What determined the color of someone's light saber in the Star Wars movies?

Question

The Sith all had red; Ben Kenobi had blue; Yoda and Luke had green; and Mace Windu's was purple. Was there any particular rhyme or reason for this?

Answer 1

The color of a lightsaber blade depends on the crystals used to focus it. Blue-bladed lightsabers are amost often associated 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.

Answer 2

AwesomeBill is correct, though certain people hold that there are still quite a few inconsistancies within the six movies that make a large enough foundation to dispute the common theories.
Do a search for the theories - I'm sure they'll be available readily online.
And simply because he's curious about an intensely popular series of cross-generation movies doesn't make him a geek.
Star TREK might be a slightly different story, but as it stands...Give the guy some slack.

Answer 3

I guess its the different crystals that they use in the contruction of the light sabre to direct the force field into has different wavelengths, bringing out the different colours in the light sabre..I guess its also because of the side the people were in. The Sith used artificial crystals which had their wavelengths in the red zone, whereas the Jedi used natural crystals of varying wavelengths..

Answer 4

EXPLAINING eco-friendly, BLUE, AND YELLOW gentle SABERS: contained in the era of the Jedi Civil warfare, the colour of a Jedi's blade develop right into a common image for the direction the Jedi chosen interior the order, in spite of the actual undeniable reality that a Jedi develop into not required to apply a colour that corresponded with their type. A eco-friendly blade develop into the signal of the Jedi Consulars (those gifted at wrestle and wanting to initiate a wrestle). Blue develop into the colour linked with Jedi Guardians (those gifted in stress powers and keen for peace). Yellow develop into held for those between the Jedi Sentinels (those who were between a Consular and a mom or father at college). EXPLAINING pink gentle SABERS: historic Jedi even used to wield blades of pink, in spite of the actual undeniable reality that the Order in a lot of circumstances prevented any hues that could want to associate them with the Sith. pink develop into also prevented because it develop into the most effortless representation of blood and violence.

Answer 5

the jedi were divided into three groups... the sentinals, who used the force mostly for averting disasters they carried blue sabers...

im not sure what the names of the other two groups were, but they ran along the lines of the warriors, who used the force for defense with green sabers, and the judges... who used the force for its truth reading aspects, and they carried purple

Answer 6

Congratulations! You've just won this week's "Geek of the Week" award. For your efforts as a super nerd of the week, you'll receive a Star Trek pocket protector, a 3' Darth Vader Cutout, and 2 more years without sex or contact with human women!

Awesomebill came in at a VERY close second.

Answer 7

Primarily their alignment with the Force as well as the alignment of the embedded crystal to the Force.

Answer 8

Unless you are the BMF, you usually get what George Lucas gives to you.

Answer 9

And here I thought it was all due to special FX.