Lightsaber/Legends


 * "This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age."
 * &mdash; Obi-Wan Kenobi



The lightsaber, or less formally called the laser sword, was the distinctive weapon of the Jedi for millennia. (The Jedi Order itself, however, was founded tens of thousands of years earlier.) To carry a lightsaber was an example of incredible skill and confidence, dexterity and attunement to the Force. Since its plasma blade was essentially weightless, it was very difficult to handle safely. For the same reason, it was a very quick weapon, and superhuman reaction times were necessary to capitalize fully on this advantage. Jedi traditionally constructed their own lightsaber as part of their training.

The color of a lightsaber's blade was dependent upon the crystals used to focus it. The crystals used by the Jedi Order for most of its history were found on Ilum, and produced only green and blue lightsaber blades. Since many natural crystal sources were controlled by the Jedi, the Sith forged synthetic crystals that generated a bright red color. Other colors were known, however. For instance, Mace Windu used a purple lightsaber. Some thought that the touch of red in his lightsaber blade symbolized the way his particular style of lightsaber combat bordered perilously close to Dark Side in its internal teachings.

A Galaxy of Lightsabers
Using "frozen blaster" technology, a blade of pure energy is created. The beam can cut through almost anything solid, except another lightsaber blade, the material cortosis, force fields, an alloy used in Magna Guards' electrostaves called phrik, superconductors, and Yuuzhan Vong amphistaffs, serpent-like creatures used as melee weapons that, when snapped rigid, generate their own force fields. Also, if the blade of a lightsaber was to come in contact with water, it would shortout until repaired. Mandalorian iron is also known to resist the effects of a lightsaber.

The spectrum of blade colors originally included blue, green and red, as well as purple, orange, silver, turquoise, pink, bronze, yellow and possibly white and gold, among others. The reason for less of a variety of colors for lightsaber blades is revealed throughout several forms of media. The Empire destroyed the caves that housed the lightsaber crystals Jedi used to focus energy and create their blade's unique color. Synthetic crystals were created to replace the natural crystals found in caverns, typically having either a blue or green color. Obi-Wan Kenobi primarily wielded a blue-bladed lightsaber, while Mace Windu famously uses a purple-bladed lightsaber. One lightsaber in particular, created by the Jedi student Gantoris was violet with patterns of rainbow light rippling across its white core. The color of a lightsaber's blade is dependent upon the crystals used to focus it. Blue-bladed lightsabers are loosely associated with Jedi Guardians; green-bladed lightsabers are loosely associated with Jedi Consulars; yellow-bladed lightsabers are loosely associated with Jedi Sentinels; and red-bladed lightsabers are more closely associated with the Sith. Nearly every Jedi who has wielded a purple blade has been a powerful Jedi, and a catalyst for change. Therefore, they could be considered "Jedi Powers". However, each Jedi (or Sith) is free to choose whatever hue for their blade they wish or can acquire. Usually the lightsaber crystal will call out to its chosen master during the trials to become a jedi when the padawan travels to llum. Prior to the Battle of Ruusan, Jedi ignited lightsabers in every known hue. In the time after Jedi relied on more common Ilum crystals such as blue, and green. Mace Windu braved the rock-encrusted natives of Hurikane to obtain the rare purple crystal. In the New Jedi Order Era, Jedi had a wide array of colors such as orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and light blue.

The synthetic red crystals favored by the Sith can create a marginally more powerful blade than blue or green crystals, but are not as pure due to their artifical nature and can thus be undesirable as the focus of a lightsaber. The Sith apparently had a large supply of red crystals and they also favored red as symbolism for blood.

Lightsaber Varieties

 * Archaic Lightsaber - This was the first lightsabers, developed as a siege weapon. They required a separate power pack, which was often worn on the back, and later, a belt worn power source. The power sources and components were miniaturized in the construction to create the simple weapon used in the later era. Using a lightsaber in combat takes skill, confidence and dexterity. Attunement to the Force is a requirement as well.
 * Crystal Lightsaber - The general term used for any standard lightsaber with focusing crystals. The most modern version of the lightsaber.
 * Curve-hilted Lightsaber - Common among the Sith, curved hilts allowed more spinning action during blade-to-blade duels. It also was more complex and gave the maker (who was also the wielder) more of a challenge in alligning its crystals. This lightsaber was known to be used by Count Dooku and two were wielded together by Asajj Ventress.
 * Double-bladed Lightsaber or Saber-staff - A rare, long-hilted lightsaber which could be activated on either or both sides, allowing two blades to be ignited simoultaneously. This was often even more dangerous to the wielder than to the opponent. Such Sith as Darth Maul and Exar Kun have been known to own this type of saber. [[Image:Maul.jpg|thumbnail|left|Darth Maul displaying his double-bladed saber]]


 * Dual-phase Lightsaber - Multiple crystals allowed the user to switch between two blade lengths in battle with the dual-phase saber. Darth Vader wielded such a lightsaber, as did, for example, Micah Giett, Gantoris, and Corran Horn.
 * Electrum Lightsaber - Simply a lightsaber with a hilt forged from gold-like electrum. Mace Windu's lightsaber is an example of such kind.
 * Great Lightsaber or Lightclub - Special focusing crystals and power systems enabled this rare lightsaber to project a blade up to 3 meters in length. Gorc, a mutated Gamorrean Dark Jedi, used such a weapon.
 * Lightdagger or Short Lightsaber - The lightdagger is a lightsaber with a shorter blade and can be used as an assault knife or in the case of some small warriors, such as Master Yoda, a standard lightsaber.
 * Lightwhip - The lightwhip was an exotic variation of the lightsaber that only specially trained Jedi could wield. Like the lightsaber, it emitted a coherent beam of energy that was long and flexible and wielded like a whip. It is believed this saber is the only one that functions just as well in water as on land. Known users of the lightwhip included Jedi Kit Fisto, Lumiya and Githany.

Training
Apprentices of lightsaber combat used "training lightsabers." Training lightsabers were shorter, and had greatly diminished power. While these lightsabers were non-lethal, contact with the blade was very painful and compared to having hot steam hit the wound.

Younglings started their first lightsaber practice lessons with Form I of lightsaber combat, called Shii-Cho. This style covered fundamental moves and techniques every Jedi required. To fend off blaster shots of training droids, a trainee had harmonize the Force, their will and the saber and utilize the Shii-Cho.

Once a Youngling became a Jedi Padawan, he or she could start learning new methods of combat, based on what the Jedi Master prefered and taught.

For more info, go to Lightsaber combat.

Cutting Power
The intensely hot blade of a lightsaber could cut through almost any substance. A few exceptions existed:
 * Cortosis ore: A unique substance able to shut down a lightsaber upon contact.
 * Phrik alloy: Used in electrostaffs and Palpatine's lightsaber.
 * An unnamed metal superconductor used for ship armor hundreds of years before the Galactic Empire.
 * Mandalorian Iron: A metal used by the Mandalorian warriors.
 * Yuuzhan Vong bio-engineered weaponry and armor, such as the amphistaff.
 * Certain types of energy shields.

Methods of Use
See also: lightsaber combat

The lightsaber was a very versatile weapon, owing to its unique lightness and omnidirectional cutting ability. It could be wielded one-handed with ease: this made it easier for an opponent to deflect, but in later periods, only rarely would Jedi face an adversary with a weapon capable of deflecting a lightsaber. Using Jedi prescience, a lightsaber wielder could anticipate a blaster bolt's path and deflect it with his or her lightsaber.

Several styles or "forms" of lightsaber combat were developed over the years; some involved dual-wielded lightsabers, and sometimes even double-bladed lightsabers.

Forms:
 * Form I
 * Form II
 * Form III
 * Form IV
 * Form V
 * Form VI
 * Form VII
 * Form VIII
 * Form IX
 * Form X

History
Millennia in the past, the Jedi discovered that a super-heated plasmoid substance could be generated and held in place by a rod-shaped containment field. The field could be set so that the plasmoid-like substance could not escape, but other objects could pass into the ultra-hot core. This created a deadly blade of light that could slice its way through almost any substance. Such fields blocked one another, so the best defense against one blade was another blade. The field could be maintained almost indefinitely if linked to the generating device, because it functioned as a closed loop.



Thus the lightsaber was invented. The first lightsaber-like weapons were developed for siege purposes, using "frozen blaster" technology. These required a separate power pack that was often worn on the back. The power sources and components were miniaturized to create the simple weapon used in the later era.

This smaller lightsaber gave the advantage to hand-to-hand troops whose adversaries (with high-density armor and even personal repulsor shields) were impervious to primitive slugthrowing weapons.

Further advances in the science of field technology allowed for a self-sustaining bubble of containment to be generated. A plasmoid could be generated and flung out at an opponent for quite some distance before it finally dissipated. This gave way to the invention of the blaster, which replaced the lightsaber for military purposes.

After the Great Jedi Purge, lightsabers became rare relics. However, lightsabers remained prized by some collectors, and some black market sales occurred.

Construction details

 * The crystal is the heart of the blade.
 * The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.
 * The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.
 * The Force is the blade of the heart.


 * All are intertwined:
 * The crystal, The blade, The Jedi.


 * You are one.
 * &mdash; Luminara Unduli, during a lightsaber construction ceremony
 * &mdash; [[Image:Gnome-speakernotes.png|30px|(audio)]][[Media:SaberCeremony.ogg|Hear Luminara's Speech]]

The lightsaber was made up of a short polished metallic cylindrical tube (30 centimeters) that emitted a beam of a plasma-like substance, or plasmoid.

All lightsabers contain some common basic components:
 * A handgrip
 * An activation stud plate
 * A safety switch
 * An emitter matrix
 * A lens assembly (focusing crystal)
 * A blade-length adjuster (only on Dual-Length Lightsabers)
 * A power cell
 * A power conduit
 * A recharge socket
 * A belt ring (optional)

The focusing crystal was the central component of the lightsaber. Suitable crystals are found naturally on a few planets, such as Ruusan (prior to 1,000 BBY) and Ilum. Crystals could also be synthesized. A particular method of synthesis used by the Sith (who had no easy access to natural crystals) produced the distinctive red blade of Dark Jedi weapons. Luke Skywalker, the founder of the New Jedi Order, used a different type of synthetic crystal, which produced a green blade.

A double-bladed lightsaber or lightstaff (sometimes known as a Sith lightsaber) was essentially two lightsabers in a single oversized hilt. It was a very difficult weapon to handle, even more so than a traditional lightsaber. Notable users of double-bladed lightsabers were the Sith Lord Exar Kun and Sith Apprentice Darth Maul. Kun's lightsaber was both double-bladed and dual-phase. This made his personal style of lightsaber combat very complex, as he would vary the strength and length of either blade independently; sometimes letting the opponent's blade pass right through his, sometimes blocking.

During the Great Sith War epoch, many lightsabers are manufactured using kunda stones, a natural geologic formation from the planet Kadril which boast numerous practical applications in medicine and communications. They can also be combined with normal lightsaber lenses to produce a broader, yet still-focused, beam than is usual.

Perhaps the most unusual lightsaber design belonged to Roblio Darté. His lightsaber was constructed like a regular lightsaber except for one thing. Aside from the main blade of the weapon, there was a smaller, second blade jutting out at an angle from the hilt.

The typical design of the hilt was a straight tube. Count Dooku however, preferred a curved hilt, which would fit his Form II lightsaber fighting style.

The knowledge of lightsaber construction largely disappeared during the extermination of the Jedi, but Luke Skywalker found the records and the materials he needed to construct his first lightsaber in Obi-Wan Kenobi's hut on Tatooine. Lightsaber construction included the use of the Force to bind the components of a lightsaber together at a molecular or lower level, which enabled the closed loop design to operate with near-perfect efficiency.

Sometimes certain events necessitated a change in a Jedi's preferred weapon. A Jedi would modify the lightsaber or construct a new one to suit the demands of the situation at hand, such as with Mace Windu and his lightsaber after the Battle of Naboo.

Concordance of Fealty



 * "Master Eeth Koth, I have something to return to you. It is a product of your own hands which you once entrusted to mine. In returning this lightsaber, I return your trust."
 * &mdash; Master Mace Windu

The Jedi tradition of entrusting one's lightsaber to a fellow member of the order was called the Concordance of Fealty. This exchange represented a serious, even sacred bond.

Lightsaber or lightsabre?
Saber, in the meaning of a sword has two ways of spelling: saber and sabre. Saber is used in the United States and sabre is used in Commonwealth English. Theoretically, both ways of spelling should be correct, and they are, but not in the case of lightsaber.

Lightsaber is a proper name and thus should be spelt exactly as the authors do. Another reason is that Star Wars is in most part, American, so George Lucas or whoever came up with the lightsaber idea used the lightsaber spelling which created a new term that had not existed previously. This linguistic procedure is called Americanism.

Even though lightsabre is incorrect, the spelling as sabre in any other Star Wars reference is correct—based on Commonwealth spelling. Luke lost his lightsaber on Bespin (correct) Luke lost his sabre on Bespin (correct, Commonwealth English) Luke lost his lightsabre on Bespin (incorrect) Luke lost his saber on Bespin (correct, American English)