153
votes
Accepted
Is there any material which cannot be cut by a lightsaber?
In the movies, what lightsabers can cut through seems to be, at best, a mixed bag. Focusing on the earlier movies, IV, V, & VI, where the technology is first introduced, I looked at two major ...
129
votes
Accepted
Why did Luke call the lightsaber by a different name?
He was mocking Rey.
He was arguing to Rey that he wasn't the savior she thought he was, and he wasn't going to return and go defeat the First Order on his own. He mis-identifies the lighstaber to mock ...
115
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Luke use his lightsaber during his mission on the first Death Star?
Luke's a farmer, not a swordsman. He had never held a lightsaber in his entire life until that day. However, he has used rifles before; when he went out looking for R2-D2 on Tatooine, he carried a ...
91
votes
Do lightsaber blades/blaster bolts cast shadows?
If we assume that lightsabers and blaster bolts are some kind of plasma, they should cast a shadow under the right circumstances. Stars are big balls of plasma and one star can block the light of ...
78
votes
Who turned on the lightsaber?
It was 100% Kylo Ren.
When Snoke was slain, Rey had her back to him and when she turned around to see what happened, she was in complete shock.
Also, Snoke narrated Kylo Ren's thoughts, which included ...
77
votes
Accepted
Why give this character his old lightsaber?
She was reaching out to a man who had shut himself away from the galaxy...
...by giving him something that he has a personal connection to — his long-lost lightsaber.
Even if she was aware of ...
73
votes
Accepted
Why does Kylo Ren's lightsaber look different from normal lightsabers?
TFA Visual Dictionary addresses this on page 26 "Kylo Ren: The Dark Warrior":
The blade looks this way because it is unstable plasma blade Matrix
This has to do with three facts also quoted on the ...
73
votes
Accepted
How could Kylo Ren move Luke's lightsaber in The Last Jedi when he couldn't in The Force Awakens?
The implication was that Rey was somehow blocking him through her own efforts to move the hilt. Note his surprise that an object so small doesn't come on command.
The exertion actually causes him ...
65
votes
Accepted
Why do Jedi use lightsabers?
Obi Wan explains this in the novelization of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope:
"This was the formal weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. More skill than simple sight ...
65
votes
Accepted
How is it possible to do round swings with a lightsaber?
There's nothing impossible in those movements, the actors are performing them just fine.
You can replicate the effect by taking a long stick and doing the same movements until you get used to them, ...
64
votes
Accepted
Do lightsaber blades/blaster bolts cast shadows?
From this image from Episode I would appear that they do cast shadows, though the angles don't look quite right to me.
From Season 1 Episode 14 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, "Defenders of Peace", ...
61
votes
Why give this character his old lightsaber?
First of all, Rey offering Luke her weapon shows that she means no harm. But there is much more significance to offering that particular weapon.
The lightsaber belonged to Luke's father before him. ...
59
votes
Are Lightsabers ever used outside of combat?
Cutting tool
In Episode V, Han Solo used Luke's lightsaber to cut open a tauntaun on Hoth.
Image taken from a Youtube video
Han's tauntaun had just died from the extreme cold, so Han cut it open to ...
Null♦
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58
votes
Accepted
What are all the known lightsaber designs?
Canon
Vanilla lightsabers:
Double-bladed lightsaber (see: Darth Maul, Pong Krell, Savage Oppress)
While I hesitate to call this a completely different style, Master Krell's lightsabers are unique ...
55
votes
Accepted
Why don't lightsabers have guards?
I suspect that there are many practical reasons why you might not have a guard. For example they may get caught, or stuck in clothing or against straps.
However in this instance I believe that it is ...
54
votes
Why didn't Luke use his lightsaber during his mission on the first Death Star?
Why did Luke leave his lightsaber behind?
It didnʼt fit in his pocket.
Another answer to this question suggests that Luke left his lightsaber behind on the Millennium Falcon because he knew ...
53
votes
Are lightsabers flat?
Lightsaber emitters are typically round:
Also, if these lightsabers were anything other than round you would expect them to appear differently depending on the relative angle between the viewer and ...
52
votes
Accepted
Was possession of a lightsaber grounds for arrest in the Empire?
Not likely
In Return Of The Jedi movie, when Luke surrenders to the Imperial troops on Endor, they looked confused about the lightsaber in his possession. The imperial officer passes him to Vader ...
51
votes
Accepted
Why does Luke Skywalker use a green lightsaber in Star Wars Battlefront?
Luke's blue lightsaber was lost when Vader removed his hand in Cloud City. The outfit he uses in the Battlefront beta is the outfit he wears at the beginning of Return of the Jedi, complete with green ...
51
votes
Why did Luke call the lightsaber by a different name?
He tries to remove the lightsaber's mythical image.
The term lightsaber implies a lot of things beyond the actual technical device. For example, it is a part of the Jedi religion, it is a weapon of ...
49
votes
Which button activates Skywalker's lightsaber, and why is it inconsistent?
From the Star Wars: Visual Dictionary and Force Awakens: Visual Dictionary.
The "on button" is the big shiny thing on the handle.
48
votes
Are Lightsabers ever used outside of combat?
Episode V:
Luke uses saber to cut himself free of ice stalactite.
Han uses saber to turn a tauntaun into a sleeping bag for Luke.
Luke uses saber to cut a hole in the belly of an AT-AT walker so ...
46
votes
Accepted
Will Ezra's lightsaber revolutionize dueling?
No. According to Star Wars Insider #154, you need to disengage the blade in order for the battery pack to power the blaster. Your lightsaber duel would last about four seconds and then you'd get your ...
46
votes
Accepted
Has Rey's new lightsaber been seen before in canon or legends?
In both Canon and Legends, a pair of lightsabers functionally similar to Rey's potential new one were seen in the hands of the Besalisk Jedi Master Pong Krell during the Clone Wars. This picture shows ...
44
votes
Accepted
Is Anakin's lightsaber the only one remaining from the 'Clone Wars' era?
Disney Canon
There is a least one - Luke comes into possession of one in the new canon book "Heir to the Jedi" (which occurs between E4 and E5)
Luke meets a Rodian named Soonta, who's uncle, Huulik, ...
43
votes
Accepted
Does spinning help Jedi fight?
[EDIT: I am concentrating on light saber duels: that is a Force user versus a Force user, which is where the spectacular moves come in. Against a non-Force-User, spins and tricks could be helpful -- ...
41
votes
What color is Luke’s lightsaber blade?
The blue lightsaber in The Force Awakens is Anakin's blue lightsaber and the lightsaber that Luke lost in The Empire Strikes Back.
It is quite different from Luke's newer green lightsaber.
We don't ...
40
votes
Accepted
Do lightsabers smell?
There seems to be a particular smell associated with lightsabers; Ozone.
A burning blade of green slanted across the sergeants face so close he
could smell the ozone, and the hunchback wasn’t a ...
39
votes
Accepted
Are there lightsabers with moving emitters?
The Inquisitor Lightsaber from Star Wars: Rebels
I'm not sure if you'll count this as hinged, but it can certainly move the angle of the blade. In fact, it's a hand-held General Grievous, being ...
38
votes
Accepted
How can Kylo Ren recognize this item?
There are a couple ways Kylo Ren would know about and recognize the Skywalker lightsaber:
Information on Anakin's lightsaber was likely communicated to Kylo Ren by Luke himself. Kylo Ren was ...
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