Is 'The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda the cutest thing in the 'Star Wars' universe? Here are the other contenders
Whether you've watched 'The Mandalorian' or not, it's impossible to have been on the internet and escaped pictures, gifs, and outpourings of love for the character that the internet has come to know as "Baby Yoda".
The small, long-eared, fuzzy green child of a species that has yet to be named in the 'Star Wars' canon may be 50 years old, but that doesn't stop him from being the cutest thing that the internet has ever seen.
But as we all know, Baby Yoda cannot be trusted, and a thing claimed by the internet isn't necessarily true — if anything, it's cause for immediate re-examination.
It's time for just that and a look at other 'Star Wars' cuteness to determine once and for all if Baby Yoda IS the most adorable thing to come out of a galaxy that's far, far away.
Jawas
The 'Star Wars' stand-in for a goblinoid race, the Jawas look for all the world like children pretending to be savvy scavengers, raiding technology and selling it at extremely marked-up prices.
Their faces are never seen — just two glowing eyes staring out of a red hood. They're short, audacious, grubby and their squeaky voices speak a nonsensical language that everyone else somehow seems to understand. They're an onscreen delight — just so long as it's someone else who has to deal with them.
Loth-cats
A frequent sight on the 'Star Wars' animated series, one made its first live-action appearance in Episode 4 of 'The Mandalorian'. Found among the grassy plains of the Outer Rim planets, they’re mostly friendly but are sharp hunters in a pinch.
There don't appear to be any actual cats in the 'Star Wars' universe, making Loth-cats shoulder much of the galaxy's weight for feline cuteness requirements. With their large faces and long fluffy tails, no civilised being would have the heart to turn away from a Loth-cat for long.
Ewoks
The ones that started it all, really, the original fuzzy cutie-pies of the 'Star Wars' universe. Small squat bears who speak almost entirely in squeaky grunts, the Ewoks have a real zest for life that is only matched by their surprisingly vicious ways of defending themselves against the Empire.
They were a controversial part of 'Return of the Jedi', but only because people felt they were TOO cute for what should have been a more serious film. They may not have been popular in the film, but nobody can deny they want a fluffy Ewok teddy bear of their own.
Porgs
But for the persistence of puffins, the 'Star Wars' universe would have been significantly less cute. They weren't originally planned to be a part of the movie, but when puffin birds invaded the set during filming, Rian Johnson decided to make the best of it.
He had creature designer Lunt Davies design the Porgs, who were similar enough in size and shape to be able to CGI over all the actual puffins appearing on-screen.
Appearing in 'The Last Jedi' on the planet Ahch-To, they were an internet sensation from the very moment one appeared in the trailer. Puffins are adorable, to begin with, but adding in large, soulful eyes and 'Star Wars' has itself a guaranteed heart stealer.
Droids
Before Baby Yoda grabbed all the spotlight, the undisputed champion of 'Star Wars' cuteness was BB-8 — and before him, R2-D2, proving that you don't need a face to be cute — just diminutiveness, a can-do attitude, a certain amount of sass and emotive beeps that are the audio equivalent of a well picked emoji.
The 'Star Wars' franchise is littered with droids of all shapes, and sizes, and they're all, to a bot, cute — even the murderous ones. They're awkward and strange, just odd enough for their odd ways of moving to somehow always be a little cute.
From C-3PO to IG-11 and every bot in between, the droids find endless new ways to delight and entertain.
Dishonourable mention: Jar Jar Binks
A cautionary tale about what happens when the film franchise gets cuteness wrong. So very, very wrong.
Honorable mention: Ewan McGregor
Not Obi-Wan Kenobi (with apologies to Alec Guinness), but Ewan McGregor in particular. He may not be his own species, but that amount of charm would be a greater force than the Dark and Light sides combined.
Who do you think is the cutest in the galaxy? Let us know! The next appearance of Baby Yoda will be on 'The Mandalorian' airing December 6 on Disney+.