Yoda

Yoda, a male member of a mysterious species, was a revered Jedi Master who served as the Grand Master of the Jedi Order in the waning days of the Galactic Republic. He was renowned within the Order for his wisdom, powers of the Force, and lightsaber combat, and he lived for nearly 900 years. His time during the last days of the Jedi Order and beyond made him a consequential figure in galactic history.

Yoda sat on the Jedi High Council. During the Invasion of Naboo, Master Qui-Gon Jinn presented a young slave boy, Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon professed his belief that Skywalker was the Chosen One who would bring balance to the Force. At the same time, it was discovered that the Sith, the age-old enemies of the Jedi, had not gone extinct as the Jedi believed they had. Against Yoda's advice, the Jedi Council agreed that Obi-Wan Kenobi, who became a Jedi Knight after the death of his master, Jinn, could train Skywalker as a Jedi. Ten years later, Yoda presided over the Jedi Order as the Republic found itself on the road to war with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, led by Yoda's former apprentice, the fallen Jedi Count Dooku. Yoda led a clone army that had been secretly built for the Republic to Geonosis to save Kenobi, Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala from Separatist captivity, and the ensuing battle—in which Yoda fought his former apprentice and forced the count to flee—sparked the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatists.

The Jedi Council took over leadership of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars, making Yoda one of the leading Jedi Generals. He personally fought in some engagements in the war, including a battle with the Sith acolyte Asajj Ventress and her Separatist forces on Rugosa, but mostly commanded troops from afar. Towards the end of the war, Yoda was contacted by the spirit of the long-dead Qui-Gon Jinn, who told him that, contrary to Jedi teaching, it was possible to maintain one's consciousness after death. Yoda went on a spiritual journey where he underwent a series of trials, put forward by a group of mysterious Force Priestesses, to determine whether he was worthy to learn the secrets of immortality. This journey brought him to the world powerful with the Force, as well as Moraband, the ancient homeworld of the Sith. Yoda was deemed worthy, and Jinn began to teach him how to unlock this ancient and forgotten power.

As the Clone Wars came to an end, it was discovered that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was, in truth, the Dark Lord of the Sith known as Darth Sidious, who the Jedi Council had been searching for ever since the Battle of Geonosis. When Yoda was commanding troops during the Battle of Kashyyyk, members of the Jedi Council attempted to arrest the chancellor, but Sidious struck them down and seduced Skywalker, now Darth Vader, to the dark side of the Force. This sparked the fall of the Jedi Order, with clone troopers across the galaxy given the command to kill their Jedi Generals. Yoda survived the attempted execution and escaped from Kashyyyk. Along with Kenobi, he became one of the few survivors of the fall of the Jedi Order, and he witnessed Sidious transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Yoda attempted to confront and defeat the Emperor, but Yoda was forced to retreat. After the secret birth of Vader's twins, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, Yoda helped arrange for the children to be hidden from their father and then went into exile on Dagobah.

Yoda remained in exile for over two decades. During his exile, he watched from afar as other Jedi survivors continued to operate throughout the galaxy, giving guidance to Jedi such as Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan, Ezra Bridger. During the Galactic Civil War, Luke Skywalker came to Dagobah at the urging of Kenobi, who had been struck down by Vader but used the secrets also given to him by Qui-Gon Jinn to retain his consciousness. Yoda was reluctant to train the boy, but he began to instruct him in the ways of the Jedi. Luke left Dagobah in order to save his friends on Cloud City, but he returned many months later to complete his training. By that time, Yoda had fallen ill and was near-death, but he lived long enough to confirm a truth that Luke had learned on Cloud City: Darth Vader was his father. Yoda uttered his final words, that there was another Skywalker—Leia—and slipped away into the Force. He appeared as a spirit, alongside the spirits of Kenobi and a redeemed Anakin Skywalker, after the Alliance to Restore the Republic defeated the Emperor and emerged victorious in the Battle of Endor.

After Yoda's death, Luke fulfilled his master's dying wish: to pass on what he had learned to a new generation of Jedi. Luke's attempt to restore the Jedi Order failed, however, when his nephew, Ben, fell to the dark side and destroyed the new generation of Jedi. Luke went into exile, but a young Force-sensitive scavenger named Rey later found herself on a quest to find the legendary Jedi Master and bring him back into the fight against the dark side. During her quest, she had a vision of the past and heard Yoda's voice in it, saying that the Force was a powerful energy that surrounded all life in the galaxy.