Starkiller's Lightsaber: Galen Marek, His Clone and the Crystals
The Starkiller lightsaber belongs to The Force Unleashed games, which are Legends, not canon. Galen Marek, codenamed Starkiller, started with a red saber, then used Rahm Kota's hilt with a blue crystal, while his clone carried two red sabers. This reference sorts the sabers, crystals and fates.
Short answer
The Starkiller lightsaber belongs to The Force Unleashed games, which are Legends, not canon. Galen Marek, codenamed Starkiller, started with a red saber, then used Rahm Kota's hilt with a blue crystal, while his clone carried two red sabers. This reference sorts the sabers, crystals and fates.
On this page10 sections
The Starkiller lightsaber is not one weapon. Galen Marek, the secret apprentice of Darth Vader codenamed Starkiller, used a red saber of his own, then Rahm Kota’s hilt with a blue crystal. His clone, a different character in The Force Unleashed II, carried two red sabers that later turned blue [1][2][3][4]. All of this is Legends, the stories Star Wars treats as non-canon since 2014 [6]. This page keeps the character, the clone and each saber apart, and says which parts only exist in some versions of the story.
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Last checked: 2026-11-11.
Quick answers
- Status: Legends, from the video games The Force Unleashed (2008) and The Force Unleashed II (2010) [1][5][6].
- Galen Marek’s first saber: red blade, synthetic crystal, skeletal hilt with an exposed crystal chamber [2].
- Second saber: Rahm Kota’s heavy hilt, green at first, then aqua blue with Marek’s father’s crystal [3].
- The clone: two red sabers on transparent hilts, changed to blue with Jedi crystals from Kota [4].
- Fate: depends on the version, see the section on the novelization [2][3][4].
Canon or Legends
Wookieepedia defines Legends as the licensed Star Wars stories made before April 25, 2014, except the Clone Wars series [6]. Both Force Unleashed games came out before that date. The first was released in September 2008 and the sequel in October 2010 [5]. The wiki pages for Marek’s sabers carry the note that they are based on Legends information, and one fan sword retailer’s profile of the character opens by saying the story is not in canon [2][3][4][7].
Legends is not the same as made up. It is official Lucasfilm material that the current canon no longer includes. On this site Legends facts are labelled as Legends and canon facts as canon. The Starkiller sabers are only on the Legends side. Canon sabers by film and show are listed on every lightsaber by film, and how crystals work in canon is on kyber crystals.
The handbook card for the character lists the color as depending on the player, the type as single, and the source as Legends [8]. It was marked not verified, and its text came from memory without an opened source [8]. The wiki pages say more, and one thing the card gets wrong is the idea of one saber. There are four, across two characters.
Who Starkiller is
Galen Marek was born on Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, to two Jedi Knights, Kento and Mallie Marek [1]. Darth Vader killed Kento in a duel, found the boy and raised him as a secret apprentice. He was given the codename Starkiller [1]. Wookieepedia says he died on the Death Star in 2 BBY [1]. BBY means before the Battle of Yavin, the calendar Star Wars stories use.
The Force Unleashed II has a second Starkiller, a clone of Marek made on Kamino and listed on its own page as Subject 1138 [4]. Many fan pages treat the two as one person. Mixing them up is the main way a Starkiller saber page goes wrong, and one guide I read does it [7].
The Starkiller lightsaber Galen Marek built first
The first saber is a red-bladed Sith weapon. Wookieepedia says it was based on Vader’s design, with an emitter shroud and a mostly solid casing, but Marek made it more skeletal. It has an exposed crystal chamber and no separate handgrip, and the bare metal is tarnished [2]. The blade used synthetic red crystals supplied by Vader [2].
The article places its creation sometime between 18 BBY and 3 BBY [2]. Marek also practised by telekinetically taking it apart and rebuilding it, and as a child he once had PROXY chain him up until he could rebuild it with the Force, which he failed to do [2]. He used the saber against Rahm Kota above Nar Shaddaa, against Kazdan Paratus on Raxus Prime and against Shaak Ti on Felucia [2]. It is a red single blade, so the red lightsaber page covers the color story.
Rahm Kota’s lightsaber and the blue crystal
The second saber is not Marek’s own. It belonged to the Jedi Master Rahm Kota, who built it, and Vader had Marek bring it back as proof of a kill [3]. Wookieepedia describes a heavy-duty cylindrical hilt with a fabric wrapping for a grip and a green blade, scratched and pitted by heavy use [3]. The wrapping resembles the handle of a katana, which fits Kota’s ronin look [3].
Vader later gave the saber to Marek to replace his own [3]. Marek was uneasy about the green blade and about whose it really was. He swapped Kota’s green crystal for his father’s blue crystal, recovered on Kashyyyk, and decided that made the saber his [3]. The blade became aqua blue, and Wookieepedia says it first saw use on his second mission to Raxus Prime [3]. For the stories behind blue crystals, see the blue lightsaber page, and the green lightsaber page for Kota’s original blade color.
One saber, or lost and replaced
Which saber Marek carries depends on the version. The loss of his red saber and his switch to Kota’s saber exists only in the novelization of The Force Unleashed [2][3]. In the game versions and the graphic novel, he keeps his original saber, and it has a blue blade [2][3]. The games also let the player swap the hilt and crystals for ones found during play [2].
Wookieepedia says the novelization is generally taken as the last word, because the game versions disagree on many plot points [2][3]. So in the Legends timeline, the red saber is lost when Vader throws Marek into space on the Emperor’s orders, and Kota’s hilt replaces it [2][3]. At the end of the story, after Marek dies, Vader destroys that saber [3].
Starkiller’s dual lightsabers in The Force Unleashed II
The clone is the one with two sabers. Vader gave Subject 1138 a pair of single-blade Sith sabers on Kamino in 1 BBY [4]. They had synthetic red crystals and transparent hilts that show the blade’s energy inside. The hilts had black plates, a red activator button on a silver ring and a slanted emitter guard [4]. The design is a modified version of the stock sabers given to earlier failed clones [4].
The clone was programmed with Marek’s memories and fighting habits, including the Form V reverse grip, Forms IV and VI and the dual-wield Jar’Kai technique [4]. Wookieepedia notes that the clone saw both strengths and weaknesses in two blades, since more attacks mean less strength per strike [4]. For other two-blade weapons, the double-bladed lightsaber page is the place to look.
The color changes too. On Cato Neimoidia, Kota gave the clone two relics of the Clone Wars, and the clone installed them in place of the synthetic crystals, turning the blades blue [4]. That echoes the original’s blue crystal, though the source is different [3][4]. Both sabers are destroyed in the duel with Vader in the novelization, while the game and graphic novel keep them intact at the end of the fight [4].
Lord Starkiller
Lord Starkiller is the title of the dark side version of Marek in the game’s non-canon alternate ending. In that ending he kills Vader and becomes Palpatine’s apprentice [2]. The Ultimate Sith Edition of the first game adds bonus missions that continue this ending, and in one he skewers Vader with two lightsabers [5].
Wookieepedia says the character shows his old saber on his belt in that edition, along with the sabers of Vader, Kota, Darth Maul and the top of Paratus’s saber pike, and that he has switched to a new saber [2]. I did not check any replica’s design or price this session. If you want one, read the lightsaber replica guide first. A different unusual red design is covered on the crossguard lightsaber page.
| Saber | Blade | Crystal | Fate in the novelization | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marek’s first saber | Red, blue in the games | Synthetic | Lost in space | [2] |
| Kota’s saber, Marek’s | Green, then aqua blue | Father’s crystal from Kashyyyk | Destroyed by Vader | [3] |
| Clone’s two sabers | Red, then blue | Synthetic, then Jedi crystals | Shatter in the duel with Vader | [4] |
How this differs from the handbook and fan guides
The handbook card says the sabers vary by game version and the player’s choice [8]. That is true for the first game, where the player can change parts, but it hides that the novelization gives a definite red, then blue path [2][3][8]. The card also does not separate the clone’s sabers from Marek’s [8].
The fan guide on Theory Sabers is long and covers the sabers in prose, but it is a retailer page and states some lore without sources [7]. Use the wiki articles and this page’s list of sources for the details.
Sources
- Wookieepedia, Galen Marek, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galen_Marek (read through the public API, accessed 2026-11-11)
- Wookieepedia, Galen Marek’s lightsaber, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galen_Marek%27s_lightsaber (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Wookieepedia, Rahm Kota’s lightsaber, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Rahm_Kota%27s_lightsaber (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Wookieepedia, Starkiller’s lightsabers, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Starkiller%27s_lightsabers (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Wookieepedia, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Force_Unleashed (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Wookieepedia, Star Wars Legends, https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Legends (accessed 2026-11-11)
- Theory Sabers, Galen Marek’s Journey: From Vader’s Shadow to Rebel Martyr, https://www.theorysabers.com/article/starkiller-guide (retailer page, accessed 2026-11-11)
- Handbook card handbook/sabers/starkiller-variable.md (marked not verified in its header)
FAQ
What color is Starkiller’s lightsaber?
Red at first, with synthetic crystals [2]. In the games it turns blue when the player swaps crystals, and in the novelization Marek installs his father’s blue crystal in Kota’s hilt [2][3].
Is Starkiller canon?
No. The Force Unleashed story is Legends [5][6]. The sabers have Legends articles only [2][3][4].
Did Starkiller use two lightsabers?
Galen Marek used one at a time. His clone, Subject 1138, used two in The Force Unleashed II [2][4].
What happened to Starkiller’s lightsaber?
In the novelization, Marek’s red saber is lost in space, Kota’s hilt replaces it, and Vader destroys that later [2][3]. The clone’s pair shatters in a duel with Vader, though the game keeps them intact [4].
Who is Lord Starkiller?
The dark side version of Galen Marek in the alternate ending, serving Palpatine [2][5].
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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