Get over ‘Grogu’ – Baby Yoda’s new name is perfectly fine
Disney+’s The Mandalorian has finally revealed who the Child really is, but some Star Wars fans aren’t too happy about his new designation.
After 13 chapters, multiple Mandos and more double-crosses than you could shake a Beskar spear at, The Mandalorian finally resolved one of its greatest mysteries in a recent episode, revealing to the world that breakout character the Child (best known by fans as ‘Baby Yoda’) was actually called…Grogu.
Yes, "Grogu". Similar in a way to Yoda, whose species he shares, but also distinct. Maybe it sounds a little like Scooby Doo trying to talk about Dragonball Z, but whatever. Broadly, it makes sense – but many fans weren’t happy.
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Soon after the episode was released on Disney+ a lot of viewers took to social media to express their disappointment with the name, complaining that after all the mystery it was a bit of an anti-climax.
“No his name is Baby Yoda! Grogu sounds a little too Dothraki for my taste,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“I am not calling him Grogu his name is Baby Yoda and that’s it,” said another.
“I want to know who in their right mind thought the perfect name for this child was 'Grogu'," another account complained.
Now look, I’ve had my problems with Baby Yoda the genocidal, child-eating Adult Baby before. He is, famously, history’s greatest monster, and now confirmed by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) to be a huge threat to the galaxy. He should be locked away for good, and I stand by that.
But really, honestly… isn’t Grogu basically fine? What did people expect him to be called.... "James"?
It’s a short name, following a similar pattern to Yoda – ‘O’ emphasis, two syllables, lots of vowels – but different enough to seem plausible. It works! It’s a name! What is everyone’s problem with it?
Lest we forget, the last time Star Wars tried to introduce another of Yoda’s species, her name was… Yaddle. Now obviously, empirically, that is a pretty silly name, and Grogu is much better. He could have been called Yiddle, or Yedo or something. Isn’t Grogu at least a little more convincing?
Of course, this could just be fans grieving the loss of their preferred moniker for the character, and it’s likely that as time goes on we’ll all get used to calling The Child "Grogu". I mean, Yoda would be a ridiculous name if we weren’t all so used to it.
Eventually, I feel that the Grogu controversy will be forgotten. And for now, it’s still a much better name than Frog Lady.
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Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
