Everything Star Wars Has Revealed About Grogu’s Mysterious Race Explained

When George Lucas first created Star Wars, he wanted to build a universe that the audience was dropped in the middle of and would have to play catch-up with. As time went on, thanks to the many movies, shows, books, comics, and games, much of the universe Lucas dreamt up has been explored, but there is one piece that still remains a mystery, even as fans have seen more of it than ever before: what is the story behind Yoda’s species?

Introduced in Empire Stikes Back, Yoda was built to be a conundrum not just for Luke Skywalker to deal with, but for the audience to wonder about. The little green Jedi spoke in riddles that were even harder to solve because of the odd sentence structure he used. He was the living embodiment of “don’t judge a book by its cover,” showing that powerful things can exist in small and old packages. Most of all, he represented the mystery of the Force itself, a mystery that has mostly been answered now.

But the origins of Yoda, and more recently, Grogu, continue to be a mystery to the fandom, which is exactly what George Lucas wants. While we may never learn everything about Yoda’s species, there are a few things we know about them that help give fans a better sense of what they are and where they come from.

No One Knows What Yoda’s Species Is Called

If you read everything and anything you can find about Yoda’s species, you’ll soon realize that the only name for them is “Yoda’s species.” Even George Lucas doesn’t know what the actual name of the species is, as he explained to Hayden Christensen many years ago…

To be very honest with you, I never really figured out where he came from, what his species is called… it doesn’t even have a name. Maybe it’s somewhere but I don’t know what it is. So he’s a mystery character. He’s a magical character. He has no background. He comes and he goes.

And for any fans hoping that newly minted Lucasfilm boss Dave Filoni will delve into the mystery and reveal a few secrets, it doesn’t seem likely. Long ago, in a magazine far, far away (Star Wars Insider #120), Filoni made it clear that he would respect Lucas’ wishes and never dig into Yoda’s species to reveal the mystery of it all.

Only A Few Of Yoda’s Species Have Been Seen

While humans, Wookiees, Rodians, and Tuskens are a dime a dozen in the galaxy far far away, only been a handful of Yoda’s species have ever been seen across the thousands of years of Star Wars lore that has been written about. While Yoda is the most famous, and Grogu is the new cute version, the movies and shows have also put some focus on Yaddle, the only female version of the species that has been seen.

But in deeper lore, much of it no longer considered canon, other members of the species have appeared. Even then, the appearances of these beings are few and far between. There is Vandar Tokare, head of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine during the Mandalorian wars in the year 4000 BBY, Oteg, who fought in the Great Galactic War around 3600 BBY, and Minch, who lived during the Golden Age of the Old Republic, around 700 BBY – which also means he was alive at the same time as Yoda and, possibly, Yaddle. Yoda’s species isn’t just rare in the stories that have been told. In the universe itself, these creatures are almost never seen, and no one knows where they come from.

They Seem Especially Connected To The Force

When a young Anakin Skywalker’s midi-chlorian count is taken in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi famously exclaimed, “Even Master Yoda doesn’t have a midi-chlorian count that high!” This suggests that Yoda had a very high midi-chlorian count, perhaps even higher than anyone else up to that point in time. It also points to an interesting piece of the puzzle that is Yoda’s species; as far as anyone knows, they are all Force sensitive.

Each of the members of Yoda’s species that has appeared in Star Wars mythology has been a Jedi. And not just regular Jedi, either, they have all been considered some of the most powerful. Even Minch, who only reached the level of Jedi Knight — the others of the species were all Jedi Masters or higher — was able to defeat a Dark Jedi Master on his own. No other species in Star Wars is as connected to the Force as Yoda’s.

They Don’t All Talk Like Yoda

One of the most famous things about Yoda is his peculiar style of talking. Yoda’s sentences are not in the usual format of subject—verb—object. Instead, he uses anastrophe speech patterns; object—subject—verb. This can make Yoda a little hard to understand at first, but most people pick up on it quickly. This speech structure has become synonymous with the character and, because of that, with the species.

But not everyone in Yoda’s species talks this way. Yaddle, for example, followed the more common style of speech in Tales of the Jedi. So does Vandar Tokare in the Knights of the Old Republic games. How Grogu will talk remains to be seen, but it seems likely that he will follow the same speech pattern as Din Djarin when he starts to talk.

Their Aging Process Is Strange

Yoda’s species takes the idea of growth spurts to a whole new level. These beings stay in an non-verbal infantile stage for roughly fifty years. The next 50 years see them age at a faster pace, though still slow compared to most other beings. By 100, they have reached adulthood and, in human terms, they would be having their midlife crisis right around the time they turn 500.

Yaddle was tragicially killed by Dooku, and the other “legends” members of the species have no definitive deaths, but Yoda lived to be 900 years old, which is quite a long life. According to Ahsoka Tano in the second season of The Mandalorian, Grogu was roughly 50 years old, meaning that he is on the verge of exiting infancy and heading toward adulthood. It also means that, unless something horrific happens to him, Grogu will live far beyond any timeline that has been revealed.

Yoda’s species has many similarities to another Star Wars race; the Lanniks. Like Yoda and his people, the Lanniks are short and have large ears that come to a point. The best known Lannik to fans, Even Piell, served with Yoda on the Jedi Council, and is the best look at the species. But he also points out how the Lanniks are different from Yoda.

For one, Lanniks are taller than Yoda’s species. They also have pink skin and a more humanoid body structure, suggesting a different path of evolution from Yoda’s more amphibian look. Lanniks are also more prone to action, and have a tendency to start wars, which seems to be the antithesis of how Yoda’s species acts. Of course, this could be a situation similar to the Vulcans and Romulans in Star Trek, and the Lanniks and Yoda’s species may have started from the same biological ancestor, but diverged down separate paths at some point.

Yoda’s Species Appears To Be Very Important To The Jedi

The special connection Yoda’s species seems to have with the Force also makes it appear that the Jedi are more protective of them. While countless younglings and Padawans were slaughtered at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant after Order 66 began, Grogu survived the Great Jedi Purge thanks to four Jedi, three of whom died while helping the little guy escape. After getting off of Coruscant, Grogu was forced to hide his connection to the Force to stay alive.

That the Jedi not only worked so hard to keep Grogu safe during the purge, but also kept his existence a secret from most of the Order, including, it seems, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and possibly members of the Jedi Council, places a good deal of speculation that these beings may be more than just a Force sensitive species. The fact that both Yoda and Grogu have excessively high midi-chlorian counts also lends credence to this theory.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters May 22, 2026.

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  Created by

  George Lucas

  First Film

  Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope

  Cast

  Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal

  TV Show(s)

  The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions

  Movie(s)

  Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order

  Character(s)

  Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren

  Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.