Mace Windu's Lightsaber: Appearances, Design and Fate
Mace Windu's lightsaber is a single purple blade on a straight electrum-plated hilt, carried from Geonosis through the Clone Wars until it fell from Palpatine's window. This reference covers the character, the film and series appearances, the hilt design, the one saber or two question, and canon against Legends.
Short answer
Mace Windu's lightsaber is a single purple blade on a straight electrum-plated hilt, carried from Geonosis through the Clone Wars until it fell from Palpatine's window. This reference covers the character, the film and series appearances, the hilt design, the one saber or two question, and canon against Legends.
On this page11 sections
Mace Windu’s lightsaber is a single purple blade powered by a kyber crystal, on a straight cylindrical hilt of electrum-plated alloy about 28 centimeters long [1]. In canon he carries it as a Jedi Master and Jedi General, and it is lost when it falls from the window of the Chancellor’s office on Coruscant [1]. This page is about the character, where the saber appears and how it is built. For why the blade is purple and who else has one, see the purple lightsaber page. A film by film list is on every lightsaber by film.
This is an informational reference. Star Wars and its characters belong to Lucasfilm and Disney, and this site shows no film stills or logos.
Last checked: 2026-11-09.
Quick answers
- Blade: purple, single [1].
- Hilt: straight, cylindrical, electrum-plated alloy, about 28 cm [1].
- First appearance of the saber: Attack of the Clones [1].
- Fate: lost with Windu’s severed hand when Anakin Skywalker cut it off, and it fell into the street below [1].
- Legends: same fate, with a different crystal and a different back story [2].
Who Mace Windu is
Mace Windu is a Human Jedi Master born on Haruun Kal in 72 BBY who dies on Coruscant in 19 BBY [3]. BBY means before the Battle of Yavin, the calendar Star Wars stories use. He sits on the Jedi High Council and serves as a Jedi General in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars [1][3].
Wookieepedia describes him as the Jedi Order’s greatest champion, and says his saber’s color warned opponents that such a fighter was ready [1]. Its canon biography is marked partly out of date, so details can shift [3].
Where the Mace Windu lightsaber appears
The table covers the live-action films and the animated shows. Wookieepedia’s full list also holds many comics, novels and games that this page does not attempt to cover [1][3].
| Title | What the saber does there | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Phantom Menace | Windu first appears on screen, but with a different saber design | [1][3] |
| Attack of the Clones | First appearance of this saber; he kills Jango Fett and leads the clone army on Geonosis | [1] |
| The Clone Wars film and series | Used in battles such as Ryloth and Malastare; the show has its own animated hilt | [1] |
| Tales of the Jedi, “Choices” | Shows the Attack of the Clones style hilt before The Phantom Menace | [1] |
| Revenge of the Sith | Duel with Darth Sidious; the saber is lost | [1][3] |
The Phantom Menace needs a note. Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Windu goes to rescue on Geonosis, has his own page: Obi-Wan Kenobi lightsaber. Wookieepedia says that in that film Windu is depicted with a different lightsaber, and that reference photos show several different designs for it [1]. The saber on this page is the one that debuts in the next film.
Other fights from the animated series are listed on the saber’s page. Windu uses it against the Jedi hunter Ochi of Bestoon on Malathon IX, and fights off pirates when he rescues Depa Billaba and Sar Labooda [1]. Those are story summaries from a fan wiki.
The hilt design
Wookieepedia gives the canon specifications as a cylindrical, straight hilt about 28 centimeters long, made of electrum-plated alloy, with a specially designed handgrip and a kyber crystal [1]. The electrum finish is described as a sign of Windu’s rank on the High Council [1]. These are in-universe fan wiki details, and I found no on-screen source that states them.
The handbook card for Windu (handbook/sabers/mace-windu-purple.md) calls it a simple hilt and says the details were not verified [4]. The wiki description is more specific, so treat the card as a placeholder.
If you want to build a hilt in this style, the lightsaber hilts guide explains the parts that make up a hilt, and the lightsaber colors page lists the blade options.
One saber or two
Wookieepedia says reference books often claim Windu built the Attack of the Clones saber later in life, after joining the Council [1]. Newer stories complicate that. The comic “The Weapon” shows him making it as a youngling, and Tales of the Jedi puts the same style of hilt in his hand before The Phantom Menace [1].
Pablo Hidalgo was asked whether this contradicts the older story. Wookieepedia reports his answer as there being no definitive one, with several sabers of the same design possible, and Windu remaking the design over his life [1]. The Star Wars Encyclopedia later confirmed Windu had at least two lightsabers [1]. The character page agrees that he built at least two, both purple [3].
How Windu built it in canon
In the canon account, a young Mace Windu struggled to assemble his saber until the architect droid Huyang told him the Force bound the pieces together through him [1]. He then finished the purple saber he would carry for many years [1].
On Oosalon his saber was dismantled when he was taken prisoner. He had let himself be captured to find the insurgents’ camp, then reassembled the pieces with the Force and fought his way out, cutting off the arm of one of the warlord’s followers, Kyossk [1].
What happened to Mace Windu’s lightsaber
In canon, Windu tries to arrest Chancellor Palpatine, who is secretly Darth Sidious [1]. After a fight in which three other Jedi die, Windu disarms the Sith Lord [1]. Sidious fires Force lightning, and Windu blocks it with the saber, which sends it back at its source [1].
Anakin Skywalker then cuts off Windu’s hand with his own weapon, which the Anakin Skywalker lightsaber page covers. The hand and the saber fall into the street [1]. Windu is killed by a second burst of lightning [1][3]. The canon page ends there, so nothing in it says who found the saber, if anyone [1].
Canon and Legends
Wookieepedia keeps two articles for the saber, one per continuity [1][2].
Legends tells a different origin. Windu was sent on his first solo mission to Hurikane, where natives gave him violet crystals. The Legends page names the crystal a Hurrikaine crystal [2]. He also made an earlier purple practice saber, and wielded a blue saber before the Clone Wars [2]. The Clone Wars blade is his second saber, finished before 22 BBY with an electrum finish for senior Council members [2].
The ending matches canon: the saber falls from the Chancellor’s window as Windu dies in 19 BBY [2]. The following year, Duros salvagers sell a broken saber, said to be his, to Senator Sano Sauro, who displays it in his office, but the claim is never verified [2].
| Field | Canon [1] | Legends [2] |
|---|---|---|
| Blade | Purple | Purple |
| Crystal | Kyber crystal | Hurrikaine crystal |
| Hilt | Straight, electrum-plated | Straight, metal with an electrum finish |
| Fate | Lost with the severed hand | Falls from the window |
| Later owner | None given | Possibly Senator Sano Sauro (unproven) |
The handbook entry and what is unverified
The handbook card says purple, single blade, canon, first appearance Attack of the Clones, and was marked verified on 2026-11-01 for the color and the first appearance only [4]. It did not check the film year, the hilt, the Clone Wars year or the claims about the actor’s request [4]. Today’s reading of Wookieepedia agrees on the color, the type and the first appearance, adds the hilt details, and shows that the Phantom Menace saber is different [1]. The card’s list of appearances (Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, The Clone Wars) holds, but misses The Phantom Menace [3][4].
Sources
- Wookieepedia, Mace Windu’s lightsaber (canon), https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mace_Windu%27s_lightsaber (read through the public API, accessed 2026-11-09)
- Wookieepedia, Mace Windu’s lightsaber (Legends), https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mace_Windu%27s_lightsaber/Legends (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Wookieepedia, Mace Windu, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mace_Windu (accessed 2026-11-09)
- Handbook card handbook/sabers/mace-windu-purple.md (verified 2026-11-01 per its header for color and first appearance only)
FAQ
What color is Mace Windu’s lightsaber?
Purple, in both canon and Legends [1][2]. The color story has its own page, purple lightsaber.
What happened to Mace Windu’s lightsaber?
It fell into the street from the Chancellor’s office window with Windu’s severed hand [1]. In Legends, a Duros sold a broken saber said to be his to a senator the next year, which is unproven [2].
Did Mace Windu have more than one lightsaber?
Yes, at least two, both purple in canon [1][3]. Legends adds an earlier blue saber and a purple practice saber [2].
Is Mace Windu’s lightsaber in The Phantom Menace?
He appears in the film, but with a different saber design than the one that debuts in Attack of the Clones [1].
Who else wields a purple lightsaber?
The purple lightsaber page lists the other owners and sorts them into canon and Legends.
Editorial team
Writes for Saber Forge Forum. Every guide is checked against the maker's specs and dated, so you know how fresh it is.
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