Yoda's species

The species to which the Jedi Grand Master Yoda belonged was ancient and shrouded in mystery. Members of this species were rarely seen anywhere in the galaxy. The few members of this species seen in the galaxy were all Force-sensitive, and the species' homeworld and name were unknown.
==Biology and appearance==
The species included male and female genders. Members of the species were small in size, roughly comparable to that of a human child, with green skin, large eyes, and long pointed ears. Their three-fingered hands ended in claws. One member of the species, Grogu, caught and devoured live amphibians whole, while another member, Yoda, made rootleaf stews. Their ears were expressive, curling, and unfurling in accordance with their emotions.
Members of the species were capable of growing thin hair, with shades varying from auburn to white being documented, females having longer and thicker hair than males. The species had a very long life expectancy, spanning at least several centuries; Yoda lived nearly a thousand years before dying of old age, and they aged very slowly, remaining in infancy for at least fifty standard years. Even at this stage of life, certain Force-sensitive individuals of this species could use Force powers such as telekinesis and Force healing; they were also capable of complex thought processes, and could understand speech and communicate via the Force at this age. Despite their slow aging for the first five decades of life, members of the species reached maturity by their hundredth year, as exemplified by the Jedi Yoda, who began training other Jedi when he was about one hundred years old. According to Yaddle, Yoda was considered to be middle-agedThe High Republic: Cataclysm at 514.The High Republic: Cataclysm features the Night of Sorrow, which Star Wars: Timelines dates to 382 BBY. Timelines also states that Yoda was born in 896 BBY, meaning that he must have been 514 during the events of Cataclysm.
==Society and culture==
Due to the rarity of the species in the wider galaxy, little was known about them except that the species was ancient and shrouded in mystery.Star Wars: Card Trader Members of the species were capable of speaking Galactic Basic Standard, although Yoda often used a distinctive syntax.
==History==
===Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi===
Yoda, the last Grand Master of the Jedi Order prior to its fall at the end of the Clone Wars, was a member of the species born around the standard year 896 BBY.In Star Wars: Episode V Return of the Jedi, set in 4 ABY by Star Wars: Galactic Atlas, Yoda says he is 900 years old. Therefore, basic math indicates he must have been born around 896 BBY. He began training other Jedi when he was around a century old. Over the centuries, Yoda, who never revealed what his homeworld was, trained many Jedi before eventually becoming the Grand Master of the entire order. One of his final Padawans was Dooku, a human male who eventually left the Order and fell to the dark side, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus, who served as Darth Sidious' right-hand man in the orchestration of the Clone Wars.Dooku: Jedi Lost When Sidious, publicly Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, revealed himself and issued Order 66, which killed most Jedi across the galaxy, Yoda was one of the few survivors, returning to Coruscant and dueling the self-declared Galactic Emperor; however, Yoda was forced to retreat. Yoda subsequently went into hiding on the remote planet Dagobah, eventually training one final student, Luke Skywalker, during the Galactic Civil War to overthrow Sidious' Galactic Empire. Yoda died on Dagobah shortly before the Battle of Endor, afterwards becoming a Force spirit.
===Yaddle of the Jedi Council===
During the same period of time, one other member of the species, Yaddle, was also a member of the Jedi Order. Born in 509 BBY,According to Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, Yaddle was 477 years old at the time of the invasion of Naboo. Since Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates that to 32 BBY, Yaddle was born in 509 BBY. she was a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi High Council during the Invasion of Naboo. She trained at least one Padawan, Oppo Rancisis.Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded After the Battle of Naboo, Yaddle decided to take a less active role in Jedi affairsUltimate Star Wars and stepped down from the Council. Yaddle then pursued Count of Serenno and former Jedi Master Dooku after observing suspicious behavior on his part. She ended up encountering the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, who ordered the count to kill the Jedi. Yaddle was subsequently defeated and murdered by Dooku, another step on his path to the dark side.
===Din Grogu, the Mandalorian foundling===
Around 41 BBY, indicates that Grogu was 50 years old by the time of 9 ABY, which The Mandalorian takes place in. Using simple math, we can deduce that Grogu was born 41 years before the Battle of Yavin, which was depicted in Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope. Grogu was born. At some point before 19 BBY, he was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where many masters trained him over the years until the end of the Clone Wars when the Galactic Empire rose to power. By 9 ABY, Grogu was kept in a compound on the planet Arvala-7, guarded by a faction of Nikto mercenaries against various bounty hunters sent after him. Eventually, Din Djarin and IG-11 defeated the mercenaries, with Djarin leaving with Grogu after destroying the assassin droid, whose instructions had been to kill the infant while Djarin's had been to take him alive if possible. Although he initially handed Grogu over to his client, Djarin had a change of heart and chose to return and rescue him, placing both him and Grogu in the crosshairs of an Imperial remnant headed by the war criminal Moff Gideon, who wanted Grogu for his own purposes. After prevailing in an initial battle against Gideon's forces, Djarin, now acting as Grogu's father by Mandalorian Creed, was charged with protecting Grogu until he could get him to either his own people or a Jedi.
After many adventures, Din Djarin finally found Ahsoka Tano, a former Jedi Padawan. However, Ahsoka refused to train Grogu because of his feelings of anger, and fear, and his attachment to Djarin. Ahsoka then told Djarin to go to the ruins of an ancient temple on Tython. On Tython, Grogu reached out with the Force while members of Gideon's forces attempted to capture him. He was eventually captured by Gideon's Dark Troopers, and brought aboard his light cruiser. He was later rescued by Djarin and the timely intervention of Luke Skywalker.
==Yoda's species in the galaxy==
The species, its origins shrouded in mystery, was rarely seen, with only a few members known to the wider galaxy. All known members of the species active in the galaxy were Force users and affiliated with the Jedi.
==Behind the scenes==
Star Wars creator George Lucas chose to keep the name and background of Yoda's species a mystery. Both Yoda and Yaddle's Databank entries on StarWars.com list their species as "Unknown." Interviewed for The Clone Wars: Season Three, Supervising Director Dave Filoni confirmed the show had no plans to reveal Yoda's homeworld, further stating that he believed the world would never actually be seen in any story. To Filoni, giving such an answer would ruin a major part of the fun of Yoda's character: the mystery of his origins.
In the documentary "From Puppets to Pixels," available on the DVD bonus disc of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, Lucas joked that Yoda was "the illegitimate child of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy."DVD bonus disc of Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones: "From Puppets to Pixels"
In The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi?, a canon retelling of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back written by Adam Gidwitz, Luke Skywalker calls Yoda a "little swamp frog."The Empire Strikes Back: So You Want to Be a Jedi? In the 2019 canon audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost, the young noble Ramil claims that Yoda looked like a slime-gnome.
Maz Kanata, one of the main characters of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, was originally sketched by Industrial Light & Magic concept artist Christian Alzmann as a member of Yoda's species around March 2013. Three months later, Alzmann redesigned the character as hunched, green alien with a headdress and, one month later, redesigned her face to be bug-eyed and snub-nosed, distancing her from Yoda's design.The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
==Sources==
===Non-canon sources===
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==Notes and references==
Category:Unidentified sentient species