren, and Reva Sevander have each survived what perhaps should have been fatal lightsaber stab wounds. Darth Maul, infamously, even survived being bisected, making lightsabers seem far less effective in recent Star Wars properties.

Star Wars

Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.