A lightsaber emitting a yellow blade was wielded by Luke Skywalker after he came across it inside a Jedi outpost located on Tempes. In contrast to other lightsaber pikes, this particular lightsaber featured only one blade because Luke discovered it in a damaged state and subsequently repaired it, converting it into a single-bladed variant.
During the time of the High Republic Era, the Jedi Order built an outpost on Tempes. Although it was later deserted, several Jedi artifacts remained, including a Jedi Temple Guard armor and a broken lightsaber pike that was displayed on a platform. Shortly after the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Padawan and also a Commander within the Alliance to Restore the Republic, lost his father's lightsaber during a duel against his father, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, on Bespin. Skywalker journeyed to the Tempes outpost to obtain a replacement lightsaber after receiving directions from the partially trained Padawan Verla.
Upon entering the abandoned outpost, Skywalker spotted the lightsaber and took it for himself. He was immediately attacked by the spectral form of The Grand Inquisitor, who had been bound to the ruins for all time by Darth Vader to act as a trap for unsuspecting visitors. Skywalker used the weapon to defend himself against The Grand Inquisitor's lightsaber. Despite the Inquisitor's initial advantage, the aspiring Jedi defeated him by severing his hand and slashing him across the chest. Subsequently, Skywalker went back to the Fourth Division of the Alliance Fleet, where he showed his new lightsaber to his comrades on board an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate.
Later on, the Fourth and Seventh Divisions engaged an Imperial forces fleet above Elessia. During this battle, Skywalker piloted his personal T-65B X-wing starfighter until he was informed that Princess Leia Organa's frigate had been infiltrated. After eliminating an Imperial fighter wing, Skywalker boarded Organa's frigate to help repel the Imperial forces. Using his lightsaber, Skywalker cut through a group of stormtroopers and entered the engine room, where Imperial Commander Ellian Zahra was confronting Organa. Skywalker told her to surrender, but Zahra escaped after a brief fight with the Jedi.
Sometime after Operation Starlight began, Skywalker practiced with the lightsaber on an Alliance starship in deep space. He trained against several Marksman-H training remote droids, blocking their laser blasts and destroying them with his saber, until C-3PO and R2-D2 interrupted him. Shortly after this, Skywalker traveled to the moon Nar Shaddaa along with the two droids mentioned previously, as well as Chewbacca, to look into rumors that Boba Fett, the bounty hunter, had been seen there. Fett had captured Skywalker's friend Captain Han Solo.
Soon after beginning their investigation, Skywalker and his companions were confronted by a group of armed thugs who were also searching for Fett. Skywalker ignited his lightsaber to scare the thugs, but they didn't believe he was a real Jedi and started shooting. The young Jedi used his weapon to deflect the incoming blaster fire, allowing him and his team to escape safely. They then left the moon with nothing.
After returning to the Alliance, Skywalker joined in an attack on the Imperial Unity Day parade on Bar'leth, which was one of the Rebels' first major operations since the Battle of Hoth. Organa and the rest of the Alliance hoped that it would show people that they still existed and could still fight back against the Empire, and that they could do so without harming civilians. Later, Skywalker participated in a toast to the Rebel Alliance and was then approached by Evaan Verlaine, who asked him to demonstrate some of his "magic" because it made them feel like they couldn't lose and that they had the light on their side. He was hesitant because it made him feel like a show-off, but he agreed and ignited his yellow lightsaber. Verlaine called it magic while many watched in awe.
After failing to acquire a Nihil strikeship at an auction on Spira, Skywalker, Leia Organa, Amilyn Holdo, Lando Calrissian, and Chewbacca attacked Imperial forces guarding the ship to recover its Path engine. Skywalker's lightsaber identified him as a Jedi, which made him a target and created a diversion for the others. Holdo then told Skywalker to cut through the hull of the ship, which he did.
Skywalker's lightsaber was later damaged during a fight with Killdroids, along with his right arm, which was crushed by the sentry droid. Skywalker repaired his arm and began searching for a new kyber crystal. While reading a sacred Jedi text about kyber crystals, Skywalker told R2-D2 that the crystal had cracked when it was damaged, which caused the lightsaber to barely function, to cut out at the worst times, and to feel unstable for a long time.
By the time of Operation Yellow Moon, Skywalker was no longer using a lightsaber. In 4 ABY, Skywalker constructed a new green-bladed lightsaber that he started using.
Years later, Skywalker, Ben Solo, and Lor San Tekka traveled to a Jedi outpost on Elphrona. There, Skywalker mentioned to Solo that he had ventured into a similar temple in search of a lightsaber and had fallen into a trap.
Luke Skywalker's yellow lightsaber made its first appearance in the sixth issue of the comic book series Star Wars, which was written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Jesús Saiz, and published by Marvel Comics on September 16, 2020. In the original printing of the thirteenth issue, it was mistakenly stated that Skywalker's lightsaber originated from Elphrona instead of Tempes.