Lightsabers, what's the deal? Color coding
#1
Posted 27 August 2006 - 01:06 PM
#2
Posted 27 August 2006 - 02:11 PM
I don't get why the bad guys HAVE to have red blades. Wouldn't that be a dead give away for guys like Dooku who were trying to hide that they were evil? But nooooooo, he whips out a red lightsaber like it ain't no thang and everyone acts surprised...
#3
Posted 27 August 2006 - 02:52 PM
#4
Posted 27 August 2006 - 04:44 PM
Besides, it seems pretty arbritrary to dole out different colors based on different personalities. It essentially makes them lethal mood rings and kind of, well, lame.
They should have just made them blue or red.
This post has been edited by MyPantsAreOnFire: 27 August 2006 - 04:44 PM
#5
Posted 27 August 2006 - 07:05 PM
There is apparently some credence to this assumption, although I can't quote a specific Star Wars source. According to a Wikipedia article on lightsabers, "Blue-bladed lightsabers are amost often associated with Jedi Guardians [...]" while, regarding green lightsabers, "It has later been retconned to be the color of a "Jedi Consular", a Jedi who focuses on mastery of the Force rather than lightsaber combat."
Also, according to the article, Sith lightsabers are generally red because they use a synthetic crystal; the rationale for doing so is that these synthetic crystals create a stronger lightsaber blade than green or blue crystals would. So, since Sith tend to favor power, this explains why most, but not all Sith would have red lightsabers.
Also, I think we all knew this, but, Jedi traditionally build their own lightsabers and I guess part of that process involves finding a crystal. According to the article, usually a crystal will "call out" to a Jedi. So, the color of a lightsaber can be a reflection of a Jedi's personality; but, it doesn't have to be.
So yeah, still doesn't explain very much.
Here's the article:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightsaber
johnnycancer
#6
Posted 27 August 2006 - 10:23 PM
Battle for the Galaxy--read the "other Star Wars"
All I know is I haven't seen the real prequels yet.
#7
Posted 28 August 2006 - 02:41 AM
The concept is becoming more and more appealing.
johnnycancer
#9
Posted 28 August 2006 - 09:27 PM
Green = Have a tendancy to fight defensively.
Blue = Have a tendancy to fight offensively.
#10
Posted 29 August 2006 - 12:22 AM
MASTER Qui Gon Jinn has a green one, and his padawan has a blue one.
Luke (blue lightsaber) is trained by Ben Kenobi (blue lightsaber) who trained Anakin (blue lightsaber). Yoda (we don't learn he has a lightsaber until the prequels, but it turns out to be green) also trains Luke (and Obi-Wan apparently).
Both Obi-Wan and Anakin briefly use green lightsabers in Episode I and Episode II respectively (and in both cases it's when they're on the offensive, I might add, to the section below).
On the Jedi Council, they're all suppposedly "Masters" and yet they have a mix of green and blue and of course Mace Windu seems to be one of three top dudes on the council and he has purple! (though we don't learn what students he has, if any).
Yoda teaches a bunch of "younglings" in Episode II and they have a mix of blue and green blades (and Yoda has green).
General Grievous uses both blue and green simultaneously and he's not a Jedi or a Sith! (also Lucas broke his own "out of universe" rule here, by giving a "bad guy" colors other than red... though he also has Anakin continue to use blue well after his "fall" to the Dark Side).
In Episode II we have numerous examples of people using blue and green lightsabers simultaneously (though apart from Anakin's 3 second bout, the rest are Jedi extras in the background of the Geonosis arena fight).
There were no orange or yellow lightsabers in any of the movies, that was just rumor based on color corruption of trailers/screenshots (even I was sucked into this until I saw later higher quality trailers/shots that proved they were simply blue and green). Mace Windu was the only purple lightsaber user.
The "Synethic Crystals" thing is contradicted by Shadows of the Empire which has Luke synthesizing crystals for his lightsaber which is GREEN and he's not using the Dark Side, is he?
The thing is, Lightsabers are never explained in the movies (it's just "the weapon of a Jedi Knight, not as clumsy or random as a blaster... an elegant weapon from a more civilized age." and in the prequels we get "this weapon is your life" and young Anakin associates "your Laser Sword" with being a Jedi), and the information in the Expanded Universe sources is contradictory.
Besides, how would a Sith lightsaber be "stronger"? Would it have more cutting power? Would it glow brighter? Last longer? What? Because in the fights we don't see Sith lightsabers cutting through Jedi ones, do we? They don't seem to be any better at cutting things, etc. They seem pretty much the same as Jedi sabers other than the color.
The tendancy to fight offensivly vs. defensively thing doesn't really hold up either.
Was Yoda really a "Defensive Fighter" (in saber combat?)?
Qui Gon went for the gusto, he didn't seem defensive, except in that very first fight with Maul (the brief one in the desert).
Luke was hardly a defensive fighter either in his battle with Jabba's thugs or with Vader. Green all the way.
Is Grievous a combination of defensive and offensive fighting then, since he has both?
The colors just don't mean anything anymore, if they ever did. Just that (in the movies) if you have red, you're definately one of the "bad guys."
This post has been edited by KurganX: 29 August 2006 - 12:23 AM
#11
Posted 29 August 2006 - 02:14 PM
Grievous is not a Jedi. He's just some mecha-man who stole lightsabers from the Jedi he killed. Nothing really deep there.
#12
Posted 29 August 2006 - 10:39 PM
I was also wondering about stronger lightsaber blades too. It's light, it's hot, it's not going to get much stronger than that. What's next, Lucas decides to have a "tempered" lightsaber?
#13
Posted 29 August 2006 - 11:53 PM
If this isn't the case, wouldn't Jedi duels on space ships and stations be incredibly dangerous? Guy drops dead, his switched on lightsabre falls out of has hand and just burns through the floors or walls until it punches a hole into space.
Again, I have no idea why I assumed that. It makes no sense once you remember Luke being able to turn it on and swing it around in ANH.
#14
Posted 30 August 2006 - 04:51 AM
You know what, I remember thinking this for a long time too. I hadn't given this much thought in a while. But, thinking that the Jedi have to hold down the "on" switch on their lightsabers doesn't make any less sense than thinking they just stay on with the push of a button.
At the very least, there must be some mechanism that deactivates the lightsaber when it's outside of someone's hand; otherwise, how do you account for both Obi-Wan and Luke's lightsabers being deactivated when they dropped them in their duels with Vader?
And, as you already pointed out, if there is no such mechanism, then, lightsabers are one of the most dangerous things you can ever be swinging around when you're onboard a spaceship! Seems like that would be horribly impractical and foolish - why would you ever engage in combat with somebody when you're both using weapons that could potentially melt a hole through steel, depressurize your entire space vessel and kill everybody on board?
Anybody want to bust out the technical manuals and tell us how this works?
johnnycancer
#15
Posted 30 August 2006 - 07:47 AM
BTW, an explanation of the lightsaber colours is given in the game Knights of the Old Republic:
Blue = Jedi Guardian (those who focus mainly on lightsaber combat).
Green = Jedi Consular (those who focus mainly on using the Force).
Yellow = Jedi Sentinel (those who focus on both equally, and additional non-Force-specific skills).
I'm pretty sure the 'classes' were just invented for gameplay purposes and have no basis in the movies, but I actually like the idea of Jedi specialisations. Makes a lot more sense then having every Jedi act as a combination soldier/diplomat/spy/detective/bodyguard/plumber/whatever happens to be needed at the time.
- J m HofMarN on the Sand People