George Lucas has finally explained why Yoda speaks in a unique manner in the Star Wars universe, and it might surprise fans.
The beloved Jedi master made his debut in 1980, just a few years after the franchise started in 1977, and since then, audiences have been curious about his unusual speech pattern.
Specifically, fans have wondered why Yoda speaks in reverse order and doesn’t construct sentences in a straightforward way like other characters.
While some might assume it’s merely a quirky characteristic, there is a deliberate reason behind his speech pattern, and it goes beyond being charming.
In the Star Wars saga, Yoda often uses backward phrases, placing parts of a sentence at the end rather than the beginning.
An example of this is: “Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”
Translated, this means: Your fear must be named before you can banish it.
So, what is the reason behind this speech style?
As revealed by George Lucas, the mastermind behind Star Wars, the aim is to make audiences pay closer attention to Yoda’s words.
According to Variety, Lucas discussed his creative thought process at an anniversary screening of The Empire Strikes Back in Hollywood.
Lucas explained, “If you speak regular English, people won’t listen that much. But if he had an accent, or it’s really hard to understand what he’s saying, they focus on what he’s saying.”
He added, “He was basically the philosopher of the movie. I had to figure out a way to get people to actually listen — especially 12-year-olds.”
However, when Disney’s The Mandalorian was produced, a Star Wars book released in 2022 noted that Lucas had some concerns about the series after it introduced the Baby Yoda character.
This was because he wanted the character to receive ‘a proper amount of training’, which did happen.
But Lucas no longer has creative control over the franchise, as he sold his company, Lucasfilm, which holds the Star Wars rights, to Disney.
Parting with his creation was a difficult decision for the director, who described the experience as ‘painful’.
As reported by The Independent in 2020, Lucas said, “I’ve spent my life creating Star Wars – 40 years – and giving it up was very, very painful.”
He further commented, “But it was the right thing to do. I thought I was going to have a little bit more to say about the next three [films] because I’d already started them, but they decided they wanted to do something else.”
Ultimately, ‘things don’t always work out the way you want it. Life is like that’.
The agreement between Lucas and Disney was finalized in 2012.
The book mentions that Lucas contemplated how each film demanded a decade, and he was on the brink of welcoming a daughter.
He shared, “In 2012, I was 69. So the question was, ‘Am I going to keep doing this for the rest of my life? Do I want to go through this again?’ Finally, I decided I’d rather raise my daughter and enjoy life for a while.”