Star Wars’ Yoda Was Almost More Different Than You Can Possibly Imagine

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Although Yoda’s design as Star Wars’ little green alien is iconic now, the Jedi Master was originally going to be played by a monkey. Introduced in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda continued Luke Skywalker’s training in the ways of the Force. Yoda’s combination of wise teachings and goofy antics quickly made him a fan-favorite character. Due to this, Yoda has made major appearances in a variety of Star Wars media since The Empire Strikes Back, including the prequel trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and animated shows likeStar Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

Throughout all of these renditions, Yoda’s design has changed multiple times. For the original Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas enlisted Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, to help design a puppet for Yoda. When making the Star Wars prequels, Yoda’s designers realized that Yoda would be younger than he was in The Empire Strikes Back, so they updated his puppet for The Phantom Menace. To make it possible for Yoda to engage in lightsaber duels in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the team switched Yoda to a CGI character. Many viewers did not like this change though, so Yoda returned as a puppet inStar Wars: The Last Jedi.

Related: What Yoda Was Originally Supposed To Look Like

However, Yoda’s original design did not involve a puppet or CGI. According to one article (via Culture Slate), Lucas initially considered having Yoda be portrayed by a monkey wearing a mask and carrying a cane. J.W. Rinzler’s 2010 book, The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, revealed this behind-the-scenes information and even included pictures of monkey Yoda with his trainer. Ultimately, Lucas decided not to use the monkey due to both work and