Star Wars: How Old Is Yoda?

One of George Lucas' most beloved creations, the Jedi master Yoda practically defines the archetype of the eccentric yet wise old warrior. As an alien of an unknown species, he stretches the "old" part of that description beyond what any human possibly could. Just how old is he? Yoda answers this question shortly before he dies in "Return of the Jedi," telling his concerned pupil Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), "When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not."

Based on the established "Star Wars" timeline, this means Yoda would have been 864 years old in "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace," 874 years old in "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones," 877 years old in "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," and 899 years old in "The Empire Strikes Back," the movie in which he was first introduced. He would have been 764 years old during his cameo in the series finale of "Star Wars: The Acolyte," though we might never get to see what role he might have played in Season 2 given the Disney+ show's unfortunate cancelation. When Yoda appears as a Force ghost in "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi," he appears roughly as he did at the time of his death, as Force ghosts tend to do with the notable exception of Anakin Skywalker.

George Lucas deliberately chose to keep Yoda's origins a mystery, and Lucasfilm has continued to respect those wishes. The name of Yoda's species has never been revealed, and we've only met two other members of said species in canon: Grogu, the breakout star of "The Mandalorian" often referred to by fans as "baby Yoda," and Yaddle, a female member of the Jedi Council seen in "The Phantom Menace." These two characters raise some questions about how Yoda's species ages.

Grogu is 50 years old at the start of "The Mandalorian," old but still appears to be an infant. His species is able to mature slower, it seems, because of their gifts with The Force — being tiny isn't as much an issue when you can lift giant creatures in the air with a wave of your hand. Grogu can't speak, but he does appear to be able to psychically communicate with Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson). Some fans have theorized Grogu's development is stunted due to the trauma of surviving Order 66. Yoda, for his part, started training other Jedi at age 100, so even if his species are still babies in their fifties, they would seem to mature rapidly.

Yaddle was 477 in "The Phantom Menace" — and, as the "Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi" episode "The Sith Lord" revealed, at the time of her death — making her 387 years Yoda's junior. According to Yaddle's own description of a 514-year-old Yoda in the novel "The High Republic: Cataclysm" by Lydia Kang, that means she was killed around her "middle age," but to human eyes, she appears almost as ancient as Yoda at his oldest. Yaddle's full head of hair could be a sign of her relative youthfulness compared to Yoda, but could also just be a matter of sexual differentiation in their species. Basically, we still have no idea what a young adult Yoda looks like.