Lightsabers were present in the earliest drafts as mundane plasma weapons that were used alongside laser guns. The introduction of
the Force in a later revision made the Jedi and the Sith supernaturally skilled; initially, they were only portrayed as swordsmen. The lightsaber became the Force-user's tool, described in
A New Hope by Obi-Wan Kenobi as "not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age". The source of a lightsaber's power is a
kyber crystal. These crystals are also the power source of the
Death Star's superlaser. In films such as
Revenge of the Sith and
The Last Jedi, melee weapons such as the
electrostaff and plasma-lined blades deflect lightsabers.
Types Lightsabers are depicted as hand-built as part of a Jedi's or Sith's training regimen. Each lightsaber is unique, though some may bear resemblance to others, especially if there is a connection between the builders. The hilt of most lightsabers is straight and predominantly cylindrical, though there are other lightsaber hilt types. The first film appearance of a dual-bladed lightsaber (first depicted in the comic series
Tales of the Jedi) was in
The Phantom Menace, wielded by
Darth Maul; it consists of two regular lightsabers joined at their butt ends each producing a blade independently.
Count Dooku, beginning with the character's first appearance in
Attack of the Clones, is shown to have a lightsaber with a curved hilt. The video game
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed introduced two other variants: a lightsaber pike (a lightsaber with a shorter blade but a long handle, resembling a spear) and a
Tonfa-style lightsaber with right-angle hilt. Additionally, in several spin-off series such as
The Clone Wars and
Rebels, special variants of the lightsaber have been depicted - such as the lightsaber-blaster wielded by
Ezra Bridger. The
Star Wars expanded universe adds several lightsaber types, including short and dual-phase (adjustable length) weapons. In
Star Wars Rebels, Ezra Bridger's original lightsaber is a hybrid that features a fully functional
blaster pistol built into the handle.
Kylo Ren, introduced in
The Force Awakens, uses a lightsaber that features two
crosshilt blades, giving it the appearance of a
greatsword. His blade also has an unstable, fiery appearance, explained in canon reference books as stemming from a cracked kyber crystal. The Inquisitors of the
Galactic Empire are depicted as wielding a unique variation of a double-bladed saber, mounted on a rotating ring enabling the blades 360 degrees of rotation and short-term flight capability. More obscure lightsaber variations, such as the "lightwhip", an elongated flexible blade used in a manner akin to a
whip, the "lightclub", an enlarged standard lightsaber, and the "shoto", a dramatically smaller variation often paired with a standard sized saber have also made appearances. A lightsaber-
sniper rifle hybrid known as the Farkiller was made over a millennium prior to the Imperial Era, and was used in an attempt to assassinate
Palpatine.
Colors Lightsabers in the first two released films,
A New Hope and
The Empire Strikes Back, had blades that were either blue (for the Jedi) or red (for the Sith).
Luke Skywalker's new lightsaber in
Return of the Jedi was colored blue during the initial editing of the film, and appears so in both an early movie trailer and the official theatrical posters; it was later changed to green in the film's final edit after initial viewings and screen tests by the filmmakers, who felt that it would better stand out against the blue sky of
Tatooine in outdoor scenes, and this color change is also reflected in the film's re-release posters.
Mace Windu's purple-bladed lightsaber, as first seen in
Attack of the Clones, was requested by the actor
Samuel L. Jackson, who believed the color, which is his personal favorite, would make his character be easily recognized among other Jedi. Jackson is known to frequently request that the characters he plays use an item that is purple in color.
The Clone Wars showed the guardians of the Jedi Temple wielding yellow-bladed lightsabers, and, at the end of
The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is shown to have built a yellow-bladed lightsaber using part of her staff as the hilt. As depicted in
The Clone Wars and
Rebels, the builder of a lightsaber finds a kyber crystal and meditates with it until the crystal acquires a color. The color of this crystal becomes the blade's color when installed into a lightsaber hilt. In the book
Star Wars: Ahsoka and the comic series
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, it is shown that dark side users remove the crystal from a defeated Jedi's lightsaber and concentrate Force energy on it to break its connection to the light side, a process known as "bleeding" to create a red crystal. The process can also be reversed, as shown in
Ahsoka, when the titular character does so to a pair of crystals taken from an Inquisitor. She uses them in the pair of white-bladed lightsabers she builds at the end of the novel. Other colors have appeared in various
expanded media projects, including many video games where the player can select their character's lightsaber color.
Darksaber The Darksaber is a unique lightsaber that has a distinct black blade with a white halo, introduced in
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and subsequently appearing in
Star Wars Rebels, where it is described as an ancient lightsaber created by Tarre Vizla, the first
Mandalorian to become a Jedi, and later serves as a symbol of Mandalorian authority in the hands of
Bo-Katan Kryze. According to Mandalorian tradition, the weapon cannot simply be given; it must be won from a defeated combatant. It subsequently appears briefly in the hands of
Moff Gideon in the
season one finale of
The Mandalorian, to whom Kryze had previously surrendered the weapon. By the end of
the second season's finale, it belongs to series protagonist
Din Djarin, who has bested Gideon for it. In
the second episode of the
third season of the show, the weapon (nominally) returns to Kryze's ownership, after she defeats a cyborg creature that captures Djarin (it remains in Din Djarin's possession, however), and she officially reclaims the blade in the season's
sixth episode. It is destroyed by Gideon in the
third season finale.
Choreography The technical lightsaber choreography for the original
Star Wars trilogy was developed by
Hollywood sword-master
Bob Anderson. Anderson personally trained
Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and, in
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi, performed all the stunts as
Darth Vader during the lightsaber duels wearing Vader's costume. Anderson's role in the trilogy was highlighted in the film
Reclaiming the Blade where he shared his experiences as a fencer developing the lightsaber techniques for the three original movies. The lightsaber duels in the
Star Wars prequel trilogy were specifically choreographed by stunt-coordinator
Nick Gillard to be miniature "stories". For these films, Gillard was the primary sword instructor for
Liam Neeson (
Qui-Gon Jinn),
Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi),
Ray Park (Darth Maul) and
Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader) among other actors. His goal in choreographing the action for
The Phantom Menace was to create stunts that flow from the story; "You can't just think, 'I'm a
stunt coordinator, I'm going to make a big stunt happen'," Gillard said. "It's all about making it tie in nicely with the film so that you don't notice the stunts." In writing the prequel trilogy, George Lucas said he wanted the lightsaber combat to be "reminiscent of what had been done in the previous films but also something that was more energized. We'd seen old men, young boys, and characters who were half-droid, but we'd never seen a Jedi in his prime. I wanted to do that with a fight that was faster and more dynamic—and we were able to pull that off." According to Gillard, various lightsaber combat styles, or forms, were devised for the prequels and intended to further
characterize their practitioners. For
The Phantom Menace, Gillard set out certain styles and faults for the saber-wielding characters. He added that the Jedi's use of such "a short-range weapon" meant "they would have to be very good at it"; combining a variety of disciplines from various sword fighting styles to martial arts "with a touch of tennis and tree chopping", he created the style seen in the
Episode I lightsaber battles. For
The Force Awakens, director
J. J. Abrams decided to approach the choreography similarly to how it was done in the original trilogy. Abrams stated that the prequel trilogy choreography was "increasingly spectacular and stylized, almost like dance choreography", but that was not what they really wanted to go for in the new films. He told
Empire magazine, "When you look at
Star Wars and
Empire, they are very different lightsaber battles, but for me they felt more powerful because they were not quite as slick. I was hoping to go for something much more primitive, aggressive and rougher, a throwback to the kind of heart-stopping lightsaber fights I remembered being so enthralled by as a kid." == Cultural impact ==