Illegal Lightsaber Colors? Hogwash!

[MachineCult]

Doesn't Plo Koon use a yellow lightsabre?

His master Tyvokka used a yellow lightsaber but Plo Koon had a blue one.

[itchythesamurai]

Star Wars Galaxies had some pretty ugly brown lightsabers. I hope those aren't canon.

[Darth_Terros]

Star Wars Galaxies had some pretty ugly brown lightsabers. I hope those aren't canon.

 

If its in Galaxies then probably not i dont think anything in that game is canon.

[RC-1162]

maybe SS is thinking of a yellow tubelight with a cortosis weave idiot.

 

there are no such things as darksabers or lightsaber-blade-cutting yellowsabers, SS is an a$$hole, nuff said.

[Nedak]

Alright, first off I heard this from a friend and while I am extremely incredulous to the whole idea, I thought I might as well ask so that if he was wrong, I could tell him.

 

My friend stated that there were two colors Jedi were forbidden from using (apart from Red) Yellow, and Black. This was because apparantly the crystals used in these sabers allowed them to cut through the blades of other sabers.

 

I stated that it was utter nonsense simply on the premice that it would be impracticle and foolish to use such a weapon. This is because even if a yellow light saber could cut through the blades of other lightsabers sure you have an offensive advantage, but you could never block with it either!

 

So all I have to say is, please tell me hes wrong so I can get gloatting rights.

 

Ok so 1: your friend is wrong. 2: There are no such thing as black sabers. 3: There are no such thing as sabers that cut through other sabers.4: Red stands for passion which sith have no control of, which is why mostly sith have red as their lightsaber color. Jedi that master passion and have control of passion may use the red color.5: Yellow may be used by both Jedi and Sith. 6:Your friend should be SS sidekick. 7:Gloat away.

[Kurgan]

Alright, first off I heard this from a friend and while I am extremely incredulous to the whole idea, I thought I might as well ask so that if he was wrong, I could tell him.

 

My friend stated that there were two colors Jedi were forbidden from using (apart from Red) Yellow, and Black. This was because apparantly the crystals used in these sabers allowed them to cut through the blades of other sabers.

 

I stated that it was utter nonsense simply on the premice that it would be impracticle and foolish to use such a weapon. This is because even if a yellow light saber could cut through the blades of other lightsabers sure you have an offensive advantage, but you could never block with it either!

 

So all I have to say is, please tell me hes wrong so I can get gloatting rights.

 

As others have said, yep, he's wrong. He got that information straight from Mickey "SuperShadow" Suttle's site, which is a fan-made hoax, not in any way official. There is no "Penari Lightsaber" he just made that up. The idea of sabers cutting through other sabers is not part of official continuity, it's his own fan fiction.

 

Outside the movies all sorts of colors are used, and always have been. Lucas himself only used four colors in the movies, because he attached symbolism to them, though in his original versions it was even less than that. In the novelisation and early concept art everyone had white sabers only. Then they were changed to blue. Then Vader was given a red/orange one to make him stand out as the villian. So it was just red and blue. Then when Return of the Jedi was made, he finally decided that Green showed up better against the yellows and browns of Tatooine's desert color scheme and changed Luke's saber (which was originally blue, see the painted ROTJ poster and early trailers) from blue to green. Now you had three colors.

 

When he made TPM he decided that blue and green would be the only "good guy" colors and "bad guys" would exclusively use red. Then Samuel L. Jackson begged Lucas to let him have a purple blade in the second prequel. So Lucas caved and gave the character of Mace Windu a purple blade (the only one who had one). So now you have four colors. Then in ROTS he broke his own rules and gave bad guys blue and green blades (Anakin, General Grievous).

 

In the Expanded Universe of course (early 1990's to present) there are tons of colors, and nobody is restricted. The bad guys AND the good guys use whatever they want (even if in later years they tended to portray "Sith" as using almost exclusively red, once they are trained, though that wasn't always the case, famous "Dark Jedi" and "Sith" were portrayed as using purple for example, or other colors).

 

Jedi Knight (1997) popularized the use of various colors, and even at that time the Jedi and Dark Jedi were already using a variety of colors. Red, green, blue, purple, yellow, orange, and variations...

 

No colors have ever been "forbidden" that I've ever read about. The game Jedi Power Battles portrayed Jedi Master Adi Gallia using a red blade, Plo Koon using orange, Ki Adi Mundi using purple, and Mace Windu using blue. Of course all those color choices were overwritten by later sources (though a comic was written to explain why Lucas had told everyone that Mace Windu had a blue lightsaber... even though he never used it onscreen, in TPM, but then suddenly has a purple one in AOTC/ROTS). All those guys (except Mace) have either blue or green on screen. But that doesn't mean those colors don't exist. They exist in the EU. So they're not "impossible" or "forbidden" as far as official continuity is concerned. If there is some new liscensed book or comic out that claims they are, let your friend produce it.

 

There's never been an official "black" lightsaber in any game, EU work or movie. It's solely a fanon dream. SuperShadow didn't come up with it of course.

 

Many fans like to say "it's impossible" or "it's stupid." Of course the lightsaber is a bit of fantasy technology anyway, that is impossible to create (at least how it's portrayed in the movies) with our current understanding of science and technology, plus we don't really know how the lightsaber is supposed to work in the SW universe anyway (there are several competing, contradictory explanations in the EU... the movies never say one way or the other, they are just a device that works when needed, no explanations given).

 

It's sort of like blaster bolts/turbo lasers. In the original movies they were red for ground vehicles and infantry, but green for spacecraft and starships used by the Empire. Then in the prequels they mixed it around by giving red to just about everyone, except blue for the Republic's grand army (including their infantry), and purple for the Geonosis fighters, with the Jedi starfighters using green (though they used blue in the games). Ion cannons were always red in the movies (only seen once in ESB), but outside the movies they are typically portrayed as purple or blue. People have claimed to see orange and purple bolts in the original movies, but this is most likely a result of bad color timing (like the goofed up lightsabers) in the 2004 DVDs. Though the speeder bikes seem to fire orange/yellow bolts in ROTJ. No official explanation is ever given for why they are different colors, one can just presume it was done to evoke the "look" of Cold War and especially Vietnam era footage of "trace fire" being exchanged between forces, with various colors used.

 

So where you see black lightsabers is in fan fiction and fan made mods for games. And people like SuperShadow pretend that they are somehow official.

 

So yeah, anything you read on supershadow.com is not to be trusted unless you can verify it elsewhere (namely on the official StarWars.com, the highly respected fan site TheForce.net, or the movies themselves... and for spoilers there are far more respectable sites too).

[RC-1162]

^^

umm, what he said.

 

can anyone direct me to the place that SS says that these colors are forbidden? i'd just like to see what exactly he said

 

and laugh at him, of course.

[Kurgan]

^^

umm, what he said.

 

can anyone direct me to the place that SS says that these colors are forbidden? i'd just like to see what exactly he said

 

and laugh at him, of course.

 

Frankly I don't know (and I don't particularly care). As for black lightsabers, he's made that claim various times that they exist. He shuffles pages and pictures around so few links stay for long, but he's not been in the habit of deleting stuff (only editing it on rare occasions). So if you do a search you may find it eventually, or somebody may have archived the page.

 

I don't think the quotes were preserved on the wiki pages, but you never know...

[Nedak]

This is what I found about the colors.

 

Colors

In the original film trilogy, lightsaber blades were blue, green, and red.

 

The various Expanded Universe (EU) sources, action figures and the prequel films opened up the spectrum of blade colors to many variations of the aforementioned colors, as well as yellow, purple, orange, turquoise, pink, bronze, viridian, brown, silver (and possibly white), and gold, among others; the full variety and extent of focusing gems, and consequently, of colors, is unknown. According to the Expanded Universe, these gems merely determine the blade color. However, in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, different gems may alter the intensity or damage type of the blade (making the blade more accurate, or more effective against droids, for example), in addition to altering its color. Though it might be worthwhile to note that in these games, separate crystals are used to perform different functions, and only one type of crystal is used to change the blade's color.

 

Red and bronze colors are usually associated with the Sith. Purple, turquoise, yellow, blue, and green colors are associated with the Jedi. Orange, silver, pink, white, gold, and viridian typically do not represent either side. However, the Expanded Universe establishes no direct relationship between a lightsaber's blade's color and its user's affiliation. For example, the Dark Jedi Sariss used a blue lightsaber while her erstwhile ally Yun used a yellow blade. Both are from the computer game Jedi Knight. Leia Organa Solo (a Jedi) uses a red blade, dispelling any notions that the colours dictate alignment.

 

Usually, the reduced amount of colors present in later eras is attributed to the Empire, which destroyed the caves that housed the lightsaber crystals used to focus energy and create the blade's unique color. Synthetic crystals were created to replace the natural crystals found in caverns, typically having either a blue or green color. During the Old Republic era, Jedi kept strict traditions that kept most padawans from creating their lightsaber crystals synthetically, either within a furnace, taking a gem and restructuring it via the Force, or a combination of both.

 

The color of a lightsaber blade depends on the crystals used to focus it. Blue-bladed lightsabers are amost often ssociated with Jedi Guardians; green-bladed lightsabers are generally associated with Jedi Consulars; yellow-bladed lightsabers are usually associated with Jedi Sentinels; and red-bladed lightsabers are almost always associated with the Sith and dark Jedi. Note however, that the color of the lightsaber does not necessarily indicate the nature of the Jedi. Mace Windu's purple-colored lightsaber in the movie was colored differently because Samuel L. Jackson asked for it to be so. In the expanded universe, purple, being a mix of red and blue, shows the mastery of a lightsaber form known as Vaapad or form VII and the light side of the Force which allows Windu to use his fighting style and Force powers dangerously close to the Dark Side without being tainted. It is also said that a purple crystal is a choice only the most skilled masters in lightsaber combat can make, which might also explain his unusual blade color. Usually the lightsaber crystal will call out to its chosen master during the trials to become a Jedi when the padawan travels to Ilum or Adega. This in part is why some sources claim that Jedi traditionally use Adegan crystals.

 

Prior to the Battle of Ruusan, Jedi used lightsabers in a vast array of colors. Afterwards, Jedi relied on more common Ilum crystals such as blue and green. During his Knight Trials, Mace Windu braved the rock-encrusted world of Hurikane on the orders of his Jedi Master to obtain his lightsaber crystal. He encountered the planet's natives and, in a moment of panic, accidentally threw them over a cliff. Realizing his mistake, the young Padawan saved the natives. It was from this mission that Mace Windu was given the rare crystals as a gift. In the New Jedi Order era, Jedi had a wide array of colors such as orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and light blue.

 

The synthetic red crystals favored by the Sith can create a somewhat more powerful blade than blue or green crystals but are generally not as pure because of their artificial nature and can thus be undesirable as the focus of a lightsaber. The Sith apparently had a large supply of red crystals and also favored red as a symbol for passion. It was not uncommon for the Sith masters to supply their learners with the synthesized red crystals. However, Darth Vader, at the beginning of his Sith period, wielded a blue lightsaber, as shown in Revenge of the Sith. Likewise, Exar Kun used a blue double-bladed lightsaber in the Sith War.

 

Sith lightsaber crystals tend to be red because of Sith Alchemy. When making their own lightsaber crystals, the materials they use and the way they make them almost always turn out crimson. Though most Sith wield a red lightsaber, the color does not affect their decision to use the lightsaber. For example, if the blade turned yellow when first ignited, it would make no difference to the user.

 

Luke Skywalker constructed his lightsaber using instructions hidden in Obi-Wan Kenobi's abandoned hut on Tatooine. Instead of using natural crystals however, he synthetically created the focusing gems within a compact molecular furnace, also found inside Kenobi's home. While the intense heat of the kiln molded the base materials that Luke had placed inside, he channeled his Force energies through them, which in turn shaped and modified their internal properties. With this process, a completely functional lightsaber crystal can be created. Darth Maul was known to have created his double-bladed lightsaber in much the same way, but with one major difference. During the forming of the crystals within the furnace, the Sith focused all of his blinding rage, aggression, and malice into the gems. This leads to the belief that it may be possible to mold the alignment of the completed crystal itself through this process.

 

During the initial editing of Return of the Jedi, Luke's lightsaber was colored blue in a trailer. However against the desert blue sky environment, the decision was made to change it to green for a better visual effect, hence the birth of the green lightsaber. It has later been retconned to be the color of a "Jedi Consular", a Jedi who focuses on mastery of the Force rather than lightsaber combat

 

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_saber

[Exar Kun]

Don't hate me for this.

 

Here is my Black Lightsaber concept.

 

Technically, a Lightsaber is not a Laser. It is impossible for a Laser emission to stop midstream. A Lightsaber does not rely solely on Optics. The Lightsaber is a tool capable of projecting a highly focused arrangement of energy. The illuminating effect may be a result of the energy archetype chosen originally. Given these parameters, it should be possible to define a light or dark variance of energy when constructing a Lightsaber. Though, a Black Lightsaber may require more than just a Black Color Crystal. Perhaps an alternative Energy Cell. The Black saber is more exotic or rare in the sense that it does not emit Light. It bends Light similar to that of a geodesic. Because of this, Light cannot be translated within the core of the blade, creating the appearance of a Black environment in the center mass. Also, Light cannot escape because it becomes heavily distorted at the virtual surface. Overall though, it still operates as a Lightsaber in that it slices and dices. Energy is energy, Dark or Illuminous. The radiation or emission of Light is not a requirement of energy. Energy may be available in an infinite number of forms for all we know. Additionally, the laws of Physics as we know them may not apply to other regions of the Universe, such as the Star Wars Galaxy. Anyway, here is a quick concept I created. This is more or less what I would consider to be a Black Lightsaber. In this picture you are able to see the Light as it has become attracted and eventally distorted by the Lightsaber, providing a somewhat of a silhouette surrounding the darker energy that may be visible from certain angles. In this picture the Light is a shade of Blue.

 

Please feel free to share your thoughts with me on this.

 

[St. Jimmy]

That's pretty cool! *confused by all the big words* an interesting theory.