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Whether it was the moment that Luke ignited his new lightsaber for the first time against the skies of Tatooine, or when fans were introduced to Qui Gon Jinn and his emerald blade, green lightsabers have always had a major role on screen in the Star Wars universe.
Throughout the extensive lore of the Galaxy Far Far Away, (or a certain lack thereof when referring to the New Canon) one of the most interestingly mysterious pieces of Star Wars has been the lightsaber.
Given how lightsabers have gone from being weapons in a made-up universe to being pop culture icons that are recognized everywhere in the world, it comes as no surprise that Star Wars lore gives us a variety of reasons as to why a lightsaber is a certain color.
Given just how long it has been since we were first introduced to Star Wars, and the multitudes of media forms that the franchise now spans, it comes as no surprise that the histories surrounding lightsabers are spread impossibly thin.
But fear not, trust in the Force and how it has led you here to the information you seek.
When was the Green Lightsaber First Introduced?
At the beginning of Star Wars, when Obi-Wan first showed Like his father’s lightsaber in A New Hope, this elegant weapon from a more civilized age had a distinct blue tinge to its blade.
Soon after, we saw Obi-Wan’s lightsaber which was also in fact blue. The only other blade we had seen belonged to Vader with his crimson blade.
Keeping all of this in mind, it came as a shock when Luke Skywalker ignited his new lightsaber for the first time in Return of The Jedi, with the bright green blade contrasting against the blue Tatooine sky.
This marked the first-ever appearance of the green lightsaber in Star Wars. After this, when the Prequel trilogy was made, the green lightsaber became significantly more common.
It was established that, with the exception of Mace Windu’s Purple lightsaber, the weapons produced blades that were either green, blue, or red.
How are Green Lightsabers Made?
While there are certain colors of lightsabers that are made in certain ways or have certain steps that need to be followed for the blade to have a certain color, the Green lightsaber is not one of those.
The Green lightsaber is made the same way that any other colored lightsaber is made. With the exception of the Red lightsaber and the White lightsaber obviously, but that’s a topic for another time.
On a journey to the Crystal Caves of Ilum, a Padawan will go into the caves and look for their own Kyber Crystal. Once the crystal calls to the Padawan through the Force, and the Padawan takes it, the crystal is then bonded to the to-be Jedi through the Force.
Given that Kyber Crystals are sentient and are also connected to the Force, this bond is what usually defines what color the crystal will take on when the Padawan first ignites his or her lightsaber.
These colors were initially only limited to Green and Blue, with the introduction of Purple in Episode II: Attack Of The Clones and the final inclusion of Yellow in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
What do Green Lightsabers Mean?
After Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012 and the eventual retcon of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (aka Star Wars: Legends), the lore surrounding lightsabers was split into two major parts.
Canon
The New Canon, which consists of the Original Movies, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and any media produced under the Disney acquisition is relatively barren on the topic of what a certain lightsaber color represents about the Forec User wielding it.
Sure, it tells us that Red lightsabers usually mean that they are either being used by a Sith or that they were made by a Sith and have not been healed yet. It also tells us that White lightsabers are only made when the crystal of a Red lightsaber is healed and purified using the Force.
But when it comes to the other colors, we have no information other than the fact that if a lightsaber isn’t Red or isn’t White, it belongs to a Jedi and generally a user of the Light Side of the Force.
Legends
In the Expanded Universe lore, lightsabers had significantly more meaning (and quite a few more colors) than the New Canon. A lightsaber would bond with the Jedi that harvested the Kyber Crystal and would develop a color depending on what kind of Jedi the user actually was.
When a Jedi constructed a lightsaber and their lightsaber turned Green, it meant that they were more in tune with the Force than Jedi that had Blue lightsabers.
A Green lightsaber meant that this particular Jedi was significantly more inclined toward studying the intricacies of the Force and exploring its secrets. They would spend long hours meditating and exploring the Force. They were also firm believers in the notion that conflicts could be solved through mediation and negotiations instead of through physical battles and wars.
They seldom preferred to engage in lightsaber combat and carried the weapon mainly as a defensive precaution. But this was not to say that they were not skilled with the blade itself.
Some of the greatest swordfighters that the Jedi had possessed green blades.
Notable Green Lightsaber Users
All through Star Wars, green lightsabers have been seen at iconic moments and in the hands of iconic Jedi. Although, the matter of whether they fit the stereotype that Star Wars: Legends has set is one we definitely need to consider.
Luke Skywalker
Luke holds a special place in the hearts of every Star Wars fan out there, even if he isn’t their favorite Skywalker. (The only other acceptable answer here is Anakin. If you think Rey is a Skywalker, we need to talk).
Luke was the first-ever user of the green lightsaber that fans saw on the big screen. Before his iconic reveal in Episode VI: Return of The Jedi, lightsabers had only ever been blue or red.
And while in his own right, Luke was an exceptionally skilled user of the lightsaber (given he had the skill needed to hold his own against Darth Vader after having received barely any formal training), the lightsaber was never his preferred course of action.
This in itself does feed into what the Star Wars: Legends canon tells us about Green lightsaber users, given how knowledgeable Luke was about the Force.
Two very clear examples of this are seen when, in Episode VI, he refuses to fight Vader because he sees the good in his father, and when he uses the Force to project himself across the Galaxy to Ben Solo in Episode VIII so he can help the Resistance escape.
Master Yoda
Some would argue that this particular Jedi Master should be on top of this list given how iconic his face is. The internet still refers to Grogu as “Baby Yoda” after all. So why is he below Luke?
Entirely because Luke was the first Green lightsaber user ever. When talking in terms of lightsaber skill and knowledge of the Force, Master Yoda has no rival.
His skill with the lightsaber was truly unmatched and it was not without reason that he was considered the best swordsman that the Jedi Order had ever seen. And to put things into perspective, his knowledge of the Force made his skill with a lightsaber seem like a candle against the fires of Mustafar.
Yoda was perhaps the reason that the Legends canon started associating Green lightsabers with mastery of the Force over lightsaber skill.
Qui Gon Jinn
Qui Gon finds his way onto this list because of one particular reason. Qui Gon was the one to believe in the prophecy of the Chosen One and took his belief even further by actually bringing the Chosen One to the Jedi Council.
We know that Qui Gon was a student of Count Dooku, who was, in turn, a student of Yoda himself. This does, to some degree justify how his training may have been more oriented towards studying the Force and developing a passion for discovering its secrets.
Ahsoka Tano
Ahsoka may seem like the obvious exception on this list, and understandably so. Our entire exposure to Ahsoka throughout The Clone Wars was her being Anakin’s hot-headed apprentice who was extremely skilled and creative with her dual lightsabers.
But an overlooked fact is how connected Ahsoka is to the Living Force. In Season 3, when Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-Wan find themselves on Mortis, one of the major outcomes of this adventure is that the Daughter gives up her life to save Ahsoka’s.
Later, during the finale of the show and also after Ahsoka’s fight with Vader in the finale of Season 2 of Star Wars: Rebels, we see Morai circling in the scene.
Morai was considered to be a form that the Daughter took on after her death and the bird was frequently seen with Ahsoka, symbolizing her connection with the Force.
FAQs
Question: Are Green Lightsabers built differently from other Lightsabers?
Answer: No, a green lightsaber is built the same way that any other lightsaber is built. The Padawan takes their Kyber Crystal and places it inside the lightsaber’s crystal chamber before constructing the body and igniting the blade. The only difference that green lightsabers have from other lightsabers is their color.
Question: Can Lightsaber Crystals change colors?
Answer: Lightsaber crystals cannot change color after they have been placed inside the lightsaber itself. The lightsaber could potentially be made to change colors by adding a coloring crystal to the focusing assembly.
This would also explain how Anakin managed to change the color of Ahsoka’s lightsabers in Season 7 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Question: Was Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber always green?
Answer: Interestingly enough, no. Luke’s lightsaber was originally planned to be blue as well, much like the lightsaber he loses in Episode V. It was only during editing that George Lucas realized that the lightsaber was barely visible against the Tatooine sky. Given this, the color was changed to green.
Conclusion
To wrap up, whether it’s considered canon or not anymore, it’s safe to say that the information is given to us in Star Wars: Legends about what the Green lightsaber means is mostly if not entirely correct. With the occasional exception of course.
But does that hold true for the other colors of lightsabers as well? Check out these articles to find out.