Star Wars: The real reason dark side lightsabers are red

Turns out, the reasoning behind it all is just a tad more complicated than 'evil = red'

Look, we all know the real reason the lightsabers are coloured the way they are in Star Wars: bad people get red lightsabers, and good people get blue or green - or purple if you're Samuel L. Jackson.

That was never going to satiate true Star Wars enthusiasts, though; not when this cinematic universe has expanded to a cult-like status of dedication, spawning entire studies of the galaxy's many histories and cultures.

Enter one of the many spin-off novels; this one specifically focusing on the popular Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels character Ahsoka Tano, simply titled Ahsoka and penned by E.K. Johnston.

We already know that lightsabers are created from the rare, force-attuned Kyber crystals, which are rumoured to play in important part in the plot of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story due to their usage in the building of the Death Star's superweapon; with previous explanations suggesting the red colour of dark side lightsabers came from artificial rather than naturally occurring kyber crystals.

However, the Ahsoka novel (via Screenrant) elaborates that the Kyber crystals choose Force users and present themselves especially to Jedis; those who sway to the dark side, however, cannot establish the same connection to the crystals, with their only source of obtaining them being either through stealing or plundering them from their enemies.

Having acquired a crystal, a Sith must then bend the crystal to their will in order to create a new lightsaber; producing a "bleeding" effect which causes the lightsaber to turn red.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits UK cinemas 16 December.