Star Wars is one of the largest, most successful and most renowned sagas in the world. Even if you haven’t watched a single Star Wars film, surely, you would know what lightsabers are. In this article, we’ll be sharing with you detailed information not just about lightsabers in general but about one of the most popular lightsabers in the world of Star Wars. If you would like a purple lightsaber for yourself, you can check it out here on Amazon.
Lightsabers are the swords that beam out a laser and are typically used by the Jedis. However, they have also been used by the sith, the enemy of the Jedis. Lightsabers can come in many different colors.
Usually, the beam is blue or green. Sometimes, it is also yellow. And the lightsabers of the sith have a more sinister color, red. While there are special cases with Jedis and sith using a different colored lightsaber, that’s a story for another day.
The lightsaber we will be focusing on is the rarest of its kind. It’s so rare that in the Star Wars canon, only one of its type was shown. Its wielder is also fitting for the rarity and nature of such a lightsaber.
We are talking about Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber. Mace Windu was considered by many as the strongest Jedi Master of his era. While that may be debatable, there’s no doubt that he is of the same caliber as Yoda.
He was even able to defeat Darth Sidious, the most powerful sith that ever lived. Even Yoda could not defeat Darth Sidious.
However, Mace Windu didn’t always have his purple lightsaber. Before he was able to create it, he used a different one. His first lightsaber was a blue one.
Although having it wasn’t an easy task even for Mace Windu. In fact, he struggled when he was still a young Jedi apprentice. While he excelled as an apprentice, one of his greatest obstacles was creating his own lightsaber.
For months, a vision would haunt him. A vision of him wielding the purple lightsaber. The purple lightsaber remained a dream for so long until he went to the planet Hurikane.
What Was the Power Source of Mace Windu’s Purple Lightsaber?
The design of Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber is actually quite intricate. More than that, the materials he used were more special, compared to the usual ones that others used. Typically, we begin with discussing about the design of a weapon.
But with Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber, we believe it’s best if we begin with the power source that he used. This is because more than the look of his weapon, his lightsaber was a strong symbol and had a very deep meaning.
Don’t worry, we’ll get to the design in a little bit.
All lightsabers make use of a power source. This power source is responsible for both the beam and its color. Typically, Jedis use a Kyber crystal for their lightsabers. Kyber crystal are rare and are force-attuned.
This means that the force can be channeled into the crystal, making the lightsaber an extension of the Jedi. Jedis channel their force into the crystal by meditating on it for days.
Mace Windu was able to acquire a purple Kyber crystal and it was what he used in creating his new lightsaber. However, there’s more to his crystal than just having its rare color.
What is the Meaning a Purple Lightsaber?
As far as the canon storyline is concerned, Kyber crystals originally are colorless. It is the personality, force, and fighting style of the Jedi that give it its color. There are actually seven canon lightsaber colors. These are blue, green, red, yellow, purple, white and black.
Each color has their own meaning.
- Blue – one of the most common lightsaber colors. This lightsaber color is associated with protection, consciousness and intellect. Jedis who make use of blue lightsabers are skilled lightsaber warriors. You can think of them as guardians.
- Green – Green lightsabers are associated with peace and harmony. Green lightsaber users are more inclined with the use of the force rather than combat.
- Red – Used by the sith. It is associated with evil and power. Red lightsabers embody all the hatred and negative emotions of their owner.
- Yellow – Yellow lightsabers are quite rare. The only canon users of yellow lightsabers are the Jedi temple guards. Yellow lightsabers are associated with defense and protection.
- White – This represents a crystal that has been purified. It is associated with neutrality.
- Black – There’s only one of its kind in the canon and it is called a darksaber. It was created by Tarre Vizsla, the first ever Mandalorian to be inducted in the Jedi Order.
But what about the purple lightsaber? The meaning of the purple color is deeper than the previous ones we have mentioned. Most lightsaber colors are attuned to the light side of the force and the red is aligned with the dark side.
In other words, the colors previously mentioned can only either tap the light or the dark side of the force but never the two. It wouldn’t be right for them to dwell into the opposite side of the force they are aligned with.
This is what separates the purple crystal from all other ones. A characteristic that both the crystal and Mace Windu share is that the two can tap into both the light and the dark side of the force.
Note that there are powers and abilities within the dark side side of the force that are extremely powerful and unique to their alignment. Being able to have access to the dark side of the force can become useful as one from the light could also gain the powers from the dark side.
The purple lightsaber signifies the blend of both the light (blue) and the dark (red) side of the force. So, does this mean what Mace Windu had some darkness within him? Yes, he had some darkness within him.
However, he remained in control and chose the values of the Jedi, only using the darkness to his advantage for the good. We’ve discussed just how strong and powerful Mace Windu was. Imagine what would have happened if he fell to the dark side.
The Unique Abilities of Mace Windu, With His Purple Lightsaber
Remember that the lightsaber is the extension of its wielder. This means that whatever abilities, fighting style, or power that the user may have is largely due to his or her lightsaber. After all, it was their personality, force and fighting style that determined the color.
With Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber, he was able to obtain unique abilities that others failed to master. Some have even fallen to the dark side while trying to learn some of his techniques.
Vaapad Fighting Style (Form VII)
“Six there were for generations of Jedi. The seventh, is not well-known. Powerful form it is. Deadliest of all. But dangerous it is, for its master as well as its opponent. Few have studied. One student alone, to mastery has risen.” ―Yoda
The Form VII fighting style is considered to be the most dangerous and the most aggressive fighting style. This fighting style embraces darkness utilizing emotions in combat. Typically, Form VII was only used by the Sith.
This was because mastering the fighting style draws heavily on the dark side. The fighting style required ferocity and is also the most demanding among all the other fighting styles. It’s so risky to master that even those that practice this fighting style end up being devoured by the darkness.
Form VII used to be only known as Juyo or the Ferocity Form. As Mace Windu began using Form VII, he developed his own technique with Form VII and named it Vaapad. For Mace Windu, Vaapad wasn’t just a fighting style, Vaapad was a state of mind.
Mace Windu wasn’t the sole creator of Vaapad. He worked with another Jedi Master named Sora Bulq to create the new style of Form VII. Unfortunately, Sora Bulq along with all others that tried to master Vaapad fell into darkness.
It was only Mace Windu who truly mastered the way of Vaapad without losing his ways of the Jedi.
Practitioners of the Vaapad style move incredibly fast making them appear to be using multiple lightsabers. They take advantage of the darkness of their opponents accepting it to utilize their fury and fuel their emotions.
While Form VII users appear calm, they feel an immense pressure inside of them. These are some known moves that have been used with the Vaapad:
- Assured Strike – This is a move wherein the power of a strike is traded for a near certain hit.
- Vornskr Ferocity – This is becoming extremely aggressive towards the enemy. Practitioners become unpredictable with this move but while they are becoming aggressive, the practitioner doesn’t let himself succumb to the darkness.
- Swift Flank – This is to move so quickly around an opponent, finding an opening and making a very quick attack.
- Tempered Aggression – This is not a move, but an ability to control oneself, despite becoming very aggressive in the heat of battle. This ability is what keeps a practitioner from falling into darkness.
- Unarmed Vaapad – The Vaapad style of fighting can also be utilized when unarmed. The ferocity, speed and unpredictability can still be used along the practitioner’s skills in unarmed combat.
How Was Mace Windu Able to Get His Purple Lightsaber?
We stopped our story earlier with Mace Windu having his vision of wielding a purple lightsaber. This was how he was able to create his purple lightsaber.
He had the visions for months until he finally asked the council to let him go to the planet Hurikane. The council allowed him but he was to go there alone. As he arrived, he got chased away by the natives of the planet.
During the pursuit, one of the natives shattered. In the end, Mace Windu reconstructed the shattered native with his powers. As a sign of gratitude, the natives handed him a gift, the very rare purple Kyber crystal.
Mace Windu then used the crystal to create his new lightsaber. It would then become his signature weapon.
Is Mace Windu’s Purple Lightsaber the Rarest?
Perhaps everything about Mace Windu’s lightsaber is extraordinary. Everything about Mace Windu is extraordinary too. From his skills and abilities as a Jedi Master to his lightsaber, Mace Windu is very talented.
Now that you already know the rarity of the purple crystal, we can now proceed with how he made the hilt that contained it. Mace Windu upgraded his lightsaber when he became a senior member of the Jedi council.
There are limitations on how much a Jedi can modify his or her lightsaber. When Mace Windu became part of the Jedi council, he acquired the privilege of modifying his lightsaber to its highest standards.
He made great use of it and modified his lightsaber using only the best materials that the galaxy had to offer. Being a senior member, he was then allowed to use a rare meta called Electrum. Electrum, more than being used in the creation of lightsabers, was also used for jewelry.
On a lightsaber, it signifies mastery of the force as only high ranking members of the Jedi Council are ever allowed to use it as a crafting material. The Electrum is the gold colored metal on Mace Windu’s lightsaber.
Other than signifying a high position, rarity, and giving the gold color, the rare metal doesn’t have any abilities. So, just how rare is the Electrum metal? Like the purple crystal, the Electrum metal is so rare that only Mace Windu is the only Jedi to ever have lightsaber that had it.
So, to answer the question, yes, Mace Windu’s purple lightsaber is the rarest lightsaber that the Jedi Order was able to have. This was mainly because of two very rare components:
- Rare Purple Crystal
- Rare Electrum Metal
With those in mind, we can see just how one of a kind Mace Windu was. He was the only one who was able to embrace darkness without falling into it, he was the only one to master Vaapad, he was the only one to get a purple Kyber crystal and he was the only one to use Electrum along with the purple crystal to create his new lightsaber.
To add to that, he was also one of the best if not the best Jedi Master of his era. Unfortunately, Mace Windu met his demise after being betrayed by Anakin Skywalker.
What Happened to Mace Windu’s Purple Lightsaber?
Mace Windu’s life ended just moments after he disarmed Darth Sidious. Although he won the lightsaber duel against the strongest Sith that ever lived, he was betrayed by Anakin.
The young Skywalker cut the right arm of Windu with his lightsaber, causing Windu’s weapon to fall down to the streets of Coruscant. Darth Sidious then proceeded with striking down Mace Windu with force lightning causing him to fall to his death too.
There are no official statements if Mace Windu actually survived or not. Why this is important is relevant to the whereabouts of his lightsaber. After all, if he survived, it would only be natural for him to look for his lightsaber, which happened to be the rarest among all of the Jedi lightsabers.
Regardless, what we discovered was that a Duros sold a lightsaber assumed to be the lightsaber of Mace Windu to an Imperial Senator named Sano Sauro. Sano was known to be unsupportive of Mace Windu during the Clone Wars.
After buying Mace Windu’s lightsaber, he placed it on the wall of his office as a trophy. The purple crystal would then be found during the Galactic Civil War Era by Force-sensitives from the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire.
Why Didn’t Mace Windu Recover His Purple Lightsaber?
Since there aren’t any confirmations about Mace Windu’s death, we shall try to answer some questions if he actually survived the fall. One such question is that if he survived, why didn’t he recover his lightsaber?
There are actually a lot of factors why he might not have been able to do so even if he wanted to. To start, before he fell, his right arm had been cut off by Anakin. He was also hit by the force lighting of the strongest Sith, Darth Sidious.
This meant that it would be harder for him to try and compose himself because he was badly hurt, even before he fell. Mace Windu, being a master of the Vaapad could easily survive the fall had he not been seriously injured.
However, he was. If he survived, retrieving the lightsaber might not have been his first priority. If not, he must have lost consciousness and couldn’t get to his lightsaber. Darth Sidious also stained his reputation so staying out of the public’s eye was another challenge.
Another is that anything could have happened when the lightsaber reached the ground. Anyone could have kept it. The only hope we have about Mace Windu surviving and him still having his lightsaber was that both his death and the lightsaber sold to the Sano Sauro were never officially confirmed to be so.
His body was never found and the authenticity of the lightsaber sold, was questionable.
BONUS: Samuel Jackson’s Request for a Purple Lightsaber
This is perhaps the real reason why Mace Windu got a purple lightsaber. Samuel Jackson simply wanted to be able to easily identify himself from all the other Jedis with blue and green lightsabers during the Petranaki Arena Battle scene.
So, although he was told that lightsabers only come in blue, green and red, he asked George Lucas if he could get a purple colored one. At first, his request was denied. But after some time, George actually considered his offer and the purple lightsaber was shown to him.
Samuel Jackson actually had a good idea. More than for his own interest of being able to easily identify himself from the rest of the lightsaber wielding crowd, he still was the second best Jedi Master second only to Yoda.
It was only fitting that he had an intriguing backstory and a unique weapon to also further enrich the lore of Star Wars. If anything, we should be thankful to Samuel Jackson because if it weren’t for his idea, imagine just how different Mace Windu would have been.
He shared his request to George Lucas during an interview on “The Graham Norton Show”. Again, although the reason was hilarious, we ended up having the Mace Windu that we all love.
What Do You Think of Mace Windu’s Purple Lightsaber?
After knowing everything we shared to you about the rarest lightsaber of the Jedi Council, what do you think about Windu’s Purple Lightsaber?
In our opinion, being one of the strongest Jedi Masters, he definitely deserved to wield the lightsaber that he had. Remember, lightsabers are an extension of its user. Mace Windu, being able to embrace the darkness without falling for it is only fitting for the purple crystal that signified the blend of the light and the dark side of the force.
Did you already know about Mace Windu’s unique abilities and unique lightsaber? Regardless, we hope you learned something new. Share this with your friends so they may also know of Mace Windu’s story. Oh, and… may the force be with you!