The Star Wars Universe of films are packed with lore both on screen and off, and as a massive fan of the franchise, I thought I had heard everything. Apparently not, because as it turns out one of the franchise’s most iconic characters, the all-wise, green-skinned Jedi High Council member himself was almost a completely different color. That’s right, master Yoda wasn’t always meant to be green. And now I don’t know what to believe!
According reporting by The Guardian, a review of early Star Wars archives, including The Empire Strikes Back’s screenplay, novelization, and 1980 Marvel Comics adaptation, shows that filmmakers made a late decision to change the Jedi Master’s skin color. In the original script, the description of Luke’s first encounter with Yoda on Dagobah reads:
Mysteriously standing right in front of Luke is a strange, bluish creature, not more than two feet tall. The wizened little thing is dressed in rags…
That color detail didn’t make it to the final film, but it did live on in print. The Empire Strikes Back novelization, published in 1980, described Yoda as “blue-skinned” even after the movie hit theaters. Meanwhile, the Marvel Comics tie-in portrayed the character as purple, notably smaller, and almost elf like with long white hair. These differences suggest the change to green came late in production, and possibly during the frantic final stretch of creature design.
Special effects artist Nick Maley, who worked on Yoda’s creation, told The Guardian he doesn’t know exactly who made the final call, but that by the time he joined the project in 1979, his color was decided on. According to Maley:
By the time I got to work on him, he was green… I have a memory of a particular drawing … I seem to remember him being green in that drawing, and that would be before we’d ever started trying to try to make him.
Still, Maley admitted the decision could have been practical or simply instinctual. He continued:
I mean, I assumed everybody kind of tended to think: ‘Oh, Martians are little green characters.’ Right? So, you know, the green alien is a classic in people’s minds… I never questioned the fact that he was green. I never asked any questions about it, but we actually put dyes into the foam latex so that we didn’t have to paint it too much. That was green.
So, why the change? While no one at Lucasfilm has officially commented, it’s easy to imagine that green made Yoda stand out better against Dagobah’s misty, swampy backdrop and gave the character a more organic, earthy vibe that suited his wisdom and connection to the Force.
In retrospect, it’s almost impossible to imagine Yoda looking any different. His green skin has become such a defining part of the character that even fan favorite Grogu (better known as Baby Yoda who is set to appear in the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu movie) carries on that same iconic design. Still, it’s wild to think that, in some alternate galaxy far, far away, one of the best of the Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes Back, would have looked very differently. Specifically, with Luke Skywalker being trained by a blue Jedi Master instead of green.
Yoda’s mysterious species (all green, as far as we know) has been getting plenty of attention lately thanks to The Mandalorian, which you can stream with a Disney+ subscription. And if you’re eager to see what’s next for the galaxy far, far away, be sure to check out our full list of upcoming Star Wars projects.