23

I am phrasing the question like this because of possible spoilers for current or upcoming Star Wars material. Yes, I'm being deliberately vague about even what series or movie I'm protecting.

Yes, I realize that in Chapter 2 of The Mandalorian, we observe the child eating a frog.
However, for some reason, I always imagined Yoda was a vegetarian...
So, besides what we observe in this episode of The Mandalorian,

What evidence exists in which levels of canon about the dietary habits of Yoda, Yaddle, or possibly other members of their species?

|improve this question
  • 3
    Assuming Yoda is vegetarian, perhaps that has more to do with his connection to the Force than to his species? – Harry Johnston Nov 17 at 8:05
  • 48
    I guess the question is wrong. I think you meant to ask: “Yoda’s species eat, what does?” 😜 – Shreedhar Nov 17 at 16:49
  • Have you seen the size of droid-eating fish and frogs on dagobah? You would be vegetarian, too, if you were alone in a swamp with these. – Damon Nov 18 at 9:46
  • 4
    Ate a frog, the child did. Cannibalism, this is. Strong with the dark side, it must be. – Adamant Nov 18 at 17:06
  • 1
    Comments about spoilers and tags deleted. Please take that discussion to the meta post. – Rand al'Thor♦ Nov 18 at 21:08
39

Paleontologists deduce the eating habits of extinct animals by analyzing the shape (morphology) of their teeth. Consider how we use our own teeth: The front teeth (incisors) are knifelike and used to tear large pieces of food (such as an apple) into manageable chunks, and the fangs (canines) act like stabbing knives. The back teeth (molars) are relatively flat and used to crush chunks of food into a digestible mass. Mammalian predators tend to have more prominent incisors and canines than we do, and their molars tend to have sharp ridges that allow the opposing teeth to act like a pair of scissors rather than a mortar and pestle; they bolt their food without grinding it. Herbivores tend to have more prominent molars that allow extensive grinding to release nutrients from tough leaves and other plant matter. Humans are omnivores with a relatively versatile set of teeth.

We can apply these concepts to Yoda's species, but the results are somewhat inconsistent, as shown in this selection of photos.

enter image description here

His teeth look very human, if well worn, in most scenes, with visible incisors and canines in the middle photo; we can't see whether molars exist but the shape of the jaw suggests that there are additional teeth. Yoda could be an omnivore based on these photos. In the left scene his visible teeth look triangular and sharp, clearly the mouth of a predator, but this scene doesn't seem to be from the main series of films. As Valorum points out, Yoda has also been seen making a vegetable stew, so he eats plants at least. Conclusion: Yoda's species is omnivorous but Yoda himself may practice vegetarianism.

|improve this answer
  • 42
    The hidden assumption is that the character designers for Yoda knew about how paleontologists deduce eating habits, and that they cared. – jgn Nov 18 at 2:53
  • 4
    That kind of thing is true of a lot of these answers, isn't it? But it doesn't take much specialized knowledge to give a predator sharp teeth. I'm just using the tools I have. An artist might have cited a website on how to draw teeth and used a somewhat different approach. The knowledge is out there to be used. – Invisible Trihedron Nov 18 at 15:39
  • 6
    @jgn A hidden assumption of your comment is that something is only true of a character if the relevant authors intended it to be true. This is not the case. A simple example: suppose the writers simply never stopped to think about whether the Millennium Falcon contains a bathroom. Nonetheless from the fact that the Falcon is designed for long-range transport operated by humanoids, we can deduce that it does contain a bathroom, even if the writers never had any intentions one way or another about the issue. – Ceph Nov 18 at 19:50
  • 4
    the middle left image with very sharp teeth is from The Clone Wars, which is just as canon as the films. In other words...you can't deduce anything from his teeth shape, since there is no consistency. You especially can't deduce anything if you are then trying to use real-world science – NKCampbell Nov 18 at 21:00
  • 3
    @NKCampbell Thanks for the clarification. In that case, canon is going to have a tough time explaining why Yoda's teeth changed so radically through his lifetime! Hmm... Carnivorous youth followed by omnivorous old age? or do the teeth wear down to rounded nubs after the eight hundredth year? -- As to jgn's comment, why should discussions of science fiction exclude science? – Invisible Trihedron Nov 18 at 22:04
22

While on Dagobah, Master Yoda ate fruit and seeds. It's not clear if he's a vegetarian

Soon, the lowlands would all be marshy swamp again, and he would plant last season’s seeds. Then, before the sun began its long journey away, they would sprout. The gray clouds would come back and hold in the planet’s humid air, and the sprouts would grow and flower and yield their fruit before a quarter orbit had passed. And by then the sun would be far enough away that the rains would plunge down again, and the floods begin their inundation, and Yoda would trudge back to the uplands, carting behind him the food for the long season.

Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View - There is Another

He also chews his gimer stick, a gift from the Wookiees, but largely for its medicinal properties, and we see him and Luke eating "root leaf stew" which apparently contains various roots, leaves and swamp weed although the 'Human' version of that stew contains meat.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.