I wonder what the EU thought about red lightsabers before the PT? Combined with Vader’s appearance, it’s such a clear visual indicator that he is a villain. Yet, I can’t think of any Sith or Dark Jedi other than Vader that had a red saber prior to TPM.
Kharys, Flint, Brakiss, Zekk during his stint with the Shadow Academy, Sindra, the darksiders in Empire’s End, and this guy all had red lightsabers.
I’m not sure if I’d count the old Marvel comics as reliable sources, I mean they couldn’t even get Luke’s lightsaber right. Dark Empire can also be a bit ambiguous colour-wise.
You’re completely right about the rest though. And now that I really think about it, Jerec had a red lightsaber as well. (And he was one of the most classically villainous characters since the OT.)
It still makes me wonder though what the general consensus was at Lucasfilm in the 90s.