What Would Kyber Crystals be in the Real World?

Kyber Crystals are an integral part of Star Wars lore, being the very thing that powers the iconic lightsabers. One might ask, "What are they, exactly?" Naturally, they are fictional, but that will not stop me from trying to find a real-world comparison. With that out of the way, ignite your lightsabers, and let's get going.

However, in order to identify Kyber Crystals, we must go over what is known about them. Their most notable use is within a lightsaber, and it is known that the color of the crystal determines the color of the blade. Therefore, they have been implied to appear in blue, red, green, purple, yellow, black, and even white varieties (do note that it is also established that the crystals take on their color, so white is the most important color). They are also notable as a power source for both lightsabers and super weapons. Another noteworthy thing about Kyber Crystals is their tendency for explosions; they can be made unstable, a state in which they absorb and subsequently unleash a blast of energy. This is most prominent in large or synthetic crystals. Finally, this quote from Chirrut Îmwe in Rouge One gives important information: "The strongest stars have hearts of kyber."

Most people would simply dismiss this quote as an allusion to the Death Star, as its super-laser is powered by Kyber Crystals, but within the universe, he did not know about this weapon that would decimate the ground he stood upon. If you took his quote literally, that would make Kyber an element, as stars are mostly made of elements. As stars get hotter (or "stronger"), they become capable of forming heavier elements. Iron is the heaviest element a star can create, and it is formed in the core (as that is naturally the hottest part); therefore, the strongest stars have hearts of iron. This leads to the conclusion that whatever Kyber Crystals are, iron is a crucial part of it.

Now that we know that Kyber Crystals contain iron, we can appropriately identify what a kyber crystal is. The fact that they are used as a power source narrows things down quite a bit. This property would seem to suggest that a real-world equivalent to a Kyber Crystal would have piezoelectricity (piezoelectricity is where a crystal, when applied with mechanical pressure, emits an electric current). Of the seven crystals that have this property, only one contains iron in any capacity, being Tourmaline. Tourmaline also has the colors covered, with different species having black, yellow, red, blue, green, and colorless variations. That covers all known lightsaber colors except for purple, and even then it also can be found as a pinkish-red color.

To conclude, the closest thing to a real-world Kyber Crystal would be Tourmaline. Its properties are not exactly like that of the Kyber Crystal, but perhaps in the Star Wars universe, the properties of some Tourmaline crystals, specifically their piezoelectricity, are amplified by the force, making it into a Kyber Crystal.