Why Is Mace Windu’s Lightsaber Purple?
Star Wars™ fans have always been fascinated by lightsabers™ and their colors. Since 1977, these ancient Jedi™ weapons have expanded beyond just blue and red.
Yoda™ and Luke Skywalker™ classically have green lightsabers. Green implies a strong connection to the Light Side of the force. Anakin Skywalker™ and Obi-Wan Kenobi™ have blue lightsabers, due to their focus on fighting. On the other hand, all Sith™, from Darth Vader™ to Darth Sidious™, torture their lightsabers until they “bleed” and become red. Ahsoka Tano™ has white lightsabers because she healed red lightsabers. Some colors, like the yellow lightsaber Rey™ once wielded, don’t have such clearly defined explanations.
However, after all these years, we might actually know why Mace Windu™ has a purple lightsaber.
His Strength
First, we can look at recent Star Wars™ lore introduced in High Republic™ releases. Vernestra Rwoh™ has an unbelievably strong connection to the Force. At just 15, she became one of the youngest Jedi Knights™ ever. Her lightsaber was also purple.
With this in mind, maybe it is Mace Windu’s strength in the Force that shifts his kyber crystal™ to such a deep and rich color. But perhaps there is more than that. We certainly expect to learn more when we get to meet Vernestra Rwoh in the live-action series The Acolyte on Disney+.
His Dark Side
Ty Yorrick™ is another High Republic Force-wielder who uses a purple lightsaber. Though she was once part of the Jedi Order™, after some time she decided to work as a mercenary. She primarily hunted down dark side monsters and creatures. In order to better understand them, she studied the Dark Side.
However, she did not succumb to the temptation of the dark side. Ty Yorrick still worked side by side with the Jedi on many other occasions, and her knowledge of the dark side gave her the strength to fight against it. Perhaps, in Mace Windu’s case, he also studied the dark side.
His Ideology
In fact, Mace Windu most certainly had some knowledge of the dark side. He had visions, just like other dark side users. His use of the Force was certainly unique even among the Jedi Council™.
Like Anakin, whom he scolded for the same thing, Mace had deep emotional struggles. But instead of shying away from these dark and troubling emotions, like other Jedi might, Mace Windu explored his emotions. Through his emotional struggles, his struggles with the Force, and his dedication to helping others, his kyber crystal became an extremely rare purple.
His Story
Of course, most fans know the simple version of the story behind Mace Windu’s unique weapon. When Samuel L. Jackson joined the prequel series, he made a specific request. He asked George Lucas himself if he could have a purple lightsaber. That way, he would stand out in the intense battle sequences in the film.
However, what started as just fulfilling a request has come to mean so much more. Mace Windu opened up entirely knew conversations within the Star Wars universe. And who knows? Perhaps we’ll learn more about purple lightsabers in the future.
If you want to learn more about kyber crystals, read through our blog that explores the history and the meaning of all the other lightsabers colors in much more depth.
For more Star Wars™ collectibles and content, be sure to check out our May the 4th event. Which color lightsaber would you wield? Share your thoughts with other fans at side.show/geekgroup, and don’t forget to Let Your Geek Sideshow!