Yoda
Yoda (/ˈjoʊdə/) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, first appearing in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with The Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until its near annihilation. In The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda was voiced and puppeteered by Frank Oz, who reprised the role in Return of the Jedi, the prequel trilogy, and the sequel trilogy. Outside of the films, the character was mainly voiced by Tom Kane, starting with the 2003 Clone Wars animated television series until his retirement from voice acting in 2021.
This article is about the Star Wars character. For the infant of the same species, see Grogu. For other uses, see Yoda (disambiguation).Yoda
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Frank Oz [a]
- Tom Kane [b]
- John Lithgow [c]
- Peter McConnell [d]
- Tony Pope [e]
- Corey Burton [f]
- Piotr Michael [g]
Yoda
Male
Count Dooku
Luke Skywalker
Numerous others
In his first appearance in the original trilogy, Yoda is described as the mentor of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and lives in exile on the swamp planet of Dagobah. He trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force until his death at the age of 900 in Return of the Jedi, though he later returns as a Force spirit. In the prequel trilogy, Yoda leads the Jedi High Council and trains the young generations of Jedi until they are assigned to a master. When the Clone Wars break out, he becomes a general in the Galactic Republic army and leads several legions of clone troopers. Yoda is one of the few Jedi to survive the events of Order 66 at the end of the war, when he battles Darth Sidious and is forced to go into hiding. Yoda's spirit appears again in the sequel trilogy, advising an older Luke on his training of Rey.
Profile
Yoda was a legendary Jedi Master and stronger than most in his connection with the Force. He trained Jedi for over 800 years and played integral roles in the Clone Wars and the instruction of Luke Skywalker.[3] Yoda's species and homeworld have never been named in any official Star Wars media.
Creation
The Star Wars franchise was created by George Lucas, who wrote and directed the original Star Wars film (1977). He created the character Obi-Wan Kenobi as a mentor for the protagonist Luke Skywalker, and originally planned for the Jedi Master to continue training Luke in the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back (1980). However, Lucas ultimately decided to kill off Obi-Wan in the first film. Lucas then introduced a new mentor character, who was originally a diminutive frog-like creature called "Minch Yoda".[4][5] One of Lucas's early notes reads: "Yoda tells a fairy tale to Luke ... We are not material. We are luminous beings who are tied together by the Force."[6] The film's visual effects art director, Joe Johnston, sketched hundreds of different versions of Yoda. The design that Lucas finally settled on was described by Johnson as a combination of a leprechaun, a troll and a gnome.[7][l]
Yoda was originally portrayed by a puppet created by Stuart Freeborn, the makeup artist for The Empire Strikes Back. Freeborn based Yoda's face on his own facial features and those of Albert Einstein, hoping the latter inspiration would make the character appear intelligent.[10][11] Lucas felt Yoda needed a unique way of speaking that was more dramatic than an accent.[12]