Yoda was originally supposed to be blue in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back with his skin edited from green to blue
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Yoda is one of the most unique and recognizable Star Wars characters. But in material collected by The Guardian, the plan for Yoda's original appearance has come to light, and he almost looked very different.

As it turns out, in George Lucas' original script for Yoda's debut movie The Empire Strikes Back he's described as being "bluish" - a very different color from his froggy green skin, a trait that has been taken on by other members of his race such as Yaddle and Grogu.

"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," reads a portion of Lucas' original screenplay for the film.

What's more, there's an existing depiction of Yoda with blue skin and a somewhat different appearance in the original physical printings of Marvel Comics' Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back comic adaptation. As often happens, the comic was based on the script rather than the finished film, leading to the discrepancy.

Yoda's original appearance in the first printing of Marvel's comic adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

In later printings of the comic, such as the version that is currently available on the Marvel Unlimited app, he's been redrawn to more closely resemble his movie counterpart, like the rest of the characters.

This points to Yoda's color being changed from blue to green after the concept art stage. If I had to guess why - and this is total speculation on my part - having a blue color might have clashed with the appearance of Obi-Wan Kenobi as a Force Ghost manifesting as bluish energy, making them look too similar.

A member of Yoda's Force-infused species will take the lead in the upcoming film The Mandalorian and Grogu, which picks up on threads laid down by The Mandalorian streaming series.

George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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