Jedi younglings, alternatively known as Jedi Initiates, were children with Force-sensitivity, gathered from various species across the galaxy by the Jedi Order. These young individuals began their earliest Jedi arts lessons at a young age within the Jedi Temple situated on Coruscant. Their training was not limited to the temple however, it also included a journey to the planet of Ilum. On Ilum, these younglings were obligated to partake in a revered rite known as the Gathering, where each youngling would find their own kyber crystal for use in constructing their personal lightsaber. Before these younglings were ready to move on to more advanced studies, Grand Master Yoda dedicated a significant portion of his long life to instructing them in the ways of the Force. To be deemed worthy of the Padawan rank, younglings had to successfully complete a set of evaluations known as Initiate Trials, which allowed them to become apprentices under more experienced Jedi, such as Knights and Masters.
During the Clone Wars, the future of the Jedi Order was put in jeopardy by the schemes of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and the Jedi's ultimate adversary. Sidious, in an attempt to create an army of dark side followers to enforce his New Order, masterminded the abduction of several Force-sensitive babies who were destined to become Jedi younglings. The Jedi, however, were able to thwart his scheme. Despite their efforts to protect the next generation of Jedi, the younglings, along with the majority of the Jedi Order, were killed as a result of Order 66 and the subsequent rise of the Galactic Empire.
The Jedi Order, a devoted group committed to upholding peace and justice within the Galactic Republic, generally sought out its members at a very young age. However, they did not do so immediately after birth; Wee Dunn was considered too young to be inducted into the Order as an infant. The Order used blood tests to estimate the midi-chlorian count in potential students, enabling them to find Force-sensitive younglings from various species throughout the galaxy. Younglings often possessed skill in only one aspect of the Force before their training, but they would begin to improve in others once they began their training. Once their connection to the Force was verified, the babies or, more commonly, young children were taken to the Jedi crèche located within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This became their home until they were selected to become a Padawan.
Some of these younglings were saved from perilous circumstances, such as Dooku, who was left to die by his father after he discovered his son's Force-sensitivity, and Depa Billaba and her sister Sar Labooda, whose parents were murdered by pirates. Initiates were usually brought to the Temple at a very young age. However, some arrived later in life, such as nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker, five-year-old Rael Averross, and eight-year-old Verosha Aniseya, who later departed from the Order. Upon joining the Order, they quickly came to understand that their true family was the Jedi Order. Marda Ro of the Path of the Closed Fist accused the Jedi Order of being cruel for taking children away from their families, but the Jedi always sought the families' permission when finding younglings.
The Jedi maintained a list containing information about Force-sensitive babies, including their identities and locations. Due to the children's significance to the Jedi's future, the High Council made considerable efforts to keep the list's contents confidential within the Order. The list itself was stored within the kyber memory crystal, which could only be accessed using a holocron, an informational device kept in the vaults of the Temple. Only someone with Force-sensitivity, trained in the use of telekinesis, could combine the crystal with a holocron. The crystal itself was entrusted to a member of the Order who served as its keeper.
Jedi younglings were organized into ten clans, each consisting of around twenty students. Among these groups was Bear Clan, a class of younglings aged between four and eight. The youngling clans would remain together as a single unit, living and training together, until it was time for them to go their separate ways as Padawan learners. Younglings who were not chosen to become Padawans were supervised by the Council of Reassignment.
After joining a clan, younglings commenced their foundational training in the Jedi arts. Their lessons included various tests and rituals that had to be completed to advance to the higher levels of the Jedi arts. Between the ages of four and eight, younglings learned the basics of lightsaber combat, using low-powered training sabers to practice deflecting blaster shots fired by training droids. Both the training droids and lightsabers were designed to be non-lethal.
The next stage in their development as aspiring Jedi was the construction of a real lightsaber, the Jedi's iconic weapon, which required a kyber crystal. This lesson led to the creation of the Gathering, an ancient and important tradition that began centuries before the Clone Wars. The Gathering tested the younglings' ability to find their specific crystal using the Force. It required younglings to leave the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and travel to the Crystal Cave on Ilum, a frozen world located in the Unknown Regions that was considered sacred to the Jedi Order. After acquiring their crystal, the younglings had to use the Force to telekinetically assemble all the necessary components into a lightsaber.
For nearly a millennium of the Jedi Order's existence, all younglings were trained by Yoda, the ancient Grand Master who also served as an instructor in the Jedi arts for eight centuries by the time of the Clone Wars. Yoda provided younglings with introductory lessons in lightsaber combat, which included using the Force to guide and improve their reflexes. In addition to teaching the basics of lightsaber combat, Yoda also guided younglings who participated in the Gathering.
Tera Sinube, another ancient Jedi Master, also oversaw the younglings' development as lightsaber duelists. In addition to guiding their students' development, it was the Master's right to introduce a Padawan as a guest lecturer to a youngling clan. The responsibility of teaching younglings how to properly construct a lightsaber fell to Huyang, an architect droid professor stationed on the Jedi vessel, the Crucible. He personally oversaw the creation of lightsabers by younglings for a thousand generations, including Yoda when he was a youngling.
Grand Master Yoda trained all Jedi as younglings. During the High Republic Era, Gella Nattai was a quiet but curious youngling who enjoyed exploring the Jedi Temple, searching for hidden passages and tombs. She expected to excel at lightsaber combat and was the first to arrive at lightsaber training, where she was to use a training lightsaber against remotes. Unaware that the training spheres were harmless, she became frightened by their many photoreceptors and ran from the room when she saw one. However, Yoda found her in a temple garden. Together, they watched a frog repeatedly try to jump over a stone wall to reach a waterfall. Yoda taught her to overcome fear and to always try again, just like the frog. The next day, she returned to training and was hit on the nose by a training blast. However, she overcame her fear and continued to practice.
One day during the High Republic Era, a Jedi seeker approached the Zeveron family, who had two Force-sensitive daughters. Elecia Zeveron had a mild Force-sensitivity that gave her a natural talent for mind tricks, while Oliviah Zeveron, who was more Force-sensitive, excelled in telekinesis. The seeker ultimately chose Oliviah to be trained as a Jedi, deeming Elecia's abilities too weak. Unfortunately for the Order, this decision led to a lifetime of rage for Elecia. Believing she should have been chosen instead, her anger at being overlooked by the Jedi led her down a path where she attempted to take over the galaxy as "the Mother" of the Path of the Open Hand. During the Battle of Jedha, which was instigated by the Mother in 382 BBY, Oliviah recognized Elecia and remembered their past. She confronted Elecia with these memories during the Night of Sorrow.
During the Clone Wars, the Sith orchestrated the theft of both a holocron and the memory crystal in order to kidnap members of the Jedi's next generation. Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith who was publicly known as Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, planned to use the younglings in an experimental procedure to create an army of dark side adepts who would serve him in the New Order. However, the Jedi, particularly Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, thwarted this plan by rescuing the children from captivity and returning them to their parents.
Later, Skywalker played a crucial role in the Order's downfall after succumbing to the dark side and becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader. With the implementation of Order 66, Vader led a military assault on the Temple at the command of his new Master, who instructed him to spare none of his former comrades. This order included the younglings, a group of whom were confronted by Vader in the High Council Chamber. One boy, recognizing Skywalker and believing he was still a Jedi Knight, asked him what they should do against the overwhelming number of clones. However, Vader did not respond and instead slaughtered the children. Following the Galactic Empire's rise to power, most of the Jedi, along with the youngest members of their order, were killed, resulting in the destruction of the next generation of the Jedi Order.
Despite the Order's demise, remnants of the Jedi survived throughout the Dark Times, enduring both the Sith and their Empire. However, the survivors chose to remain hidden, leaving many Force-sensitive children in the galaxy without the opportunity to become Jedi. When the Empire found Force-sensitive children, they were taken by Vader or members of the Inquisitorius to be made part of Project Harvester, fulfilling Sidious's plan from the Clone Wars. Two surviving Jedi, Master Vanzell Mar-Klar and Padawan Nedriss Narr, attempted to train younglings in secret, away from the Empire's reach.
After the Empire's fall, the Jedi Order was reborn as a new, albeit short-lived, generation under Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. The Jedi practice of recruiting younglings also inspired Commandant Brendol Hux, an Imperial Academy instructor who greatly admired the training methods of both the Jedi Order and the Grand Army clone troopers. His illegitimate son, General Armitage Hux, incorporated his father's views into the military training program of the First Order, leading an entire generation to become stormtroopers—super soldiers programmed from birth and exceptionally trained in Armitage's view.
Jedi younglings were first seen in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, the second film in the Star Wars prequel trilogy.