Summary
- Red lightsabers are expressly tied to the Sith in the current Star Wars canon.
- In the Legends continuity, Sith like Exar Kun used non-red blades, having wielded a doubled-bladed lightsaber with blue-white coloring.
- The current Star Wars canon has established that red lightsabers come through the Sith tradition of kyber bleeding.
Red-bladed lightsabers are directly tied to the Dark Lord of the Sith Lords in the Star Wars canon. However, that wasn’t always the case in the original continuity that’s now become part of non-canon Legends. Originally, lightsaber colors mattered far less in the galaxy far, far away.
In the established canon, red lightsabers became part of the Sith aesthetic beginning with Darth Maul in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, following Darth Vader’s crimson blade in the original trilogy. This created the trend where George Lucas gave all dark-side users red blades, and the Sith traditions that came with them were eventually established as well. However, the various books and comics released before 1999 (which are now Legends) were more open with their lightsaber colors, including those wielded by the Sith.
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Red Wasn’t The Only Lightsaber Color Used By Sith In Legends
Exar Kun Had A Double-Bladed Blue Lightsaber
One of the best examples of a Sith wielding a non-red blade in Legends was Exar Kun, a fallen Jedi Knight who became a Sith Lord and warred against the Republic and Jedi Order during the “Old Sith Wars”. However, his blade remained a striking blue-white. It’s also worth noting that Exar Kun was the first to wield a double-bladed lightsaber in the original Star Wars continuity. However, there were other Sith in Legends who didn’t expressly wield red lightsabers either.
It’s also worth noting that red was also used by the Jedi in Legends as well. This surprisingly includes Leia Organa who received a lightsaber built by Luke with a synthetic kyber crystal in the Legends continuity. However, this lightsaber was only temporarily wielded by Leia who would end up building her own with a blue blade.
In Canon, Sith Have All Had Red Lightsabers
More Uniform And Tied To Sith Tradition
Fast forwarding to the established Star Wars canon once more movies were made beyond the original trilogy, all Sith would come to wield red lightsabers with the red color itself being synonymous with the Sith Lords and the dark side itself. Likewise, it was eventually established that prospective Sith would pour all of their darkest emotions into a kyber crystal that had belonged to a Jedi they’d slain as part of their initiation. This would effectively make the kyber “bleed”, resulting in its crimson color. That said, it’s still interesting to think back on the original Legends continuity when lightsaber colors weren’t nearly as significant as they are now in the official Star Wars canon.
