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Lightsaber crystals
- "The crystal is, by itself, the power source of the weapon. Like the Force user, the crystal is attuned to the Force. Without that attunement, the crystal is just a rock. And while a non-Force user could probably ignite and wield a lightsaber, the crystal is needed to be properly attuned to the Force. But for a Jedi, the lightsaber becomes more: it is a manifestation of a Jedi's connection to the Force."
- ―Jaden Korr
Lightsaber crystals or jewels, also known as focusing crystals or kyber crystals, were a variety of crystals, gems, stones, or other objects that were used as the energy source of a lightsaber.
At the heart of every lightsaber was a single crystal that resonated to produce the efficient, powerful blade. While the most common crystals used in the process were from the Adega system, Ilum and Dantooine (in the so-called Crystal Cave), Jedi and Sith used a variety of crystals to produce various colors, effects and unique abilities. Some crystals could even enhance the Force skills of a particular user. Other gems, such as colored crystals or diamonds, were used exclusively for prismatic effects. However, not all lightsaber focusing crystals were actually 'crystals'. Plenty of Jedi or Sith used a different material or substance in place of a crystal, such as physical remains, shards of glass and even special micro machinery.
During the Dark Wars, many lightsabers were created using Kunda stones,[2] a natural geologic formation from the planet Kadril,[3] in place of crystals. These stones boasted numerous practical applications in medicine and communications; however, when added to other focusing crystals, they produced a broader beam.[2]
The Crystal Caves on Ilum
Preparation
- "The heart of the lightsaber, the crystal is."
- ―Grand Master Yoda
A Jedi constructs his lightsaber during the Galactic Civil War.
Before placing the crystal in the lightsaber, the Jedi or Sith had to imbue it with the Force. To do this, the Force-user was required to meditate on the crystal for many days. Luke Skywalker meditated on his crystal in Ben Kenobi's home with only R2-D2 to keep him company.[5]
While the Jedi mostly used natural crystals, the Sith usually used red-hued synthetic crystals. However, Luke Skywalker created his lightsaber using a synthetic crystal, because he had no access to natural crystals on Tatooine. Sith-made synthetic crystals created a slightly more powerful blade when energized by the dark side of the Force. Sith lightsaber blades could occasionally "break" the blade of a Jedi saber. Darth Sidious had Darth Maul use a special furnace to make his own crystals. Maul worked constantly for several days to make the four crystals needed for his double-bladed lightsaber. Their creation required intense concentration, as Darth Maul had to use the Force not only to make them the proper shape and to ensure that the crystals were free from impurities, but also to keep himself alive for the long time it took in the blistering heat of the furnace. Maul was particularly proud of this achievement and believed it to be an example of the Sith's superiority over the Jedi. However, Sidious did not make his subsequent apprentices—Tyranus and Vader—create their crystals in such a manner, instead supplying them himself.[6][7]
A human force-sensitive holds his lightsaber crystal after completing The Gathering.
Luke Skywalker, who had decided to create his lightsaber crystal instead of using a natural one, also used a special furnace he found in Obi-Wan Kenobi's home to prepare his crystal.[5] As exemplified in both Skywalker and Maul's cases, the creator of a synthetic crystal channeled his Force energies and personality into the crystal as it was formed, making it unique in every way, including the color.
The Jedi Order had an advanced technique that allowed, in case of need, the cleaning of synthetic crystals made by dark-side users from the hate of their former owners. In 41 ABY, Jaden Korr, who had lost his second lightsaber, used the Force to banish the dark side from the red crystal of a Dark Jedi he had killed. Through meditation, he was able to remove all traces of the dark side and imbue the crystal with the light side, turning the Dark Jedi's lightsaber into a yellow-bladed Jedi weapon.
Significance of colors
- "Blue is the color of the Jedi Guardian. This Jedi battles against the forces of evil and the dark side. They focus more on combat training and use of the lightsaber. Yellow is the color of the Jedi Sentinel. This Jedi ferrets out deceit and injustice, bringing it to light. They focus less on combat and more on other skills and abilities. Green is the color of the Jedi Consular. This Jedi seeks to bring balance to the universe. They mediate between other groups, using their powers to end conflict and preserve peace."
- ―Dorak
In 3956 BBY,[9] Dorak told Revan that Jedi Guardians used blue lightsaber crystals, Jedi Sentinels used yellow lightsaber crystals, and that Jedi Consulars used green lightsaber crystals.[8] Crix Sunburris, Sabla-Mandibu, and Morrit Ch'gally said the same in The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force.[10]
From the Seventh Battle of Ruusan until the Great Jedi Purge, the Jedi Order almost exclusively used Ilum crystals, which were always either blue or green, for lightsaber construction, resulting in almost all Jedi wielding either blue or green lightsabers.[11]
Starting with the reign of the Sith Emperor over the Sith Empire,[12] the Sith used synthetic lightsaber crystals, resulting in their lightsabers being red.[13]
Types of lightsaber crystals
- "One of the other crucial pieces is a focusing crystal. The most powerful and sought-after gems are rare Kaiburr crystals. However, though lightsabers are powerful weapons, their design is so flexible that practically any kind of crystal can be used."
- ―Luke Skywalker to his students on making a lightsaber
There were a number of different stones, minerals and crystals that could be used in the construction of a lightsaber. Some jewels created different colors and effects in the lightsabers in which they were placed. Often, the rarer the crystal, the more powerful its effects on a lightsaber.[8]
- Adegan crystal[13]
- Amplification
- Ankarres Sapphire[13]
- Allya's Redemption
- Allya's Exile
- Bnar's Sacrifice[16]
- Bane's Heart[16]
- Barab ingot[13]
- Blackwing Crystal
- Bondar[13]
- Bondara's Folly[16]
- Baas' Wisdom
- Compressed energy crystal[17][13]
- Corrosion
- Cunning of Tyranus
- Dahgee
- Damind
- Dantari crystal[13]
- Dawn of Dagobah
- Dragite
- Durindfire[13]
- Enhancement jewel
- Eralam
- Etaan crystal
- Firkrann[13]
- Focus
- Ghostfire crystal
- Heart of the Guardian[13]
- Hurrikaine[13]
- Impact
- Incineration
- Kaiburr[13]
- Kasha[13]
- Katak
- Kenobi's Legacy[16]
- Krayt dragon pearl[16][13]
- Kun's Blood
- Lambent[13]
- Lava crystal[16]
- Life Drain
- Lignan crystal
- Lorrdian
- Mantle of the Force[13]
- Meditation crystal
- Meetra Surik Crystal
- Nextor
- Opila[13]
- Permafrost crystal[16]
- Phond
- Qixoni
- Rainbow gem
- Rubat[13]
- Ruusan
- Sapith
- Sigil[13]
- Solari[13]
- Stygium
- Sunrider's Destiny[16]
- Synth-crystal[13]
- Upari
- Ulic's Redemption
- Ultima-pearl
- Velmorite
- Vexxtal
- Windu's Guile[16]
List of crystal colors
Lightsaber crystals could be compressed, resulting in a pulsating blade, or they could be unstable, resulting in a core which swirled and sparkled.[18]
Lightsaber crystals of different hues could also be used in the same lightsaber to make a new blade color; for example, Galen Marek used Rahm Kota's green crystal along with his father's deep blue crystal to create an aqua blue blade.[18]
Crystals could come in a variety of colors:
Blue crystals
- Aquamarine (Ben Skywalker's)[19]
- Azure (Nikkos Tyris')
- Almond-Blue[20]
- Blue (Anakin Skywalker's first[21] and second,[22] Obi-Wan Kenobi's first,[23] second,[21] and third,[22] Ki-Adi Mundi's,[24] Meetra Surik's second,[25] Leia Organa Solo's in 36 ABY[26])
- Blue Outline[20]
- Blue-Cyan-Indigo[20]
- Cyan with silver core (Mantle of the Force)
- Cloud Blue[20]
- Frost/Silver (Durindfire crystal)
- Farmhand Blue[20]
- Ice Blue[20]
- Ocean Blue[20]
- Pale/Light Blue (Tera Sinube's sabercane,[27] Leia Organa Solo's in 13 ABY)[28]
- Medium Blue with blue core[20]
- Medium Blue with black core[20]
- Medium Blue with cyan core[20]
- Yellow Blue[20]
Green crystals
- Emerald (Jacen Solo's before his defection to the Sith)[14]
- Sea Green[20]
- Green Empeth[20]
- Green (Ahsoka Tano's,[29] Luke Skywalker's,[30] Qui-Gon Jinn's,[23] Quinlan Vos's,[31] Leia Organa Solo's in 9 ABY)[32]
- Frost Green[20]
- Viridian[20]
- Green with black core (Dahgee crystal)
- Lime (Ahsoka Tano's shoto)[29]
- Desert Green[20]
- Green Core[20]
- Mint Green[20]
- Olive Green[20]
- Radiant Green[20]
- Gold-Green[20]
- Turquoise[20]
Purple crystals
- Violet (Jaina Solo's,[14] Anakin Solo's)[33]
- Violet with black core[20]
- Violet Corona[20]
- Black-Purple Striated[20]
- Magenta (Mara Jade's first)[34]
- Magenta Outline[20]
- Menacing Glare[20]
- Mauve[20]
- Purple (Mace Windu's,[21] Jaden Korr's first, J'Mikel's, An'ya Kuro's, Corran Horn's in dual-phase mode, Lomi Plo's shoto)
- Purple with black core[20]
- Pink-Purple[20]
- Pink Magenta[20]
- Purple Outline[20]
- Purple-Black[20]
- Purple with purple core[20]
- Rotworm Purple[20]
- Soft-Purple[20]
- White-Blue-Purple[20]
- White-Purple-Blue[20]
- Fuchsia[20]
Red crystals
- Red (Darth Vader's,[22] Adi Gallia's first ,[35] Leia Organa Solo's in 18 ABY)[36]
- Pink[20]
- Red with black core[20]
- Red with orange core[20]
- Red[20]
- Red-Blue[20]
- Fire Red[20]
- Fallen Red[20]
- Blood Red[20]
- Black-Red Striated[20]
- Pink-Red[20]
- Gray-Red[20]
- Furious Red-Yellow[20]
Yellow and orange crystals
- Yellow (Both of Bastila Shan's,[8] Darsha Assant's, Ganner Rhysode's, Hira's, Jaden Korr's third, Micah Giiett's, Mallie Marek's, Nat Skywalker's, Nelani Dinn's, Plo Koon's in 32 BBY, Tyvokka's, Jedi Temple Guards' pikes, Zayne Carrick's first, Callista Ming's)
- Yellow with black core[20]
- Yellow Core[20]
- Pink-Yellow[20]
- Pale Gold[20]
- Acid Yellow (Anja Gallandro's)
- Amber/Gold (Peerce's, Klin-Fa Gi's)
- Glaring Abyss[20]
- Gladiatorial Gold Outline[20]
- Gold Core[20]
- Predacious Gold-Green[20]
- Orange (Yaddle's, Tulak Hord's, Yoshi Raph-Elan's, Yoda's in 5 ABY)[37]
- Orange with black core[20]
- Orange with yellow core[20]
- Orange Gold[20]
- Orange Red[20]
- Orange-Yellow[20]
- Hot Orange[20]
- Fire Orange/Blood Orange/Bronze (Lowbacca's, Freedon Nadd's)
- Fire Orange/Blood Orange/Bronze with yellow core (Heart of the Guardian)
- White-Yellow-Orange[20]
- Frogdog Gold[20]
- Eternal Gold-Blue[20]
- Furious Red-Yellow[20]
- Commanding Burning Orange[20]
- Copper[20]
- Mystic Hazel[20]
- Tythian Flame[20]
- Smoky Amber[20]
Other crystals
- White (Imperial Knights')
- White with black core[20]
- White-Black[20]
- White-Grey[20]
- Black (the Darksaber)
- Brown (Bnar's Sacrifice)[16]
- Silver (Corran Horn's in regular mode, Keiran Halcyon's, Nejaa Halcyon's, Ry-Gaul's, Tionne Solusar's, Alema Rar's, Maulkiller's)
- Black-Silver[20]
Behind the scenes
The earliest concept of the Kyber crystal, the "Kiber Crystal", was conceived as a plot device in the second draft of the original Star Wars movie, similar to the Ring of Power in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.[38] In one of George Lucas' initial notes for Empire Strikes Back is written "Kiber crystal in sword?".[39] Crystals first appeared in actual Star Wars material simply as an embedded decoration on the lightsaber hilt in the A New Hope novelization.[40] Aside from this single instance, there are no crystals mentioned in the original trilogy or its novelizations.[40][41][42]
The first account of crystals in general being an internal component of lightsabers was given in The Star Wars Sourcebook, published by West End Games in 1987. First identified as "jewels," one to three of these multifaceted stones determine the blade's length, with natural jewels producing the best sabers, although synthetic ones can be forged by a Jedi using "a small furnace and a few basic elements."
The endnotes to the 1991 Dark Empire series by Tom Veitch reiterate the concept of lightsaber jewels from the Sourcebook, and in later editions expand on and revise it, with the introduction of the earliest known examples for lightsaber construction being natural "Ilum crystals," mostly found in the Adega system.[43] First discovered by ancient Jedi, Ilum crystals were used in combination with more common jewelled stones to focus the spontaneous energy bursts they emit, and were commonly known as "Adegan crystals," the namesake of their primary source. A planet named Ilum was introduced in the 2001 novel Jedi Quest: Path to Truth by Jude Watson, the namesake of Ilum crystals with which it was abundant, and supplanted the Adega system as their primary source in continuity.
In Star Wars Galaxies, players must "tune" lightsaber crystals to themselves before they may use them in a lightsaber. Once tuned, the crystal can only be used by that player, and only in lightsabers created by that player.[16] In Star Wars: The Old Republic, players are able to gain lightsaber crystals to use with their lightsabers.[20]
"A Test of Strength," the seventh episode from the fifth season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, first completely identified "kyber" crystals as a component of lightsaber construction.[44] Soon after, an article published on the StarWars.com Encyclopedia established that "kyber crystals" and "lightsaber crystals" were exchangeable terms.[45] This was later made even more evident with the Star Wars: Force and Destiny Core Rulebook, which identified several variety of crystals, such as ("Ilum crystal" or "Krayt dragon pearl") under the umbrella of "kyber crystals".[46]
Appearances
Non-canon appearances
- Star Wars: Yoda Stories
- "Child of Light" (Mentioned only) (Unlicensed)
- "Soulsaber" (Unlicensed)
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ Riptide
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
- ↑ "Planet of Kadril"
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Gathering"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire novel
- ↑ Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- ↑ The New Essential Chronology says that the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic happened in 3956 BBY.
- ↑ The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force
- ↑ Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
- ↑ Star Wars: The Old Republic
- ↑ 13.00 13.01 13.02 13.03 13.04 13.05 13.06 13.07 13.08 13.09 13.10 13.11 13.12 13.13 13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 13.21 13.22 13.23 13.24 13.25 Jedi Academy Training Manual
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Tales of the Jedi Companion
- ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
- ↑ Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- ↑ Legacy of the Force: Betrayal
- ↑ 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 20.11 20.12 20.13 20.14 20.15 20.16 20.17 20.18 20.19 20.20 20.21 20.22 20.23 20.24 20.25 20.26 20.27 20.28 20.29 20.30 20.31 20.32 20.33 20.34 20.35 20.36 20.37 20.38 20.39 20.40 20.41 20.42 20.43 20.44 20.45 20.46 20.47 20.48 20.49 20.50 20.51 20.52 20.53 20.54 20.55 20.56 20.57 20.58 20.59 20.60 20.61 20.62 20.63 20.64 20.65 20.66 20.67 20.68 20.69 20.70 20.71 20.72 20.73 20.74 20.75 20.76 20.77 20.78 Star Wars: The Old Republic
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- ↑ The Old Republic: Revan
- ↑ Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Lightsaber Lost"
- ↑ Planet of Twilight
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- ↑ Star Wars (1998) 19
- ↑ Dark Force Rising
- ↑ The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide I: Onslaught
- ↑ Mara Jade – By the Emperor's Hand 0
- ↑
"Yaddle's Tale: The One Below" — Star Wars Tales 5
- ↑ Ambush at Corellia
- ↑ Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
- ↑ The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film
- ↑ The Making of The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
- ↑ Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization
- ↑ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
- ↑ Dark Empire endnotes (Such an Old Lightsword is Not a Worthy Weapon For You!) (1995 second edition)
- ↑
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A Test of Strength"
- ↑ lightsaber crystals in the Encyclopedia (original site is defunct)
- ↑ Star Wars: Force and Destiny Core Rulebook
