When you’re looking into the diverse lore of Star Wars, you’ll quickly come across the concept of kyber crystals.
Kyber crystals, also called lightsaber crystals, are rare crystals that are attuned to the Force. They’re found in various places across the galaxy and are widely sought after for their power and value.
The Galaxy is a large place, and with kyber crystals growing in multiple locations, there are bound to be many different types!
To find out how many types there are isn’t as simple as a number or list of names, though.
Due to its history and its sheer size, Star Wars lore often conflicts with itself. This can lead to confusion and unclear answers.
With all that in mind, how do you sort out all the information?
How many kyber crystals are there in Star Wars?
Table of Contents
What Kyber Crystals Exist in Canon?
To find an answer to this question, a good place to start is Star Wars Canon.
Within the bounds of Canon, you’ll find a lot of familiar information, especially if you’re used to Star Wars movies.
Unless you’re diving deep into the lore of Star Wars, you’ll want to stick to the information that’s considered Canon.
But that brings up the question: What is Star Wars Canon, and why does it matter so much?
What is Star Wars Canon?
The entirety of Star Wars lore has been divided up into two distinct sections: Canon and Legends.
The content of all modern Star Wars media produced by Disney is considered Canon.
In reference to the media, canon means that it’s officially endorsed by the creators. This is as opposed to fan creations that don’t officially exist in the Star Wars universe.
Any Star Wars movie, book, toy, replica, you name it. If it’s produced by Disney, it’s Canon.
It’s important to define this separation because of how it affects kyber crystals.
The differences affect all aspects of kyber crystals: How they grow, what color they can be, how they’re created, and more.
What Colors Can Kyber Crystals Be in Canon?
Although Star Wars Canon is often seen as limiting to some, it offers many kyber crystal colors.
Since the color of a kyber crystal determines a lightsaber blade’s color, this means that there’s a diverse amount of options for lightsaber colors.
In fact, there are eleven main lightsaber colors that cover the entire rainbow (and more)!
These colors are White, Black, Magenta, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Indigo, and Purple.
There are also sub-sections to these colors, giving us Light blue, Red-yellow, and Yellow-green.
What are the Types of Kyber Crystals in Canon?
With the understanding of what Star Wars Canon is, we can take a look at the types of kyber crystals within it.
The quick answer to this question is that there are 23 varieties of kyber crystals in Star Wars Canon. This number alone doesn’t say much, so it helps to look at what the varieties are.
Many of these varieties are obscure or not used very often. To get an idea of the Canon varieties, we’ll look at some of the more important types.
Adegan Kyber Crystals
Adegan crystals are found in the Adega system which gives them their name. These crystals come in five varieties, the most notable are mephite crystals.
All adegan crystals had a unique property called force-reactivity.
This meant that a force-user could imbue the crystal with the force to make their lightsaber more powerful.
The power had a drawback, though. When the kyber crystal is imbued with the force, it gives off a faint signature that other force-users can detect.
Dantari Kyber Crystals
Although dantari crystals didn’t have any unique properties, the way they formed was often peculiar.
Most of the crystals formed in rocks like any other kyber crystal. But in rare cases, the crystals could be found in unhatched kinrath eggs.
The crystals’ popularity peaked during the time that a Jedi Temple existed on Dantooine. But after the fall of the Jedi Order, these crystals had less frequent use.
Ilum Kyber Crystals
The most sacred type of kyber crystal to the Jedi is also the most valuable: Ilum crystals.
These crystals formed on the planet Ilum where Padawans would go on a sacred journey to collect one called The Gathering.
Basic Ilum crystals don’t have any special properties, but they are worth more than any other kyber crystal due to their rarity.
Their value was further amplified when Ilum was desecrated by the First Order and then destroyed. Ilum then became a small star known as Solo.
Krayt Dragon Pearls
A unique type of kyber “crystal” is the pearls from krayt dragons.
These fearsome creatures live on Tatooine and are known for their long lives and deadly tendencies.
As a way to help their digestion, krayt dragons would often swallow large stones. Rarely, these stones would contain a kyber crystal.
Over time, the kyber crystal would be smoothed and refined within the stomach of the creature. This created a spherical mass called a krayt dragon pearl.
Due to the difficulty in slaying a krayt dragon, these pearls had immense value.
When one was used as the kyber crystal for a lightsaber, it would emit an unusually powerful and violent blade.
Can Kyber Crystals be Created?
You may have read that the Sith create the kyber crystals that they use. This is not true for Star Wars Canon.
Currently, there is no known way in Canon to make a synthetic kyber crystal. And although there are a couple of references to them in canon games and books, these were all casual references or mistakes with no basis.
Instead, the red crystals used by the Sith are created from typical kyber crystals. These crystals have to be converted because natural kyber crystals resist the dark side.
By concentrating and using the dark side of the force, kyber crystals can be “bled” and turned red.
What Kyber Crystals Exist in Legends
When you start from Star Wars Canon and go into the Legends lore, a whole galaxy of possibilities opens up.
The limitations that existed in Canon are rarely present which allows for all kinds of fascinating kyber crystals.
What Counts as Star Wars Legends?
Star Wars Legends is the category that all non-Canon content, old and new, is filed into. It contains all kinds of fan-made concepts and even lore that used to be canon!
The works within Legends often expand upon or extend the timeline of Star Wars Canon. It gives us a look into the distant past of the Galaxy and possible futures.
All the lore within is described as stories that could be true. In other words, Legends.
Which Kyber Crystals Exist in Legends?
Because of the looser rules that exist within Star Wars Legends, there are many more varieties of Kyber crystals.
In total, there are 70 recognized types in Legends.
Many of these are brought over from Canon and some are extensions of the Canon crystals. But the vast majority are completely new kyber crystals with exotic properties and lore.
Pontite Kyber Crystals
The Legends version of pontite crystals is an extension of the Canon adegan crystals.
Being a part of the adegan crystal family, pontite crystals were used extensively in the Jedi Order.
These crystals were the rarest adegan crystal and also the most powerful.
A lightsaber powered with a pontite crystal would give the wielder an advantage in a battle against a regular lightsaber.
Compressed Energy Crystals
By altering a kyber crystal, a force user can produce a compressed energy crystal.
Similar to all altered kyber crystals, compressed energy crystals produced an unstable blade. In particular, they created a blade that would pulse with power.
The compressed nature of the crystal affected the blade in another way too. The core of the lightsaber blade would be thinner, more compressed.
This allowed the user to be much more precise and agile with their lightsaber.
Like all altered kyber crystals, it had its downsides too.
Because of the unstable energy, the blade was susceptible to shorting out. This could be fatal if it happened at the wrong time.
Heart of the Guardian
Star Wars Legends is filled with many legendary and holy kyber crystals. One of these is the Heart of the Guardian.
Thought to be an ancient kyber crystal, the Heart of the Guardian held many superstitions within the Jedi Order.
One of the Order’s prophecies stated that the crystal would appear to them when they were at their darkest hour.
When used to power a lightsaber, the crystal created a swift and powerful blade.
The crystal also had the unique property of boosting the effectiveness of all other kyber crystals around it.
So, having this crystal on your side in a battle would increase your army’s overall power–not just yours.
Natural vs. Synthetic Kyber Crystals
One of the biggest differences between Star Wars Canon and Legends is the creation of synthetic kyber crystals.
In the current Canon, synthetic kyber crystals are not possible. This isn’t true for Legends!
Synth-crystals were created by recreating the temperature and pressure that created natural kyber crystals in special furnaces called geological compressors.
Given the Jedi Order’s virtual monopoly over natural kyber crystal mining, synth-crystals were primarily created by the Sith.
To do so, a Sith force-user would meditate and focus on the crystal while it was created. By funneling the dark side into the crystal, they created kyber crystals which were already attuned to the dark side.
What Kyber Crystals are at Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge?
Out of all the different kyber crystals in Canon, Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge can only have so many.
If you’re planning a trip, it’s important to know what they have ahead of time so you can be as satisfied with your choice as possible.
The most important thing to know is that kyber crystals in Galaxy’s Edge are sorted by color, not by their name or type.
How are Galaxy’s Edge Lightsaber Colors Determined?
When you’re exploring Galaxy’s Edge and ready to build your lightsaber, you’ll want to know which colors you can choose. The color of your lightsaber allows you to customize it and make it feel personal to you.
The color of the lightsaber you end up with is determined by the kyber crystal you choose at the beginning of the process.
The main lightsaber-building experience is done in Savi’s Workshop where you’ll select your kyber crystal and be walked through the process.
Here, you’ll have four kyber crystal colors to choose from: blue, green, red, and purple.
These aren’t the only colors you can get, though! By exploring Galaxy’s Edge you can find Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities.
At Dok-Ondar’s you’ll find a couple of extra colors in addition to the standard kyber crystals.
The two extra colors you can get are yellow and white. Both of these colors are significant in the Star Wars universe.
But that isn’t all! When you get a red kyber crystal, there’s a chance you could end up with something even more spectacular.
What is the Black/Obsidian Kyber Crystal?
The rarest of all the available kyber crystals in Galaxy’s Edge is the Obsidian crystal.
This kyber crystal is jet black and bears the appearance of obsidian. It is highly sought after among Star Wars enthusiasts.
Although the crystal is purely black, the blade it produces is still red. This may seem odd, but it lines up perfectly with the Star Wars Canon!
Conclusion
There are a vast number of kyber crystal types throughout the Star Wars universe.
Canon vs. Legends
Star Wars Canon contains everything officially licensed by Disney and includes all Star Wars movies, books, games, and toys they’ve made.
Star Wars Legends contains much of what used to be canon, along with fan-works and any new Star Wars content that Disney doesn’t create.
There are 17 varieties of kyber crystals in Canon. This number skyrockets to 70 when you consider the crystals within Legends.
One of the biggest differences between the two is the question of whether synthetic kyber crystals are possible.
In Canon, it isn’t possible to create kyber crystal in any way. They must be collected from a natural source.
Star Wars Legends bends those rules.
Synthetic kyber crystals can be created by using a geological compressor to recreate the conditions that grow kyber crystals. By having a force user–usually a Sith–meditate and focus on the crystal, it becomes imbued with the force.
Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge
The Galaxy’s Edge experience allows you to create and customize your lightsaber.
By using different kyber crystals you can change the color of your lightsaber blade and personalize it to your liking.
The kyber crystals are available in a variety of colors. These include red, purple, blue, green, yellow, and white.
You also have the rare chance of getting a black “obsidian” kyber crystal when you get a red crystal from Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities. These crystals are very rare and highly sought by collectors.