Yoda's species/Legends

The unknown tridactyl species was a small green species with unknown origins.

Characteristics and history


The name and homeworld of this species remains unknown. The species was very small, most standing below 70 centimeters, but had extremely long lifespans lasting many hundreds of years (though because all known members of the species were Jedi, who are known to generally have longer lifespans than ordinary people, the exact average lifespan of the species is unknown). Adult members of the species were characterized by sharp, elfin ears, ridges on their foreheads, and tridactyl hands and five toes (three in front, two in back). Their leathery skin and blood was light green. Their sharp teeth point to a carnivorous diet. Most of them spoke Galactic Basic Standard, though some used non-standard grammar and sentence construction.

All three known members were very wise and had extraordinary Force potential. Yoda, the most famous member of this species, was the Jedi Grand Master during the time of the Galactic Republic for over two centuries and one of the most powerful Jedi in the history of the Order. Master Yoda perished from natural causes at the age of exactly 900 standard years.



Two other Jedi, Yaddle and Vandar Tokare, were also powerful Masters who both sat on the Jedi Councils on Coruscant and on Dantooine respectively. There was also a statue of an unknown Jedi of this species inside the Valley of the Jedi on Ruusan.

This species bore resemblance to the Lannik species, primarily their short stature, large pointed ears, and, as in the case of Yaddle, a topknot of hair. Whether or not this species was related to the Lannik is uncertain, though Yoda had at least once been mistaken for a Lannik. It is highly unlikely that there was a genetic connection between the species though, because Lannik were much more humanoid in appearance and seemed to have a different evolutionary history than that of Yoda and Yaddle's species (Lannik appeared to have evolved from simians, while the unknown tridactyl species had features that could point to an amphibian ancestry).

Behind the scenes

 * Many fans have speculated this unknown species are the Whills (as in the Journal of the Whills), but in an interview, George Lucas has denied this. Additionally, in lines cut from Revenge of the Sith, Yoda speaks of the Whills as though they were a separate species.  When asked what species Yoda is, Lucas has only joked, "He's a frog". Some fans have also been known to call them "Yoda things" or just "Yodas".




 * Another, similar fanon misconception is that Yoda is a Whill from "Grentarik". This rumor originates from the fan fiction fansite run by "SuperShadow".


 * Prior to the creation of Yaddle for The Phantom Menace, Lucasfilm actively discouraged licensees from exploring Yoda's species, wishing to avoid confirming that an entire species of Yoda-like individuals necessarily even existed. A significant example of this policy was when Lucasfilm (likely at the direction of George Lucas himself) ordered the pulping of the entire print run of a yet-to-be-released Star Wars trading card depicting a group of the unknown tridactyl species worshipping a larger-than-life-size statue of one of their number, led in prayer by an individual who may have been intended to be Yoda.


 * When The Essential Guide to Characters was published, Yoda's homeworld was listed as Dagobah, leading some fans to believe that they were from Dagobah in origin. However, new material released states that Yoda was not born there.


 * Early cover art for the upcoming New Essential Guide to Alien Species featured Yoda prominently, leading some fans to believe that the species name will finally be revealed in that book. However, Leland Chee has stated here that while information on Yoda's species will be presented, no species name or homeworld will be revealed. Many fans do not understand why Lucas insists on this "secret".



Number of toes
There is actually some doubt as to the exact number of toes that members of this species possess (at least canonically speaking), as this significant anatomical feature has been inconsistently portrayed over the course of the Star Wars franchise (and films). Strictly speaking, a truly tridactyl foot would only have three toes; however, in The Empire Strikes Back, there is a shot of Yoda rummaging through Luke's supplies where the soles of his feet are seen. Although there are definitely three forward-facing toes, there is also an additional digit clearly protruding in the opposite direction. This is ambiguously either a fourth toe or perhaps a prehensile heel of some kind (if such a thing is even anatomically possible); the clear presence or absence of a fourth toenail would settle the matter, but the angle of the ESB shot makes it impossible to see if this is the case. If the fourth, rear-facing digit is a toe (which seems likely), then technically Yoda's species have anisodactyl feet.


 * The first discrepancy appears in The Phantom Menace, where the puppets of both Yoda and Yaddle feature three forward-facing toes and a blunted Human-like heel instead of the original puppet's anisodactyl arrangement, thus being the only appearance of the species with truly tridactyl feet. However, when the TPM puppet was replaced by the fully-digital version used in Attack of the Clones, Yoda now had five toes, arranged somewhat like a star shape and all separate from a blunt humanoid heel. This was revealed in the exhaustive book Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels, which displays multi-angle views of the digital model&mdash;so, although there are no adequate close-up shots in AotC to definitively confirm that this model made it into the final film, it is highly likely that it did.




 * At any rate this was clearly no longer the case for the upgraded digital Yoda used in RotS, which features a full-circle return to the ESB anisodactyl design, as seen in shots of Yoda plummeting to the Senate Rotunda floor at the conclusion of his battle with Darth Sidious and also when jumping down into Bail Organa's speeder shortly afterwards. One earlier shot of Yoda lying momentarily stunned on a senate pod during the battle also seems to display a rearward fourth toenail, thus indicating that the fourth digit is indeed a toe rather than some kind of prehensile heel, however the shot is not adequately clear at DVD resolution to be definitive.


 * Likely as a result of the above confusion, various Hasbro action figures of Yoda produced since Return of the Jedi have featured either three, four or five toes in a variety of arrangements, although none of which precisely matched the anisodactyl appearance of Yoda's feet in ESB until RotS figures were produced. Interestingly, these RotS figures molded a toenail onto the ambiguous rear-facing fourth digit of the ESB design, clearly indicating a belief that the digit was indeed a toe. Whether Hasbro based this on a detailed RotS digital model or access to the original ESB puppet, or if this was mere speculation on their part is unknown. Naturally, these varying designs are generally not evident unless directly viewing the underside of the figures.


 * The controversy was officially solved with the release of The New Essential Guide to Alien Species, which, on page 216, states that Yoda's species had "five-toed feet, with three toes in front and two toes in back."