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Din Grogu ( / ˈɡroʊɡu / ), colloquially referred to as Baby Yoda, is a character from the Star Wars Disney+ original television series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. He is a toddler member of the same species as the Star Wars characters Yoda and Yaddle, with whom he shares a strong ability in the Force.
- Din Djarin / The Mandalorian (adoptive father)
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality and traits
- Powers and abilities
- Behind the scenes
"Let it be written in song that Din Djarin is accepting this foundling as his son. You are now Din Grogu. Mandalorian apprentice."
―The Armorer
Din Grogu, known only as Grogu until being formally adopted by Din Djarin after the conflict on Mandalore, was a male Force-sensitive Mandalorian belonging to the same mysterious species as the legendary Grand Master Yoda. Grogu was born around the year 41 BBY, and was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as a Jedi Initiate of the Jedi Order. Grogu had survived the Great Jedi Purge and was hidden away. Years later, he was rediscovered by a remnant of the Galactic Empire after it fell and led by Moff Gideon. At this point, Grogu became known to many simply as the Child, during the New Republic Era. However, Grogu was rescued by Din Djarin, a Mandalorian bounty hunter where he became a foundling. Sharing many adventures together, Djarin was eventually able to find a Jedi to train Grogu and he rejoined the Jedi Order under Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Later on though, Skywalker sensed that Grogu's heart was not in learning the Jedi path, thus he subsequently gave in to his attachment to the Mandalorian and was returned to him upon which he would start to train to become a Mandalorian himself.
Grogu was born in the year 41 BBY and was raised at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as a Jedi Initiate of the Jedi Order and was taken into hiding by Jedi Master Kelleran Beq after the Galactic Empire was formed. Eventually, he was held at a hideout run by Nikto mercenaries on Arvala-7 during the era of the New Republic, having survived the siege of the Jedi Temple decades prior. While still an infant at the age of fifty years, he was sought by the "the Client," on behalf of Moff Gideon and Doctor Penn Pershing, by an Imperial client who hired Djarin to retrieve him.
However, Djarin chose not to leave Grogu with the remnant and rescued him from the Imperial Remnant safe house. After attempting to hide with Grogu along the fringes of the galaxy, Djarin returned to Nevarro to deal with the Imperials chasing Grogu in hopes of keeping him safe. In the process, Grogu became a Mandalorian foundling and the single other member of Djarin's newly created clan. As a result, Djarin took up a quest to deliver Grogu back to the Jedi. Djarin, alongside Grogu, would then travel across the galaxy, searching for the few remaining Jedi who were left. As advised by former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, Djarin would eventually travel with Grogu to Tython, where he could reach out through the Force to find another member of his kind. However, Grogu was captured by Imperial forces, and Djarin was forced to lead a mission to rescue him. After being reunited with Grogu, Djarin delivered him to Luke Skywalker, a Jedi who agreed to take the child into his care and train him in the ways of the Force.
Grogu renewed his training under Skywalker and spent a relatively short period training with Skywalker on Ossus, where Skywalker was building a Jedi Academy. However, Skywalker sensed that the child's heart was not in learning the Jedi path. After Djarin visited the planet bearing a gift of chain mail armor for Grogu, Skywalker presented the child with a choice: accepting the gift and returning to the Mandalorian, or taking Yoda's lightsaber and continue with his Jedi training. Grogu chose to return to Djarin and was reunited with him on Tatooine in the middle of a gang war between Boba Fett's forces, whom Djarin was aiding, and the Pyke Syndicate.
Jedi OrderHunted by GideonReturn to NevarroSearch for the pastThe Jedi Academy"You've taught him well." "It's more like he's remembering than I'm actually teaching him anything." "Sometimes the student guides the master." [...]"Sometimes I wonder if his heart is in it [...] What should I do about him?" "Trust your instincts." ―Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano on Grogu's training Grogu spent a relatively short period of time training with Skywalker on Ossus, where Skywalker was building a Jedi Academy. While there, Luke told Grogu that he reminded him of Master Yoda and even carried him while he climbed a bamboo tree to show him the landscape of the planet they were on. The two also meditated while Skywalker told Grogu that he will find balance through the Force. Though initially Grogu was more focused on using the Force to capture and eat some local frogs, Luke was able to a stop to this bad habit quickly. During their time together Luke also helped Grogu remember parts of his past and training, including memories of Order 66. After a great display of using the force during their time together, Ahsoka Tano commented to Luke about how great of a teacher he was to Grogu, though Luke stated that it was more Grogu remembering his training than of Luke's teachings that are to be praised. However, Skywalker sensed that the child's heart was not in learning the Jedi path. After Djarin visited the planet bearing a gift of armor for Grogu, Skywalker presented the child with a choice: accepting the gift thus giving into attachment, therefore forsaking the Jedi way and returning to the Mandalorian. Or taking Yoda's lightsaber to continue with his Jedi training thus forsaking attachment, and maybe never seeing his Mandalorian caretaker ever again."He's stubborn."
―Din Djarin, on Grogu
Grogu formed an attachment to Djarin, who became his adopted father. Ahsoka Tano sensed fear and anger within Grogu as well as his emotional bond to the Mandalorian. Grogu was initially uncooperative with Tano's attempts to test his connection to the Force; Djarin believed it was due to Grogu's stubbornness. Tano wanted to see if Grogu would listen to Djarin, to which Djarin responded that would "be a first." Because of his stubbornness, Grogu had a tendency to get in many mishaps; such as eating vendor food without paying, hugging an Anzellan without consent, and causing many ice spiders to attack him and his group.
Though Grogu survived by concealing his powers, he occasionally utilized his connection to the Force to obtain what he wanted, whether it was food or the control knob from the Razor Crest. He was also willing to use the Force to protect his Mandalorian caretaker.
Grogu's diet was influenced by his taste for a variety of meals, including living creatures. In his time with Djarin, Grogu devoured frogs, unfertilized frog eggs, a spider egg, a creature with tentacles, blue macarons, worms, and many different kinds of soups/broths.
One of Grogu's most notable traits was his constant cooing and babbling. According to Tano, he could understand most basic speech and directions; though this varied as seen when he was trying to fix the Razor Crest, he kept plugging and removing the wrong wire, and accidentally shocked himself.[source?]
"This child has been blessed with rare properties that have the potential to bring order, back to the galaxy"
―Moff Gideon, regarding Grogu
Grogu was able to harness the mystical energies of the Force on account of being Force-sensitive. One notable display of his power was when he telekinetically lifted a giant mudhorn into the air for a brief time to save Djarin from the charging beast. However, performing this feat was very strenuous for Grogu as he subsequently fell unconscious for several hours afterward. He could also use the Force when he became angry, such as when he telekinetically strangled Cara Dune because he believed she was harming Djarin while they were arm-wrestling. He later revealed the ability to heal serious injuries and even cure poisoning by touching the injury and then using the Force, though the act, much like levitating the mudhorn, was incredibly draining. In another notable display of telekinesis, Grogu created a strong barrier using the Force to protect his companions by both blocking and redirecting a stream of fire from an attacking Incinerator trooper.
Grogu had grown more skilled in his use of the Force, as Moff Gideon observed, by the time of his capture on Tython. By then, he was capable of tossing around two stormtroopers with telekinesis until his Force powers ran out. He could also manipulate small, nearby objects with ease, such as pulling cookies towards himself or unscrewing a knob from one of the Razor Crest's levers.
Conception
"It happened with Iron Man, happened with The Lion King. You get one image that just clicks, and you say, 'Okay, this is it. This is the one.' Although the Child was a character that popped out of my imagination, it really didn't come to life fully until you had all of these artists collaborating and finding the essence of what that character was. When it works out well, it's just magical." ―Jon Favreau Grogu first appeared in the first episode of the 2019 Disney+ television show The Mandalorian, which aired on November 12, 2019. The character was conceived by Jon Favreau, who wanted to explore a new character from Yoda's species at the beginning of his journey while being in training, in contrast to Jedi Master Yoda ending his own journey in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. When Favreau discussed the character with executive producer Dave Filoni, it caused a debate between the two because Filoni wanted to protect the mystery Star Wars creator George Lucas built around Yoda. Filoni drew a rough sketch of the Child on cocktail napkins. Another drawing by Filoni showed the Child's hand reaching out of a floating bassinet toward his protector. Favreau thought that the Child would have a name that denoted how he is cute and a little ugly, leading him to come up with the name Grogu. Early in production of Season One, Favreau told Filoni that the Child's name was Grogu, causing him to think about how the audience could learn this. His idea was that Ahsoka Tano would connect with Grogu and communicate through memories and experiences, letting her learn Grogu's name so that she could inform Djarin and viewers. Favreau wanted the character to have a lot of wrinkles, that the sclera in his eyes would not be too visible, and that he would not look too cute. Multiple members of the Lucasfilm Ltd. art department worked to refine the image created by Filoni. Christian Alzmann's drawing of the Child was the first one that finally clicked. His design was inspired by J. C. Leyendecker's baby designs and old Warner Bros. cartoon characters, which had massive cheeks on babies. Favreau said on Alzmann's design: "It looked cute, but it also looked a little weird. That's part of Yoda. It can't just be cute. It can't just be a straight-up Disney baby, it has to be a little bit tweaked." Grogu is also not the first infant member of Yoda's species to be featured in a Star Wars story: an infant member of the species appeared in a single panel of the Star Wars Legends comic Children of the Force, which was included in Star Wars Tales 13 in 2002.
Portrayal
"That was such a powerful thing that was added to the story. That was our precious. Our precious is this being that we all end up taking care of in some way." ―Gina Carano, in an interview with Vanity Fair Filoni and Favreau intended to film Grogu as a puppet and then as a blank to later add CGI (in case the puppet was not convincing enough), but Werner Herzog, who played "the Client" in The Mandalorian, told the pair to leave it, calling them cowards. During the show's production, Grogu was puppeteered by a team of people. Jason Matthews puppeteered the eyes, Trevor Hensley controlled his body moves and head, Hiroshi Ikeuchi controlled the ears and mouth, Mike Manzel puppeteered most of the body moves, and Tamara Carlson Woodard worked as a standby operator who also created the costume. It was referred to as "the Being" by the actors during filming. According to "the Armorer" actress Emily Swallow, people on set, like herself, want to interact with Grogu, despite knowing he is a puppet, because of how cute his design is. The puppeteers developed a habit of moving Grogu about as people spoke to him on set. News reports and social media have widely and affectionately referred to Grogu as "Baby Yoda." According to an article from Vanity Fair, fans were desperate for "Baby Yoda" merchandise, although Favreau had wished to hold off on it in case Grogu had been leaked before the release of the first episode. Despite the nickname, Disney was careful to refer to the character only as "The Child" in merchandising, and Favreau told off Disney CEO Bob Iger for using the name Baby Yoda. Indeed, Swallow remembered higher ups telling her and others to never refer to the character as "Baby Yoda," with official policy instead being to use Grogu's name. Despite this, the product description for the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar 2021 states that Grogu is "affectionately known as Baby Yoda." Swallow stated in 2024 that the higher ups had given up on trying to stop them from calling the character Baby Yoda. Grogu and Djarin arrived at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in November 2022. "The Journey of Din Djarin," an article by Kristin Baver in Star Wars Insider 216, stated that Djarin became Grogu's adopted father prior to the events of The Mandalorian Season Three. However "Chapter 24: The Return" featured Djarin adopting Grogu during Season Three, not before.
Non-canon history
On December 12, 2019, a statue of Grogu was added to The Sims 4, following the ongoing release of The Mandalorian's first season. The item is merely a decoration and does not function as either a playable or non-playable character and has no special properties in the game. Grogu was also featured in two LEGO animated products; in "Snowflake Snack," he escapes the Razor Crest to play in the snow, but he accidentally buries himself in a large snowball he created using the Force. He is then rescued by Din Djarin. He also makes a brief appearance in The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special while Rey Skywalker duels Darth Vader. The pair, along with other characters in the scene, pause their fighting to admire Grogu's cuteness. A small reference to Grogu was included in the 2021 short Maggie Simpson in "The Force Awakens From Its Nap", a crossover between Star Wars and The Simpsons, but Grogu himself didn't appear. The Simpsons showrunner Al Jean credited Grogu's absence due to him being the most demanded character in Disney+, feeling that Lucasfilm Ltd. didn't want Grogu to be overexposed. Grogu appears in the non-canon LEGO comic The Droid Defenders, where Grogu and Djarin make their way to the world of Shihan, which is mainly inhabited by droids.
- 3 min
Bounty hunters can find the greatest Grogu toys, clothing and more. He may look like “Baby Yoda,” but this lovable creature is called Grogu, known to many simply as "the Child" Find plush, toys, shirts & more at Disney Store.
" Chapter 2: The Child " is the second episode of the first season of the American streaming television series The Mandalorian. It was written by the series' showrunner Jon Favreau and directed by Rick Famuyiwa. The episode takes place in the Star Wars universe five years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983).
- Season 1, Episode 2
- Rick Famuyiwa
- Jon Favreau
- Jon Favreau
Dec 23, 2019 · December 23, 2019. It’s the face that launched a thousand memes. The surprise debut of the Child, a mysterious alien pursued by bounty hunters on behalf of Imperial interests, was revealed in the premiere episode of The Mandalorian — and now it has arrived on much-requested, official merchandise.
Nov 15, 2019 · Chapter 2: The Child: Directed by Rick Famuyiwa. With Pedro Pascal, Nick Nolte, Misty Rosas, Stephen Jackson Powers Jr.. Target in hand, the Mandalorian must now contend with scavengers.
