After The Mandalorian’s premiere on Disney + on November 12, Baby Yoda became an instant cultural icon. The character had fan accounts dedicated to him almost instantaneously, some with over 150,000 followers. The puppet that plays Baby Yoda is valued at around $5 million.
Not much is known of Baby Yoda’s origin as there are only two other known characters of the same species. He is 50 years old, which makes him very young as his species has an over 900 year life-span. One of the characters is Yoda and the other is Yaddle, a female who was also on the Jedi council.
Some fans believe that Baby Yoda could be a child of Yoda and Yaddle, even though that is a violation of the Jedi code. This species is intended to be mysterious and it may never be known where Baby Yoda came from.
In the show, Baby Yoda is referred to as “the Child”. He is a member of the same species as Yoda, although much younger than the jedi master. At the beginning of the series, the Mandalorian, a highly trained warrior portrayed by Pedro Pascal, is sent to retrieve the Child for his client. The Mandalorian delivers him to the client, but eventually returns and steals back the Child after questioning the client’s intent.
From there on, the Mandalorian focuses on protecting the highly valuable child he’s come into possession of. Baby Yoda proves himself to be useful by protecting the Mandalorian on several occasions. Even at a young age, Baby Yoda is strong with the force and can move things, choke people, block things like fire, and heal wounds.
Over the past few months, the internet has been flooded with Baby Yoda memes. Fans of the show obsess over his giant eyes, curious smile, and cute laugh, but really, who can blame them. He has become iconic to many.
The Mandalorian has become a huge success, and Baby Yoda is definitely one of the reasons why. The series has released 8 episodes, and the director plans on releasing another season next November.
