Luke's blue lightsaber, also referred to as the Skywalker lightsaber, is still one of the most iconic weapons in Star Wars. First appearing in Lucas' 1977 film that launched the franchise, the blue-bladed lightsaber was originally owned by Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker.

green plasma blade After losing his father's lightsaber on Cloud City, Luke Skywalker constructed a replacement with a green plasma blade, its hilt similar to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi's weapon.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's, Darth Vader's, and Luke's (well, Anakin's) sabers were all made from flash handles - Luke's and Obi-Wan's from an antique Graflex, and Vader's from an MPP Microflash.

The main reason for the change was that during the filming of Return of the Jedi, the crew realized that the blue saber did not look right during the battle with Jabba the Hutt. When shot in daylight, the blue would blend with the color of the sky, so George Lucas and his crew decided to make the change.

This weapon's design was based on schematics Luke found in his mentor's hut on Tatooine. While the final product remained largely faithful to these designs, Luke simplified the weapon considerably, as this was his first attempt at constructing a lightsaber.

Skywalker constructed his own lightsaber after losing his father's in a duel with the Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Luke carried his father's lightsaber when he confronted Vader on Cloud City, losing it when the Sith Lord chopped off his hand. The Skywalker lightsaber came into the possession of Maz Kanata, and called to the scavenger Rey.

Kyber crystals are an integral part of any lightsaber, producing the energy beam that defines them. But it's not as simple as slapping a crystal inside a hilt and getting a lightsaber out of it; there are many other pieces that make up lightsabers. Once a kyber crystal is obtained, it's time to construct the hilt.

Luke and Obi-Wan's weapons had blue blades while Darth Vader's had a red one, implying that the colors represented Jedi and Sith, respectively. Marvel's Star Wars comics, which filled in the gaps between films, stuck to this unspoken rule, with Vader's Sith apprentice, Kharys, using a red-bladed lightsaber.

Kyber crystals are an integral part of any lightsaber, producing the energy beam that defines them. But it's not as simple as slapping a crystal inside a hilt and getting a lightsaber out of it; there are many other pieces that make up lightsabers. Once a kyber crystal is obtained, it's time to construct the hilt.

The lightsaber is the weapon of a Jedi, an elegant weapon of a more civilized age. It can be used to cut through blast doors or enemies alike. Using the Force, a Jedi can predict and deflect incoming blaster bolts, and reflect them.

For the original Star Wars film, the film prop hilts were constructed by John Stears from old Graflex press camera flash battery packs and other pieces of hardware. The full-sized sword props were designed to appear ignited onscreen, by later creating an "in-camera" glowing effect in post-production.

First, there were only two lightsaber colors. Heroic Jedi used blue blades while those on the Dark Side used red. Then, after Luke Skywalker lost his lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back, he forged a new, verdant green lightsaber in Return of the Jedi.