PT Why does Yoda act different in the Prequel Trilogy compared to how he acted in the Original Trilogy?

In the Original Trilogy, he had a tendency to act silly. While in the Prequel Trilogy, he acted a lot more serious and never acted silly.

 

He only acts silly when he is pretending to be a local. Luke doesn't know he is Yoda when they first meet. When Yoda reveals his identity, he becomes much more serious.

If you mean Yoda seems wiser in the OT then he does in the PT, then simply he has learned from his past.

 

There is a grounded reason and motivation for the way characters act in each scene. When Yoda first meets Luke he puts on an act of a dotering old fool to test Luke's patience and tolerance. And to show him that appearances aren't everything. (And also to throw the audience). When Obi-Wan gives up the goose and Luke figures it out, Yoda drops the facade.

There were no circumstances in the PT in which an opportunity like this could arise. However, we did see a glimpse of Yoda's gentle, playful side in the scene with the younglings in AotC. Which nicely rhymes with the silly hermit scene in ESB.

I wouldn't necessarily say he had a tendency to act silly in the OT. He only did it once for that specific reason. Afterwards he was mostly very serious and austere. In many cases even more so than in much of the PT, because of the grave situation(s) at hand. Though we do see his warm playful side again in the opening moments of his scene in RotJ.

 

Simple. He had 23 years to think back on what happened, how the Republic and the Jedi fell.

As for his silliness, that was a one-time thing to test Luke’s patience, to which the latter failed spectacularly. Besides, 23 years alone on a swamp planet with no one to talk to? I’m surprised he wasn’t found curled up in a cave muttering gibberish by the time Luke came. Even I, an introvert, would break after nearly a quarter-century of isolation.

 

We also see a bit more of playful silly Yoda on the Clone Wars. He's got a young and curious heart. With Luke Yoda is putting on a ruse to test Luke and teach Luke his first lesson.

 

I honestly have no idea how his introductory scene to Luke ends up defining his whole character.
The moment Luke's patience runs out he drops the act completely and is nothing but serious from that point forward.
I think his difference in character between the PT and OT is greatly overstated, yes he grew somewhat from his failures, but he isn't radically different. He takes his role has Grand Master of the Jedi seriously, in episode III he states a firm belief that the dark side is all consuming and that Anakin is completely gone, which seems consistent with both his own and Obi-Wan's position in the OT. He has his light hearted moments, most notably with the younglings, and from what we see his training with them is very similar to what it is shown to be in the original films.

He takes a stance that the Jedi should not be the aggressors, and being a Jedi should not be about "adventure or excitement", which I don't see as radically different from his position in the PT. He never says a Jedi shouldn't try to defend themselves or others. In AOTC he says that starting a war is NOT victory, which is a subtle recognition of the fact that "Wars not make one great."

If anything I think that this advice to Luke is an echo of the Jedi's no attachment rule, which also comes into play when Luke runs off to save his friends. Granted his advice to Luke is far more complete than his advice to Anakin, though I see that as being a product of Anakin's own hesitance to confide the full truth to Yoda. He says someone he's attached to is going to die, no context, no reason, and all Yoda can say in response is to let go because he doesn't know if it is even possible to save them. His advice to Ahsoka in TCW season 3 when she has a very similar dream to Anakin's is a lot more to the point, encompassing his belief that attachments are dangerous and combining that with the Jedi ideal that they should try to help people wherever they reasonably can. Which shows that his philosophy is generally consistent when he is actually given something to work with.

Just my own thoughts on the matter. It is possible he spent much of his twenty some years in exile contemplating what he may have done different, and he isn't eager to train Luke to begin with. Both Luke and Anakin started their training far later than normal for Jedi, but they went in different directions after starting the training. Possibly because they really were more different than Yoda gave Luke credit for, many Star Wars fans have noted Lukes temperament is far closer to Padme than Anakin, all the same Yoda did work far more one-on-one with Luke compared to Anakin.

 

This, plus his development in Clone Wars where he learned how to be a Force Ghost.

 

Yeah, in the original movies Yoda literally never acts like a manic imp except for when Luke first meets him. I don't even want to get into the TLJ discussion, but there's no disconnect between the way Yoda behaves in the PT and the way he behaves in the OT. It's pretty consistent.

 

Yoda doesn't act silly in the OT at all, except for the 10-minute span in which he's testing Luke. From then on, he's pretty consistent with this prequel portrayal, if not more serious. That's something even the current writers seem to forget apparently.

 

I have nothing to add to what the previous posters except for noting this scene from the ROTS script, where Yoda puts on somewhat of a variant of his ESB act. I don't know if it was ever filmed:



152 EXT. KASHYYYK-LAKE ON VILLAGE EDGE-DUSK

CLONES in modified one-man AT-ST's and Swamp Speeders flash their searchlights across the gloomy lake. The light of one of the AT-ST's spots something floating in the water. It is what's left of a Wookiee catamaran. The body of a dead Wookiee (TARFFUL) is lying across the stern of the wreckage of the flying boat. There is some movement on the boat. The CLONE SERGEANT on the AT-ST fires a warning shot past the boat.

AT-ST CLONE SERGEANT: Everyone out of there!

A CRAZY LITTLE CREATURE about two feet high pops its head over the rail. The creature is covered with mud. His long hair is frizzed out in all directions.

CREATURE: Wookiee good . . . eat Wookiee. (crazy little laugh)

CLONE SERGEANT: Did you find something?

CREATURE: It's nothing, nothing. (laughs)

CLONE SERGEANT: It's nothing, nothing. All these Wookiees are dead. Move to the east.

CLONE TROOPER: Yes, sir.

Suddenly, CHEWBACCA climbs up behind the AT-ST CLONE, dripping wet, and throws the CLONE SERGEANT into the water. CHEWIE BARKS.

CREATURE: Right you are, Chewbacca. Faster that will be.

TARFFUL jumps up in the boat, and the CREATURE takes off his hair. It is Yoda.

YODA: Stink, this mud does. A moment to bathe, give me.

YODA, covered with mud, jumps into the water. TARFFUL climbs onto the AT-ST with CHEWBACCA. YODA is out of the water and putting his robes back on.

YODA: (continuing) Not far, are we, from the emergency ship. Quickly . . .

YODA whistles and a large ALIEN FLYING INSECT called CAN-CELL appears. YODA jumps on the insect's back and they take off. The WOOKIEES follow on the AT-ST. The CLONES continue to search the swamp.

153 EXT. KASHYYYK-HILLS OVERLOOKING LAKE-DUSK

The AT-ST marches up the hill and stops. The WOOKIEES jump down. YODA lands on CAN-CELL nearby. CHEWBACCA goes to a tree and pulls down one of its branches.
The ground opens up, and a small WOOKIEE ESCAPE POD rises into the field. YODA opens the door of the pod.

YODA: Good-bye. Chewbacca and Tarfful, miss you I will. Good friends you are. For your help, much gratitude and respect, I have.

The Wookiees BARK as the Jedi climbs into the WOOKIEE POD and takes off into the dusk sky.

 

Here's an interesting point: both Yoda and Ben Kenobi both use the same routine when we first see them meet Luke. In ANH, Ben speaks like an eccentric hermit; not crazy, but maybe a bit off-kilter. Then, when they get to Ben's place, he starts to drop the act. And after hearing Leia's message, he's back to being Obi-Wan and getting ready to return to the field.
Yoda does the same thing, but more nutsy. Until he's taken Luke's measure, and it's time to get serious about what happens next. You almost have to wonder if Ben told Yoda, "Here's what I did. You might want to give it a shot."

 

I don't see any disconnect in his character in any of the trilogies. He is serious when he needs to be serious, but has a lighter side whenever he feels it is warranted. Pretending that his act when he meets Luke in ESB is a one time occurance and that he never at any point shows that side of himself anywhere isn't supported by the movies. He does show it early on in ROTJ, he does show it in front of the younglings in AOTC, he shows it again to Luke in TLJ. He can be quirky if that's what he thinks is needed to get a point across, or if he wants to lighten the mood.

 

Easy he went through a ****ing lot in Revenge of the Sith that would change anyone

 

Again, though, he's specifically putting on an act here.

He has a sense of humor, yes. The only time he acts borderline deranged is when he's acting.

 

I've come across some people who think that Yoda's actually gone insane living out on Dagobah for all those years. Of course I think that reading is far from the mark but it amuses me.

The deal where he frustrates Luke is meant for comic relief and it's also a test. When the character was introduced, it also underscored Luke's amazement that this little creature could actually be a Jedi Master. Since the broader culture has absorbed Yoda as an icon, it might not connect as much anymore when someone sees it for the first time.

Incidentally, my nephews, who are 90s kids, saw the prequels in the theaters and initially knew them better than the classic films. I remember one of them looking over at me an smiling when he saw Yoda doing that to Luke. He enjoyed being in on the joke.

 

Along with all the above mentioned, Yoda's demeanor when Luke first meets him is an old Zen master trope, and it was also conveniently a nice way to endear him to the audience back in 1980.

 

If the Darth Jar Jar theory had turned out to be correct and Jar Jar was indeed a Sith Lord, then this persona of Jar Jar (being a clumsy oaf) would have rhymed prefectly with Master Yoda's persona of being a loony local that the Grand Master had point on.

 

Okay, but Darth Jar Jar was never real. We all understand that, right?

Right?

 

Maybe, but I'm not so sure....

 

Yoda only acted silly to test Luke at their first meeting. After Luke figured out who he was, Yoda was in full Jedi Master training mode. I do agree Yoda seemed more one-track minded while with Luke, mainly talking about the nature of the force, Vader, etc. But he doesn't really have anything else going on those days other than just training him-which was the only reason Luke was there, so it makes sense. In the PT, he's an active leader in the Jedi Council and juggling a lot of different things, not the least of which being managing a war, and deeply involved with political and military matters. It makes sense that he would be talking much more technically and in greater detail about the immediate world around him-rather than just musing on the nature of the Force. I see it as kind of like the difference between the way I talk while I'm on a date with my wife, vs. at work.

 

I only meant that since Lucas meant for the Classic and the Prequel trilogies to rhyme, I think the failed Darth Jar Jar plot idea would have been a good way for the highest Lords, one light the other dark, to introduce them as goofy easy-to-ignore-as-worthless characters.

 

It wasn't "failed" though. It was never a thing.