Why Palpatine is the best ever

In tonight's Star Wars Legends lore video we'll take a look at the Emperor Palpatine, examining how he is just fundamentally different than most characters in Star Wars!

***
🔵 ASSETS 🔵
Intro/Outro Music: Home - Resonance

🔵 SOCIAL MEDIA 🔵


🔵 SUPPORT ECK 🔵

🔵 SEND ME STUFF 🔵
PO Box 3271, Station East, Dartmouth NS, B2W 5G2
You can address any mail to Justin

[NightDocs]

Ian McDiarmid hit the actors lottery he has so much fun playing palpatine and it shows. And we’re all fortunate to see it

[loganwendigo]

I love Palps in ROTJ but to be honest Revenge of the Sith is what really made Palpatine such a great fun character to me. The movie shows the true extent of his manipulation and his pure cheesy evilness

[sayvionwashington]

I really like sympathetic villains, but sometimes you need a villain that goes:
"I need the army to burn down that village."
"Why my lord?"
"You seriously asking me that question?! Just look at it! It's ugly and I have to look at that vibe killer first thing in the morning! Fucking unacceptable."

[CORE]

I think when Palpatine said to Anakin "Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the wise", Palpatine is actually mocking him, the additional description of "the wise" is cynical that "he was so wise that he didn't see his own death coming by me".

[pwnorbepwned]

One thing about Palpatine I’ve always enjoyed—and could possibly be called nuance—is his true nature. Not how evil he is, but how his portrayal as a careful, patient schemer is itself a mask he puts on. His true nature is that of a blunt force instrument, a reckless gambler, a prideful thrill-seeker. His careful manipulations keep this part of himself in check, but it still shows through the cracks time and time again.

There are several moments in Revenge of the Sith alone where all his years of meticulous planning nearly blow up in his face—often literally—because of some Hail Mary gamble he makes to get things over with sooner. Moments where you can envision him in the moment, thinking on some level, “I may have made a mistake.” Revealing himself to Anakin prematurely, staging his own dangerous rescue, fighting Mace and The Squad alone, dueling Yoda, etc. And there are more moments like this in every instance of his character, and it holds brilliantly consistent across the saga in both Legends and Canon. He is so careful and patient, but despite this, he just can’t help himself.

My favorite scene involving this side of Palpatine is his first meeting with Luke. “Your overconfidence is your weakness.” “You faith in your friends is yours.” It’s such a subtle and yet profound moment, because Palpatine’s rebuttal is the first time he acts unamused toward Luke. These two have known each other for all of two minutes, and Luke has already hit the nail on the head. And the best part is, Palpatine knows he’s right. He’s keenly aware of how his reckless nature has bitten him in the past, and he is not pleased that this upstart Jedi wannabe has him figured out so soon. He lets the jovial mask slip and bites back at Luke with a little venom in his voice, and then there’s silence as they just glance at each other, re-evaluating after this minor exchange.

People expect evil characters to have depth by being something else in addition to evil. Palpatine is pure evil, but even in a mire of nothing but evil, he shows that evil itself can have layers to it.

[johantolli]

I love the joy that Palpatine gets out of being Darth Sidious. Especially in his fight with Yoda but also his fight with Maul and Savage. He is releasing decades of pent up darkside and anger in both those fight and its almost cathartic for him to finally be his true self as Darth Sidious, a side that he can rarely let out as he plays the role of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

The modern twist on villains are the "Thanos model" of trying to make a relatable or atleast understandable and multifaceted villain, but for me there is something so pure and utterly entertaining about an all together evil and unredemable character like Darth Sidious. The fact that Ian McDermid plays the role perfectly and balances the campyness and seriousness brilliantly is everything, Palpatine/Darth Sidious would be nothing without Ian!

[iainballas]

For all his appearances, the best time I've seen Palpatine being Palpatine outside the books was in The Bad Batch. He played a situation perfectly to phase out the clones. He ensured that if his main minion succeeded, he'd get the clones gone and switch to stormtroopers. When it failed, he threw that minion under the hoverbus, then attached the failure to the clones and used it as an excuse to get rid of them, while showing the senators working against him that they were a joke to him.

[rebelappliance]

I absolutely love that scene from revenge of the sith where yoda completely murks sidious by throwing him across the room. It’s so fucking goofy in the best possible way which makes it hilarious to watch.

[GGBlaster]

Yet I still feel that Palpatine isn’t quite as cartoonishly evil as some of your classic Disney villains. Villains like Jafar, Ursula and Maleficent (the og ones) were not just aware that they were evil, they openly acknowledged and celebrated it.

Palpatine is so devoted to himself and the Dark Side that he is characteristically and emphatically evil, though I have yet to hear him sing “It feels so good to be bad.”

[joeybulford]

I love Palpatine because he took out the entire Jedi order before they even knew what happened. He hid right under their nose, clouded their vision, made them second guess themselves, and didn’t reveal himself until it was already too late. 100/10 I think he is the best villain EVER.

[midniteraptor]

Something else I like about Palpatine is that he isn't a complainer. Whenever he is in tough spot, he doesn't complain or mellow in self-pity, he acknowledges the situation and moves to fix it. I remember this scene in the book "Dark Lord: Rise of Darth Vader" where Vader says to Palpatine "Look at us. Are we the faces of victory?" Meanwhile Palpatine is trying to keep himself from being sickened by Vader's self-pity and later says, "Eventually you will come to see that power is joy. The path to the dark side is not without terrible risk, but it is the only path worth following. It matters not how we appear, in any case, or who is sacrificed along the way." Palpatine doesn't just follow the dark side, but he also knows what he is getting into and is willing to pay any price or suffer any consequences. What a legend.

[MultiKommandant]

Megalomania is a great trait to give an antagonist - if done right, it makes for a character to whom villainy isn't just a job but a hobby. While ambitious or tragic villains are great, and can make for good narrative counterbalances to the hero, it is the villains who seem to be having the time of their lives in every scene they're in that are the most entertaining to watch.

[giladpellaeon]

If you are ever lucky enough to have the opportunity, Ian McDiarmid is a joy to meet. Met him a few years back at a comiccon and I was in my Imperial officer costume and before I can say a word he says to me with a smile, "I see you picked the right side."

[HenhousetheRed]

From the Plagueis novel, Palpatine hated the Jedi at a young age not because of his loyalties to the Sith or the dark side, but because he couldn't understand why beings strong in the Force would not seize power and rule the weak. He didn't initially care about the Sith, thinking of them as some defunct, obscure religious group. His first motivation in wanting to humiliate and dismantle the Jedi was because of their hubris as peacekeepers, tied strongly to his convictions with rule and politics.

Palpatine admitted to Vader (on why Obi-wan had defeated him on Mustafar) that had the Jedi been true in their convictions, he likely would never have succeeded in destroying them and dismantling the Republic. He also partially enjoyed his interactions with Yoda, admittedly because of the satisfaction in being deceitful, but also because he recognized Yoda as a powerful being in the Force. I think most completely evil villains wouldn't admit that about their enemies. Palpatine had a level of introspection that most villains wouldn't even consider.

The Darth Plagueis novel is one of my favorite Star Wars books. If the Disney takeover hadn't happened and stuff getting relegated to "Legends, " I think it would have made an awesome TV series focusing on the rise of Palpatine.

[Theology.]

I get asked “Who’s the strongest sith?”

The answer is Palpatine. It is Palpatine. it always will be.

[sawney_bean]

To me the greatest thing about palps is that he's having the time of his life doing his evil little thing, its the absolute joy he shows

[Gigas]

I love how skeletor level evil Palpatine is, I can honestly hear him say "I AM NOT NICE!" perfectly.




Also, dunno how popular this opinion is, but the scene where Snoke gets axed by Kylo is probably my favourite new trilogy scene and I'm glad you used it there.

[JB-olxo]

If you read any of his chapters in the older clone wars novels its almost always unintentionally funny in a very good way, with him trying quite hard to get Obi-Wan killed(he has one line describing Kenobi as "the jedi that just will not die") without being to obvious about it while also trying to keep Anakin alive so as to give him the evil make over later on.

[Curthartley]

He had it all planned out from the beginning and even backup plans. Its pretty impressive that he was that intelligent. He manipulated everyone into doing what he wanted.

[neofulcrum]

You know how they say no one is born evil?


Palps broke that. Even as a kid he was a little monster. No redeeming traits about him.