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Author Topic: Lightsaber Colours
Haloed Silhouette
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Lightsabers are cool devices, and though they are much more swordlike than gunlike, they have nice powers beyond that.

My question is - since lightsabers come in various colours - does that have any meaning? Count Dooku and Palpie (sp?) have red; Obi-Wan and Anakin have blue and green (which has which, though, I don't remember); Yoda has GREEN; Windu has violet.

What does this mean? Is red a colour of Separatisrs or Sith lords? Green = good?

I haven't seen the original trilogy for a while, though, so I forgot much there.

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El JT de Spang
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The crystals determine the colors, and as far as I know, it's personal preference.
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Haloed Silhouette
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Do they make any difference? Or did Lucas put it there for decorative eye-catch?
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Xavier
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In the Extended Universe, I think Leia gets a red one, but that's only from me seeing an action figure of her [Wink] . I think the original plan was to have Mace with a red one.

Luke also had green (which he made himself), and so did Qui-Gon.

Anakin and Obi-Won both ended up with blue ones. Anakin's blue one ended up with Luke for ANH and ESB.

Mace obviously had purple.

Ballista from Knights of the Old Republic had a yellow one.

I don't think red necessarily means the dude is a sith. I think the traditions are pretty strong in that direction though.

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El JT de Spang
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They function the same.

There are some in the books that have adjustable lengths and whatnot, but the color doesn't affect that.

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James Tiberius Kirk
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IIRC, Samuel L. Jackson specifically requested violet.

--j_k

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Haloed Silhouette
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quote:
Anakin and Obi-Won both ended up with blue ones.
Why, because they ruined half their lightsabers?

And how did Anakin recover his arm at the end of Episode II, after Dookey chopped it off?

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Xavier
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He got that God awful gold robot hand. He even held Padme's hand with it when they got married.
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El JT de Spang
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He didn't, he got a prosthetic one. Remember in Ep. III he always had on a glove on his right hand.
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El JT de Spang
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Jinx!
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Jim-Me
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Vader's is red, too, as were Darth Maul's double ended sabers...
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katharina
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Wait...didn't Luke have a blue one? I just watched Empire Strikes Back last night (first time in fifteen years), and I remember a blue one and a red one battling.
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El JT de Spang
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I think Luke had a blue, and then a green after Vader chopped his arm off.
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Jim-Me
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Kat:

quote:
Originally posted by Xavier:
Anakin and Obi-Wan both ended up with blue ones. Anakin's blue one ended up with Luke for ANH and ESB.

here's one for you... do the Sith suck so bad that Anakin can't jump over Obi-wan without losing every limb he's got, but Obi-wan can leap over Darth Maul, from a hanging position, lower down, and no lightsaber in hand and Maul just stands there? After, up to that point, kicking two Jedi's butts?


*sigh* Ray Park should have been allowed free rein to write all the fights...

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Jon Boy
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George Lucas said in an interview somewhere that the bad guys have red and the good guys have blue and green (Mace Windu excepted). I have no idea why there would need to be such a system.

"You can tell I'm a bad guy 'cause I've got a red saber!"

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katharina
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Because Lucas was writing a Western, and you can tell the bad guys by their black hats.
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TMedina
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Ya know, it's a Lucas thing.

-Trevor

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Jon Boy
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Katie: Ah, of course!

Black and red = evil
Blue and green and tan = good

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Glenn Arnold
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"I think Luke had a blue, and then a green after Vader chopped his arm off."

Luke's blue one should have been Anakin's blue one, which answers the question above.

I think the place to see if red = sith would be in the battle scene in Attack of the clones, where there are dozens of Jedi. There shouldn't be any sith in there, so if there are red lightsabers, then they don't have to be Sith.

I do think there is a corollation though. And although Windu's was purple, it works out nicely that he actually uses the dark side, but isn't a sith. Purple is sort of red and blue mixed.

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King's Man
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Has anyone ever thought about how stupid lightsabers really are. Think about it, its a laser beam that only comes to a certain point and can clash against another one?! Now, a plasma sword with an electro-magnetic bottle around the blade could work. The magnet only allows the plasma to come so far and would still allow it to pass through just about everything. Plasma blades could clash because of the repulsion of magnetic fields. In fact, thats just about the only thing that would stop the blade. Think how dangerous such a weapon could be. Oh well, it will probably never happen.
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TMedina
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You might argue the colors represent emotional states.

For example, strong negative emotions, Red.

A lightsaber is supposed to be in tune with the Jedi that makes it.

-Trevor

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El JT de Spang
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I would like to know more about Mace's dark/light side usage, where was that written about?
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TMedina
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Don't apply logic to Star Wars - it'll make your head hurt.

Besides, I want a chainsword.

-Trevor

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El JT de Spang
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The laser could be figure 8.

Though I can't explain the clashing against each other. Or how you focus a laser into a figure 8.

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Dagonee
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KoM, that's pretty much how it's described as working in one of the RPG sourcebooks.
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King's Man
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And has anyone ever realized that if its a laser beam, all you need is a mirror to stop it. [Smile]
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King's Man
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What, that it's a plasma sword?
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Dagonee
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Some magnetic field refracts it back to the hilt - it's moving up on the outer portion and in on the inner portion. The power consumption is relatively small unless it's cutting something because the returning beam's energy is used.

I ain't saying it makes sense. Just that that's how it's been explained.

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Jim-Me
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I saw a book that said it generated a field that allowed matter in, but not out... and that the heat and light were the result of all that matter being dissembled within the field... also that the fields repelled each other, hence the sword-like usage...

but with that in mind, it shouldn't be *deflecting* blasters, but absorbing them.

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Haloed Silhouette
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quote:
KoM
It's not KoM.

What about a Freudian explanation? That it represents secret desires? Red - agression; blue/green - sex addiction.

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Jon Boy
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No, I think it's more like this:

red = sexual aggression
blue/green = sexual repression

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Shmuel
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How Lightsabers Work

(Edited to add: and now I see they've added a recurring disclaimer. Hmmph. I liked it better deadpan...)

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Haloed Silhouette
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Why not have red, blue and green as a threesome?
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Jon Boy
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Because that would be giving in to the id, which leads to the dark side.
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Magson
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In the "Knights of the Old Republic" video game they explained the colors as as:

Blue = Jedi Guardian -- the "warrior order" portion of the Jedi, who were more fighters than anything
Green = Jedi Consular -- the "mystical order" who were more concerned with 'pure Force use' -- the wizards, if you will
Yellow = Jedi, um, the 3rd class that nobody played, supposed to be kind of a mixture that just didn't end up working all that well
Red = Sith

Thing was, you could stil mix your colors, and nobody ever said anything -- even if you immediately put a red crystal in your 1st saber. And you could find purple crystals and at the end game there was an orange crystal and a whitish-blue crystal too that gave the blades even more power.

So that game probably isn't the best thing to go on. . . .

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Jim-Me
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quote:
Originally posted by Haloed Silhouette:
Why not have red, blue and green as a threesome?

Because then you'd have a computer monitor... and those things are just two darned heavy to use as a weapon...
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Glenn Arnold
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quote:
Important Safety Information
A lightsaber is not a toy! Keep it out of reach of children at all times. Lightsaber locks are required in most states.

There are two ends to any lightsaber -- one end has the belt ring, while the other end houses the blade arc tip and blade emitter. NEVER point the blade emitter of a lightsaber toward your own body. NEVER look down the "barrel" of a lightsaber, even if you are "sure" it is in safe mode. If you accidentally activate the lightsaber, serious injury could result.

[Big Grin]
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Tante Shvester
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quote:
What about a Freudian explanation? That it represents secret desires?
Freud sucks eggs! [Taunt]

My lightsaber is maize-colored. I was trying to decide between that and avocado. You see, maize would coordinate with my kitchen decor, and avocado would make a nice contrast.

I use my lightsaber often in the kitchen. Nothing boils water faster. And it is great for broiling meats. I have a great recipe for roasted vegetables -- just toss your eggplants, peppers, portabella mushrooms in the air and saber them as they fall.

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Boris
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I remember reading somewhere (Wikipedia I think) That the lightsaber's color, while usually a matter of preference, was different for each type of Jedi (Guardian, consular, etc). Linky
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Tante Shvester
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quote:
the lightsaber's color, while usually a matter of preference, was different for each type of Jedi (Guardian, consular, etc).
That's just a myth.
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