Is Yoda real? Or was he merely a figment of Luke's imagination?

Question

If you think about it, Luke was the only character from the original trilogy to ever meet Yoda. Not to mention he's not even mentioned by any of the other characters. Lucas employs all the hallmarks of great literary devices. Remember the foreshadowing of darth vader being Luke's father all the way back to A New Hope?

Lets look at Yoda analytically. First, Luke gets a message from Obiwan's ghost, after crash landing and bumping his head. Obiwan tells Luke to visit the degobah system to find a jedi master named yoda. When luke lands on degobah, he remarks to himself "it looks like something out of a dream". R2D2 is then attacked by a giant serpent, and luke rescues him. Many people will tell you that when someone dreams, their dreams are often triggered by tramatic events in their own life. This serpent is oddly reminiscent of the serpent that attacked Luke, Han, and Leia in the garbage compacter on the death star in A New Hope.

Perhaps luke is dreaming the whole time. Triggered by the loss of his mentor Obi-wan, he longs for a return of a father-figure he can look up to. Enter Yoda, who meets Luke under very similar circumstances as when Luke meets Obiwan on Tattoine. Obiwan was not forth coming when introducing him self as a jedi master.

Luke: Oh, this little droid! I think he's searching for his former master...I've never seen such devotion in a droid before...there seems to be no stopping him. He claims to be the property of an Obi- Wan Kenobi. Is he a relative of yours? Do you know what he's talking about?
Obi-Wan: Obi-Wan Kenobi? Obi-Wan... Now, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time... A long time.
Luke: I think my uncle knows him. He said he was dead.
Obi-Wan: Oh, he's not dead... Not yet.
Luke: You know him?
Obi-Wan: Of course I know him: He's me.
[short pause]
Obi-Wan: I haven't gone by the name of Obi-Wan since before you were born.

Yoda is the same way.

LUKE: Now will you move along, little fella? We're got a lot of work to do.
Yoda: No! No, no! Stay and help you, I will. Find your friend, hmm?
LUKE: I'm not looking for a friend, I'm looking for a Jedi Master.
Yoda: Oohhh. Jedi Master. Yoda. You seek Yoda.
LUKE: You know him?
Yoda: Mmm. Take you to him, I will. Yes, yes. But now, we must eat. Come. Good food. Come.

Lucas was very careful to be ambiguous. It is never clear one way or the other, and I think its better that way. Viewers are left to decide for themselves whether the dream sequence where Luke encounters Darth Vader in the cave, was due to a mystical property in the cave or if the whole time with Yoda was a dream. Yoda's sheer power with the force and wisdom has always made him one of the most memorable characters from Star Wars. Please don't let my theory interefere with your admiration for the little green guy.

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The reason why Yoda was in the prequels is because George Lucas is a marketing genius. Realizing how popular with his fans Yoda is why would he leave him out? When Sir Author Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes, he received so much hate mail and even death threats that he had to bring him back. and hence the cliff hanger was born. (thats where the word comes from). in his subsequent novel, we learn that Sherlock holmes didn't die when his carriage fell off a cliff, he had actually survived by 'hanging' onto the side of a cliff'. had lucas had not included yoda in the prequels he would have been pressured to bring him back. Why else would Lucas have intentionally made Jar Jar Binks so god awfully anoying? to illustrate how such a marketing genius like he is, will listen to his fans. Notice how Jar Jar only had one line in attack of the clones, and was virtually absent from Revenge of the Sith?

Answer 1

I have never thought of it that way either but I think that
Yoda is real. I do know that the Yoda poster in my son's
room is real.

Answer 2

Well, if you want to completely separate the trilogy from the late films, I guess you could see it that way.
But if Luke imagined someone that actually exsisted before he was born, that trained all great Jedi before him, he'd have some serious mental issues. Also, to be trained by his own imagination seems pretty far fetched, even for Lucas.

I guess it boils down to the one question:
How deepy was George Lucas thinking?
Star Wars is all about "good against bad", and doesn't go much further.
And if you take a look at the credits, the crummiest were the ones that Lucas wrote and directed himself. Let's face it, if it weren't for Harrison Ford, the whole thing could have flopped.

Don't misunderstand though, I have nothing against Star Wars! I grew up on the trilogy! The only real complaints I have are against the later films.

Answer 3

A) you guys are idiots. He's talking about the Yoda that Luke met, not the actual Yoda.
B) assuming the Yoda Luke met was true, that means Luke learned how to use the force by himself, his brain gave him a full on lesson ? Now, if his brain literally did that, you'd have to assume a supernatural phenomenon cause c'mon, a brain can't give that detailed of a lesson. So, a possible but most logical supernatural phenomenon would be that Yoda's spirit was giving the lesson. But why would Yoda's spirit act alive, die, while actually being dead the whole time.

In simple terms, Yoda being imaginary is illogical, while possible, since ANYTHING is possible, it is still illogical and nearly impossible (brain giving a full on lesson, was it Yoda's spirit? Nope, no reason to play being alive

Answer 4

Yoda is real. He was in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith. Imagine if the leader of the Jedi Knights was imaginary! Then Count Dooku and Chancellor Palpatine were battling with "dreams" in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, respectively.

Answer 5

dude Yoda was real. Kenobi mentioned him to Luke so it cant work. If Yoda was from Luke's head how did Kenobi no about it? plus the reason Yoda isnt mentioned in the later films is b/c he went in exile. remember that. no one new where he went so they assumed he died. Kenobi knew he didnt die b/c He saw Yoda off to Dagobah. Nice argument tho. Yoda still existed. Oh and plus How did R2 interact w/ Yoda if Yoda wasnt there?

Answer 6

Wow, I've never thought about it that way. I still like to think that Yoda is real. It's kind of disconcerting to think of Luke in that swamp hallucinating.

Answer 7

come on hes was in the first 3 movies as jedi cousel member..

Answer 8

Search your feelings young Padowan... The Force will direct you to the truth.

Answer 9

Its more like a figment of Lucas' imagination.

Answer 10

Dude!!
He is real!!