What species is Yoda? How old was he when he died? And how tall is he? If you've ever asked any of those questions, you've come to the right place for the answers.
When people generally ponder who the coolest character in the Star Wars universe is, they often think of Han chilling out with Greedo or Lando dealing with some immense stress when he realizes the shield is still up. But it's probably fair to say that Yoda is one of the coolest characters in the movies.
He was pretty chilled out when he took on Count Dooku, he wasn't too phased as he took on Darth Sidious, and he was fairly nonchalant when he realized Anakin had turned evil.
We first met the diminutive green guy in The Empire Strikes Back. He was presented as a funny little dude trying to steal Luke Skywalker's lunch only to reveal himself as the fabled Yoda. Yoda, it turns out, was one of the greatest Jedi to have ever lived and ultimately, perhaps, one of the few Jedi to actually alter the course of the history of the realm he lived.
While it might be hard to unlearn what you may have learned about Yoda, here are some interesting facts and stories about his development, his place in the Star Wars canon, and some of his most memorable quotes.
- Puppeteer and film director Frank Oz is the voice for the most famous little green guy in cinema history.
- Famously Oz is also the voice of the Muppets' Miss Piggy, It was Oz's talent that he developed with Jim Henson that saw him get the call-up for the role of Yoda.
- A very early draft of the script of The Empire Strikes Back suggested that Luke Skywalker would travel to the “Bog” Planet where he would encounter a frog-like Jedi named Minch, who teaches him the ways of the force. That's right, Yoda was frog-like and was going to be called Minch!
- Yoda’s species has never been mentioned. In official records, he is simply described as being a member of an “unknown species.”
- Yoda died when he was 900 years old having lived a long life of training many Jedi, including most of the ones found in the films at one stage or another.
- The little master is 66 cm tall. As a comparison, R2-D2 stands taller at 96 cm!
- For the prequel movie Attack of the Clones, Yoda was performed by Oz. The next two prequels featured a CGI Yoda and the DVD release of Clones saw a CGI version replace the puppet.
- While many think Yoda had Darth Sidious beaten in his famous duel in Revenge of the Sith, it was actually Mace Windu, a former student of Yoda, who firmly beat the Sith Lord (of course Anakin came in and ruined it all).
- Oz returned for The Last Jedi to bring back the character. On-screen, Yoda was a mix of CGI and puppetry.
- When Yoda puts his hand on his head in Revenge of the Sith, this is a nod to the famed director, and a major influence on George Lucas, Akira Kurosawa.
- Yoda is famous for his phrasing and his zen-like quotes. Here's a selection of the best:
- “Do or do not. There is no try.”
- “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.”
- “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
- “When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not, hmmm?”
- “There is another…”
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This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Paul Rose Jr is the Editor in Chief of Wealth of Geeks & manages the Associated Press program for The Insiders network. He has worked as TV News Producer, Forensic Analyst, and Train Conductor, among many other things. He’s the former TV Editor for InfuzeMag and owns more books, DVDs, and comics than most people have seen in their lifetimes. When he’s not writing or editing on Wealth of Geeks, he exercises his creative muscle writing screenplays and acting in film and television in Los Angeles, CA.