Yoda

Yoda
Series	Star Wars
Age	900 Years
Birthday	896 BBY
Sex	Male
Species	N/A
Height	2'2"/66 cm
Weight	28.6 lbs/13 kg
Alignment	Lawful/Neutral Good

Yoda is a Jedi Master and major character of the Star Wars saga. He was the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order and the tritagonist in the prequel trilogy, and later became Luke Skywalker's mentor during the original trilogy, as a supporting character.

“	No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.	„
	~ Yoda

Background

Yoda's origins are a mystery; his species, as well as his species' home planet is unknown. At some point, he joined the Jedi Order, eventually obtaining the rank of Jedi Master and becoming a member of the Jedi High Council. Despite his old age, he was still able to keep up and hold his own against opponents, even ones who were far younger than he was. He was one of the most powerful Force-users in the history of the galaxy.

Shortly after the Clone Wars had begun, Yoda became the Grand Master and a Jedi General. About 20 years after he went into exile following his failed attempt to kill Palpatine, the Dark Lord of the Sith, he trained Luke in the ways of the Jedi and the light side of the Force. Yoda eventually died peacefully at the age of nine hundred, but not before he revealed to Luke that Leia Organa is his twin sister, and that Darth Vader was in fact, his father, Anakin.

30 years later, Rey found Luke's old lightsaber, which originally belonged to Anakin, in Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana. Upon touching it, she experienced a series of visions, including the voice of Yoda.

Days later, after having briefly trained Rey during his exile on Ahch-To (and Rey having subsequently left the planet) Luke decided to burn down the first Jedi temple housing the ancient Jedi texts. He was visited by the ghost of Yoda, who helped Luke forgive himself for Kylo Ren's rise to power. Luke hesitated to light the temple on fire, so Yoda manipulated a bolt of lightning to hit the temple and cause it to burst into flames. Yoda was not upset with the books being burned, joking that "page turners, they were not". What Luke did not realize was that Rey had taken the books with her before departing the planet. Yoda was aware that Rey had taken the books, but chose not to disclose this to Luke.

Powers & Abilities

• The Force: Despite Yoda's small size and advanced age, he was immensely powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force; indeed, he was one of the most powerful Jedi in existence and overall one of the most powerful Force-users in the history of the galaxy. Yoda's force powers were rivaled only by Sheev Palpatine, and surpassed only by Darth Krayt and Luke Skywalker at their peaks.
  • Telekinesis: Yoda utilized Telekinesis for combative and utilitarian purposes. As one of the most powerful Force-users in the history of the galaxy, his telekinetic strength was unparalleled by almost every Jedi, and Sith in the galaxy. Therefore; Yoda was able to affect large structures, and vehicles with greater ease than his peers. With enough effort, he was able to stop a giant pillar as it was about to fall on top of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin, before setting it down away from the two injured Jedi. During their battle within the Senate building, Yoda managed to catch a large hovering platform that was launched at him by Palpatine, before causing it to spin rapidly, and then start flying straight back at the newly christened Sith Emperor. Near the end of his life, in order to teach the young Luke Skywalker a lesson of how size meant nothing in regards to the power of the Force, Yoda pulled Luke's crashed starfighter from a swamp, and onto land, to the latter's disbelief.
    • Force Push: Yoda utilized Force Push to send his opponents flying through the air, causing them serious injury or temporarily incapacitating them/knocked them unconscious.
    • Force Pull: Yoda utilized Force Pull to pull his opponents or objects towards him.
    • Force Wave: Yoda utilized Force Wave to unleash a wave of pure force-energy that knocked back and repelled anything within the power's blast radius or push multiple opponents simultaneously.
    • Force Grip: Yoda utilized Force Grip to lift his opponents off the ground and into the air to immobilize them. His telekinetic grip also allowed him to restrain others, as he was able to hold Asaaj Ventress in place as she attempted to cut down King Katuunko.
    • Force Crush: Yoda can use the Force to crush targets such a droids.
    • Force Throw: Yoda utilized Force Throw to cause objects, and even individuals, to be hurled toward a target at an astounding velocity.
    • Force Barrier: Yoda utilized Force Barrier to create a barrier or wall of Force energy in front of or surrounding himself or his allies, which could be strengthened with the help of other Force-sensitives.
    • Saber Throw: Yoda utilized Saber Throw to telekinetically guide his lightsaber towards his opponent; similar to a boomerang or shuriken. He notably used this to send his ignited lightsaber into the chest of a clone trooper when attempting to retake the Jedi Temple after Order 66 was enacted.
  • Telepathy: Yoda utilized Telepathy to mentally communicate over small or vast distances with other individuals. He managed to communicate with Ezra Bridger when the latter was experiencing visions within the Lothal Jedi Temple.
    • Mind Trick: Yoda utilized Mind Trick to control the minds of other sentient beings. Yoda's Force prowess is so great, that he is even able to use mental-altering powers on even strong-willed beings such as Gregar Typho
  • Tutaminis: Yoda utilized Tutaminis to dissipate concentrated energy, such as blaster bolts or Force lightning.
  • Force Deflection: Yoda utilized Force Deflection to redirect incoming attacks, such as blaster bolts or Force lightning, with or without his lightsaber.
  • Unleash: Yoda can absorb energy and use this power to make his own attacks more destructive.
  • Stonepower: Yoda can manipulate Blue Stone with ease, stopping mountain-giants and summoning more of their kind to aid him.
  • Force Vision: Yoda utilized Force Vision, to have visions of the past, the present, and the future; however, like all Force-users, his visions were not always clear or sometimes had visions even when he was not utilizing this power at will.
  • Force Sense: Yoda utilized Force Sense to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, impending danger, and the presence of the dark side; his senses were so powerful, that he could sense the deaths of most of the 10,000 Jedi Knights that were killed in Order 66. However, despite this, Yoda was unable, due to the Sith’s great skill, to sense that Palpatine was a Force-user, particularly a dark side Force-user; even though he had been in close proximity to the latter on several occasions. He also could detect all droids on the same planet.
  • Force Jump: Yoda utilized Force Jump to jump or leap at great distances.
  • Force Dash: Yoda utilized Force Dash to move at amazing speeds.
  • Force Dispel: Yoda can see though illusions and destroy many illusions at once.
  • Force Spirit: Yoda learned from the Force Priestesses, and Qui-Gon Jinn on how to preserve his identity through the Force, allowing him to become immortal when his body died. He would help teach this skill to Obi-Wan Kenobi, and probably taught the secret to Luke Skywalker, after Luke became a Jedi Master.
  • Force Light: Yoda had a bizarre use of this power whereby he could manipulate raw light side energies to imbue objects with the power of Ashla, effectively making torches for his friends.
  • Force Harmony: Yoda could go into a mediative state and so disrupt the focus of darksiders, a skill he could use even more effectively if he had allied Jedi join him.
  • Force Lightning: Yoda is able to use Electric Judgment and Sith lightning.
  • Force Healing: Yoda can heal himself and whole squads with a wave of his hand.
  • Alter Environment: As a Force Spirit, Yoda utilized Alter Environment to summon a powerful bolt of lightning from the clouds above to burn the Force tree on Ahch-To, knowing the Jedi texts within them were safe with Rey, as well as to make a point to Luke Skywalker.
  • Ionize: Yoda could disrupt or ruin machines, such as when he disabled Luke’s X-wing that was flying over Degobah.
• Extended Longevity: Like many of Yoda's kind, he lived to be nine hundred years old, but he died when Luke Skywalker wanted to know if Darth Vader really was his father.
• Master Lightsaber Duelist: Despite Yoda's small size and advanced age, he was an extremely skilled lightsaber duelist, as he was one of the deadliest lightsaber duelists in the history of the galaxy, the few known individuals who could fight on par against Yoda were Sheev Palpatine, Dooku, Mace Windu, and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. He was a master of all forms of lightsaber combat (except the particularly aggressive Form VII) but even though Yoda's masterful dueling skills proved to be great enough to force Palpatine to use the force, Yoda's lightsaber combat skills were ultimately proved unable to overcome Palpatine's force attacks when the Sith used the terrain against him, which led to their duel ending in a draw, and Yoda then fled, knowing it would be pointless to continue the fight, exhausted and soon to be outnumbered.
  • Form I: Shii Cho: Yoda was highly skilled in Shii Cho.
  • Form II: Makashi: Yoda had some skills in Makashi.
  • Form III: Soresu: Yoda was highly skilled in Soresu.
  • Form IV: Ataru: Yoda was a master of Ataru; he was believed by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the form and it appeared to be his preferred and strongest style. When coupled with his incredible speed and smaller size, it left no part of his body undefended, giving him an advantage over other practitioners of the form.
  • Form V: Shien/Djem So: Yoda was skilled in Shien/Djem So.
  • Form VI: Niman: Yoda was extremely skilled in Niman.
  • Form VII: Juyo/Vaapad: Yoda was knowledgeable of Juyo/Vaapad; but never used it.
• Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader: Being over eight hundred years old, Yoda was amazingly intelligent and wise; his intellect and wisdom was rivaled only by Sheev Palpatine, Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker, and Luke Skywalker. As a Jedi General, and the last leader of the Old Jedi Order, Yoda was a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader.
• Battle Meditation:

Weapons & Equipment

• Shoto Lightsaber: Yoda's valued weapon and possession was his green-bladed lightsaber. Yoda's shoto lightsaber was comprised of Chrome and Black alloy. He used this weapon throughout his Jedi career, and the entirety of the Clone Wars. Yoda lost the weapon in his battle against Sheev Palpatine, where it was found afterwards and destroyed in a furnace along with dozens of other, valuable lightsabers by Palpatine's troops, as was revealed in Marvel Comics' Darth Vader Issue #1. Later in the Book of Boba Fett, it is revealed he kept another lightsaber in a box in his hut and Luke Skywalker had it in his possession after Yoda's death, which, he offered the weapon to Grogu in a choice against obtaining beskar armor.
• Cane: Due to his age, Yoda often hobbles around on a cane, which he will occasionally use for whacking people. Even as a force ghost, he would smack Luke with it.
• Yoda's Starfighter: A specially customized Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor designed to work with Yoda's small size. It is equipped with dual ion laser cannons and has twin ion engines to fly at high speeds.

Feats

Strength

• Evenly traded blows with Darth Sidious.
• Should be stronger than General Grievous and Roron Corobb, who have broken Phrik electrostaffs.
• Can absorb Sidious' lightning, which can incinerate people instantly and light up the surface of planets, with tutaminis.
• Quickly overpowered a Giant of living stone and sent him flying back with his telekinesis.
• Can lift and move around entire armies of droids and Separatist Starships.
• Able to cut those with durability similar to that of General Grievous and the AT-AT walker with his lightsaber.
• Easily comparable to Padawan era Anakin, who can move starships fast enough to intercept missiles.
• Carried a large crate on his back.
• Held back Dooku’s lightsaber with his own.
• Stalemated Darth Sidious in a saberlock, trading hits with him.
• When being attacked by a large thug, Yoda threw himself up on the ceiling, incapacitating him.
• Knocked Ahsoka Tano across a room with his lightsaber.
• Has been compared to Jedi Master Thon, who contained the Dark Side Energies and Sith spirits that caused the Devastation of the Planet Ambria.
• Destroyed a whole temple with Force Storm.
• Created an avalanche with the force.
• Should be comparable to Starkiller.
• Lifted an X-Wing out of Dagobah’s swamp despite being well past his prime.
• Yoda is called by Grandmaster Luke Skywalker to be one of the wisest and most powerful Jedi to have ever lived despite his knowledge of the likes of Jacen Solo and Mara Jade, both of whom are weaker too but comparable to Luke himself.
• Directly compared to Kyp Durron, who utilized the Force to move a gravity well generater void (A black hole created by a ship)(13.98 petatons of TNT).

Speed

• Known to be one of the fastest Jedi in Galactic history.
• Him and many other Jedi on his level can block point blank shots and blaster fire from multiple targets.
• Runs fast enough to avoid blaster fire on a daily basis.
• Comparable to Darth Sidious and should be superior to Darth Vader.
• Also superior to Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who have moved at such speeds as to be a blur.
• At least comparable to Mace Windu, who was able to block Force Lightning from Darth Sidious.
• Can keep up and even outspeed Droid Tie-Fighters and MagnaGuards, which both are clearly stated to have near lightspeed reflexes.
• Should be faster than other Jedi like Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi, who have nanosecond feats, and Count Dooku, who is directly stated to be FTL.
• Can react to Force Lightning from the likes of Count Dooku and Palpatine.
• Can dodge laser fire on a daily basis.
• Killed eight soldiers in 6 seconds.
• Dodged multiple Senate chairs being thrown at him by Darth Sidious.
• Creates afterimages with his blade and moves faster then Count Dooku.
• Runs fast enough to avoid blaster fire on a daily basis.
• Easily dodged attacks from Saesee Tiin, Plo Koon and Depa Billaba during a training session.
• Evades blaster fire, making battle droids shoot each other.
• Killed eight soldiers in six seconds.
• Dodged Ahsoka’s sabers in a practice fight and tripped her.
• Maintained perfect balance while running along a Zillo Beast’s back.
• Can likely compare to Palpatine’s aforementioned feat of a tremor that moved stars.

Durability

• Easily blocked a blow from a Giant of Living Stone.
• Took a blast of Force Lightning from Darth Sidious.
• Force Barrier should be durable enough to withstand blaster bolt fire.
• His tutaminis held back Palpatine’s Force Lightning until it exploded in their faces.
• Should be comparable to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who can survive a missile from Jango Fett and shots from Slave I.
• Should scale to Mace Windu, who can survived an indirect hit from a missile.
• Superior to Jedi Masters such as Kit Fisto, who can tank a beating from Durge.
• Survived the backlash caused by Darth Sidious overloading his Tutaminis with Force Lightning.
• Took a beating from a manifestation of the dark side.
• Survived a long fall despite being weakened by Force Lightning.
• Tanked being hurled into a wall by Palpatine’s lightning.
• Survived falling one hundred meters.
• Maintained the same walking pace despite being in the cold.
• His Force barriers can potentially compare to Starkiller’s, who’s barriers are said to be able to survive an impact that can crack a moon in two.

Skill

• Became the apprentice of N'Kata Del Gormo.
• Passed the Gathering and was assisted by Huyang in building his lightsaber.
• Fought with the famed Witches of Dathomir.
• Foretold of the prophecy of the Chosen One, who would bring balance to the Force.
• Traveled to Ord Cestus and saved the native X'Ting from a disaster.
• Served as a lightsaber instructor to Cin Drallig, a Battlemaster.
• Defended the Jedi Temple from a Yinchorri raid.
• Traveled to Mawan with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
• Settled a civil war dispute between the gangs of Fecca the Hutt, Striker, and Feeana Tala.
• Took the title of Master of the Order during the Clone Wars.
• Commanded the Grand Army of the Republic
• Served as a general in the Clone Wars.
• Led Clone Troopers in the Battle of Axion.
• Saved Commander Brolis.
• Rescued Barris Offee and Luminara Udili from chameleon droids.
• Helped Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, and Aayla Secura recapture the Zillo Beast.
• Helped Anakin Skywalker kill a Zillo Beast.
• Saved Chancellor Palpatine.
• Joined the Jedi Order as a youngling.
• Achieved the rank of Jedi master.
  • Trained over 20,000 Jedi in his lifetime.
• Has trained some of the best Jedi including Count Dooku, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Kanan Jarrus.
• Served as a Jedi negotiator on the planet Kashyyyk.
• Became the Grand Master of the Jedi Council.
• Attended the funeral of Qui-Gon Jinn.
• Appointed Obi-Wan Kenobi to track down Jango Fett.
• Orchestrated a back-up for the Jedi on the planet Genosian.
• Saved Anakin Skywalker & Obi-Wan Kenobi.
• Dueled Count Dooku, forcing him to flee.
  • Would later do it again, this time on the planet Vjun, a dark side nexus which amps Dooku’s power
• Count Dooku believes General Grievous to be inferior to Yoda in lightsaber combat.
• Held his own against multiple Confederate vessels including an AAT.
• Negotiated with the ruler of Rugosa.
• Defeated and captured Assajj Ventress.
• Is competent in the use of Light Side Lightning.
• Reunited with Qui-Gon Jinn in a vision.
• Survived an encounter with the specter of Darth Bane.
• Fought Darth Sidious in a vision.
• Helped fight in the Battle of Kashyyyk.
• Acknowledged and defeated his Dark Side.
• Survived Order 66 and killed the clones who attempted to shoot him.
• Confronted and fought Darth Sidious.
  • Lost because his time was simply up and he was going to be outnumbered.
• Went into exile on Dagobah.
• Trained Luke Skywalker.
• Peacefully passed away, becoming one with the Force.
• Convinced Luke to aid Rey and the Resistance in the fight against the First Order as a Force Spirit.
• Empowered Rey to face Palpatine along with other past Jedi, allowing her to finally destroy her dark grandfather.

Faults

• Failed to stop his apprentice Dooku from turning to the dark side.
• Relies heavily on the force to maintain his mobility in combat.
• While his stature makes him a small target, he can easily be thrown about and has a lack of reach.
• For all his years as the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, he has never actually fought a Sith Lord before Count Dooku and Darth Sidious.
• At first, refuses to acknowledge the dark nature present in every life-form including himself.
• Failed to sense nor stop Vader's turning towards the dark side.
  • Demanded Anakin be trained by the Jedi despite seeing no merit in him other than a broad and obscure prophecy.
• Failed to kill Palpatine in his final duel of the Clone Wars.
  • It was mostly due to the environment and the fact that Sidious had reinforcements on the way, forcing Yoda to retreat to fight another day.
  • He spent his final years on the mostly uninhabited swamp planet Dagobah, hiding for the remainder of his life.
• Failed to prevent Luke from dueling Vader; which ended in Luke losing his hand.
• Old age has weakened him physically (though his Force powers are relatively unaffected by age).
  • Without his force powers active Yoda needs to walk with a cane.
• Physical strength is below that of the average human due to his small size.
• Contrary to popular belief: lightsabers can't cut through everything. 
• He is a traditionalist and believes that once someone walks the path of the dark side they cannot be redeemed.
• A unique speech pattern makes it difficult to understand him.
• Is reluctant to draw his lightsaber, preferring to find more peaceful methods before he is forced into conflict.
• Seagulls.

Fun Facts

• Yoda is not the only member of his kind to have appeared in the Star Wars franchise. A female of his kind, Master Yaddle, also once was part of the Jedi Council. Unlike Yoda, she had auburn, braided hair. She eventually passed away six years after the Battle of Naboo, and was well over 400 years old when she died.
  • The most notable example of his species other than Yoda himself is The Child (known as "Baby Yoda" by most fans and the media), who became wanted by the remnants of the Empire 5 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The Child, though 50 years old, is still a baby due to Yoda's species aging extremely slowly (hence their long lifespan).
• Yoda is also the second name of Gabe Duncan.
• Yoda was the second oldest character in the Star Wars universe; second only to Maz Kanata.
• It is unknown what type of alien species Yoda is and George Lucas himself has forbidden or discouraged anyone from naming his species or giving Yoda's race a homeworld.
• In the Lost episode "Confirmed Dead", Sawyer called Ben "Yoda".
• A caricature of Yoda can be seen in the Phineas and Ferb episode Doof Dynasty.
• George Lucas originally intended to go with Buffy, instead of Yoda, for a name until The Empire Strikes Back screenwriter, Leigh Brackett, changed the name to Minch Yoda in her first draft, which was, thankfully, again, changed, dropping the "Minch".
• A popular misconception is that Yoda is a Muppet, based on the involvement of Frank Oz, but he was actually designed by Stuart Freeborn. When Freeborn was handed the task of designing Yoda, he started by looking in the mirror. According to Freeborn, the only part of Yoda that wasn't based on himself was the upper lip. For this part, Freeborn studied pictures of Albert Einstein without a mustache. The addition of this detail was meant to trigger a subconscious association with Einstein's intelligence and wisdom, thus making Yoda appear wise before he even spoke a word in his lovable, broken English.
• George Lucas initially wanted Yoda to train Luke, and then disappear into the Dagobah fog, never to be seen again. That plan changed during the pre-production of Return of the Jedi when a child psychologist advised Lucas that it needed to be clearer that Vader was Luke's father; otherwise audience members under the age of 12 would think that he was lying. So Yoda came back in Return of the Jedi to confirm the shocking truth.
• Like David Prowse who played Vader, Lucas never actually intended to use Frank Oz's voice in the final film. When Oz sent Lucas a tape of his planned voice for Yoda, Lucas rejected it, going so far as to reportedly audition other actors. But eventually, Lucas came around to let Oz preform the voice. Once Oz's voice was locked, Lucas did a complete 180, claiming that Oz's performance was so good that it deserved an Oscar. Despite spending thousands of dollars on an Oscar campaign to get Oz nominated for Best Supporting Actor, the Academy didn't go along with it, as they felt the puppeteer was technically not an actor.
• Did you know that Yoda's speech has an earthly counterpart? Scientists believe that Object Subject Verb languages, such as the one that Yoda employs, are what all human languages evolved from, some 50,000 years ago. According to researchers, Object Subject Verb order is the way that children learn to talk, and is actually prevalent in more than half of the 2,000 modern languages here on Earth. Like Yoda, the reason why languages end up switching the object subject order, is a mystery.
• Yoda was almost a Smurf... and a monkey. Original concept art of Yoda shows him as a blue man with pointy feet, a white beard, and a silly hat. Though thankfully Yoda never turned out like this in the movies, in The Empire Strikes Back novelization, as well as the Marvel Comics adaptation of the movie, Yoda is depicted as being blue. Whether the writers didn't know that he was being changed to green, or whether they just ran out of green ink remains unclear. But the alternative was even worse; George Lucas intended Yoda to be played by an actual monkey with a cane, wearing a latex mask. Lucas went as far as to bring the monkey and the trainer on set. Thankfully, those involved in the film realized how terrible the idea was, and Frank Oz and Muppet Yoda were brought in.
• George Lucas has stated that Yoda is one of the reasons why he originally put off on making the first Star Wars trilogy. According to Lucas, he didn't believe that there any way to make Yoda realistic without using CGI. Luckily, that problem was solved with an animatronic muppet and some clever camera work. And while Star Wars forever revolutionized cinema, as well as special effects, Lucas has always maintained that he has never been happy with the puppet version of Yoda.
• Yoda was recreated in CGI for the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace. A clip of the new CG Yoda from The Phantom Menace was first seen in the featurette The Chosen One, included in the 2005 DVD release of Revenge of the Sith. The 2012 theatrical 3D release of The Phantom Menace also features the CG version of Yoda.
• In 2017, a photoshopped image of Yoda seated next to King Faisal at the signing of the Charter of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945 was inadvertently printed in a social studies textbook. The textbook was withdrawn once the error was discovered.
• In 2019, discount store Poundland used the voice of Yoda at its self-service checkouts in stores across the United Kingdom.
• Kermit the Frog and Yoda makes a cameo as a characters in The Lightning Storm III: Return of Donald and Alvin.
• Yoda appeared in the season 8 premiere of the popular web series DEATH BATTLE! where he fought against King Mickey and lost.