Darth Sidious

"Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen."

- Palpatine

Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, was a Force-sensitive Human male who served as the last Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. He was also the Dark Lord of the Sith, one of the inheritors of Darth Bane's Rule of Two. His master was Darth Plagueis the Wise, who, according to legend, could influence the midi-chlorians to create life and keep people from dying. Palpatine, to whom Plagueis had taught his powers, ended up killing him in his sleep.

In the years prior to his Imperial ascent, Palpatine was the Senator of Naboo, using politics as a means to amass power. All the while, he operated as a Sith in secret and trained an apprentice, Darth Maul. He engineered the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo, using the political crisis as a pretext to be elected Supreme Chancellor by the Galactic Senate. He spent the next several years training a new apprentice, Count Dooku, to replace the fallen Maul, and together they created the Confederacy of Independent Systems to spark a galactic war.

Palpatine was given sweeping central, emergency powers to handle the Separatist crisis that unbeknownst to most, he himself had engineered, and he raised the Grand Army of the Republic to fight the Clone Wars. Palpatine and Dooku manipulated the Republic and the Separatists throughout the war, with Palpatine using the war as a means to amass more and more power over the Republic. By the end of the war, Palpatine had gained almost total control over the Republic, with the Senate having lost much of its authority. With his new power, Palpatine transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, branded the Jedi as traitors, and destroyed the Jedi Order. He also turned Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to the dark side, anointing Skywalker as Darth Vader.

The Empire expanded across the galaxy over the next two decades, including building a Death Star to maintain order. After those decades, however, a Rebel Alliance was founded to resist Palpatine's rule, and the Death Star was destroyed by Luke Skywalker. Palpatine tasked Vader, Luke's father, with either destroying or turning the boy, and Vader ultimately brought Luke before Palpatine during the Battle of Endor. There, Palpatine attempted to turn Luke to the dark side, but Luke refused. As Palpatine attempted to kill Luke, Vader was redeemed and turned on his master, killing himself and Palpatine in the process. Through redemption, Anakin Skywalker destroyed the Sith, while the Rebels successfully destroyed the Death Star II and defeated the Empire.

Early life
Sheev Palpatine was an unassuming yet ambitious Human male senator who represented his home planet of Naboo on the Galactic Senate, and noticed the fervent bickering and corruption that mired the Galactic Republic. At some point during his life, Palpatine assumed the name Darth Sidious when he became apprenticed to the legendary Sith Lord Darth Plagueis the Wise, who could allegedly influence the midi-chlorians to create life and prevent death. Unfortunately for Plagueis, Sidious killed his master in his sleep after being taught everything Plagueis knew about the dark side of the Force.

Keeping his Sith identity a secret from the public eye, Sidious took it upon himself to execute the Sith's long-percolating plan to supplant the Old Republic with a new Sith Empire, and destroy the Jedi Order. He received a Sith apprentice in the form of Darth Maul, a young Dathomirian Zabrak and Nightbrother, as a gift from the Nightsister Mother Talzin. Sidious brutally trained Maul to be a weapon of the Sith, viewing Maul's prowess and combat abilities as an invaluable asset to his master plan.

Invasion of Naboo
"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."

- Darth Maul speaking to his master

Palpatine moved to seize power from Supreme Chancellor Valorum, who had virtually no political power and counted Palpatine as a close friend and ally, allowing for Palpatine to easily manipulate him. Through holographic communication, Palpatine conspired with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray to blockade the planet Naboo in protest of the Senate's taxation of trade routes in outlying star systems. Driven to desperation by the inactivity of the Senate, Valorum secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights—Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi—as ambassadors to negotiate with the Federation's Neimoidian leaders.

Upon learning of the ambassadors' identities, Sidious ordered the immediate invasion of Naboo and execution of the two Jedi; when Gunray questioned the legality of such an action, Sidious simply stated that he would make it legal. The Neimoidians acted accordingly, but the Jedi survived the assassination attempt and escaped the Federation ship. After Palpatine terminated his communication with Gunray, Queen Padmé Amidala contacted him concerning the Federation's denial that the Chancellor had sent ambassadors to speak with them as promised. Palpatine feigned concern at this supposed revelation, but was cut off mid-sentence by the Trade Federation's communication blackout, notifying the Naboo to their invasion.

The Federation's droid army proceeded with their assault. Within a day, the army occupied the planet's capital city of Theed and its surrounding regions. Additionally, Amidala and her retinue were captured and presented with a treaty that would bring an air of legitimacy to their invasion. However, the Jedi arrived rescued them, and they successfully evaded the blockade aboard the queen's starship.

The search for Queen Amidala
When Gunray informed Sidious of Amidala's failure to sign the treaty, the livid Sith Lord introduced them to Darth Maul, whom he dispatched to find and recapture Amidala. Due to Amidala's ship sustaining damage in the escape, the queen opted to land on Tatooine, an obscure desert world in the Outer Rim Territories, to repair the ship. Maul managed to ascertain the queen's location, and assured his master that his search on the sparsely populated world would be a short one. Sidious told him to move against the Jedi first, and then take the queen once they were dead. Maul left for Tatooine, but he failed to kill the Jedi or retrieve Amidala.

Valorum's fall and Palpatine's rise
"Enter the bureaucrats, the true rulers of the Republic, and on the payroll of the Trade Federation, I might add. This is where Chancellor Valorum's strength will disappear."

- Palpatine to Queen Amidala

Despite these setbacks, Palpatine was able to convene with Amidala on Coruscant, where she intended to plead her case to Chancellor Valorum before the Galactic Senate. Bringing Amidala to his apartment for an audience, Palpatine told the queen that the senate was long past caring about the common good, while Valorum was essentially powerless against them. With both the Senate and Valorum closed off to her as options, Palpatine offered her two choices: she could move for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, and push for the election of a more effective leader; or she could take the matter to the courts, which would take even longer. Desiring more immediate action to save her people, Amidala opted for the former.

During the awaited Senate session, Federation representative Lott Dod fervently objected to Palpatine and Amidala's statements, and moved for a committee to investigate their "accusations", while Vice Chair Mas Amedda kept Valorum shackled by procedure, forcing him to concede that the Federation was within their rights. Outraged, Amidala pushed for the Vote of No Confidence. Within moments, hundreds of Senators were demanding the vote take place, leaving Valorum thunderstruck.

The sudden power vacuum led to Palpatine's nomination as Supreme Chancellor alongside Bail Antilles of Alderaan and Ainlee Teem of Malastare. When he announced his nomination to Amidala, however, the queen declared her intention to return to Naboo and reclaim it from the Trade Federation by whatever means she could. Palpatine made a show of concern and tried halfheartedly to convince her to stay on Coruscant. She left anyway, taking both Jinn and Kenobi with her for protection.

Battle of Naboo
"Wipe them out. All of them."

- Darth Sidious to Nute Gunray

Sidious contacted the Nemoidians on Naboo, instructing them to kill Amidala upon arrival, and sent Maul to accompany them with orders to make certain the Neimoidians killed the queen, and that the Jedi fell by his own hand. Even while he managed the election on Coruscant, he made time to go over the Neimoidians' progress. Against his expectations, he learned that Amidala not only managed to escape Gunray's reach, but also forged an alliance with the Gungans and assembled an army in the planet swamp in preparation for a strike against the Federation occupation force. He doubted she would last even five minutes in such a contest, and gave his approval to Gunray's plan to meet the Gungans head-on.

Ultimately, Palpatine won the election for Supreme Chancellor. However, the Federation army was defeated, Gunray was captured by Amidala's forces, and Maul met his presumed death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, though not before striking down Qui-Gon Jinn, whose funeral Palpatine would later attend. Palpatine also learned that the Naboo owed their victory to the unexpected intervention of Anakin Skywalker, a young, freed slave from Tatooine who was highly attuned to the Force, fueling the belief that he was the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy who would bring balance to the Force. After much debate, Jedi Council decided that Skywalker would be apprenticed to Kenobi as a Jedi. Palpatine personally congratulated the two Jedi during the celebration on Naboo, telling young Skywalker that his career would be watched with "great interest".

Further preparations
Over the next ten years, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine amassed a favorable reputation as a mild-mannered servant of the common good, and the public remained oblivious to his true, insidious persona. As Anakin Skywalker grew older, his relationship with Palpatine deepened; on many occasions, Palpatine lauded Skywalker as the most gifted Jedi he had ever encountered, one who would surpass even Yoda, the Grand Master of the Jedi Council. Skywalker, who grew increasingly frustrated with the strict lifestyle of the Jedi under his master Kenobi's guidance, admired Palpatine's praise and greatly took to his counsel. In truth, this was all part of Sidious' plan to gain Skywalker's trust and groom him into his new Sith apprentice.

In the meantime, Sidious acquired another apprentice to replace Maul: former Jedi Master Count Dooku, whom Sidious lured to the dark side by appealing to his disgust with corruption inherent in the Galactic Republic, and the Jedi who he believed dishonored themselves by serving the Republic. With the turn of Dooku—anointed Darth Tyranus—the Sith orchestrated the death of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas and took over his clientele for the commission of a clone army produced on Kamino; the event was subsequently covered up when Dooku erased all records of Kamino from the Jedi Archives. Subsequently, bounty hunter Jango Fett was hired as the clones' genetic template, and the clones were fitted with a bio-chip containing a protocol that would ensure their total obedience to Sidious when the time came for it.

Separatist crisis
Under Sidious' direction, Dooku rallied several thousand solar systems into declaring independence from the Galactic Republic, forming the Confederacy of Independent Systems with himself as its leader. Many commercial organizations—including the Trade Federation—pledged their droid military forces to this Separatist Alliance. With civil war imminent and the Jedi's numbers too few to maintain galactic peace, the Senate pushed for a vote to create a Grand Army of the Republic.

Upon arriving in Coruscant to vote on the matter, Palpatine's successor as Senator of Naboo, former Queen Padmé Amidala, narrowly avoided an assassination attempt carried out by Zam Wesell on behalf of the vengeful Nute Gunray. Palpatine had the vote delayed and placed the senator under the protection of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, her old allies from the Battle of Naboo. After a second attempt on the senator's life was made, Skywalker was assigned to protect her back on her homeworld of Naboo. There the two secretly started to fall in love which, coupled with Skywalker's later discovery of his mother Shmi's death at the hands of Tusken Raiders, would bring the young Jedi ever closer to the dark side, and more vulnerable to Sidious' machinations.

Personality and traits
"We shall double our efforts.''" "''I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."

- Commander Jerjerrod and Darth Vader

Prior to the creation of his Empire, Palpatine was careful to put on a charade, presenting himself as a grandfatherly gentleman and a servant of the public good. When in character, he always tried to avoid ostentation and often spoke of himself with great modesty. However, Palpatine was in fact a skilled manipulator and strategist, having orchestrated countless events in the galaxy, from the Invasion of Naboo to the Clone Wars, with the sole aim of increasing his own power. Even when something occurred that he did not initially plan for, the Sith Lord could rework his plans effectively.

After his ascension to Galactic Emperor, Palpatine renounced his public persona and started living as Sidious full-time. Freed from his gentle alter-ego, Palpatine demonstrated sadistic tendencies. During his fight with Yoda, the Sith Lord kept cackling in delight. Years later, immediately before his death at the hands of Vader, the Emperor smiled at the young Jedi as he prepared to finish him off. He was also noted for his lack of forgiveness. Darth Vader, who was known for murdering the officers who had failed him in cold blood, considered Palpatine to be even less clement than himself. In spite of his exceptional mastery of the dark arts, he was no less susceptible to fear, one of the primary emotions of the dark side, than any other Sith: after being attacked by a powerful Force push from Yoda, he displayed visible panic, attempting to flee rather than fight, and only confronted his opponent when he appeared to have no other choice.

Power and abilities
"Do not underestimate the powers of the Emperor, or suffer your father's fate, you will."

- Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

As the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith in his time, Palpatine was a powerful Force-user. He was a practitioner of Force lightning, and was known to use this power both as a deadly attack, and as a means of torture. He was also skilled with telekinesis; during his duel with Yoda, he levitated several Senate pods simultaneously, including the one he was standing on, with great dexterity and accuracy. Likewise, he was skilled enough with telekinesis that he was also able to remove Luke Skywalker's handcuffs while barely even lifting his finger when meeting face to face on the Second Death Star. On Mandalore, Sidious used telekinesis to strangle several Mandalorians to death and pin both Darth Maul and Savage Opress against a wall.

Darth Sidious was highly adept at foreseeing the future, often utilizing the power to see his plots to fruition, ensuring that all would proceed as he had envisioned. Furthermore, Sidious was able to conceal his inner darkness from the Jedi for many years before allowing himself to be discovered. His power was so great that he managed to cloud the Jedi's vision, making it exceedingly difficult to predict future events. The Dark Lord also possessed knowledge of Sith magic, allowing him to utter incantations in the Balc speech.

Despite his frail appearance, Darth Sidious was incredibly skilled in lightsaber combat, one of the greatest duelists of all time. As a result of his tremendous skill, he killed Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin—who were considered to be two of the finest lightsaber duelists of their time—each with a single blow, and while also engaged with Mace Windu, he slew the formidable Kit Fisto only moments later. He also held his own against Yoda in a lightsaber duel later on but in the end he forced the Jedi Master to flee with his Force powers rather than his lightsaber. Sidious had an extremely aggressive dueling style and augmented his swordplay by using Force-enhanced speed, which allowed him to defeat three experienced Jedi Masters at once with very little effort. His style was a combination of brutal aggression and lethal precision making him an almost unstoppable opponent. In fact, the only person known to have defeated him in lightsaber combat was Mace Windu. Although Sidious usually used only one lightsaber, he was also a master of dual-blades, wielding both of his lightsabers against Darth Maul and Savage Opress. Utilizing a ferocious yet fluid fighting style, Sidious fended off both brothers simultaneously. Sidious effortlessly defeated them, killing Opress and disarming Maul.

Behind the scenes
The holographic image of the Emperor that briefly appeared in the original version of The Empire Strikes Back was played by Elaine Baker, then-wife of makeup designer Rick Baker. Her face was composited with the image of a chimpanzee for the eyes while the voice was provided by Clive Revill.

Ian McDiarmid played the elderly Emperor Palpatine of the original trilogy, the younger Palpatine of The Phantom Menace, and the middle-aged Palpatine of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

For the 2004 DVD release of the original trilogy, the scene in The Empire Strikes Back was re-shot with Ian McDiarmid replacing Revill as the Emperor, with new lines recorded for both McDiarmid and James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader). The re-shoot was shot as part of the Revenge of the Sith production.

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and TV series, Palpatine was voiced by Ian Abercrombie until his death on January 26, 2012, with famed British actor Tim Curry taking over the role.

George Lucas compared the story of Palpatine to "Caesar, Napoleon, and Hitler." The Hitler similarities are particularly evident from Palpatine's position as Chancellor and the use of emergency powers to cement his power.