Welcome back my lovely readers! As Halee explained yesterday in her blog post, we are going to be having a competition between the awesome Jedi Master Yoda and the inferior wizard beings known as Gandalf and Dumbledore. Even though you and I know that Yoda is far better than both of these magical beings, Halee and Billy seem to think otherwise and need to be reminded of Yoda’s achievements and overall superiority. So without further ado, I give you…
Reasons Why Yoda is Better Than Dumbledore and Gandalf Combined
(I really have to come up with better titles…)
1) Wardrobe/ Artillery
Yoda’s wardrobe is extremely simple, consisting of a cloak and a walking stick (which apparently is a common theme between the three of these wise individuals). While Yoda might not be the most fashionable of the trio, it doesn’t mean he deserves less respect. In fact, where he lacks in fashion, he makes up for in artillery. Yoda carries around a lightsaber, which, according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, “is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Now I’m not going to lie here but I do believe that if a lightsaber can sever body parts as if they were made of butter I think it could destroy any sword, shield, or wand, even ones that are infused with lightning or the tail hair of a thestral.
Gandalf can call on a whole bunch of friends to come to his rescue if he ever needs it and he often does. Dumbledore can do the same by calling his trusty phoenix Fawkes to come save the day. Whom does Yoda call for help? NOBODY! Why? Because he doesn’t need anybody’s help, in fact everyone calls on Yoda for help when they are in danger. If Yoda summons anything for help it is the Force. Yoda even explains this to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back by saying, “…my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us.”
While both Gandalf and Dumbledore need a piece of wood to create any type of special magic attack, Yoda is able to do this sans timber. He is able to move heavy objects by using the force (this includes “throwing ‘dem bitches to the ground” as Halee said). Let us not forget the fact that Yoda is able to absorb or reflect Force lightning that is shot at him. This is much more useful in battle than illumination although I’ll keep Gandalf in mind when there is a blackout and I can’t find any candles.
Finally, from watching Yoda in battle (which will be discussed in detail later) one can see that he has extreme agility and fighting skills both with and without a weapon. What makes it more impressive is that Yoda is doing all these insane moves at the ripe old age of 874 (when he fought Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones. Yoda dies in Return of the Jedi at age 900). Dumbledore was 115 years old when he died and Gandalf doesn’t age because he isn’t a life form that gets older. Therefore, it is more impressive that an 874 year old is able to be agile and skilled in battle than it is a 115 year old who can do magic tricks or a being that doesn’t age or lose any abilities.
10 points to Yoda!
2) Apprentices
Again, this is no contest. As the most revered Jedi in the galaxy, Yoda has the honor of teaching most younglings when they first join the Jedi academy. Then these younglings are paired up with other Jedi to continue this training towards becoming a Jedi Knight or Master. This is similar to Dumbledore being Headmaster of Hogwarts except Yoda actually gets his hands dirty and teaches his students things instead of selecting a privileged few individuals to be taught a few things here and there. Yoda has also trained some of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy (Count Dooku, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ki-Adi-Mundi), many of who were so powerful that they were members of the Jedi High Council with Yoda. In addition, I don’t believe Gandalf was the leader of the coolest team ever seeing as how the Fellowship pales in comparison to the Jedi Order in number and ability (Dumbledore didn’t even know about Dumbledore’s Army and Harry Potter was more a leader of the fight against Voldemort than Dumbledore was). Also, at the time of his death Yoda had been training Jedi for eight centuries! I don’t think Jedi had tenure so this is a pretty impressive feat.
3) Nemesis
I would have to say that Yoda has two nemeses, Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine aka Darth Sidious. Emperor Palpatine wanted to rule the galaxy so he started the Clone Wars, played double agent, abused his political power, and then ended up enacting Order 66, which was the mass execution of all Jedi in the galaxy. I’m not going to lie but that would upset me too if I was Yoda. Furthermore, Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader went completely berserk and helped Palpatine murder all the Jedi, including the younglings (“Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what do we do?” This scene still gives me chills). Needless to say, the heinous acts of these two individuals make them pretty intense nemeses for anyone to have to face. Voldemort is pretty heartless going as far as killing Cedric Diggory more or less, because he was blocking the Dark Lord’s view but an infant stymied him, which is pretty sad. Also, a group of angsty high school children defeated the Death Eaters so they couldn’t have been that difficult to battle. Furthermore, Sauron was just a giant eyeball looking for his stolen piece of jewelry much like any college student often does. Granted college kids don’t go on killing sprees but still. Also Palpatine didn’t just want world domination ala Pinky and the Brain but galactic domination. That’s pretty scary.
I would also like to point out that while it is true that Yoda did train Count Dooku and failed him, Yoda did not train Anakin Skywalker. In fact, Yoda was against training Anakin because he was too old and had too much anger in him already. The only reason Anakin was trained at all was because the Jedi Council wanted to honor Qui-Gon Jinn’s dying wish and even so, Yoda was still against it.
4) Battles
While Yoda didn’t do a lot of fighting, when he did fight he made it count (Jedi don’t use the force to attack but instead defend). The two main battles that we see were Yoda vs. Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Yoda vs. Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith. In both of these fights, Yoda displays his agility and skill in fighting by constantly jumping around and using his lightsaber. In addition, due to his small stature, Yoda must be constantly moving and weaving to not be hit by his enemy and be in range to do any type of damage. This is much different from the slow-paced far away fighting style of the wizards of lame Gandalf and Dumbledore. Furthermore, in both of these fights Yoda’s opponent is frightened by the idea of fighting the great Jedi Master and attempts to escape. Dooku escapes at the end of the fight by attempting to crush an injured Obi-Wan and Anakin (luckily, Yoda cares more about saving people than he does about getting the bad guy) and Sidious tries to escape after Yoda walks away from being Force lightninged without a scratch but Yoda gets in his way and says, “If so powerful you are, why leave?” I don’t see anybody shivering in their boots when Dumbledore or Gandalf shows up to fight. Fear equals victory for Yoda in this section.
5) Coolness
If we are sticking with the name idea then let me start by saying that Yoda has one name and one name only. Yoda. No more. No less. He doesn’t need to clutter his superior skills and abilities by hiding behind multiple names like Gandalf the Grey or Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore do. Much like Cher, Madonna, and Beck, Yoda is instantly identified by his one word name and commands respect from that name. Occasionally, he will be referred to as Master Yoda but seeing as how the word Master just adds to his coolness, I don’t count this as an extra name. Yoda is also the coolest, strongest, most respected Jedi ever and is constantly the basis of comparison for all Jedi (“Strange. The transmission seems to be in good order, but the reading’s off the chart…over twenty thousand…Even Master Yoda doesn’t have a midi-chlorian count that high!”) When Yoda said Anakin wasn’t ready to be trained, everyone agreed (minus Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan but we all see how well that turned out). Meanwhile, when Dumbledore came out and said that Voldemort was back, half of the wizarding world thought he was a crackpot and wanted nothing to do with him. Even the Minister of Magic thought Dumbledore was off his rocker. How does the one of the most powerful wizards in the wizarding world not have the ability to gain any respect? That is why you fail (quotation from Yoda).
6) Humor
Yoda is a very serious Jedi. He doesn’t mess around and rarely jokes. However, towards the end of his days Yoda becomes a bit of a comedian. Case and point: When Luke first meets Yoda (and doesn’t know who he is), Yoda acts like some feeble old creature who is looking to bother and annoy Luke and R2-D2. His actions in this scene are absolutely hilarious! From looking in the trunk and crying “NO! Awww” when Luke takes something from him to screaming “Mine!” and hitting R2-D2 when the droid attempts to take a flashlight from his hands. Not to mention Yoda is great with the word play (“When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not.” Zing!). While I do enjoy jam and other types of preserves, Dumbledore’s sense of humor is just plain weird and I never really understood it. While I do enjoy some scathing humor every once in a while and impeccable timing always adds to any joke, I thought that unless you understood everything about what Gandalf was trying to say the joke would go right over your head. Meanwhile, Yoda is just so cute and adorably old that his joking is hilarious to people of all ages.
7) Wild Card
My wild card category is icon status. Much like Indiana Jones can be recognized solely by his hat and whip (which makes him an icon); Yoda is much more an iconic figure than either Gandalf or Dumbledore. If you ask any random person on the street to describe Gandalf they would say, “A wizard with long hair and a beard who wears a cloak.” Now ask them to describe Dumbledore and you’ll receive the exact same response because these two characters are not iconic (yet) as Yoda is. If you asked any random person on the street who Yoda is they would immediately talk about the little green Jedi with the big ears who talked backwards. This is because much like Star Wars itself, Yoda is iconic. Not only is his physical appearance instantly recognizable but so is some of his dialogue and teachings. I have often heard people quote Yoda by saying, “Do or do not. There is no try” as well as many other things Yoda has said. While I’m sure “Look to the East!” is huge with fans of Lord of the Rings (I am not one of them and if you want to know why I refer you to Clerks II) I don’t hear many regular people use it. Dumbledore, on the other hand, is much more iconic than Gandalf but I believe that it is because he is more recent than Gandalf. Furthermore, the fact that Yoda is still iconic after almost 40 years is a test to his awesomeness.
Well there you have it folks. As much evidence as I could reasonably fit into a blog post as to why Yoda is better than Dumbledore and Gandalf. If you’re looking for reasons why Gandalf is better than Yoda and Dumbledore I refer you to Halee’s post (even though I don’t know why you think this false statement is true) Also be sure to read Billy’s blog on Thursday to read about his ill-fated attempt to prove that Dumbledore is better than Yoda and Gandalf (another false statement).
Who is the best? Gandalf, Yoda, or Dumbledore?
Just remember folks. Adventure, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things.