Star Wars' Rarest Lightsaber Color

Whether one embraces the light or dark side of the Force, odds are that along their journey to immense power, they'll pick up a lightsaber. These handheld beams of plasma energy are used by Jedi and Sith alike throughout "Star Wars" canon, each side wielding them with deadly precision on the battlefield. In fact, they're so dangerous that only a handful of characters have survived lightsaber wounds. Aside from their effectiveness in combat, the weapons allow for a degree of customization. Each Jedi and Sith crafts their own hilt, and the kyber crystal within allows for a range of blade color options.

"Star Wars" is full of lightsaber colors, each with important meanings behind them. Blue, green, and red are the most common, with some of the less frequently-seen shades including purple and yellow. Of course, there's one color that's rarer than all others: black. In the current "Star Wars" canon, there's only one black lightsaber in existence, which has appropriately been dubbed the Darksaber (not to be confused with the original Darksaber many fans don't know about). Created by Tarre Vizsla — the first Mandalorian Jedi in galactic history — over 1,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, the Darksaber resembles a traditional sword with a lightsaber twist. The handle is thin and relatively flat, with the blade-shaped beam being black with a crackling white outline.

Despite the narrative prominence of the Darksaber in the "Star Wars" timeline and its unique look, many fans of the franchise aren't too keen on it. 

The Darksaber has appeared in several places in "Star Wars" canon so far. Pre Vizsla (Jon Favreau) uses it throughout "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," as does Maul (Sam Witwer). Sabine Wren (Tiya Sircar) finds it on "Star Wars Rebels," handing it off to Bo-Katan Kryze. Down the line, she loses it to Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who later loses it to Din Djarin before it again returns to Bo-Katan on "The Mandalorian." Even though numerous franchise greats have held it, it has become a mythical artifact within Mandalorian culture, and it looks unique, not all "Star Wars" fans dig the saga's only black-bladed lightsaber.

In 2019, Redditor u/Thebatman1104 created a thread asking the "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" community about their interest in a black lightsaber blade customization option for the game. They noted that "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed" included such an option for Starkiller (Witwer), prompting multiple "Star Wars" fans to express their dislike of black lightsaber blades and the Darksaber. "It's one of those ideas you have as a kid, 'Well I have a black lightsaber!' that's just lame when it's actually a thing. I'm looking at you Darksaber," commented u/TheGreatBatsby. Meanwhile, a now-deleted comment and others referred to black lightsaber blades as "edgy," with u/Scharmberg adding that they're not a fan because it "doesn't feel like a light saber." Another fan on another thread bluntly said, "To me, it felt like fanfiction."

Evidently, the Darksaber isn't for everyone. In any case, it stands to reason it won't disappear from the "Star Wars" spotlight anytime soon, it's fair to assume more black-bladed lightsabers won't emerge in the coming years — thanks to the Darksaber's extreme rarity.