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The Child, colloquially referred to as "Baby Yoda" by fans and the media, is a fictional character from the Star Wars Disney+ original television series The Mandalorian. He is a member of the same alien species as Yoda, a popular character from the original trilogy and prequel trilogy of Star Wars films. He is the only character other than The Mandalorian (Din Djarin) to appear in all eight episodes of the series. The Child was well received by audiences and quickly became an Internet meme and breakout character.

Conception and creation

The Child is a member of the same alien species as Yoda, a popular character from previous Star Wars films, but is not a younger version of Yoda himself. The character was conceived by The Mandalorian series creator Jon Favreau out of a desire to explore the mystery around Yoda and his species. The character developed from early conversations between Favreau and Dave Filoni in the summer of 2017, not long after Favreau had pitched the show to Kathleen Kennedy and she had put him in touch with Filoni. When the two men met, Filoni began to draw doodles on napkins, and the visual concept for the Child was then developed by various artists, of which the version by Christian Alzmann was pivotal.

The Child is filmed mostly utilizing animatronics and puppetry, although accentuated with computer-generated imagery (CGI). The puppet is controlled by two technicians, one who operates the eyes and mouth and another who controls other facial expressions. Initially, executive producers Favreau and Filoni were unsure of whether to rely more on CGI or practical effects to depict the character, but actor Werner Herzog convinced them to use more puppetry, calling them "cowards" for not fully committing to practical effects. Favreau said:

He's mostly a puppet. When it's CG, we try to make him obey the same physical laws that he would if he were a puppet. I think a lot of times CG makes itself too obvious where you don't create parameters creatively that allow the character to keep the same identity and charm.

Storylines

Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

The titular Mandalorian bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) accepts a valuable commission from a Client (Werner Herzog), a mysterious Imperial official, to track down and capture an unidentified fifty-year-old target. Infiltrating a remote and heavily defended encampment, the Mandalorian acquires the quarry, who appears to be a child from the same species as Yoda. When bounty hunting droid and fellow guild member IG-11 (Taika Waititi) attempts to kill the infant per its bounty orders, the Mandalorian shoots and destroys the droid, taking the Child alive.

Chapter 2: The Child

The Mandalorian is attacked by a rhinoceros-like creature called a Mudhorn. At one point, the Mudhorn charges at the Child in his floating 'crib', but the Mandalorian uses his grappling hook-and-wire to pull the Child to safety. As the beast rushes the Mandalorian for the kill, the Child uses The Force to levitate the creature, allowing the surprised Mandalorian to kill it.

Chapter 3: The Sin

The Mandalorian delivers the Child to the Client on Nevarro and collects his bounty. Uncharacteristically, The Mandalorian asks about the Client's plans for the Child, but is told that it is none of his concern. The Mandalorian accepts a new job from the bounty hunters' guild leader, Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), but instead turns back to infiltrate the Client's base and retrieve the Child, who is being studied by Dr. Pershing (Omid Abtahi). After killing many stormtroopers, the Mandalorian is ambushed by the guild's bounty hunters and Karga, who demand that he hand over the Child for its reactivated bounty. The Mandalorian is able to escape when other Mandalorians of the Tribe unexpectedly arrive, attacking the bounty hunters and allowing him to escape with the Child.

Chapter 4: Sanctuary

The Mandalorian arrives at the sparsely populated planet Sorgan to lay low for a while with the Child. He plans to leave his charge in the care of kind local villagers, but when another bounty hunter arrives to claim the Child, the Mandalorian realizes the village will not be safe and departs with him.

Chapter 5: The Gunslinger

The Mandalorian's ship the Razor Crest is damaged after a dogfight with another bounty hunter, forcing him to land in Mos Eisley on Tatooine for repairs, where he leaves the ship and the Child under the care of repair facility owner Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), who dotes on the Child. Seeking work to pay for the repairs, the Mandalorian joins aspiring bounty hunter Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) to capture elite mercenary/assassin Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). Learning that the Mandalorian and the Child have even larger bounties than Shand, Calican doubles back and takes the Child and Motto hostage. The two are rescued when the Mandalorian arrives and kills Calican with Motto's help.

Chapter 6: The Prisoner

The Mandalorian joins a crew tasked with extracting a prisoner from a New Republic prison transport. Compelled to use his own ship for the job, the Mandalorian tries to hide the Child from the others, but they discover him. The Child is left onboard with the droid pilot Zero (Richard Ayoade), who learns that there is a bounty on him. Though betrayed by the rest of the crew, which includes some of his former associates, the Mandalorian returns to his ship in time to stop Zero from shooting the Child with a blaster.

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

Karga asks the Mandalorian for help in liberating Nevarro from Imperial reinforcements in exchange for clearing the bounty on the Mandalorian and the Child. Deciding to take the risk, the Mandalorian recruits Cara Dune (Gina Carano), an ex-Rebel shocktrooper, Kuiil (Nick Nolte), an Ugnaught farmer and mechanic who previously helped him, and IG-11, who has been repaired and reprogrammed by Kuiil. When Cara and the Mandalorian are arm wrestling, the Child mistakes Cara for an enemy and begins force choking her, but the Mandalorian stops him.

The group joins Greef and two other bounty hunters. Greef is injured during an attack by mynocks, and the Child heals him using the Force. Greef kills the other bounty hunters and reveals to the group that he was planning on betraying them until the Child healed him. The Mandalorian sends Kuiil to bring the Child back to his ship while he, Cara and Greef head into town to kill the Client during their meeting. The Client is instead killed by his superior, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), whose stormtroopers surround the building. Kuiil is killed by stormtroopers who take the Child for Gideon.

Chapter 8: Redemption

IG-11 rescues the Child from the troopers, and then arrives to break the standoff between Gideon's forces and the others. The Child uses the Force to deflect an attacking stormtrooper's flamethrower back on him. The Mandalorian and the others escape with the Child through a sewer grate seeking help from the hidden Mandalorians. The Armorer (Emily Swallow) tasks the Mandalorian with caring for the foundling Child like his own, discover its origins, and return it to its kind. Escaping Gideon and his remaining troopers, the Mandalorian leaves the planet with the Child.

Reception and impact

The Child was well received by fans. He soon became a popular Internet meme and breakout character. Favreau said that though the character is not Yoda, the nickname Baby Yoda has been embraced "because there's no name for the Yoda species", and "It's the easiest, shortest, most hashtagable way to identify that character". The Guardian called Baby Yoda "2019's biggest new character", and many have described him as a key part in the success of Disney+. Business Insider considered "Baby Yoda's rapid ascent to meme-stardom" as indicative of the success of the Disney+ service. Indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada have embraced the Child as indigenous, and used the character in art and memes.

In December 2019, artwork of Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger with the Child appeared in the Time magazine article naming him their Businessperson of the Year. The character was also parodied in the December 2019 South Park episode "Basic Cable", and the December 14, 2019 episode of Saturday Night Live in which Kyle Mooney played the Child (dubbed Baby Yoda) in the Weekend Update segment. At the 77th Golden Globe Awards, host Ricky Gervais jokingly mistook Joe Pesci for "Baby Yoda".

Merchandising

The Child was kept secret and deliberately withheld from The Mandalorian's prerelease marketing and launch merchandise because of the risk that details about the character could leak before the show aired. Favreau has credited Donald Glover as the source of that strategy; while developing The Mandalorian, Favreau was simultaneously directing Glover in the photorealistic remake of The Lion King. Glover noted that what people really like is to be surprised, because true surprise is so rare nowadays, and cited Beyoncé's 2013 surprise online release of her self-titled album Beyoncé as an example. As Favreau later explained: "I felt that if we really wanted to connect with the Star Wars fans, we had to let them discover the story as it was unfolding. The marketing team and the leadership were all supportive of what my instincts were, and I think it paid off really well because now people are excited to tune in every week to see what happens." Due to the scarcity of licensed merchandise of the Child, many unlicensed products were created and sold through the Internet. Official merchandise relating to the character is expected to be released in 2020. The first two items are a 10-inch Funko POP! figurine and an 11-inch plush from Mattel. In December 2019, the Electronic Arts video game The Sims 4 added "The Child Statue" as a decoration that can be purchased. EA currently holds the rights to Star Wars video games.

References

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8. Barron, Tory (December 5, 2019). "Athletes join in on the 'Baby Yoda' meme frenzy". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
9. Ling, Joy (December 6, 2019). "Baby Yoda Memes of Star Wars' The Mandalorian on Disney Plus breaks the Internet". Esquire. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
10. Britt, Ryan (December 5, 2019). "Mandalorian Showrunner Confirms Baby Yoda is Not Actually Yoda". Fatherly. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
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14. Vasquez, Zach (December 3, 2019). "Big deal, he is: How Baby Yoda became 2019's biggest new character". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
15. Haselton, Todd (November 20, 2019). "Disney+ review: Great content at a fair price, but it could use a few tweaks". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 28, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
16. Alexander, Julia (December 6, 2019). "Baby Yoda is key to the Disney+ takeover". The Verge. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
17. Winck, Ben (January 2, 2020). "The massive popularity of Baby Yoda memes highlights just how successful Disney Plus has been, one analyst says". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 2, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
18. Johnson, Rhiannon (December 4, 2019). "'So darn cute': Indigenous artists and memers embrace Star Wars series' Baby Yoda". CBC News. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
19. Buscombe, Belinda (December 11, 2019). "Bob Iger Is Time's 2019 Businessperson of the Year". Time. Archived from the original on December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
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21. Bonnie, Burton (December 15, 2019). "Baby Yoda threatens Baby Groot on SNL". CNet. Archived from the original on December 29, 2019. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
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23. del Barco, Mandalit (December 5, 2019). "You'll Have to Wait for Official Baby Yoda Toys". NPR. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
24. Chaney, Jen (November 21, 2019). "A Black Market Baby Yoda Gift Guide". Vulture. Archived from the original on November 22, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
25. Hersko, Tyler (December 7, 2019). "Why There Won't be Any Baby Yoda Toys Until Spring 2020". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
26. Tenbarge, Kat (December 15, 2019). "You can buy a Baby Yoda statue in The Sims 4 now, and fans are posting memes of their hilarious in-game creations". Insider. Retrieved December 28, 2019.

• Child characters in television
• Fantasy television characters
• Fictional characters introduced in 2019
• Fictional characters without a name
• Fictional characters with slowed aging
• Fictional characters with healing abilities
• Internet memes introduced in 2019
• Male characters in television
• Puppets
• Star Wars CGI characters
• The Mandalorian