Yoda Has A Weird Connection To An Iconic Vampire Killer
Weird is a loaded adjective these days, but it’s the only word that fits George Lucas’s initial choice when naming Yoda. In his initial outlines for what would become The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas called the film’s pint-sized Jedi Master Buffy instead of Yoda.
That’s right. Decades before we got Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we almost had Buffy the Jedi Trainer. Thank god for Leigh Brackett.
Yoda Was Almost Named Buffy
If you didn’t know, Brackett was the scriptwriter initially hired to write Episode V. When adapting Lucas’s notes for the sequel, Brackett decided to change Buffy to Minch Yoda. Admittedly, the finished shooting script for Empire kept almost nothing from Brackett’s draft except the name change. That one change alone, though, is enough to credit Brackett with saving the sequel.
Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but then again, can you imagine Mark Hamill saying “Master Buffy,” when addressing Yoda? All I can think about is Kristy Swanson teaching Luke to “Like, lift rocks, and stuff.” Oh, sorry, I forgot I’m the only Xennial in existence who didn’t watch the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series.
Just pretend I said, Sarah Michelle Gellar, the effect is the same.
Planet Sunnydale Isn’t Real, And It Cannot Hurt You
Ironically, Buffy being Yoda’s first name isn’t the weirdest part of this revelation. Finding out George Lucas didn’t come up with the name Yoda is far stranger. I’m well aware that Star Wars was always a collaborative effort, but I always assumed that the name Yoda sprang from George’s imagination.
Especially given his overprotective nature when it comes to the little backward-talker.
Since Lucas first introduced Buffy—I mean Yoda—to the Star Wars fandom, he’s been tight-lipped in details surrounding the Jedi Master. George insisted no other writers reveal Yoda’s species or home world. It’s probably because Planet Sunnydale sounds really dumb when you say it out loud.
Makes Us Think About Other Early Iterations Of Character Names
At least Lucas had the good sense to drop the “Minch” and have it just be Yoda. Minch is too close to the Yiddish word Mensch, and we all know Lucas didn’t start his racial caricature era until the Prequel era. I’m actually not sure whether Minch or Buffy would be a worse first name for Yoda.
My main question is, where did Lucas get Buffy in the first place? Was it a side effect of being born and raised in California? Was Luke originally going to be Chad Skywalker? Did the first draft of A New Hope feature Biff Solo and Princess Tiffany?
Yoda The Vampire Slayer Has A Nice Ring To It Though
Maybe when George Lucas pictured Yoda in his head, he just really looked like a Buffy. Whatever the reason, I’m so glad he went with Yoda instead. Yoda just fits better.
Of course, if I’m being honest, names like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda only sound right because we’ve been hearing them for forty-plus years.
Maybe Obi-Wan appearing as a Force ghost and telling Luke to seek out Master Buffy on Dagobah wouldn’t feel weird if it was all we ever knew. Perhaps there’s an alternate universe where Buffy threw down with Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones while Yoda the Vampire Slayer was busy dominating the CW every Tuesday night. Just imagine Yoda, Xander, and Willow fighting the Master, and…okay, so I watched a tiny bit of Season 1.
We Owe Our Collective Thanks To Leigh Brackett
Ultimately, Brackett made the right call, as did Lucas, by deciding to listen to someone else for a change. He could have switched it right back to Buffy when Brackett passed away in 1978, but he had the good sense to keep the name Yoda.
If only she had been there when Lucas was naming Elan Sleazebaggano … oh well.
