# Where Did YODA (Star Wars) Come From? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270 "2008-03-06T01:22:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/1 "2008-03-06T01:22:32Z")
That odd looking, quasi-human guy YODA-where did he come from? Was there ever an explanation of how his kind became involved with humans? And, why was there only one? Was he the last remnent of a species that died out? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/2 "2008-03-06T01:32:59Z")
IIRC, they showed a female of his species in one of the prequel movies. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/3 "2008-03-06T01:33:19Z")
I don’t really know where he came from but i assume hes involved with humans for the same reason all the other aliens are, because they have too. He wasn’t the only one though, you can see a female yoda sitting in the jedi council in the prequels. Her name is Yaddle and you can see a picture in her [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaddle). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/4 "2008-03-06T02:14:04Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] That odd looking, quasi-human guy YODA-where did he come from? Was there ever an explanation of how his kind became involved with humans? And, why was there only one? Was he the last remnent of a species that died out? [/QUOTE] Part of the whole idea in Star Wars is people are people and stuff are stuff. There isn’t a lot of “oooh, what’s this guy with the funny head bumps want” because he’s just a person. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/5 "2008-03-06T02:22:25Z")
Exactly. They never enquired into the anthropological history of any other species, so why do it for Yoda’s? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/6 "2008-03-06T02:24:12Z")
He’s the illegitimate child of Miss Piggy and Fozzy Bear. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/7 "2008-03-06T02:45:20Z")
Was Dagobah Yoda’s home planet, or just where he was hiding? ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/8 "2008-03-06T04:01:16Z")
According the [official site](http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/yoda/?id=eu), Yoda and Yaddle’s species and home world are unknown. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/9 "2008-03-06T04:06:22Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Exactly. They never enquired into the anthropological history of any other species, so why do it for Yoda’s? [/QUOTE] Well they at least gave a little on some of the others. A species name or a home planet would be sweet. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/10 "2008-03-06T05:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=levdrakon] Was Dagobah Yoda’s home planet, or just where he was hiding? [/QUOTE] He was just hiding there. Lucas never revealed Yoda’s home planet or species, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/11 "2008-03-06T06:05:01Z")
I thought he was a Whills. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/12 "2008-03-06T07:15:22Z")
And in _The Knights of the Old Republic_, there is a character on the Jedi Council who also appears to be the same species as Yoda…but purple colored. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/13 "2008-03-06T09:19:06Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] And in _The Knights of the Old Republic_, there is a character on the Jedi Council who also appears to be the same species as Yoda…but purple colored. [/QUOTE] Master Vrook. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/14 "2008-03-06T09:27:24Z")
I find it somewhat surprising that the OP had to explain who Yoda was and what movie he was from, as though he hasn’t been a firmly established part of pop culture since 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/15 "2008-03-06T13:15:01Z")
[QUOTE=Scissorjack] Master Vrook. [/QUOTE] Nope. Vrook was the guy who was voiced by Ed Asner. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/16 "2008-03-06T13:18:30Z")
According to my Star Wars geek friend, Yoda was hiding on Dagobah. Due to a Sith lord being killed there centuries before, the planet is “polluted” with Dark Side energy. This enabled Yoda to hide from Palpatine and Vader, who were busily going through the galaxy skragging the Jedi’s. Of course, it’s possible he’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/17 "2008-03-06T14:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=ataraxy22] I thought he was a Whills. [/QUOTE] Not according to [Wookiepedia](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Whill): > [@](#): > > It is a common misconception that “Whill” is the name of the unknown race of Yoda, but George Lucas has firmly denied this. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/18 "2008-03-06T14:18:47Z")
He was once a creature very much like an Ewok. One day he and his brother Zoda were out fishing and Zoda discovered a shiny gold ring, which fascinated Yoda. They fought over the ring and Yoda killed Zoda by strangling him. The ring consumed Yoda, and as the years passed he became deformed, losing both his cute fluffy fur and the ability to speak grammatically. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/19 "2008-03-06T14:23:29Z")
IMSMC, I think this is one of the things Lucas has said is a no-go to the various EU-writing people. It’s not just never come up, they’re not supposed to come up with a background. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2008, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270/20 "2008-03-06T14:26:03Z")
That Wookieepedia is interesting. Here’s the entry on Yoda’s species, which notes that another named member is **Vandar Tokare** : [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unknown\_tridactyl\_species](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unknown_tridactyl_species) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-did-yoda-star-wars-come-from/440270.md?page=2)