Yoda

NOTE: This is a composite profile of both mainstream versions of Yoda being his Canon and Legends counterparts where both incarnations take different directions in their storylines with the Star Wars Hexalogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Seasons 1-6 serving as the only exceptions.

Pure Good

Full Name

Yoda

Alias

Master Yoda

General Yoda
"My Little Green Friend" (by Darth Sidious)

Origin

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Powers/Skills

Genius-level intelligence

Force empowerment
Lightsaber combat master
Longevity
Wisdom
Heightened senses
Dexterity
Mastery at Force manipulation
Telekinesis
Psychometry
Telepathy

Family

Unknown

Allies

Jedi Order:

N'Kata Del Gormo † (master)
Obi-Wan Kenobi † (apprentice)
Mace Windu † (apprentice)
Anakin Skywalker † (formerly until his redemption)
Qui-Gon Jinn †
Ahsoka Tano
Plo Koon †
Kit Fisto †
Saesee Tiin †
Ki-Adi-Mundi † (apprentice)
Cin Drallig † (padawan)
Luminara Unduli †
Even Piell †
Count Dooku † (former padawan)

Padmé Amidala †
Bail Organa †
C-3PO
R2-D2
Mon Mothma
Chewbacca
Tarfull
Kanan Jarrus †
Ezra Bridger
Luke Skywalker † (apprentice)
Leia Organa †
RX-24
Gungans
Wookies
Clone Troopers (formerly)
Palpatine † (formerly)

Enemies

Darth Sidious † (arch-nemesis; pure evil counterpart)

Count Dooku †
Darth Maul
General Grievous †
Asajj Ventress (formerly)
Darth Bane †
Darth Vader † (formerly)
Battle Droids
Confederacy of Independent Systems
Clone Troopers (upon Order 66)
Galactic Empire

Goals

Defeat Darth Sidious † and then to destroy and crush the Sith Order and the Empire.

Help Luke Skywalker become a Jedi Knight (all succeeded).
Try to persuade Count Dooku to return to the light side (failed, but only due to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s unexpected appearance).

Goodness Zone

Guiding all Jedi to the path of the Light Side of the Force.

Type of Hero

Wise Alien

“	Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.	„
	~ Yoda teaching Luke about the Force.

“	Heeded my words did you not: pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. Hmm. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is. Luke... we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.	„
	~ Yoda to Luke Skywalker about the lessons of failure.

“	Do or do not. There is no "try".	„
	~ Yoda to Luke Skywalker - his most famous line.

Yoda is one of the overarching protagonists of the Star Wars franchise. He is a wise and experienced Jedi who is an important figure to the light side of the Force. He helped train many heroes and others such as Luke Skywalker to fight against the dark side of the Force.

He was portrayed in motion-capture and voiced by Frank Oz in the saga films and Tom Kane in the Clone Wars media.

What Makes Him Pure Good?[]

Unlike Pong Krell, he values the clone troopers as individuals and people, not judging them by the fact they all appear identical and were made for combat.
Helps train young kids in the ways of the Force.
Even though he initially declined, after Qui-Gon Jinn's death, he offers Anakin Skywalker to get trained to honor the deceased Jedi's wishes and to mold Anakin into a Jedi.
- In Yoda's private conversation with Obi-Wan, attempted to pursue Obi-Wan to have someone else to train Anakin as Obi-Wan was inexperienced at the time which had consequences later on.
Over the years, Yoda valued Anakin for his skills and maturity, unlike the other member of the Jedi Council, and correctly believed he was the Chosen One. Yoda also overcame his fear of Anakin turning to the Dark Side at the time.
He assigned Anakin a Padawan learner named Ahsoka Tano so that he can adapt with someone that has similar traits to him, and she trained very well under his command, thus making him partially responsible for making Ahsoka the hero she is today.
During his lightsaber duel with Dooku on Geonosis, Yoda chose to save Anakin and Obi-Wan from falling debris instead of going after Dooku.
During the Clone Wars, he often gives advice and wisdom to many Jedi, even though most of them (except Anakin and Ahsoka) never took the wisdom into account, and it cost each of them greatly.
Unlike most Jedi Masters who are arrogant and self-righteous, such as Mace Windu, Yoda is one of the only ones who is capable of learning from his mistakes, able to somewhat realize that his occasional mistrust, lies and deceit towards Anakin, as well as keeping secrets from him, were slowly turning his friend against the Jedi Order.
- In addition, Yoda seemed to acknowledge his mistakes as the Jedi Council were partially responsible for creating Vader in the first place, as they treated him unfairly and more as a weapon than a friend. This cost many lives, yet Yoda felt deep remorse.
- Knowing him, Yoda was reluctant to use Anakin as their pawn and was likely outvoted. The scene where Anakin was rejected the seat of Master showed that Yoda was indeed reluctant. He also knew that Anakin rightfully deserved the rank of master, because he proved time and time again that he was wise after all the hard work that he had done over the years. He also knew Anakin would have successfully trained Ahsoka to be a Jedi Knight if they hadn't wrongfully expelled her.
After his close friend/student Ahsoka left the Jedi Order, Yoda was the only Jedi who felt great remorse and guilt for not standing with her when she was framed and accused of treason against the Republic. In addition, Yoda was also the only Jedi to not totally agree with expelling Ahsoka out of the order without a fair trial, but he, along with Obi-Wan and Plo Koon, were outvoted.
- It was later revealed in a deleted scene that Yoda encouraged Anakin to do the right thing, which Anakin always did, and helped clear Ahsoka's name.
Upon reuniting with Qui-Gon Jinn on Dagobah, Yoda humbly apologized to him for having doubted him before and acknowledged him as a great Jedi.
During his trials in the Wellspring of Life, Yoda conquered his inner darkness.
When approached by the spirit of Darth Bane on Moraband, Yoda resisted being tempted by the fallen Sith, recognizing him to be an illusion and rejected being called to the dark side by it.
During the final trial on Moraband, when put in an illusory world, Yoda attempted to stop Anakin from killing Dooku, and looked somberly as Anakin decapitated his former apprentice. Then, when given the choice to pursue Darth Sidious or save Anakin's life, Yoda chose to rescue Anakin and get him to safety.
When Ventress was brought to the Council after Vos was kidnapped and he learned that Ventress had taught Vos the ways of the Dark Side to assassinate Dooku, while Windu wanted to arrest her, Yoda was convinced that she genuinely cared about Vos and had turned her back from the Dark Side, allowing her to partake in the rescue mission of Vos and agreeing to pardon her for her crimes.
He singlehandedly fought and attempted to defeat Darth Sidious, and when he failed to vanquish him or prevent Order 66, he felt great guilt over his failure, choosing to exile himself to Dagobah as a self-imposed punishment.
In the Legends continuity, Yoda went to Vjun to peacefully speak to Dooku, conversing with him in private about the Force and the power of the Dark Side. Yoda admits that he has some darkness inside of him, but remarks that Dooku still had some light within him and attempts to convince him to rejoin the Jedi, willing to offer forgiveness in spite of all the atrocities he committed. Through this, Yoda was nearly successful in redeeming Dooku, though unfortunately, the intervention of Obi-Wan and Anakin sent by Palpatine to purposefully shake Dooku's trust caused Dooku to view it as an act of betrayal and attacked Yoda.
While Yoda believed Anakin was irredeemable, he seemed unsure of the decision at the time and of course felt great remorse over allowing the Jedi Council's mistreat him (including distrusting him for petty reasons) and at the fact he felt that he failed to protect all he cared for, thus any chance to be redeemed from the dark side at the time was not an option. In a sense, Yoda realized that the friend both Obi-Wan and Yoda knew was gone due to their mistreatment and refusal to help Anakin when he needed help.
Helped guide Ezra Bridger and Kanan Jarrus to defeat the Empire.
Waved Good-bye to Ahsoka, proud to see how much she had grown, enabling the two old friends to part ways on good terms.
He trained Luke in the ways of the Force and helped mold him into the Jedi that would defeat the Empire.
He encourages others never to give up hope. He also encourages Luke to fulfill his destiny to fight his father and overcome his fear.
He encouraged Luke not to give up hope on Rey and the restoration of the Jedi.
Is not upset at Luke for breaking his promise to restore the Jedi, understanding why he did so, and assures his former apprentice that he still has a chance to make things right.
He, along with Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Luke and the rest of the Jedi, help Rey end Darth Sidious' region of terror once and for all.
He never kills his foes unless doing so is absolutely necessary, as with the case of Sidious who was evil to the core.
He respects all creatures regardless of how they can be.
While Yoda can often be seemly unsympathetic when his students struggle to follow the Jedi way, it is not intentional. For example, when Anakin states that the life of someone important to him is at risk, he simply responds that he shouldn't mourn or miss them, and should rejoice that the person is now one with the Force. This comes back hard on Yoda once Order 66 is executed—he's clearly pained by the deaths of all of his students. It's possible that he's also speaking from personal experience as he has lived for centuries, and if he dwelt on the pain of every loved one he'd ever lost in that time period, he'd be an emotional wreck. So he is not unsympathetic, just out of touch and in a very particular position that makes it hard to connect with someone like Anakin or Luke.
Yoda made no effort to forcibly stop Luke from leaving Dagobah in TESB, presumably as a sign of taking the moral implications of “sacrificing Han and Leia” to heart, which Luke called him out for seemingly disregarding. Also when Luke came back, Yoda did not scold him and was relieved the young Jedi(-to-be) kept his promise to return and complete his training.
While Yoda has serious moments, it doesn't darken the story and tone of him.