Yoda/Legends

Master Yoda was one of the most reknowned Jedi in the galaxy, and one of the few Old Republic Jedi to survive into the Galactic Civil War.

Biography
Yoda (896 BBY - 4 ABY), standing only 2 feet 1 inch (0.66 metre), was one of the senior members of the Jedi Council in the last days of the Galactic Republic and arguably the wisest and most powerul Jedi Master in the galaxy. In his eight centuries, he had trained several notable Jedi, including Count Dooku, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Luke Skywalker. This contributed to his reputation as an especially wise and powerful Jedi.

During the Time of the Republic (896 BBY to 32 BBY)
Yoda was one of the Jedi Masters who led the mobile academy aboard the starship Chu’unthor, which was constructed ca. 500 BBY. He chose to leave the ship's data tapes in the care of one of the natives when the ship crashed on Dathomir in around 400 BBY.

During the Rise of the Empire (32 BBY to 19 BBY)
In 32 BBY, Qui-Gon Jinn brought a young Anakin Skywalker to the Jedi Council, requesting to train him once Obi-Wan Kenobi had completed the trials necessary to become a Jedi Knight. Yoda, as the teacher of many of those on the Council, and as one of its most venerable and respected members, played a key role in that body's initial decision to deny the request. Yoda believed that the boy was clearly affected by his years as a slave, and that he still clung too tightly to the memory of his mother, to be trained safely. His future was clouded.

After Qui-Gon Jinn's death at the hands of Darth Maul, however, the Council rescinded upon its previous decision. Though, the reasons for this are unclear. Yoda may have trusted Obi-Wan Kenobi more than his notoriously unorthodox teacher. For whatever reason, Yoda led the Council in enabling Kenobi to train the young Skywalker.

Yoda was a key Republic general at the Battle of Geonosis, when the clone trooper Army of the Republic was first deployed. He led the group which rescued the surrounded Jedi in the execution arena.

During this battle, Yoda dueled Count Dooku, saving Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan, Anakin Skywalker. The seemingly frail Jedi Master demonstrated his legendary skill in lightsaber combat, employing whirling and acrobatic Form IV techniques to push back the Sith Lord.

In 19 BBY, at the climax of the Clone Wars, the great warrior Yoda then battled Darth Sidious but was unable to defeat him due to his advanced age, and the Senate was nearly destroyed by the Sith Lord.

After the Purge (19 BBY to 4 ABY)
During the Great Jedi Purge that launched the Galactic Civil War, Yoda escaped to Dagobah.

When Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker, arrived, Yoda &mdash; after some expressed reluctance &mdash; agreed to train him in the ways of The Force. Prior to finishing his instruction, however, Luke chose to leave Dagobah in order to confront Darth Vader at Cloud City and save his friends. Luke promised to come back in order to complete his training.

Luke returned to find the elderly Yoda in poor health, obviously unable to continue his teaching. Yoda told Luke that his last test would be to face Darth Vader and his Emperor. Yoda then died at the age of 900 and became one with the Force.

Personality and traits
To his students, the elfin luminary Yoda could appear as either very strict or like a grandfatherly figure, testing them to mental and physical extremes one moment and showing warmth the next. Students often strongly disagreed with him at first, but gradually came to understand his attitudes. Amongst his colleagues on the Jedi Council, he was known to have a penchant for mischief and practical jokes. To all of them, the humble Yoda epitomizes the ideals of the Jedi Order; the grandmaster of that august body was widely known as a sage instructor.

Yoda spoke an unusual version of Basic. He tended to place verbs (especially auxiliary verbs) after the object and subject. (This is an Object-Subject-Verb format.) An example of Yoda's speech pattern: When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not.

Yoda walked with the aid of a cane later in life, although he was capable of throwing it aside and moving nimbly while using the Force.

Behind the Scenes
Yoda is voiced by Frank Oz. In the original Star Wars trilogy, he was realized as a Muppet (controlled by Oz). Rendered with computer animation in Attack of the Clones, Yoda appeared in ways not previously possible, including his participation in an elaborate fight scene.

Yoda's popularity is such that the comedy musician, "Weird Al" Yankovic, parodied the song "Lola" by the Kinks with a version called "Yoda" included on the album Dare to Be Stupid (1985). More recently, the Great Luke Ski parodied the song "YMCA" by the Village People with a version called "Y.O.D.A." included on the albums Fanboys &#8216;n Da Hood (1996) and Carpe Dementia (1999).

The name Yoda is derived from "Yoddha", the Sanskrit word for "warrior."