The Child

"Thank you for bringing peace to my valley. And good luck with the Child."

- Kuiil, to the Mandalorian

"The Child" was a male Force-sensitive being that belonged to the same species as Jedi Master Yoda. The Child was born around 41 BBY, and was held at a compound run by Nikto mercenaries on Arvala-7 during the New Republic Era. While still an infant at the age of fifty years old, he was sought by an Imperial who hired a Mandalorian bounty hunter to retrieve him.

Hunted and rescued
"The commission was quite specific. The asset was to be terminated."

- IG-11

The bounty hunter known as "the Mandalorian" was dispatched by "the Client" and Imperial Dr. Pershing to capture the Child, preferably alive. The assassin droid IG-11 was dispatched to terminate him. After working together to storm the compound the infant was being held in, the Mandalorian destroyed IG-11 before the droid was able to assassinate the Child.

Shortly after, the Mandalorian took the Child back to his ship, only to find it being scavenged by Jawas. The Mandalorian attacked their sandcrawler for the scavenged parts, but failed. Eventually, the Mandalorian got the assistance of Kuiil to try to convince the Jawas to give back the parts peacefully. The Jawas wanted a mudhorn's egg in return for the parts. The Mandalorian fought the mudhorn, only surviving by the Child using the Force to lift the beast into the air long enough for the Mandalorian to get up and kill it. After using the Force, the Child fell asleep. When the Child eventually woke back up, the ship had been repaired and they had left the planet.

Upon returning, the Mandalorian gave the Child to the Client. However, shortly before leaving the planet to carry out a new bounty, the Mandalorian, having a change of heart, returned to rescue the Child. Shortly after the Mandalorian stormed the facility where the Child was left, a skirmish ensued between the Bounty Hunters' Guild and the Tribe, resulting in the Mandalorian escaping from the Bounty Hunters' Guild with the Child.

Into hiding
"We want you to stay. The community's grateful. You can pack all this away in case there's ever trouble. You and your boy can have a good life. He could be a child for awhile."

- Omera to the Mandalorian about the Child

The Mandalorian took the Child to the backwater world of Sorgan, where he intended to lie low for several months and avoid the guild. While on Sorgan, the Child befriended the children of a small farming village while the Mandalorian and Cara Dune protected the krill farmers from Klatooinian raiders and their AT-ST. The jobs lasted several weeks. Afterwards, the Mandalorian considered leaving the Child behind in the village where he could have a childhood. However, the arrival of a bounty hunter searching for the child changed his mind, and both he and the Child left Sorgan behind.

Powers and abilities
The Child was able to harness the mystical energies of the Force on account of being Force-sensitive, notably telekinetically lifting a giant mudhorn into the air for a brief time to save the Mandalorian. However, due to his infantile body, the Child was seen greatly mentally straining while performing this feat, eventually falling into an unconscious state for several hours afterward.

Behind the scenes
"That was such a powerful thing that was added to the story. That was our precious. Our precious is this being that we all end up taking care of in some way."

- Gina Carano, in an interview with Vanity Fair

This character first appeared in "The Mandalorian Chapter 1". The character was designed by Christian Alzmann, and was referred to as "the Being" by the actors during filming. Executive Producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni intended to film the Child as a puppet and then as a blank to add CGI (in case the puppet was not convincing enough), but Werner Herzog, who played "the Client" in The Mandalorian, told the pair to leave it, calling them cowards.

The Child has been referred to widely and affectionately in news reports and social media as "Baby Yoda." An article from Vanity Fair claimed that fans were desperate for merchandise for "Baby Yoda," although Favreau had wished to hold off on it in case the Child had been leaked before the release of the first episode.