This article is about the Star Wars character. For other uses, see Yoda (disambiguation).

Yoda

Star Wars character

Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

First The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

appearance

Created by George Lucas

 Frank Oz (Episodes I–III, V–IX, Star

Voiced by
Tours, Rebels)

 Tom Kane (The Clone Wars film and TV

series, Star Wars Forces of Destiny and

various games)

show
Other:

Performed by Frank Oz (lead puppeteer, Episodes I, V–

VI, VIII–IX)

show
Other:

Information

Full name Yoda

Species Unknown
 Gender Male

Title Jedi Master (Episodes I-VI)

Member of the High Jedi Council (Episodes I-

III)

General in the Grand Army of the Republic

(Episodes II-III)

Occupation Jedi Master

Affiliation Jedi Order

Galactic Republic

Yoda (/ˈjoʊdə/) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas, first
appearing in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back. In the original trilogy, he trains Luke
Skywalker to fight against the Galactic Empire. In the prequel trilogy, he is amongst the most
powerful members of the Jedi Order and a general of clone troopers during the Clone Wars.
Before his death in Return of the Jedi at the age of 900, Yoda was the oldest living character in
the Star Wars franchise in canon, until the introduction of Maz Kanata in The Force Awakens.

Contents

 1Concept and creation

o 1.1Character overview
 2Appearances
o 2.1Skywalker saga
o 2.2Animated series
o 2.3Canon media
o 2.4Legends
 3In popular culture
o 3.1Merchandising
 4See also
 5References
 6External links

Concept and creation

Frank Oz provided Yoda's voice in each film and used his skills as a puppeteer in the original
trilogy and Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. For some walking scenes in Episodes
V and I, dwarf actors Deep Roy and Warwick Davis appeared in costume as Yoda (though
neither was credited). While Frank Oz served as the primary performer, he was assisted by a
multitude of other puppeteers, including:[5] Kathryn Mullen (Ep. V), Wendy Froud (Ep. V), David
Barclay (Ep. V-VI), Mike Quinn (Ep. VI), David Greenaway (Ep. I & VI), Don Austen (Ep. I), and
Kathy Smee (Ep. I). For the radio dramatizations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the
Jedi, Yoda was voiced by John Lithgow, while Tom Kane voiced him in the Clone Wars animated
series, several video games, and the series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. George Lucas had
originally conceived of Yoda's full name as being "Minch Yoda" before shortening it.[6]
The make-up artist Stuart Freeborn based Yoda's face partly on his own and partly on Albert
Einstein's.[7][8][9][10] In The Phantom Menace, he was redesigned to look younger. He
was computer-generated for two distant shots, but remained mostly a puppet.[11] The puppet was
re-designed by Nick Dudman from Stuart Freeborn's original design.
Rendered with computer animation in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star
Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Yoda appeared in ways not previously possible,
including his participation in elaborate fight scenes. In Revenge of the Sith, his face appears in
several big close-ups, demanding highly detailed CGI work. His performance was deliberately
designed to be consistent with the limitations of the puppet version, with some "mistakes" made
such as the occasional ear-jiggling.[citation needed] Rob Coleman was responsible for the character's
new incarnation to the series.
Yoda was recreated in CGI for the 2011 Blu-ray release of The Phantom Menace.[12] 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.[13] The 2012 theatrical 3D release
of The Phantom Menace also features the CG version of Yoda.

Character overview
Jedi Master Yoda is amongst the oldest, most stoic and most powerful known Jedi Masters in
the Star Wars universe. Series creator George Lucas opted to have many details of the
character's life history remain unknown. Yoda's race and home world have not been named in
any official media, canonical or otherwise, and he is merely said to be of a "species unknown" by
the Star Wars Databank. Yoda's characteristic speech patterns have been analyzed and
discussed by academic syntacticians, who found it somewhat inconsistent, but could extrapolate
that it has object–subject–verb word order[14] making it anastrophe.
The films and Expanded Universe reveal that he had a hand in training almost every Jedi Master
in the galaxy, including Count Dooku, who is identified in Attack of the Clones as Yoda's old
Padawan learner; Mace Windu; Obi-Wan Kenobi (partially, before Qui-Gon Jinn takes over as
Obi-Wan's master);[citation needed] Ki-Adi-Mundi, Kit Fisto and eventually Luke Skywalker. During the
animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the
Sith, he mentions that he trained another one of the leaders on the Jedi Council, Master Oppo
Rancisis. In the Star Wars prequel films, he instructs several younglings in the Jedi
Temple before they are assigned to a master. This was displayed in a scene in Attack of the
Clones. In The Empire Strikes Back he mentioned that he had been training Jedi "for 800 years",
which means he must have been a Master Jedi for quite some time before that.

Appearances
Skywalker saga
Main article: Skywalker saga