As season three of The Mandalorian wraps up, some concept art featuring the character Grogu shows an excellent amalgamation of the two separate environments in which the (young?) Jedi grew up.
Based on the hugely popular Star Wars IP, The Mandalorian is a space western that follows the aptly named Mandalorian Din Djarin, who protects the Force-sensitive baby Grogu. The show was a huge success, and it was refreshing to see Grogu as a particularly popular character, dubbed Baby Yoda by fans before his real name came up in The Mandalorian.
This popularity has only grown recently, with Grogu even disrupting people’s Google searches in honor of The Mandalorian season 3. For the same reasons that fans get involved, former Disney employee concept artist Jason Pastrana recently posted some badass concept art featuring cute little Jedi on his Instagram account. Using a grittier comic style than the character is usually seen in, Pastara shows an old Grogu wielding a gun and a variety of different headgear, alternating between the concept of the standard green lightsaber and the iconic Darksaber.
The post shows 8 variations of the conceptual Grogu, slide 9 shows an isolated view of one of the helmets. “Here are some more Grogu concepts and versions. (swipe).I masked a helmet in Blender to work out some shapes. Someone in the comments mentioned that if it was inspired by ‘Mythosaur’ that would be great Cool. I think it’s a great idea,” the caption read. ‘ There are also versions with Japanese buns. I like to explore characters. A small change can give it a very different feel. Oh, and the black saber is a major requirement! Share your favorites. The concept art fits in with the idea of an older, more skilled Grogu, which ties in nicely with season three, showing just how powerful Grogu can be in The Mandalorian trailer.
These reviews clearly show how popular Grogu is. With The Mandalorian approaching its cinematic climax and the character’s relative youth, it’s still possible that an adult dual-wielding Jedi, Grogu, could appear in future projects. Some of the designs could inspire future episodes of the Star Wars Anthology series Visions, with the Japanese bun and straw hat reminiscent of design elements already seen in the series.
The Mandalorian season 3 is currently streaming on Disney Plus.