How Baby Yoda could become the next big Star Wars villain

Baby Yoda is the most adorable thing in the galaxy, but there are hints piling up that he has darkness within him. Time for some fan theorizing:

At the moment, Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian — real name Grogu — is without doubt the cutest thing in the galaxy far far away. This little guy won the hearts of viewers from his very first appearance, and has since popped up everywhere from Fortnite to hundreds of memes to the top of Christmas trees:

It’s cute and all, but just imagine how you would feel if Baby Yoda grew up to be the next major villain in the Star Wars franchise. Redditor pabspro thinks the signs are already there.

Ahsoka Tano already teased a possible turn to the dark side in the episode “The Jedi” when she said that Grogu was too attached to Mando, which left him potentially vulnerable to the dark side of the Force. She sensed fear in Grogu, and given what’s been done to him that’s no surprise. But as another of Baby Yoda’s species once said, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads nowhere good.

And there is a bit of a villain deficit in the Star Wars universe at the moment, Darth Vader no longer being a player and Palpatine (supposedly) dead at the time of the show. We’re in need of a new big bad, and Baby Yoda would catch many by surprise. “Instead of just dropping in a new villain, there is a deeper connection if the audience is familiar with and emotionally attached to that character,” pabspro writes. And this sort of good-to-evil transition has happened before in the prequels, which were designed to show how Anakin Skywalker went from an excitable kid to the biggest bad in the galaxy.

Image: The Mandalorian/Disney+

And Grogu has already exhibited some ominous behavior, and we’re not talking about the little things like stealing treats in the classroom and eating Frog-lady’s precious eggs. Remember when he Force-choked Cara Dune in the first season? And he was throwing those Stormtroopers around like rag dolls at the end of “The Tragedy.” He may even have a connection other famous Dark Siders. “[A]s has been noted by others, the blue butterflies seen near Grogu in S2E6 have been seen in canon associated with Kylo Ren and Darth Vader, two characters who notably battled, and were consumed by, the dark side of the force,” pabspro writes.

"His similarities with Anakin are plentiful – orphaned, taken in by a well-meaning caregiver. Like Anakin, loss will drive him to the dark side – in Grogu’s case it will be the death of Mando, as well as the torture he received from Moff Gideon and the Empire."

So is it time to panic? We could get some more clues in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian, which is right around the corner. Moff Gideon has captured Baby Yoda, and Din Djarin is gathering a posse of friends to mount a rescue mission. Somehow I doubt Din will die this soon on his own show, but you never know.

The Mandalorian season 2 finale drops on Disney+ tomorrow!

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