Snoke

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?"

- Snoke to Kylo Ren

Snoke was a Force-sensitive male humanoid alien who served as the Supreme Leader of the First Order approximately thirty years after the Battle of Endor. He had a distinctive, idiosyncratic bone and facial structure. Snoke was a powerful figure, skilled with the dark side of the Force, who had trained the Force-sensitive Kylo Ren and at least one other apprentice.

Before the First Order
"It is where you are from. What you are made of. The dark side—and the light. The finest sculptor cannot fashion a masterpiece from poor materials. He must have something pure, something strong, something unbreakable, with which to work."

- Snoke

Snoke witnessed the rise and eventual fall of the Galactic Empire. He had several apprentices before he became invested in the Skywalker bloodline, believing General Leia Organa and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, the grandson of Darth Vader and nephew of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, had the right balance of the dark and light sides of the Force in him.

Leia was aware of the influence Snoke could have on her son, but did not inform Han, believing he would not understand, and that, as a Force-sensitive, it was her responsibility to keep Ben away from the dark side. Eventually, Snoke turned Ben to the dark side, anointing him Kylo, master of the Knights of Ren, and ordered him to destroy Skywalker's revived Jedi Order. Though Ren succeeded in slaughtering the entirety of the fledgling Jedi Order, Skywalker managed to escape into hiding.

First Order-Resistance conflict
"Even you, master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.''" "''By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced."

- Snoke and Kylo Ren

Following Skywalker's disappearance, Snoke assigned Ren to hunt down the last Jedi. Ren's search led him to Jakku, where he learned that the final piece of the map to Skywalker was in the possession of the astromech droid BB-8. Snoke ordered the droid's capture or destruction, preferably the former. Despite the efforts of the First Order, BB-8 managed to escape Jakku aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Ren and General Armitage Hux later returned to Starkiller Base to communicate with Snoke via hologram. Hux proposed using Starkiller Base's superweapon to destroy the New Republic government, which was backing the Resistance, an undertaking which Snoke authorized. He then spoke with Ren privately, asking if he had felt an awakening in the Force. He ordered Ren to kill his father to overcome his temptation by the light.

Shortly after the destruction of the Hosnian system, resulting in the eradication of the New Republic government and a portion of its fleet, Ren invaded Takodana in search of BB-8. He later deemed the droid unnecessary as he captured a scavenger named Rey, who had seen the final piece of the map to Skywalker's location. Snoke was later upset to hear that the girl resisted Ren's interrogation. Ren defended himself by explaining that Rey was strong in the Force, albeit untrained. As the Resistance base had been discovered, Snoke ordered Hux to destroy the Resistance before they could find Skywalker, and for Ren to bring Rey to him. However, Ren never got the chance, as Rey managed to escape with the help of her new powers.

Subsequently, Starkiller Base was infiltrated by Han Solo, Chewbacca and Finn, who managed to lower the shields through the aid of a captured Captain Phasma to allow the Resistance fleet to attack the base. Solo then tried to bring Ren back to the light, only for his own son to murder him. In rage and grief, Chewbacca wounded Ren and blew a hole in the superweapon's thermal oscillator, allowing Resistance pilot Poe Dameron to fly in and destroy it, causing catastrophic damage, preventing the solar energy from being contained. When the destruction of Starkiller Base was inevitable, Snoke ordered Hux to bring Ren to him in order to complete his training.

Personality and traits
"It was Snoke. He seduced our son to the dark side."

- Leia Organa to Han Solo, about Kylo Ren

Snoke was the Supreme Leader of the First Order, and appeared to be a calculating and reserved military leader as well as a powerful master of the dark side. Kylo Ren of the Knights of Ren described Snoke as "wise", while Han Solo and Leia Organa believed he was manipulative and that he exploited Force-sensitive individuals, such as Kylo Ren, only for their power. Snoke was very old, having a vast knowledge of the past and of the Force. He displayed tendencies unusual for practitioners of the dark side, displaying an interest in Kylo Ren due to his embodiment of a balance between both the light and dark sides of the Force, as opposed to only one aspect.

Snoke was very thin and frail with large hands. His hologram used on the Starkiller Base projected him several times larger (around 25 feet) than his natural appearance, towering over Kylo Ren and General Hux. Snoke had an elongated face with pale, scarred skin and pale blue eyes. He sported a large scar from the top of his head, all the way down to his brow. Snoke also had what appears to be a scar or burn on his right cheek that causes his mouth to be contorted. Snoke wore a simple cloak, and tended to speak slowly and enunciate his desires with a forceful undertone.

Snoke showed little emotion, appeared very calm, and didn't appear to be in any form of worry or distress despite the circumstances against him and the First Order. When Starkiller Base was being destroyed, he calmly expressed his wishes without showing any form of anger or annoyance, a stark contrast to his apprentice Kylo Ren, who was prone to violent outbursts when faced with frustration. However, Snoke did demonstrate a considerable level of anger and frustration after learning of failures from General Hux and Kylo Ren.

Behind the scenes
Snoke is portrayed by Andy Serkis in the film Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens using motion capture. Snoke's distinct voice was first heard in the movie's first teaser trailer. His name was officially unveiled on May 28, 2015.

Snoke's appearance underwent many changes throughout the development of the film, with the character's final appearance not being decided on until October 2015, two months before the film's release. J.J. Abrams and Neal Scanlan didn't want the character to look old and decrepit like Darth Sidious, and even considered making him female. Ivan Manzella sculpted at least two busts to try to hone the look of the character. Snoke's appearance was based in part of the horror movies of Hammer Films, the conception being that Snoke was rather handsome in his younger days, but was consumed by the dark side as he became more powerful.

Appearances

 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: Poe Dameron 1: Black Squadron, Part I
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens