Home Entertainment There’s a bloody reason why Star Wars Sith lightsabers are always red

There’s a bloody reason why Star Wars Sith lightsabers are always red

2 min read
38

Star Wars sabers (1)

Bad guys always dress in black, but in Star Wars? They normally also have a delightful red highlight to their wardrobe, courtesy of their iconic crimson lightsabers. While just about any Force-user has made use of a lightsaber spectrum of colours that range from white to black and everything in between them, red has been noticeably off-limits to the Jedi.

Basically, anyone wielding a red lightsaber is a proper bastard. But why? Why only Dark Side users such as the Sith?

Well that’s one question that has finally been answered, thanks to author EK Johnston’s new “Ahsoka” novel which focuses on the best character to ever come out of the Clone Wars. If you know your Star Wars, you know that Jedi typically use Kyber crystals to help focus the energy within their lightsabers. In the new continuity established since Disney took over, these crystals were rare and would only reveal themselves to Force wielders if they were worthy of them.

Which meant that the crystals would never reveal themselves to Dark Side users. According to the novel via Screen Rant, this resulted in the Sith stealing the Kyber crystals from Jedi, usually via bloody circumstances. When a Dark Sider placed the crystal within their own saber hilt and ignited it for the first time, the use of Dark Force energy would then result in making the crystal “bleed” and only being capable of creating a red blade.

Star Wars sabers (1)

This doesn’t just apply to the Sith however. With the planet of Ilum completely strip-mined of all Kyber crystals, Ahsoka acquires new gems for her own pair of lightsabers by stripping them from the weapon of the Inquisitor known as the Sixth Brother in a deadly duel that leaves him dead. The re-activation of these crystals in her new lightsabers results in the blades shimmering with a white light, which were seen in the second season of Star Wars Rebels. Neat.

And now you know! The Kyber crystals can be found on a handful of planets, including the Jedi mecca of Jeddha which will be in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The crystals are apparently also used in the construction of the Death Star super-laser, thus bringing the occupation of that planet full circle once Rogue One kicks off.

Last Updated: October 18, 2016

38 Comments

  1. So basically, “mood sabers”?

    Reply

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    October 18, 2016 at 10:41

    “the best character to ever come out of *Star Wars”

    There, I fixed it for you.

    Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      October 18, 2016 at 10:41

      She’s definitely one of the top.

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        October 18, 2016 at 10:42

        “She’s definitely the top”

        There, I fixed it for you too.

        Reply

        • Dungeon of JJ

          October 18, 2016 at 10:42

          XD

          Reply

        • DrKiller

          October 18, 2016 at 11:37

          “She’s definitely on top”

          There, I fixed it for you 😛

          Reply

          • Ottokie

            October 18, 2016 at 11:38

            Some would say that she is “under” 😛

          • DrKiller

            October 18, 2016 at 11:45

            Probably depends on who won the rock paper scissors 😉

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            October 18, 2016 at 12:23

            No, you broke it. 😛

            She’s not cremora!

  3. Dutch Matrix

    October 18, 2016 at 10:42

    But how does the crystals know that a person is force strong? Do they detect the midichlorians in their blood? Better question: How does the crystals know the guy is a good guy? Do they also detect the warm and fuzzies flowing off them?

    Reply

    • BakedBagel

      October 18, 2016 at 10:55

      Well their reasoning for the Red would be that the crystal is bleeding, this process would be done by the higher ups within the jedi? I think??? I have 0 clue m8 lol 😛

      Reply

  4. Dungeon of JJ

    October 18, 2016 at 10:42

    Bad guys often actually wear a black/red combo.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      October 18, 2016 at 10:55

      • Dutch Matrix

        October 18, 2016 at 10:57

        Nobody tells Chuck Norris what to wear.

        Reply

      • Original Heretic

        October 18, 2016 at 10:59

        No beard Norris? Nein!!!

        Reply

        • Dutch Matrix

          October 18, 2016 at 11:02

          Nobody tells Chuck Norris when to shave or when not to shave…

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            October 18, 2016 at 11:04

            I also used to think he was the most hardcore manly man ever.
            And then I found out he dyes his beard.

            He lost his man points, he lost all his man points.

          • Dutch Matrix

            October 18, 2016 at 11:05

            Nobody tells Chuck Norris he can or cannot dye his beard.

          • Dane

            October 18, 2016 at 12:12

            He doesn’t shave. He sheds.

      • Dungeon of JJ

        October 18, 2016 at 11:56

        Old movie posters were the best.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          October 18, 2016 at 12:04

          they were!

          Reply

  5. Dutch Matrix

    October 18, 2016 at 11:00

    Look. Who cares? If a Sith pops his lightsaber in front of me, I’ll just be all “Fuck Me!” or whatever the Star Wars equivalent of that is.

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

      October 18, 2016 at 11:10

      Sitherin Succotash!

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        October 18, 2016 at 11:11

        From the Daffy Duck of the Star Wars universe.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0

          October 18, 2016 at 11:11

          LOL!

          Reply

    • Shadowblade Tokashi

      October 18, 2016 at 11:51

      If a Sith Lord pops his lightsaber in front of me, trust me… HE WILL SMELL the force ….

      Reply

  6. Johann

    October 18, 2016 at 11:06

    Hmmm, the “before Disney” explanation was that they used synthetic crystals.

    “A Synthetic lightsaber crystal, commonly referred to as a Synth-crystal, was a type of lightsaber crystal that was artificially created, rather than naturally formed by geological processes. Due to the methods used in their creation, they were often formed with a red coloration, though they could be made with any color through special manipulations of either the creation process or the crystal itself, often through the Force, such as the green synth-crystal that powered Luke Skywalker’s second lightsaber.”

    Reply

  7. Admiral Chief

    October 18, 2016 at 11:30

    Loved the crystal colours in KotOR 2! Viridian FTW

    Reply

  8. Dungeon of JJ

    October 18, 2016 at 11:37

    I see his schwartz is just as big as mine

    Reply

  9. Peet Luckhoff

    October 18, 2016 at 12:03

    Doesn’t compute. Why does Count Dooku then have red blade then. He was a Jedi, so he would have had a normal blue lightsaber, not a red one.

    Reply

    • Dungeon of JJ

      October 18, 2016 at 12:06

      Yea, good point.
      And Anakin, probably.

      Reply

  10. konfab

    October 18, 2016 at 13:10

    I preferred KOTOR’s explanation: the red colour comes from the blood of the baby animal you crush in it’s egg to get the crystal.

    Suffice to say, I broke all the eggs >:3

    Reply

  11. HvR

    October 18, 2016 at 14:40

    So Disney says lightsabers are the same the Chinese made mood rings in the R5 store……
    So if Vader’s lightsaber turns Burgundy it means he is feeling frisky and about to make you his force bitch?

    I will rather substitute KOTOR reality thank you very much.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Disney has revealed a “real” lightsaber – here’s how it works

For Star Wars Day, Disney blew a lot of geek minds when it debuted an incredible new light…