Kylo Ren's lightsaber

The lightsaber used by Ben Solo during his time as a Jedi emitted a blue plasma blade. Similar to all Jedi lightsabers, Solo's weapon was powered by a kyber crystal. Additionally, it included a diatium power cell within the grip to provide a secondary power source. The blade was activated using a sliding switch situated near the top of the hilt.

As Kylo Ren, the embodiment of Ben Solo's dark side persona, he modified his lightsaber to reflect his allegiance to the dark side as a dark Force-user. This transformation converted his Jedi weapon into a Sith lightsaber with a red blade. Further modifications included the addition of quillon emitters, altering its original standard hilt design into a crossguard lightsaber.

The crossguard design was inspired by ancient weapons, reminiscent of the time of Darth Atrius, a Sith Lord known for wielding a pair of crossguard lightsabers. It also evoked memories of the Great Scourge of Malachor, which occurred millennia before the New Republic Era. Despite its antiquated aesthetic, Ren's lightsaber incorporated modern components. Although its rough construction and unstable nature might suggest a lack of expertise in building crossguard lightsabers, Ren was actually capable of repairing it. However, he preferred its volatile and unpredictable characteristics. Furthermore, the partially exposed internal mechanisms allowed for easy maintenance and modifications.

The lightsaber's redesign was a direct consequence of the bleeding process, which damaged its kyber crystal, rendering it dangerously flawed and unstable. The lateral vents were added to prevent the cracked crystal from overloading. The focusing crystal activators divided the lightsaber's red-yellow plasma stream into three distinct channels, forming the quillons that emerged upon the ignition of the main blade. The lateral vents, from which the quillons extended, diverted the excess heat generated by the crystal to the sides of the hilt, giving the crossguard lightsaber its distinctive unstable and serrated appearance. The hilt of Ren's lightsaber also exhibited a black, burned appearance, a result of its initial activation without the vents to compensate for the damaged kyber crystal's unstable power. In contrast to typical lightsabers, this weapon emitted an unusual sound frequency, characterized by crackles and sputters within the ignition hiss. Ultimately, Ren's crossguard lightsaber reflected his raw and untamed power in the Force, while also symbolizing his internal conflict and struggle to suppress the light side of the Force that still resided within him.

Ben Solo commenced his Jedi training in 15 ABY under the guidance of his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Sometime between 15 ABY and 19 ABY, Padawan Solo constructed his own lightsaber, adhering to the tradition of the Jedi Order that Skywalker aimed to reestablish following the Great Jedi Purge.

Having inherited his connection to the Force through the bloodline of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, Solo quickly became the "prize student" at his uncle's Jedi temple. He surpassed the combined strength of his fellow apprentices, despite Skywalker's insistence on their equality in the ways of the Force. Voe, another Jedi apprentice, aspired to rival Solo but could never match his abilities in lightsaber combat or Force power, consistently losing to him in mock lightsaber duels.

In addition to his training, Solo used his lightsaber for protection while accompanying his master on travels throughout the galaxy in search of lost artifacts of the Jedi Order. In 19 ABY, Solo and Skywalker encountered the Knights of Ren at an abandoned Jedi outpost on Elphrona, dating back to the High Republic Era. Skywalker engaged the Knights in battle, protecting his nephew and their companion, Lor San Tekka, from harm. Solo ignited his own lightsaber, ready to join the fight, but the Knights ultimately retreated after failing to defeat Skywalker.

On the night of the destruction of Skywalker's Jedi temple, in 28 ABY, Solo was asleep in his hut, with his lightsaber placed on a table next to his bed alongside his calligraphy set. Sensing the presence of the dark side within his nephew, Skywalker used the Force to probe Solo's mind, experiencing premonitions of a future where Solo would usher in an era of death and destruction on a galactic scale. Believing that Supreme Leader Snoke had successfully turned Solo away from the light side, Skywalker, fearing the loss of everything he held dear, instinctively ignited his green-bladed lightsaber. However, he realized he could not bring himself to kill the son of his twin sister, Princess Leia Organa. Nevertheless, Solo perceived the sight of the ignited lightsaber as an unforgivable betrayal, confirming his worst fears about his family.

Feeling his life was threatened, Solo used telekinesis to summon his lightsaber and attacked his uncle in self-defense. Skywalker used his own lightsaber to parry Solo's attack. Aware of Skywalker's superior Force abilities, Solo used his powers to collapse the cabin, desperately trying to end the fight before Skywalker could overpower him. Solo left his master for dead beneath the ruins of the dormitory, although Skywalker was merely unconscious. Consumed by emotion, Solo brandished his ignited lightsaber in despair, crying out in confusion as to why Skywalker had attempted to kill him. A powerful storm then formed above the temple, destroying it and killing the other students.

As the temple burned, Jedi apprentices Voe, Tai, and Hennix returned from an off-world mission and confronted Solo, who revealed his intention to abandon the Jedi Order following the temple's destruction. Although the three Padawans were armed with lightsabers, Solo kept his weapon clipped to his belt and instead used his Force powers to fend off his opponents. Initially, Solo acted with restraint, wishing to retreat to his other mentor, Snoke, without harming the apprentices he had befriended during their time with Skywalker. However, the three Padawans relentlessly pursued Solo, holding him responsible for their master's death.

None of the surviving Padawans were killed by Solo's lightsaber blade directly. While Solo had used his Jedi weapon to defend himself against the Padawans on Elphrona, Hennix was killed by his own lightsaber after throwing it at Solo, who deflected it while trying to save Voe. Voe's lightsaber was knocked from her hand and broke on the rocks below, forcing her to use Hennix's lightsaber. Tai was killed on the Minemoon of Mimban by Ren. Enraged by his friend's death, Solo wielded Tai's lightsaber alongside his own to kill and ultimately replace the leader of the Knights of Ren. Of the three apprentices who pursued Solo, Voe was the only one he personally killed, using Ren's lightsaber to end her life. Having abandoned the Jedi path, Solo joined the remaining Knights of Ren as their new leader. Renaming himself "Kylo Ren," the fallen Jedi embraced his new identity as the "Jedi Killer," taking on the roles of master of the Knights of Ren, warlord of the First Order, and dark apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke.

Kylo Ren, though not a Sith Lord, adhered to certain traditions of the Sith Order as a convert to the dark side, including the sacrificial act of corrupting a kyber crystal. Ren selected the crystal from his own lightsaber for this process. In contrast, his grandfather, Darth Vader (the Sith persona of Anakin Skywalker), bled the crystal from a lightsaber he claimed from Jedi Master Kirak Infil'a. While the color of Ren's crystal changed from blue to crimson, the process cracked it, causing his lightsaber to malfunction upon its first ignition.

Despite the damage, the kyber crystal was salvageable. However, due to the dangerous amount of power it generated, Ren modified his lightsaber's hilt by adding quillon vents to stabilize the crystal's energy. This resulted in a new crimson-bladed crossguard lightsaber, which symbolized his power and his internal conflict between the dark side and the light. Unbeknownst to Ren, his true mentor in the ways of the dark side was his grandfather's Sith Master, the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, who had been resurrected on the Sith world of Exegol in the Unknown Regions. Snoke was merely a Strand-Cast serving as Sidious' proxy in both ruling the First Order and training Ren.

Through Snoke's training, Ren learned to channel his fears into focused rage, drawing power from the Force through his anger, but he remained unable to control his emotions. At one point, Snoke took Ren to the planet Dagobah, where Luke Skywalker had been trained by Grand Master Yoda. At his master's urging, Ren entered the Cave of Evil, just as Skywalker had done before him. Similar to Skywalker's encounter with a vision of his father, Darth Vader, Ren faced an apparition of his uncle while under the cave's influence. Consumed by hatred for the mentor he believed had betrayed him, Ren battled the apparition of Skywalker in a lightsaber duel. As they fought, Ren heard Snoke's voice in his mind, reinforcing the belief that Skywalker had intended to murder him in his sleep.

Although Ren's anger fueled him to strike down the vision of Skywalker, the forms of Han Solo and Leia Organa manifested through the Force, urging their son to reject the dark side. Rejecting his former identity as Ben Solo, Ren resolved to pass his trial by cutting down his parents as he had his uncle, damaging the cave's old gnarltree with his lightsaber in the process. However, despite his willingness to sever his connection to his family, the vision of his mother and father remained intact, frustrating Ren at his inability to destroy them. Failing to destroy the apparitions with his lightsaber, Ren unleashed his raw power on the cave itself, destroying the ancient grotto and impressing Snoke.

Ren wielded his lightsaber on numerous occasions as a de facto leader of the First Order Army, despite not holding an official rank in the First Order military. Serving as the First Order's champion, Ren led his master's armies against the enemies of the First Order, leaving a trail of destruction from Tehar to Jakku. Eila, a child from Tehar, witnessed the massacre of her village by Ren and his soldiers. She remembered the dark warrior not only by his black attire, but also by his lightsaber, which reminded her of the stories about the legendary Jedi Knights. During the battle against the Benathy, Ren invaded Benath with an army of First Order stormtroopers. Many of the Benathy were cut down by Ren's lightsaber, including King Kristoff, while the remaining forces surrendered to the First Order's champion after he personally killed the Zillo Beast they worshipped as a god.

Beyond massacring villages and conquering planets for the First Order, Ren was known throughout the First Order's ranks for his volatile temperament, which often led him to destroy his surroundings with his lightsaber. On one occasion, he considered killing his rival, General Armitage Hux, for mocking his helmet as an affectation intended to imitate Darth Vader's mask and conceal his Rebel parentage. Ren believed that the cause of Hux's death would likely remain undiscovered, as they were stranded on an isolated world at the time. However, Hux warned Ren that Snoke would uncover the truth and punish him accordingly, forcing the dark apprentice to deactivate his lightsaber.

During the final days of the Cold War, Ren oversaw the First Order's attack on Tuanul, a village situated on the desert world of Jakku, in 34 ABY. During the raid, Ren's troopers captured Lor San Tekka, who refused to aid the fallen Jedi in his search for Luke Skywalker, despite Ren's threats. Consequently, the aged explorer was killed by Ren's lightsaber, and the rest of the villagers were massacred on his orders. Ren's actions on Jakku contributed to FN-2187's decision to commit desertion and treason against the First Order, having witnessed firsthand his comrades' willingness to obey orders such as those given by Ren and Captain Phasma.

Following FN-2187's departure from the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer, Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka delivered information to Ren. He explained that the renegade stormtrooper's actions had further impeded their progress in acquiring the missing piece of the Skywalker map. Upon hearing this, Ren, known for his volatile temperament, unleashed his rage by obliterating a computer terminal with his lightsaber.

After the [Hosnian Cataclysm](/article/hosnian_cataclysm], which resulted in the destruction of the New Republic's capital on Hosnian Prime, the First Order pinpointed the map's location to Takodana. During the Battle of Takodana, Ren encountered Rey, a scavenger hailing from Jakku, while a stormtrooper division searched for the map held by the Resistance droid BB-8. Rey, possessing an untapped connection to the Force, had a vision of Ren wielding his lightsaber upon discovering the lost Skywalker lightsaber, a family relic that once belonged to his grandfather and uncle. Rey discharged her blaster pistol—an NN-14 model gifted to her by Ren's father, Han Solo—but Ren deflected the blaster bolts with his lightsaber before using the Force to restrain her. Ren then transported Rey to Starkiller Base for interrogation, but she managed to escape her confinement, prompting Ren to destroy an interrogation chair in another fit of anger.

As Ren searched the facility for Rey, his father confronted him during the Battle of Starkiller Base. Han Solo implored his son to abandon Snoke's teachings and return to his family, who yearned for his return. Although Ren struggled to maintain his commitment to the dark side, his conscience leaned toward the light. The light side of the Force almost led Ren to relinquish his lightsaber to Solo. However, the sight of his former Jedi weapon, now corrupted into a tool of the dark side, reminded him of his transformation from Ben Solo to Kylo Ren. Rejecting weakness and the life he had left behind, Ren's doubt turned into resolve and a burning desire for power. Solidifying his decision, Ren turned his lightsaber against Solo, committing patricide.

Subsequently, Ren sustained injuries from a shot fired by Chewbacca's bowcaster, his surrogate uncle. Nevertheless, he pursued Rey into the forest of the Starkiller planet. Finn, the former stormtrooper known as FN-2187, defended Rey with Ren's grandfather's lightsaber. Despite Finn's training as a soldier, Ren was a master of lightsaber combat, resulting in Finn suffering severe injuries during their duel. Ren also battled Rey after she summoned the Skywalker lightsaber with the Force. Although he cornered Rey near a cliff as the planet crumbled, his unstable mental state and injuries hampered his fighting abilities. Furthermore, Rey successfully channeled the Force to disarm Ren.

In the aftermath of the Starkiller crisis, Ren persisted in using his crossguard lightsaber. Sensing Ren's inner turmoil over his patricide, Snoke criticized his apprentice for failing to live up to Darth Vader's legacy. During the Battle of Oetchi, Ren developed the capacity to communicate with Rey through a Force-bond that connected their minds, enabling them to perceive each other across space and time. Rey, having witnessed Han Solo's death at Ren's hand, confronted him about his actions on Starkiller Base. She later confronted him on his master's flagship, the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy, intending to redeem him. Instead, Ren led Rey to Snoke's throne room, where the Supreme Leader tortured the scavenger-turned-Jedi apprentice to extract the location of Luke Skywalker.

Initially, Rey resisted Snoke, attempting to assassinate him with Ren's lightsaber, using the Force to seize the dark warrior's weapon as he knelt before his master. However, Snoke telekinetically disarmed Rey and immobilized her with the Force. Retrieving his lightsaber, Ren misled Snoke into believing he would kill Rey, when his true intention was to assassinate Snoke. Distracted by his anticipation of Rey's demise, Snoke was killed when Ren used the Force to ignite the Skywalker lightsaber by his side, bisecting the Supreme Leader. Subsequently, Ren and Rey united against the Elite Praetorian Guard, wielding their lightsabers to defeat the Supreme Leader's bodyguards.

Having murdered his master, Ren assumed control of the First Order as the new Supreme Leader. Under his command, the First Order's forces deployed to Crait to obliterate the remaining members of the Resistance. Before Ren could secure a decisive victory in the First Order-Resistance War, Luke Skywalker appeared on the battlefield during the Battle of Crait. When the artillery of his All Terrain MegaCaliber Six walkers failed to eliminate Skywalker, Ren decided to engage his uncle in single combat, wielding his crossguard lightsaber while Skywalker wielded his original blade. The Jedi Master evaded all of Ren's attacks, and by the time Ren realized he was fighting a Force projection, the surviving members of the Resistance had escaped aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Believing the Galactic Empire had been too lenient in its policies against rebellion, Supreme Leader Ren initiated a crackdown on the First Order's enemies, including Resistance supporters and other elements considered subversive by the fascist neo-Imperialist regime. While overseeing the First Order's hunt for the Resistance and its conquest of the galaxy, Ren personally executed traitors with his lightsaber. When the Resistance passed through Fondor's star system, Ren decapitated a Fondor citizen as a warning that any contact with the First Order's enemies would not be tolerated.

The same fate befell the Resistance sympathizer Boolio. An Ovissian miner from the [Sinta Glacier Colony](/article/sinta_glacier_colony], Boolio was captured by the First Order for his Resistance ties. Brought before the Supreme Leader, Boolio's defiance only fueled Ren's desire to execute the alien, whose severed head was used to instill fear in the Supreme Council.

In addition to using his lightsaber for executions, the Supreme Leader wielded it in combat, fighting alongside his forces as he had under Snoke. While inspecting a world subjugated by the First Order, Ren's forces were attacked by local dissidents, prompting Ren to ignite his lightsaber and lead a counterattack. During the skirmish, Ren confronted a female insurgent. He deactivated his lightsaber, abandoning his intention to kill her in order to understand her motives.

In 35 ABY, while searching for his grandfather's Sith wayfinder on Mustafar, Ren led the extermination of the Alazmec of Winsit—a group of Sith cultists who worshiped Vader—for defying him. Ren located the wayfinder after cutting down the Alazmec colonists with his lightsaber. General Armitage Hux and Allegiant General Enric Pryde observed Ren's battle from a distance. Pryde admired Ren's fighting skills, a sentiment shared by Hux despite his secret opposition to Ren's rule.

Armed with his lightsaber, Ren entered the Sith Citadel upon arriving on Exegol with Vader's wayfinder. In the Citadel's depths, he confronted Darth Sidious, intending to eliminate all threats to his reign. He raised his blade to strike down the reborn Emperor's cloned body. However, Sidious persuaded Ren to lower his weapon by revealing his newly-built fleet, the Final Order, a force of Xyston-class Star Destroyers with planet destroying capabilities. Enticed by the Sith Eternal's forces and the opportunity to succeed Sidious as the new Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor, Ren rebuilt his mask and instructed the First Order Supreme Council to crack down on any world that defied their rule, seeing the power on Exegol as a sign that the First Order was going to become a true heir to the fallen Empire.

Rumors that led Ren to Sidious also inspired Rey and her Jedi allies to do the same. Their concurrent quests and Force-bond brought them to the ocean moon of Kef Bir in the Endor system. Kef Bir held the ruins of the second Death Star and the Emperor's wayfinder.

On Kef Bir, they engaged in a final confrontation, Ren with his lightsaber and Rey with the repaired Skywalker lightsaber. He gained the advantage, but as they fought, his dying mother Leia Organa reached out to him through the Force, distracting him and causing him to drop his lightsaber. Rey seized the opportunity, grabbing his weapon and impaling Ren. Sensing Organa's death, Rey healed his wound before departing. Standing alone on the battle station, Ren was overcome by a memory of his deceased father Han Solo, who urged him to change, as he had on Starkiller Base. Touched by the love of his parents and Rey's compassion, Kylo Ren ceased to exist and Ben Solo was reborn. No longer needing Ren's weapon, Solo threw the Sith lightsaber into Kef Bir's oceans.

Kylo Ren's lightsaber made its debut in Star Wars canon in the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Its introduction was widely publicized in the media, including appearances on The Colbert Report and @Midnight on Comedy Central. The lightsaber also inspired numerous fan art pieces after the film's first teaser trailer was released.

The original form of the lightsaber, as Ben Solo's weapon, was first shown in a flashback in the 2017 film Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the sequel to Episode VII. Although it resembled the weapon later used by Solo as Kylo Ren, its identity was not confirmed until the 2019 reference book Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo.

Lucasfilm's creative art manager, Phil Szostak, stated on Twitter that the lateral beams from Luke Skywalker's lightsaber in Tom Jung's 1977 posters for the original Star Wars inspired the crossguard design of Kylo Ren's lightsaber in The Force Awakens.