Yoda

 

YODA: a character analysis

by Emilio Lopez

In the prequels, Yoda is presented to us as a grand leader who leads the Jedi Order in peace and can always 
sense darkness, but underneath, he is slowly revealed to be blinded by his arrogance and pays for this with
the fall of the Jedi order. Because of this, Yoda casts himself into exile and waits for the chosen one who

will defeat the Sith and bring balance to the Force. When Luke comes to him on Dagobah, Yoda agrees to train him

for this purpose.

Character Analysis

Name  Yoda
Gender  Male
Age     900 
Ethnicity                                Unknown
Family                                   The Jedi
Cultural background              The Jedi teachings and the ways of the Force
Intelligence (IQ)                    Very advanced intelligence
Education                                The Jedi Order
Occupation                             Grandmaster Jedi 
Religion/Philosophy               The Force
Sexual orientation                  Asexual
Goals, ambition, dreams        To maintain/restore peace in the galaxy and destroy the Sith. 
Secrets                                  That Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's father
Fears/Phobias                        The Sith overtaking the galaxy, and when they do, is eventual fear is that Darth Vader
                                               and the Emperor will seduce Luke in to the Dark Side.
Sense of humor                     He is funny in an elderly sort of way when he can be. 
Adrenaline moments             When ever he has a duel like with the Emperor or Count Dooku, otherwise
                                               he is always calm and clear-headed.
Physical description              Yoda is short, very wrinkly and green. He has ragged robes and he uses his looks to make his
                                              opponent underestimate him.
Physical disabilities, if any    Yoda has no physical disabilities except for his old age. But he makes up with this in his
                                               ability with the Force.
Action                                     Yoda can fight with a lightsaber very well, move objects with the Force, and is 
                                                incredibly agile in a duel.

                                                

Character Poses  Three poses that represent Yoda

In this pic, Yoda is in his resting state of calm. Yoda doesn't brew in anger or think emotional thoughts.

Instead, he spends most of his days meditating and putting his mind at rest.

In this pic, Yoda is using the Force to lift a ship out of a swamp bog. Even though the X-Wing is extremely heavy, 

he lets the Force flow through him and can clear his mind enough to accomplish feats like this.

While Yoda is a skilled practitioner and always uses the Force in defense, and never in attack, 

he can beat almost anyone

in a duel, and is one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy.

Yoda's Gestures:

In this gesture, Yoda bows his head in disappointment. Because Luke is a stubborn and slow 

learner, Yoda does this a lot throughout the original trilogy. But, being a wise and patient mentor,

he continues teaching him.

In this gesture, Yoda shows his comedic side and hits R2 with his walking stick.

He does this to see if will Luke underestimate him and test his ability to sense the trick.

In this last gesture, Yoda absorbs Count Dooku's force lightning attack. This is an example of 

Yoda's quote: “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”

While Yoda knows that he can attack and beat Dooku in a fight, he doesn't make the first move 

and allows him to attack first, blocking and redirecting the lightning.

Power Center:

Due to his old age, Yoda relies on a crutch when he is at rest or doing ordinary tasks. His shoulders

slump forward and he limps.

But when he is drawing from the force to battle, he takes a powerful and confident stance.

His shoulders roll back and his chest puffs, and he flips around and is extremely fast.

   

Yoda will also pretend to be a feeble and weak old man in front of his enemies so they will

underestimate his strength. Much like Gandalf when he pretended his staff was just an

old man's walking stick.

Yoda character sequence analysis:

Lifting the X-Wing

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back | Yoda Lifts X Wing | 4K HDR - YouTube

Execution

When Yoda tells Luke to lift the X-Wing out of the swamp, Luke claims it's impossible.

But after Yoda tells him that nothing is impossible and only seems difficult in his mind, Luke

tries to lift it and fails. To show him his failure in doubt, Yoda lifts the X-Wing. 

Intention

What is the message or emotion you are communicating in the scene?
What are your choices?

In this scene, Yoda wants to show Luke that nothing is impossible, and that his stubbornness

and lack of imagination prevent him form doing great things. To show him this, he does it himself

and proves that even a little, green old man can lift something 20,000 times heavier if you believe. 

Subtext

The implicit meaning of a character or scene

Body acting and speech could contrast each other

Yoda says: "No, only different in your mind" 

(Your mind is too stubborn to accept that a rock and a ship are no different in how

they relate to the force)

When Luke says, "I don't believe it", Yoda says, "That is why you fail".

(Because you doubt and think things are too difficult to accomplish, you prevent yourself

from accomplishing anything)

Specificity

Yoda's goal in training Luke is to defeat the Sith and bring back peace in the galaxy.

In order to prepare Luke, Yoda needs to break down the walls that Luke has built up in himself,

but Luke doubts himself more than anything. Creating an example will help Luke

see that anything is possible.

Caricature

Yoda says, "No, no different, only different in your mind" when Luke claims that lifting a 

space ship and a rock is totally different. While it is obvious that a rock and a space ship 

are different objects, the point is that how they relate to the force is no different, and self doubt

in which one is easier to lift is what makes them different.