Who Trained Yoda in the Ways of the Force?

Despite the fact that Yoda is one of the best-known characters in the Star Wars universe not much is actually known about his early life or training. Although he is present in the original trilogy and plays quite an important role in the overall story, the prequels trilogy where we get to see the full extent of his powers since the story establishes him as one of the best Jedi in Univers. It would be safe to assume that we should credit his Jedi master for this, but he isn’t mentioned in the movie series. So, who trained Yoda in the ways of the Force?

Although Yoda was probably taught by multiple people over his life span and training period the most memorable teacher would be the one who actually recognized him as a Force-sensitive being, Jedi master N’Kata Del Gormo.

Not much is known about this character or his back story since he was added to the franchise to serve as a fun filler in Yoda’s backstory, so if you want to learn more about who N’Kata Del Gormo was and how he met Yoda make sure to read this article all the way through.  

Who trained Yoda? 

N’Kata Del Gormo was a male Hysalrian Jedi Master who lived during the Galactic Republic. He was Force-sensitive. He allegedly found and educated Yoda and a Force-sensitive Human companion.

Yoda’s early years are largely unknown. He came from a distant planet, but which one it was is unknown. Yoda, according to legend, was initially unaware that he was Force-sensitive. 

His journey to the Jedi started when he boarded an ancient, barely space-worthy ship with a Human friend who had no idea he was Force-sensitive on their way to the Core Worlds to look for work. 

However, the ship was hit by a massive asteroid well before they could reach their target, badly crippling it beyond their ability to repair.

They were floating dead in space for several days, during which time their life support systems and rations were nearly depleted, and their distress signal was ignored. They seemed to be on their way to extinction before their sensors picked up a nearby star system. 

They just had enough energy to get there, and they did so before crashing into a strange swampy world shrouded in thick fog. After they stayed there for a few days the group was discovered by a strange being: Hysalrian Jedi Master N’Kata Del Gormo, who told them both that they were Force-sensitive. 

Yoda was invited to become a Padawan, or apprentice, by the Jedi Master. Master Gormo brought them to his home and taught them the ways of the Force. Not long after their training was completed, a Galactic Republic starship picked up their distress signal and saved the two friends, who were now Jedi. 

Yoda left the planet for Coruscant, where he finished his Jedi Initiate training at the Jedi Temple. With the passage of time, he established himself as a capable Jedi.

Although it technically isn’t considered training, Yoda was assisted by another person in the process of making his lightsaber. By the time Yoda even made it to The Gathering, the stage in the Jedi’s training where the possible candidates are considered for the position of Padawan, Yoda’s original master was long gone.

This meant someone else had to help Yoda construct his lightsaber from a crystal for the first time. The person that helped Yoda and stepped into this role was an architect droid named Huyang.

Huyang kept his own database of lightsaber designs and designers for the duration of his extensive teaching career since he was the only one assigned to the Crucible. 

In the last thousand years of the Jedi Order, Huyang taught countless Jedi how to make their own lightsabers aboard the Crucible.  

Who was N’Kata Del Gormo? 

N’Kata Del Gormo was a Force-sensitive Hysalrian who was educated in the ways of the Force and rose through the ranks of the Jedi Order to the rank of Master. A staff imbued with a huge crystal at its summit had also been crafted by the four-limbed, serpentine Jedi. 

N’Kata Del Gormo was living on a swamp planet when two tourists came across him, according to legend. Yoda, a young hermit, and a Human companion had crash-landed on the planet and sought help from Del Gormo.

Master Del Gormo met with the duo after a few days and told them that they were Force-sensitive, promising to train them as his Padawans. 

According to legend, a Galactic Republic starship landed on the planet later, responding to the distress call sent by Yoda’s ship prior to the crash. Yoda will leave the planet and travel to Coruscant to begin his Jedi training at the Jedi Temple, eventually rising to the rank of Grand Master.  

If such events occurred, the precise dates were lost during the Great Jedi Purge, when the self-proclaimed Emperor Palpatine exterminated the Jedi Order.

Despite the fact that N’Kata Del Gormo was largely bare, he wore a leather harness with two straps that crossed his upper torso. He also wore ornamental vambraces on each of his four wrists and a utility belt with a wide pouch on either side. He was also noted for wielding a long, twisted staff with a crystalline prism affixed to the top.

Aside from this, we don’t know a lot about him. His master’s identity is uncertain. His development was simply to tell a cute little story about Yoda learning from a Master who had a more unusual body that made fighting more difficult. 

N’Kata Del Gormo does not have any form of canonical backstory, despite the fact that his life and Yoda’s training are expected to be a possible backstory. 

However, a lot of fans loved this addition to Yoda’s life story and would have loved to see this character and his story explored a bit more in-depth since it would be an interesting addition to the universe.

What happened to N’Kata Del Gormo?

As we already explained there is very little we know about Yoda’s master and it is that way because his story is treated as a legend in the canon Star Wars universe. This means that we can’t actually claim that he existed in the canon timeline, despite the fact that some fans take the conversation Yoda had with Luke Skywalker while training him as confirmation of this story.

However, the expanded universe has so much more to offer to the story which is why most fans don’t stick to the differentiation between canon and non-canon universe too much, especially after the new separation made after Disney acquired the franchise.

This being said there is no official source, canon and non-canon alike, which tells the story of what happened to Yoda’s first master after he and Yoda went separate ways. The only thing we can assume is that he went on to do great things since someone who trained a Jedi as talented as Yoda surely had to be an excellent Jedi themselves. 

There is a story circulating among fans about N’Kata Del Gormo and his heroic death after he sacrificed himself while trying to save the innocent during a conflict, however, this story doesn’t seem to be in any official piece of Star Wars media. We could speculate that he died during the execution of Order 66 if he hadn’t died a natural death before the Order took place.