While one of Star Wars' most recognizable and popular characters, Yoda and his background still conceal many missing details and unsolved mysteries. The character, originally known as Minch Yoda, made his debut in The Empire Strikes Back, and as with most Star Wars creatures, the creative team considered multiple designs and concepts before choosing the wrinkled elfin puppet that would be controlled and voiced by Frank Oz. Yoda appeared in five of the original six movies and continues to play a major role in many of the expanded universe stories. Today, he is still a beloved symbol of this franchise, as evidenced by the world-wide popularity of Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian.
Within the Star Wars universe itself, Yoda was born 896 years Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY). In his approximately 800 years as a Jedi Master, he trained around 20,000 Jedi. Beyond that, most of Yoda's known adventures take place within the last 40 years of his life. Whether in films or other media, they mostly just show him in action or as a teacher, revealing little about him personally, though Lucasfilm has considered a solo Yoda Star Wars movie. Between his unique abilities, distinct demeanor, and long life span, it can only be assumed he has a story worth sharing.
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Yet, even with Yoda’s importance to the Star Wars universe, many key elements are missing from his backstory, especially details about his species. Due to the franchise’s reputation for a thorough, detailed mythology with a name and explanation for everything, Yoda’s mysterious past is even more evident and strange. However, thanks to the sheer quantity of Star Wars books, manuals, comics, video games, cartoons and role-playing games that flesh out the universe’s lore, there are some details than may point to the answers for these mysteries.
Yoda's Origins
Origin stories are a key part of Star Wars. All three trilogies center around the progress of an ostensibly ordinary person to would-be Jedi savior, namely Anakin, Luke, and Rey. The saga eventually gives the full story of the characters, including their parentage, training, and precise powers. The same goes for many other characters in this universe, especially through expanded materials that tell the tales of characters that may not even have a name or speaking part in a film. Yet, Yoda has never gotten this. There is no information on his parentage, upbringing, or why exactly he is so gifted with the Force. While most creatures in this galaxy are birthed naturally, cloning has played a major part in its fate. There seem to be some small hints that suggest Baby Yoda was a clone rather than born, so perhaps the same could even explain the mysterious nature of Yoda's origins and powers.
Yoda's Jedi Master
As seen in most Star Wars media, a Jedi Padawan is often primarily taught by one master. Jedi Masters can greatly influence their Padawan’s path: Dooku taught Qui-Gon to second-guess the Jedi Order’s strict rules; Qui-Gon passed on Anakin to Obi-Wan for training; Anakin’s rebellious nature led Ahsoka to leave the Jedi Order. Despite this, nothing is known about the teacher of perhaps the strongest Jedi. Yoda completed his training 800 years before the events of the Skywalker saga, so Yoda would have learned a lot through personal experience.
Still, whoever set Yoda down his path would surely have been uniquely strong in the Force for the time. Official canon does not have any information on Yoda’s master. Star Wars Legends does, however, have a soft answer in the form of an in-universe legend, which means it is literally a legend within Legends. N'Kata Del Gormo is a fan-made character created as part of a “Design An Alien” contest for Star Wars Galaxy Magazine. Still, this four limbed serpent-like creature did not fully train young Yoda, but more introduced him to the teachings of the Force while Yoda was stranded on an unspecified swamp planet.
Yoda's Species
In Star Wars, nearly every person, creature, planet and item has a specific name and backstory. Yet, neither the films nor any other stories give a specific name for Yoda’s species. While George Lucas has chosen to keep details of the species a secret, he has jokingly called Yoda a frog. Some sources refer to them as Tridactyl, which is simply a scientific name for a creature with three toes or fingers. Only three individuals from this mysterious species appear in the current Star Wars canon: Yoda, Yaddle (a female member of the Jedi Council), and The Child (also known as Baby Yoda). There are also two more seen in Star Wars Legends: Minch, who appeared in the comic Star Wars Tales, and Vandar Tokare, who first appeared in the video game Knights of the Old Republic.
All of the above are Force-sensitive, long-living, small, and green or brown. With such a small sample size, it is impossible to know if the entire species is like these five or if only the powerful survived until now. However, Yoda could one day get his own movie or The Mandalorian season 2 could potentially reveal more as the series develops Baby Yoda’s backstory, including the origins of their civilization and the cause of their near extinction.
Yoda's Home Planet
With so little information on Yoda’s people, there is even less information on their planet. This world would likely have a significant Force presence as the members of this species commonly demonstrate abnormally strong Force sensitivity. No current canon names this planet, though the now-Legends book The Essential Guide to Characters lists Dagobah as Yoda’s homeworld. This makes sense because Yoda chose to isolate himself there after the Jedi Purge and there is no civilization, giving it an abandoned, dead feeling. The planet also exhibits a unique connection to the Force specifically at the end of The Clone Wars season 6, when Yoda is drawn to the planet. Once there, Qui-Gon’s spirit reveals that he has learned how to live on through the Force past physical death. He also says that Dagobah, “is one of the purest places in the galaxy.” While little direct evidence shows that this planet was the birth place of Yoda or his people, it is the closest place to a distinct home for at least Yoda himself.
What Happened To Yaddle
Yaddle is the only creature similar to Yoda seen in the movies, and the only known female of the species. She first appeared in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and has only received brief appearances or mentions in the expanded universe outside of that. She was born 509 BBY and also a member of the Jedi council, though she apparently stepped down before the Clone Wars. In a Star Wars Legends story, Yaddle died on a mission with Obi-Wan and Anakin, but in the new canon it is unclear if she died during Order 66. However, Vader did encounter her along with other Jedi in a vision. This may imply that she has become one with the Force but does not confirm it. If she did survive, it is possible that Yaddle returned to the homeworld of Yoda's species to seek refuge, much like Yoda did with Dagobah. Perhaps she will appear to Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian season 2 to help him reconnect with his people.
Yoda's Connection To Baby Yoda
The most recent addition to the sparse Yoda story is Baby Yoda, officially called The Child. Even less is known about The Child than Yoda, but The Mandalorian is priming itself to reveal more as well. The people hunting The Child during the series clearly know something about him, thus implying that such information is available. The Child is said to be 50-years-old, meaning something has happened relatively recently to birth or create a new member of this species. Some have speculated that he is the spawn of Yoda and Yaddle, though this would seem unlikely as such actions are forbidden by the Jedi order. As previously mentioned, others have suggested that he is some sort of clone or creation. While this character has really only deepened the mystery surrounding Yoda, his future adventures could help answers many questions as well.
Even though these points of Yoda’s past remain frustrating vague and unanswered, this universe is always expanding. In the early days, additional materials were often uncoordinated and contradictory. As demonstrated by the holes in Yoda's story, the old canon would give conflicting answers or no answer at all for details about even a character as important at this. However, Disney Star Wars is more organized, and Lucasfilm has made of point of keeping everything they produce within the established new canon. Old materials have touched on these questions before, so someone will likely eventually pick up Yoda’s full story once again.
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