saber colors and design

[duncan29793]

I have been reading up on making a saber and in the process of trying to design one I have started to delve a little bit in to the lore of the sabers as well. I know that many people here just go with what they like as far as design and color of the blades. Does anyone here look in to symbolism of the blade color or try and design based on combat style??

So far what I have been reading is interesting and I am torn between going my own way and trying to connect with the lore. I love mythology and through my martial arts training I have a sense of respecting and honoring history (in this case lore) in what I do through symbolism and tradition. Pretty much I was brought up to connect with an activity (history, tradition, philosophy) rather than just on physical (building) level.

Blade design I know will be based on my fighting style... due to my martial arts training and use of weapons there it just makes it more comfortable for me. I haven't figures out what saber combat style that closest represents.

Color of the blade has me a bit more torn. Originally I was going to go with green (my favorite color) but after finding the color "code" for sabers (green = consular, blue = gaurdian, yellow = sentinel) I am not sure what I want to do. I steered away from blue because that was the main color of Luke and Obi and I tend to like to go against the "popular" thing. But according to the descriptions that color fits my personalitiy. This coding was only part of the whole lore of the jedi and lightsaber so I know I can really do anything in regards to color.

So pretty much this thread is to open up some discussion on taking building a saber to another level. Any thoughts and input is welcome.

[Malaki Skywalker]

*Star wars nerd moment* Well, color codes were dumped by the Jedi after the Old Republic, but that depends on what era you wish to follow, I follow the Old Republic myself ;)

So if you are basing your saber after the Old Republic, you can have whatever you wish

[eastern57]

Here is my opinion:

I like green - always will. Almost every saber that I've built has had a Green blade at some point - I use it as my "is this cool" ruler.

The reason behind that is I've always identified with the doctrine "jedi respect all forms of life". And green - being the the overall color of the natural Living world, is the most fitting.

If nature were allowed to thrive undisturbed and exist in it's most optimal conditions - it would be green.

Plus, I just like green.

:)

[Tom Starkiller]

If nature were allowed to thrive undisturbed and exist in it's most optimal conditions - it would be green.

Not necasseraly (sp?).

Mars is natural, yet it's red, Earth if left natural, would still be mostly blue, due to being 75% water (And yes, water is actually clear, but it reflects the sky, hence appearing blue.)

The sun is natural and yellow.

[Malaki Skywalker]

Not necasseraly (sp?).

Mars is natural, yet it's red, Earth if left natural, would still be mostly blue, due to being 75% water (And yes, water is actually clear, but it reflects the sky, hence appearing blue.)

The sun is natural and yellow.

Thats crazy yet true O_o :rolleyes:

[Pullo]

I have always looked upon blade colour choice as a personal thing. Correct me if I am wrong but I think the Sentinal, Guardian , Consular thing comes from the Knights of the old republic game and was used as a way to signify your progress with in that game. Because this was released before the prequel trilogy there are elements of the game that don't sit completely with information about the Jedi or sith that some of the more recent movies or books have brought to light. For instance if memory serves,(long time scince I played it ) their is no reference to mace windus Purple blade, In short pick whatever colour blade you like. The saber YOU BUILD will reflect your personality more than it will if you try to fit it to interpretations of someone else's interpretation.

[annon]

Green for me.
when I was a kid I saw NH: Luke had blue, but didn't use it. Obi-wan had blue, got killed.
Saw ESB: Luke had blue, got his but kicked, lost his hand.
then I saw ROTJ: Luke whips out his new green saber, takes out Jabbas gang saves Han Solo, defeats Vader, saves the galaxy!
:D

[Hasid Lafre]

I like odd colors but dont want to filter a while led to get it. YEah blue green and red are nice but cyan, purple and orange are much cooler.

[xwingband]

I think for DIY you should really go for whatever you like. Me, I personally love royal blue. I can appreciate the other shades but the saturation gets me. I also like a deep mustard yellow, not a primary or canary yellow, but a deep one. I tend to like saturation hence I avoid neon-like shades.

[joshrock]

Actually As Far as Knights of the old republic is concerned The 3 main colors (Green, Blue and Yellow) were just the standard color for the Three main classes of Jedi. But even in the game you were free to change the color of your blade to anything you wished. It didn't have anything to do with game progress either. KOTOR and KOTOR 2 Blade collors include Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, Violet, Orange, Silver, Bronze (close to amber) Cyan, and Veridan. I think thats all

[Mazarill Slay]

My first saber was firey orange..

Nice I like it cause it is original and people are like "oooo".. But its harder to explain what part you play in the Star Wars Universe.. so the orange is for my non canon character while my red is still orinigal sith but more canon than my merc jedi XD

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Yes I'm trying to design based on fighting styles right now and for the last month or so...am working on designing what will be 9 MHS-based sabers for 'Form 0', Shii-Cho, Makashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien/Djem So, Niman/Jar-Kai [2 sabers] and Juyo/Vaapad...this is actually not so easy as it sounds.

First I've been scouring available references for information on the various forms. Second I have been cross referencing that against every SW character that can be identified as a practitioner of those forms in an effort to distill out what saber design features are most 'optimal' or at least 'typical' for each style...

...the problem is that major characters dont always use similar sabers even when using the same saber forms [Qui and Obi in TPM: both Ataru - whose saber is typical of the form?]...and secondary-charcters with clan sabers complicate things even further.

Sometimes [particularly with 'hero sabers' it may seem they are optimized for a specific form...but then there are exceptions too; i.e. Luke ROTJ is not really a Djem So design because he built it in honour of Ben whose Obi ROTS saber was optimized for Soresu...but can be perhaps excused by his lack of training in pre-Purge official saber forms. Mauls saber and Maces AOTC/ROTS sabers are quite different even though they are both Form VII but which saber design features indicate any FUNCTIONAL difference between Juyo and Vaapad variations of Form VII and which were simply 'personal preference'??? etc etc etc...

So far I think I have Form 0, Ataru, Shien/Djem So, and Juyo/Vaapad figured out. Soresu SHOULD be easy but every Soresu user other than Obi [who is identified as THE Master of Soresu] uses sabers quite different from Obi's and no consistency among each other either...Shii-Cho similarly has an acknowledged Master; Kit Fisto but no other Shii-Cho user uses a similar saber...and Niman/Jar Kai is just a mess...

...not as easy a project as I had first thought...fortunately being poor its going to take me awhile before I can afford all the parts to build them all anyway...so I have time for more in depth analysis...

bottom line: you are just as well off designing a saber to fit YOUR style as trying to fit THE styles and you will probably find it easier...besides after the Purge and in the NJO everything is 'lax' in saber design anyway until the Imperial Knights restablish some formality to design.

[duncan29793]

wow, Onli-Wan that is quite interesting. Upon further thinking about saber designs and combat styles, I really do doubt that the designers of the movie sabers gave any thought to combat style. I think that the moves/choreograpghy were the only thing that may have gotten any consideration, and even that I think only cursory.

From a post in another thread there was a comment about a hilt being built heavier to fit the style that Luke and Vader used (power strikes and brute force) vs a more manuverable hilt (easier to weild and manipulate) designed for the more flamboyant styles. This is what originally got me thinking about it.

I am really interested in what types of sabers you come up with and your explination of why you believe them to fit the styles. Money may be an issue, but putting together a design on the MHS Builder only costs some time.

[LeMoel]

i think filtered colors are going to start becoming a bigger thing since brighter white leds are coming out.

the only thing is that the normal colors will dim the filtered colors near the top of the blade.

heres my filtered colors ,this is in my room with really bright lighting there SAD lights really bright

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ojlQbg-Do

looks even better in person

[Darth Siggious]

Red like the Sith...even though I did a Jedi build recently with a Cyan (cause it does look very different than the standard blues)

[DragonStar]

Green for me.
when I was a kid I saw NH: Luke had blue, but didn't use it. Obi-wan had blue, got killed.
Saw ESB: Luke had blue, got his but kicked, lost his hand.
then I saw ROTJ: Luke whips out his new green saber, takes out Jabbas gang saves Han Solo, defeats Vader, saves the galaxy!
:D

You know what? I've never been able to put my finger on it before, but... THAT'S IT! Nice work, man! That's exactly why the green saber rocks so much.

[Rasser]

ever since KOTOR 2 and i saw the silver saber i have been in love with it. Then I read the Star Wars Legacy comic and the Imperial Knights were rockin the silver blades. And now I have my own somewhat silvery saber in form of the white P4 and it is awesome

[bigbret50]

I have come to deal with the same issue and here is how I solved it... I made a blue, royal blue, cyan, green, amber, Red, yellow (filtered disk) silver (white) and plan on making a purple.

Then you have a different saber for whatever mood your in. And it will keep you busy.

[Drichar Deis]

I enjoy being the bad guy, I like my fiery Red/Orange. Although at times I fancy a Consular Green.

[gundamaniac]

The reason behind that is I've always identified with the doctrine "jedi respect all forms of life". And green - being the the overall color of the natural Living world, is the most fitting...

...Plus, I just like green.


I agree. My personal saber has a green blade for three reasons- One, my costume is similar to Anakin's and my saber is similar to Obi-Wan's, and I didn't want to be mixed up with one of the two by wielding a blue blade. Two...to quote eastern, "I just like green". Three...I was born on St. Patrick's Day, so the color green has quite a bit of personal significance :D

[Eco]

Not necasseraly (sp?).

Mars is natural, yet it's red, Earth if left natural, would still be mostly blue, due to being 75% water (And yes, water is actually clear, but it reflects the sky, hence appearing blue.)

The sun is natural and yellow.

Though, Mars is dead and barren, and I refuse to try living on the Sun. XD

Anyway, I go with green mostly.
Not only does it identify with life, (and my username "Eco" refers to life), but the brain automatically identifies green with calmness.
(And it's just the coolest color)

I've always like the Yellow, or "Sentinel" because I like the idea of being the "Jack of all trades" Jedi.

I would recommend you do what you wish, or if you really can't decide, build many sabers, or do an RGB setup.

Good luck!