Yoda present in work Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
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 Emperor Palpatine 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.Concept and creation
Franchise creator George Lucas originally planned to have Obi-Wan Kenobi continue training Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), but decided that it would not make sense to have him standing around watching Luke do all the fighting in the films and not help him (in addition to health problems of his portrayer, Alec Guinness), so he killed him off in the first film. He then created a new character, Yoda, to have someone train Luke, who was explained to have mentored Obi-Wan and was based on early, more alien ideas for that character.With muppets (especially Kermit the Frog) in mind as a basis for Yodar, Lucas approached Jim Henson to perform him; Henson, being busy with other projects, instead recommended Frank Oz for the part.
According to the make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, Yoda's face is based on his own and Albert Einstein's (particularly the eye wrinkles of the latter). In early concepts of Yoda, as well as the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, he had a blue-skinned face instead of a green one.  For The Phantom Menace, he was redesigned to look younger. He was created using computer-generated imagery (CGI) for two distant shots in the 1999 release but remained mostly a puppet, with Stuart Freeborn's original design reinterpreted by Nick Dudman.
Frank Oz provided Yoda's voice in each film and performed as lead puppeteer in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983), Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017). He also performed a vocal cameo as Yoda in Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019). For some walking scenes in The Empire Strikes Back and The Phantom Menace, dwarf actors Deep Roy and Warwick Davis appeared in costume as Yoda (though neither was credited). While Oz served as the primary performer, over the years he had been assisted by a multitude of other puppeteers, including: 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), Kathy Smee (Ep. I), Dave Chapman (Ep. VIII), Damian Farrell (Ep. VIII), and Colin Purves (Ep. VIII). 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 and several video games.
Rendered with computer animation in Episode II – Attack of the Clones and 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 digital incarnation, overseen by Rob Coleman, was deliberately designed to be consistent with the limitations of the puppet version, including the occasional ear-jiggling.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 matches the 2011 cut featuring the CG version of Yoda.Return of the Jedi (1983)
Yoda makes a brief appearance in Return of the Jedi, set a year after The Empire Strikes Back. Now sick and frail, Yoda informs Luke that he has completed his training but will not be a Jedi until he confronts Darth Vader; he also confirms that Vader is Luke's father, something Vader had told Luke in the previous film. Yoda then peacefully dies at the age of 900, his body disappearing as he becomes "one with the Force". He leaves Luke with the knowledge that "there is another Skywalker." Moments later, Obi-Wan's ghost helps Luke come to the realization that the "other" of whom Yoda spoke is his twin sister, Princess Leia.
In the film's final scene, after the Empire has been defeated, Luke sees Yoda's spirit looking upon him with pride alongside Obi-Wan and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker, Vader's former Jedi self.Sequel trilogy
The Force Awakens (2015)
In The Force Awakens, set 30 years after Yoda's death in Return of the Jedi, Yoda's voice is heard by the young scavenger Rey in a Force vision after she discovers Luke Skywalker's lightsaber under a castle owned by Maz Kanata.
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