As I've been reading through some other threads, I started thinking about this. We have nothing from Lucas, or any other source, as to the origins of Yoda, or to the name of his species. We have only a few members of his species to even reference, and all are force sensitive, and appear to be inherently powerful. Even in Legends, every other of his species that has been mentioned has been force sensitive, and for the most part, inherently powerful. Now add in to the equation that they live on average of nearly a millennia, I believe that Yoda's species may be the Whills. We know virtually nothing of the Whills, other than one of them taught Qui-Gon how to maintain his consciousness after death, and they're the beings writing the Journal of the Whills, which tells the story of the galaxy. Now, they may not become the Whills until after death, and it could be why they live so long. So they can become the most powerful and most knowledgeable of all beings, so as they pass into the afterlife, they can assume the role of a Whill and start writing the story. They would also be able to write of a time nearly 1000 years long. Tell me what you all think.
I think it's possible Yoda's species might become the Whills after death, but if they do, I don't think they know about that in life, because otherwise I believe Yoda would have brought that up sometimes in the PT and he would've been able to teach Qui-Gon and other Jedi how to become Force Ghosts or at least known that was a possibility. He seems in awe of this new knowledge Qui-Gon has gained in ROTS, so I don't think he even knew this was a possibility until Qui-Gon reached out to him. The other biggest obstacle I can think of for this theory is that Yoda doesn't say or do anything that hints at being a Whills when he speaks to Luke in TLJ. He just seems like a standard Force Ghost. Perhaps if Lucas himself had created the ST, there would have been focus on the Whills but in the ST, their mention seemed confined to an excerpt at the beginning of Alan Dean Foster's novelization of TFA. The greatest hope of learning what Yoda's species is most likely is Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian. The show has a good setup for answering that question along with why Baby Yoda and many members of his species seem so adept at using the Force and why Baby Yoda is so important bounty hunters were sent after him in the first place.
A couple of thoughts here: 1) How well known is Yoda's species in the GFFA? We the fans know next to nothing about them but seemingly there aren't as well known around the galaxy either. This would seem to imply either their homeworld is in a remote location and/or they don't travel much from their homeworld and/or they have an ability to hide themselves somehow from the galaxy. 2) What is this species' connection/relationship to the Jedi? Yoda is the most prominent member of this species in the Order that we've seen so far (although there was another member seen briefly in the PT I think?) Either way, there doesn't appear to be that many representatives of this species within the Order. Granted their long life spans may preclude them somehow from joining, I still find it curious that such powerful wielders of the Force (who would seem to have equal amount of wisdom about the Force) aren't more associated with the Jedi Order. 3) We have yet to see a member of this species swayed toward the dark side. Yoda's actions and beliefs would seem to imply that with their long life spans, they may tend towards expressions of the Light Side. If we take to the extreme that this species is somehow representative of an ultimate expression of the Light Side, then for sake of Balance, is there a species that's representative of ultimate expression of the Dark Side? Would that be the Sith or someone else?
TBH I never really liked the narrative that Yoda comes from a naturally powerful species. This seems to go against Yoda's original lesson in ESB where he acts as proof that one's power doesn't come from "crude matter" but a deep connection to the force. Despite his small size and unassuming nature, Yoda is one of the most powerful force users in the galaxy, not because of any inherited traits but because he spent so long studying and gaining an understanding of the force. Of course since the original trilogy, it seems that George and other writers have gone ahead and made Yoda and his species into mysteriously powerful force users. Examples of this lie in TPM where Obi-Wan mentions Yoda's high midichlorian count and more recently in the baby yoda from The Mandalorian. In fact the only members of Yoda's species that we've seen have all been fairly powerful force users. To answer the question posed by this thread, I don't think there's a connection between Yoda's species and the Whills. The Whills seem like an early idea that George had when drafting the original story of Star Wars that got swept under the rug over time. As a writer I find this is really common in the creative process. I think there can still be potential use of the Whills. It's also possible we will learn more about Yoda's species in The Mandalorian's future seasons, maybe seeing the baby's home world or meeting other fellow members of the species.
Maybe they lived on Ach-to when the Jedi Order began? Before I saw the movies, I thought “Jedi” was the name of Yoda’s species and I can’t shake the impression that Yoda’s species started the Jedi Order and that the Jedi Order was named for Yoda’s species. What a coincidence that some comics have a Sith species that has red skin and is supposed to resemble an organic version of Vader’s mask.
I like where you're going with this, but wouldn't Yoda's Species know first, since they are the Whills. Qui-Gon was the first recorded force ghost, not Yaddle. I just think their species would be the first to know, if they were the Whills. I think it all has to do with balance of the force, that's why they choose Qui-Gon.
But the Whills are not Force ghosts. Yes, Yoda becomes a force ghost, but he would have been both a Whill, and a ghost. No one knows what purpose, if any, lays ahead of them upon their passing. This should be no different for Yoda's species upon passing.
There were shamans among them, one of whom taught the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn that the ability to retain one's consciousness after death required absolute selflessness. What I'm saying is, if Yoda's Species were Whillis, wouldn't they teach their own species first. Especially since Yoda's Species were so few or very hidden ( I'm assuming because you don't see any group of his species around ), wouldn't they at minimum hear of a legend of the Whillis and the ability of becoming a Force Ghost. Yoda looked shocked, when Qui-Gon came to him and he's been alive for over 800 years, at that point. Journal of the Whills,7:477 The Journal of the Whills was a record of events in the galaxy. Long after the Galactic Civil War, an individual was tasked with writing about events that transpired in the galaxy. Verse 7:477 of the journal referenced the Jedi, containing a poem concerning the dark side and the light side of the Force. Addar, a member of the Church of the Force, once watched a holovid of Brin Izisca reading from the Journal of the Whills, although he admittedly failed to understand what it meant. The excerpt in question read: The truth in our soul, Is that nothing is true. The question of life Is what then do we do? The burden is ours To penance, we hew. The Force binds us all From a certain point of view. Based on what I know of the Whillis and the StarWars universe, they are beings who oversee and watch over the balance of the force. It's the reason they came to Qui-Gon and not Mace Windu, it has nothing to do with how powerful a person or species is. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool theory, but from the information that's out there, it doesn't seem likely.
Maybe they're not to teach their own. Yoda learned from Qui-Gon, not from the Shamans. If upon their passing, they are to become the Whills, maybe they're not supposed to learn to be force ghosts. Again, just because one is a Whill, does not mean they are a force ghost too. Yoda is the only one of his species to become a force ghost, so it's not exclusive to his species, just Yoda himself.
The Whills are not living creatures as we understand them. They exist and operate on a cosmic level, feeding off the Force and communicating through the midi-chlorians. As GL explains it, they pretty much ARE the Force. The will of the Force that Qui-Gon speaks of is their will. I guess it's possible that Whills used to be ghosts who transcended to an even higher plane, but I really don't think that would be limited to one species. Since Yoda was originally named Minch Yoda, I just assume that "Minch" is the name of his species.
I just figured Yoda's species was from somewhere in the unknown regions. Lots of crazy stuff out in that corner of the galaxy after all...
My theory is that when we see Yoda's species they'll be called Minches (named after Yoda's original name, Minch). They'll probably be from a planet called Minch which will presumably be in some far away place like Wild Space explaining why we barely ever see this species in the galaxy. As far as the Whills go, I think they're a much more mystical thing that most people would assume. From George's comments it sort of sounds like the Whills are whatever vast all encompassing sentience the Cosmic Force (and all of life itself) could possibly have. They then feed off the energy of the Living Force and communicate the destinies they have planned for living beings through Midichlorians. If we've ever seen the Whills in any SW media (outside of From A Certain Point of View obviously) I think it's probably been in the TCW Mortis episodes. Given that the Mortis Gods are the Force manifesting as three beings to communicate to people I would assume that what we're seeing is actually the Whills taking a mortal form (which even lines up with the Whills = the Force/God thing since Anakin is similar to the Mortis Gods and he's based off Jesus Christ who is commonly believed to be God in a mortal form). For all we know Bendu could be something similar given his seemingly godlike powers and the fact that the Order of Dai Bendu presumably formed around him. EDIT: I would also like to add that I don't think the Shaman of the Whills was a Whill himself either. Shamans are probably just another subset of the Order of the Whills that we see in Rogue One similar to the Disciples of the Whills and Guardians of the Whills.
I still dont like the idea of Grogu Yoda species should stay mysterious Grogu feels more like a green Pikachu
I'm not sure how I feel about learning more about Yoda's species, I think that's best left a mystery. That said, we've met three members of this species thus far, and the Force is strong with each of them. What does this mean? As said above, one interpretation is that this species is naturally Force-sensitive, and I don't like this notion--for one, we'd have seen far more Jedi members of the species running around the galaxy. Why so few? Much better to assume that when members of this species are Force-sensitive, they tend to be very powerful.
I don't remember if this was specified in Mandalorian-but is it possible it was a clone of Yoda? Which IMO would still retain the "uniqueness..."
I actually don't have a problem at all with the notion that all minches are Force sensitive. Since their lifespan is so long, it's possible that they reproduce extremely seldom and they might therefore be a dying breed - and/or mostly keeping to themselves in the Unknown Regions, to preserve the species.
