Galactic Emperor/Legends

"By bringing the entire galaxy under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of one individual, the corruption that plagued the Republic in its later years will never take root."

- Palpatine

Galactic Emperor, sometimes referred to simply as Emperor, was the title of the Head of State of the Galactic Empire and, later, the Fel and Sith Empires.

Powers and functions
"As the Emperor wills it, so shall it be."

- Darth Vader

The Galactic Emperor's power and authority were mainly derived from those of the Supreme Chancellor and the additional rights, responsibilities, and powers bestowed upon that office by the Senate during the Separatist crisis and Clone Wars. It also derived (at least nominally) from the Senate itself. The Emperor was the ultimate head of the Imperial Inner Circle, and was, at least nominally or symbolically, advised by the Imperial Senate.

The Emperor was the Head of State, the head of government, and the commander-in-chief of the Empire, and had absolute authority over the Imperial Military, the bureaucracy, and the entire Empire and sectors itself. The Emperor had sole power to appoint, dismiss, approve, and supervise the regional governors. The Emperor organized and declared the budget, economy, taxes, and trade, ordered the Imperial Senate into session, dismissed it from meeting at will, declared its agenda, and proposed, rejected, and initiated all Senatorial bills. The Emperor also controlled, supervised, and disbanded the Courts and had the final judicial say.

As Emperor, Palpatine retained the emergency powers that had been voted to him during the Clone Wars, allowing him to rule under what amounted to martial law. He could execute, imprison, exile, banish, or confiscate anyone or anything solely on his authority. The Emperor could also issue executive orders, and proclamations with the legal force of law in the Empire, even more powerful than those issued by the Senate. The Emperor supervised, directed, appointed, and dismissed all officials in the government, and created, disbanded, supervised, and directed all governmental administrations, agencies, commissions, and boards. The Emperor could also personally lead the military forces into direct warfare should the battle or even military operation be important enough to require his presence, even operating his own personal fleet of starships for the occasion.

Whenever the Emperor arrived on a military installation, he was frequently met with an air parade of Imperial starfighter wings, especially TIE fighters, and also had thousands of massed troops, including Stormtroopers, and technicians standing at attention. The Emperor's Royal Guard often preceded out before the Emperor. In addition, his shuttle is often escorted by some squadrons of TIE fighters, including the Emperor's Shield squadron. Although Emperor Palpatine acted as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Military, he rarely left his palace on Coruscant, which resulted in relatively few Imperial personnel ever actually seeing their leader.

Succession
"You [Sith spirits] are long dead... But it is I who rule the galaxy... Forever!"

- Palpatine, in what is ultimately his final trek to Onderon

Palpatine was the first and only official Emperor of the first Galactic Empire&mdash;most of the Imperial leaders who followed were not recognized by all Imperials or never made use of the title of Emperor. One, Sate Pestage, seems to have legitimately held the title in the interim between Palpatine's death at Endor and his expected return. Pestage was killed before Palpatine did return, leaving the throne apparently unoccupied.

Emperor Palpatine's official heir would normally be Darth Vader, as he was Palpatine's third Sith apprentice. There were indications that he never intended for this to happen&mdash;he wanted Vader's secret apprentice Starkiller, and later Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, to take Vader's place at Palpatine's side by killing Vader. Palpatine had also prepared clone bodies of himself to take his place after his death, reducing the likelihood of needing an heir even further. In addition, he also stated prior to his final death to various Sith spirits that he intended to rule the Galaxy for all eternity, making it completely unlikely that he intends to have a line of succession.

In the Declaration of a New Order, Palpatine's speech had indicated that the Imperial Senate would elect the Galactic Emperor, but no one in the Imperial High Command had any desire to restore a body that would probably dissolve the Empire, so many Imperial commanders became rogue warlords after the Battle of Endor.

There were also attempts to have successions via lineage, which either involved blood lineage from remote relatives (such as Ederlathh Pallopides, the great-niece of Palpatine), or from people rumored to have been sired by Palpatine himself (such as Irek Ismaren). Most of the latter instances were done to act as power-brokers.

After the final death of Palpatine in 11 ABY, Xandel Carivus proclaimed himself the Emperor, but was soon killed by Kir Kanos.

Under the Imperial Remnant, the role of Imperial Head of State was assumed by Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet.

It was unclear what led to the appointment of Jagged Fel as Emperor, but the title became a hereditary one, passed on among members of the Fel Dynasty such as Roan Fel, though the Emperor shared power with a Council of Moffs rather than holding absolute authority.

When the One Sith took over, Darth Krayt abolished the hereditary system and claimed the title of Galactic Emperor for his version of the Empire. Roan Fel still claimed the title from his Empire-in-exile during the Second Imperial Civil War, and upon the conclusion of the war the deaths of both Krayt and Roan Fel resulted in Princess Marasiah Fel rising to become Empress of a now reunited Empire.

Style of office
"Your Majesty, it has long been my contention that your New Order needs one undeniable and overwhelming symbol to impress and, yes, frighten the masses."

- Moff Tarkin, in a private message to Emperor Palpatine

Under the rule of Palpatine, the Galactic Emperor was formally referred to as "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Palpatine." Both "Your Majesty" and "Your Highness" were accepted forms of oral address. Governor Wilek Nereus was known to refer to the Emperor as his "Most Excellent Imperial Master Palpatine" in his messages. While Nereus used the third person in direct address as a mark of courtesy, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin did not. At any rate, Palpatine was usually referred to as just "the Emperor" in the context of non-official, everyday conversations, even between military officers.

Certain individuals had their own, non-official way to address their Imperial sovereign. Being outside of the Imperial hierarchy, Darth Vader used to call the Emperor "my master," when meeting with the Emperor in person, a sign of their master–disciple relation in the dark arts of the Force. Vader would also use the pronoun "thy" instead of the more common "your," when asking what is the Emperor's bidding. Prince Xizor, a Falleen noble and the leader of the Black Sun criminal organization, addressed Palpatine as "my Emperor." Yoda, an enemy of the Empire, when encountering Palpatine in his senate rotunda chamber, sarcastically referred to Palpatine as simply "Emperor." Luke Skywalker, a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and fledgeling Jedi Knight, when rejecting Palpatine's request for him to induct himself into the Sith as his apprentice shortly after Luke defeated Vader, referred to Palpatine as "Your Highness." Finally, those who knew that Palpatine was a Dark Lord of the Sith usually called him "my Lord," as did Jeng Droga, one of the Emperor's Hands. The Sith spirits on Onderon, when addressing Palpatine when he entered the Tomb of Darth Vader, also referred to him as the "Emperor of numberless worlds."

By the time of Operation Shadow Hand, Palpatine was also given the title of "His Immortal Majesty," in reference to his revival from his death at Endor via Transfer Essence.

Behind the scenes
The title of Galactic Emperor was first mentioned &mdash; although without the 'Galactic' adjective &mdash; in the novelization of A New Hope, ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster and published in 1976.

Kyle Katarn becomes the new Emperor in the alternative non-canon option of Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, succeeding Jerec.

There is some confusion as to whether Ysanne Isard actually claimed the title Empress or not. While Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties referred to her as Empress, other works such as Wedge's Gamble contradict this (indeed, she claims it would be premature to name an Emperor while the New Republic still exists), and it is possible that this reference was figurative.

In the novelization of Star Wars, Obi-Wan mentions that there have been multiple emperors, with only the later ones becoming corrupt and with the original Emperor having been assassinated earlier. This was inspired by the first draft of the film, where there had never been a Republic, only an originally-benign Empire which fell to evil. Similarly, the novelization also stated that the emperor of that time was a puppet ruler, which was likewise implied but not specifically stated in the rough draft for the Emperor (named Cos Dashit at that time).

Non-canonical appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II
 * Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II