The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

Master Qui-Gon, more to say, have you? It is requested that this article, or a section of this article, be expanded.

"Small, green, and wrinkly with pointy ears." ―Ezra Bridger describes Yoda [src]

The species to which the legendary Jedi Grand Master Yoda belonged was ancient and shrouded in mystery. Members of this species were rarely seen anywhere in the galaxy. The few members of this species seen in the galaxy were all Force-sensitive, and the species' homeworld and name was unknown.

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Biology and appearance

"Wait. They said fifty years old."

"Species age differently. Perhaps it could live many centuries." ―Din Djarin and IG-11 upon discovering an infant of the species [src]

The species had two known sexes: male[7] and female.[2] Members of the species were small in size, roughly comparable to that of a human child, with green skin, large eyes and long pointed ears. Their three-fingered hands ended in claws.[3] The species were suggested to mostly have a carnivorous diet, with a preference towards catching and devouring live amphibians whole.[8] Their ears were expressive, curling and unfurling in accordance with their emotions.[4]

Members of the species were capable of growing thin hair, with shades varying from auburn to white being documented. The species' life expectancy spanned several centuries,[6] and they aged very slowly, remaining in infancy for at least fifty standard years.[5] Even at this stage of life, certain Force-sensitive individuals of this species could use Force powers such as telekinesis and Force healing.[8][9] Despite their slow aging for the first five decades of life,[5] members of the species reached maturity by their hundredth year, as exemplified by the Jedi Yoda, who began training other Jedi when he was about one hundred years old.[6]

Society and culture

Due to the rarity of the species in the wider galaxy,[10] little was known about them except that the species was ancient and shrouded in mystery.[11] Members of the species were capable of speaking Galactic Basic, although Yoda used a distinctive and archaic syntax.[1]

History

Yoda, the last Grand Master of the Jedi Order prior to its fall at the end of the Clone Wars,[3] was a member of the species born around the standard year 896 BBY.[12] He began training other Jedi when he was around a century old.[6] Over the centuries, Yoda trained many Jedi before eventually becoming the Grand Master of the entire order.[3] One of his final Padawans was Dooku, a human male who eventually left the Order and fell to the dark side, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, who served as Darth Sidious' right-hand man in the orchestration of the Clone Wars.[13] When Sidious, publicly Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, revealed himself and issued Order 66, which killed most Jedi across the galaxy, Yoda was one of the few survivors, returning to Coruscant and duelling the self-declared Galactic Emperor; however, Yoda was forced to retreat.[3] Yoda subsequently went into hiding on the remote planet Dagobah, eventually training one final student, Luke Skywalker, during the Galactic Civil War to overthrow Sidious' Galactic Empire.[1] Yoda died on Dagobah shortly before the Battle of Endor, afterwards becoming a Force spirit.[14]

During the same period of time, one other member of the species, Yaddle, was also a member of the Jedi Order.[2] Born in 509 BBY,[15] she was a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi High Council during the Invasion of Naboo.[16] She trained at least one Padawan, Oppo Rancisis.[17] After the Battle of Naboo, Yaddle decided to take a less active role in Jedi affairs[18] and stepped down from the Council.[2]

Around fifty years before 9 ABY,[19] a member of the species eventually known as "The Child" was born. By four years after the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Child was kept in a compound on the planet Arvala-7, guarded by a faction of Nikto mercenaries against various bounty hunters sent after him. Eventually, Din Djarin and IG-11 defeated the mercenaries, with Djarin leaving with the Child after destroying the assassin droid, whose instructions had been to kill the infant while Djarin's had been to take it alive if possible.[5] Although he initially handed the Child over to his client, Djarin had a change of heart and chose to return and rescue it,[20] placing both him and the Child in the crosshairs of an Imperial remnant headed by the war criminal Moff Gideon, who wanted the Child for unknown purposes.[8] After prevailing in an initial battle against Gideon's forces, Djarin was charged with protecting the Child until he could get him to either his own people or a Jedi.[21]

Yoda's species in the galaxy

The species, shrouded in mystery about its origins,[11] was rarely seen, with only a few members known to the wider galaxy.[10] All members of the species active in the galaxy were Force users, with several being Jedi.[7][2][9]

Behind the scenes

"So he's a mystery character. He's a magical character. He has no background. He comes and he goes. He's the subversive secret mysterious stranger that enters the film and then exits at the end." ―George Lucas, about Yoda

Star Wars creator George Lucas chose to keep the name and background of Yoda's species a mystery.[22] Both Yoda and Yaddle's Databank entries on StarWars.com list their species as "Unknown."[2][7]

In the documentary "From Puppets to Pixels," available on the DVD bonus disc of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, Lucas joked that Yoda was "the illegitimate child of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy."[23]

In The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?, a canon retelling of Episode V written by Adam Gidwitz, Luke Skywalker calls Yoda a "little swamp frog."[24]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

Sources

Notes and references