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125-425: A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character . It is sometimes found in comic books and may possess superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero . Supervillains are often used as foils to present a daunting challenge to a superhero. In instances where the supervillain does not have superhuman, mystical, or alien powers, the supervillain may possess

250-418: A melodramatic manner, with mustache-twirling, eye-rolling , leering , cackling , and hand-rubbing . In 1895, Thomas Edison and Alfred Clark made The Execution of Mary Stuart depicting Mary, Queen of Scots being decapitated. It describes neither Mary nor her executioner as villains (though at the time, it was deemed so realistic that audience members believed an actual woman had been beheaded in

375-534: A senate representative. The film's novelization is the first time he is called Darth Sidious. His home world, Naboo , is also home to Anakin's romantic interest, Padmé Amidala , who later becomes a senator of that planet. In the Lucasfilm-authorized Star Wars and History , Palpatine's consolidation of power is described as being similar to the first Roman emperor , Augustus . Both legitimized authoritarian rule by saying that corruption in

500-527: A Jedi-in-training. He is also the mastermind behind Snoke , whom he created to lead the First Order against the New Republic and seduce Skywalker's grandson, Ben Solo, into becoming Kylo Ren . Palpatine's story was inspired by real-world examples of political strongman and democratic backsliding during the rise and rule of dictators such as Julius Caesar , Napoleon Bonaparte , and Adolf Hitler . Since

625-525: A Jedi. Enraged, the Emperor attacks Luke with Force lightning . Unable to bear the sight of his son in pain, Vader throws the Emperor down a chasm shortly before the Death Star is destroyed. In the 1999 prequel Episode I: The Phantom Menace , set 32 years before A New Hope , Palpatine (named onscreen for the first time) is depicted as a middle-aged Galactic Senator from the planet Naboo . As his alter ego ,

750-460: A convincing villain must be given a characterization that provides a motive for doing wrong, as well as being a worthy adversary to the hero. As put by film critic Roger Ebert : "Each film is only as good as its villain. Since the heroes and the gimmicks tend to repeat from film to film, only a great villain can transform a good try into a triumph." The actor Tod Slaughter typically portrayed villainous characters on both stage and screen in

875-406: A duel with Obi-Wan. After returning to Coruscant, he rebuilds Vader's burned, mutilated body with the black armored suit from the original trilogy. Palpatine then tells Vader that Padmé was killed in the heat of Vader's anger, breaking what remains of Vader's spirit. Palpatine is last seen watching the original Death Star's construction, with Vader and Wilhuff Tarkin ( Wayne Pygram ) at his side. In

1000-401: A dying Howard Hughes ." Palpatine's role in the prequel films required McDiarmid to portray two aspects of the same character. Recalling the initial days of shooting The Phantom Menace , McDiarmid stated, "Palpatine's an interesting character; he's conventional on the outside, but demonic on the inside — he's on the edge, trying to go beyond what's possible." McDiarmid added another layer to

1125-550: A genius intellect or a skill set that allows them to draft complex schemes or commit crimes in a way normal humans cannot. Other traits may include megalomania and possession of considerable resources to further their aims. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real-world dictators , gangsters , mad scientists , trophy hunters , corrupt businesspeople , serial killers , and terrorists , often having an aspiration of world domination . The Joker , Lex Luthor , Doctor Doom , Magneto , Brainiac , Deathstroke ,

1250-523: A hideous monster who destroyed his family out of spite . Shakespeare also ensured that Iago in Othello and Antonio in The Tempest were completely void of redeeming traits. In an analysis of Russian fairy tales , Vladimir Propp concluded that the majority of stories had only eight " dramatis personae ", one being the villain. This analysis has been widely applied to non-Russian tales. The actions within

1375-597: A host of stormtroopers , technicians, and other personnel. Lucas states he wanted it to look like the military parades on " May Day in Russia ." Lucas fleshed out the Emperor in the prequel trilogy . According to Lucas, Palpatine's role in The Phantom Menace is to explain "how Anakin Skywalker [later Vader] came to be Palpatine's apprentice" and the events that sparked Palpatine's rise to totalitarian power after being

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1500-514: A kindly old man and shows Ezra a vision of his dead parents through a doorway, promising that the youth will be with them if he enters it. Ezra is initially mesmerized by Palpatine's promise and goes to enter the door, but finally resists and destroys the reconstructed Jedi Temple and the illusion. Palpatine's hologram emerges from the rubble, flickering to show his true self, and commands his Royal Guards to kill Ezra, though Ezra manages to defeat them and escape. According to series creator Dave Filoni ,

1625-448: A lightsaber and quickly dispatches all but Windu. Palpatine engages Windu in a duel and attacks him with Force lightning; Windu deflects the lightning back into Palpatine's face, deforming it into the gray, wizened visage first seen in the original trilogy. Before Windu can kill Palpatine, Anakin appears and desperate to save Padme, betrays Windu, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu with another blast of lightning. Anakin then reluctantly betrays

1750-426: A mohawk, and her nails painted bright red. Her goal throughout the film is to become queen and disrupt the coupling of Ariel and Prince Eric , both of which connect villainy to drag queens , suggesting that there is inherent evil in those who do drag. Villains in fiction commonly function in the dual role of adversary and foil to a story's heroes. In their role as an adversary, the villain serves as an obstacle

1875-492: A moral center, it's just that the only thing that mattered is increasing power." McDiarmid asserted that everything Palpatine does "is an act of pure hypocrisy." McDiarmid noticed that the script for Revenge of the Sith demanded more action from his character than in previous films. Lightsaber combat was a challenge to the 60-year-old actor, who, like his costars, took fencing lessons. The close-up shots and non-acrobatic sequences of

2000-488: A more direct way than live-action villains. That their character design is based on caricatures of racist, antisemitic, and/or homophobic stereotypes with exaggerated features. That female animated villains are portrayed in ways that feed into misogynistic ideas and traditional gender roles. Sattar Sharmin and Sanyat Tania have argued that animated villains frequently fall into two categories: women who exhibit societally undesirable traits, or men displaying feminine traits. In

2125-463: A new costume—a formal robe with red velvet—which Kaplan refers to as "his true Emperor's garb". Todd McCarthy of Variety described McDiarmid's portrayal of Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith as "dominant" and "worth writing home about". Reviewing the same film, Ed Halter of The Village Voice wrote that "McDiarmid's unctuous Emperor turns appropriately vampiric as he attempts to draw Anakin into

2250-507: A point in the saga when everyone's waiting to see him. It's the Emperor, the arch-villain of all time, and when he says there's a great disturbance in the Force, I mean, that's enough oomph !" Years later, during production of Revenge of the Sith , Lucas decided to shoot new footage for The Empire Strikes Back to create continuity between the prequels and original trilogy. Thus, in the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition,

2375-414: A portal that shows Jedi Master Kanan Jarrus ' (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr. ) final moments. While Ezra wants to reach through the portal and rescue Kanan, Ahsoka convinces him not to. Palpatine then reveals himself through the portal and attacks Ezra with Force lightning. However, Ahsoka and Ezra manage to evade him and go their separate ways, thus denying Palpatine full power. Palpatine later returns in

2500-423: A pure villain. Folklore and fairy tale villains can also play a myriad of roles that can influence or propel a story forward. In fairy tales villains can perform an influential role; for example, a witch who fought the hero and ran away, and who lets the hero follow her, is also performing the task of "guidance" and thus acting as a helper. Propp also proposed another two archetypes of the villain's role within

2625-476: A reputation for being one-dimensional. In modern animation, animated villains that are more significant and fleshed out have become increasingly common as cartoons have begun to be favored by adults. Shows such as Adventure Time , Gravity Falls , and Rick and Morty range from child to adult cartoons, but are all watched by a largely older audience. It is sometimes alleged that villains in animated works, such as Disney movies, often embody stereotypes in

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2750-468: A senator, but the attempt on her life fails. He then arranges for Anakin (now played by Hayden Christensen ) to guard Padmé on Naboo, which leads to them falling in love and marrying in secret. With the Separatists secretly building a battle droid army, Palpatine uses the situation to have himself granted emergency powers . Palpatine feigns reluctance to accept this authority, promising to return it to

2875-482: A short film adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz . In 1914, Lois Weber made a film of The Merchant of Venice with Phillips Smalley as a villainous Shylock . The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation has "Northern carpetbaggers" inciting black violence as its villains. The 1916 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea has a man named Charles Denver as its villain. In the same year, Snow White had Queen Brongomar as

3000-596: A valuable Kyber memory crystal that contains the names of thousands of Force-sensitive younglings – the future of the Jedi Order – from around the galaxy. The final stage of the plot: to bring four Force-sensitive children to Sidious' secret facility on Mustafar. Anakin and Ahsoka again foil the plot, but Bane escapes and all evidence of Sidious' involvement is lost. In season three, Sidious senses Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress (voiced by Nika Futterman ) becoming powerful in

3125-416: A villain's game, but for a noble cause in a way that the audience or other characters can sympathize with. They may be more noble or heroic than an antihero, but the means to achieve their ends are often considered exploitative, immoral, unjust, or simply evil. Characters who fall into this category are often created with the intention of humanizing them, making them more relatable to the reader/viewer by posing

3250-523: A villain's sphere were: When a character displays these traits, it is not necessarily tropes specific to the fairy tale genre, but it does imply that the one who performs certain acts to be the villain. The villain, therefore, can appear twice in a story to fulfill certain roles: once in the opening of the story, and a second time as the person sought out by the hero. When a character has only performed actions or displayed traits that coincide with Vladimir Propp's analysis, that character can be identified as

3375-642: A villain. There were also villains in 1960s children's film. For instance, 101 Dalmatians and the 1966 Batman both had villains. The former having Cruella de Vil and the latter being the first time comic book supervillains were adapted to film. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Star Wars films introduced Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine . 1980s films had villains like Khan in Star Trek , John Kreese in The Karate Kid and its sequels, Skynet in

3500-765: A villain. The 1923 film The Ten Commandments has the main character's brother be a villain due to his commitment to breaking all of the Ten Commandments . In 1937, Walt Disney 's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs had the Evil Queen as a villain. In 1939, The Wizard of Oz had Wicked Witch of the West as its villain. In the 1940s, serial films about superheroes introduced supervillains as characters like Dr. Dana in Batman . The 1949 film Samson and Delilah has Hedy Lamarr as

3625-459: Is a character who relies on their instincts and ability to cause destruction to achieve their ends. The evil intentions of their actions are often easily identified, as they act without concern for others (or their wellbeing ) or subtlety . The rampaging villain can take the form of a very powerful individual or a rampaging beast but is still one of the more dangerous villain archetypes due to their affinity for destruction. The authority figure

3750-686: Is a senator from the planet Naboo who plots to become Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic . He masterminds the Clone Wars to turn the Republic into the Empire, destroys the Jedi Order , and manipulates Anakin Skywalker into becoming his apprentice, Darth Vader. In The Rise of Skywalker (2019), the final film in the sequel trilogy , a resurrected Palpatine is revealed to be the grandfather of Rey ,

3875-705: Is briefly mentioned in Star Wars (1977), the first film in the original trilogy, which was later retitled Episode IV – A New Hope . On the Death Star , Grand Moff Tarkin explains to his fellow Imperials that the Emperor has dissolved the Imperial Senate, the last remnant of the Old Republic . The Emperor does not appear on-screen, leaving Tarkin and Darth Vader as the film's main villains. The Emperor first appears in The Empire Strikes Back ,

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4000-470: Is defeated by their own greed, pride, or arrogance. The traitor is a villain who emphasizes the traits of trickery, manipulation and deception to achieve their goals, which is often to offer or supply information to the protagonist's opposition to halt them on their journey; often in exchange for their own freedom or safety. The traitor's goals are not always evil but the actions they commit to reach their goal can be considered inherently evil. Animation

4125-414: Is driven by an ambiguous motivation or is not driven by an intent to cause evil. Their intentions may coincide with the ideals of a greater good, or even a desire to make the world a better place , but their actions are inherently evil in nature. An anti-villain is the opposite of an antihero. While the antihero often fights on the side of good, but with questionable or selfish motives, the anti-villain plays

4250-434: Is effeminate men, sometimes referred to by subject experts as "sissy villains," where their mannerisms represent stereotypes relating to gay men. Another example is the depiction of masculine women, which emulates drag queens or butch lesbians. Adelia Brown makes a similar allegation about Ursula from The Little Mermaid . Ursula is closely modelled after the famous drag queen " Divine " with her heavy makeup, hair styled in

4375-408: Is eventually thwarted, and Maul is defeated in a lightsaber duel with Jedi Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi ( Ewan McGregor ). Palpatine uses the crisis to get elected as the new Chancellor of the Republic. He then returns to Naboo, where he befriends the nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker ( Jake Lloyd ), telling the boy, "We will watch your career with great interest." In the 2002 sequel Episode II: Attack of

4500-619: Is home to several different villains. Winsor McCay in How a Mosquito Operates had a cartoon mosquito torment a human being and in 1925, Walt Disney created Pete as an antagonist for the Alice Comedies with Pete later becoming an antagonist of Mickey Mouse and his friends and the first Disney villain. Fleischer Studios later had Bluto as the antagonist of the Popeye cartoons. Hanna-Barbera created Tom as an antagonist of Jerry . Likewise,

4625-432: Is not always the case. As seen often in animated films, female villains are portrayed with "ugly" appearances to contrast the beauty of the protagonist, in turn associating unattractiveness with evil. This paints female villains in a negative light compared to their heroine counterparts, and showcases the duality of the female villain character. The ethical dimension of history poses the problem of judging those who acted in

4750-413: Is one that has already attained a level of command and power but always craves more. They are often driven by their desire for material wealth , distinguished stature or great power and appear as a monarch , corporate climber or other powerful individual. Their end goal is often the total domination of their corporation, nation, or world through mystical means or political manipulation. Often this villain

4875-606: Is rescued by Anakin and Obi-Wan, but not before the Jedi confront Dooku again. A duel ensues in which Anakin defeats Dooku. Palpatine then betrays his apprentice by urging Anakin to kill him, leading to the Jedi Knight killing the helpless Count. Palpatine then escapes with his rescuers and returns to Coruscant. By this point, Palpatine has become a virtual dictator, able to take any action in the Senate. He makes Anakin his personal representative on

5000-442: Is set ten years after Revenge of the Sith . After Darth Vader is defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi following their second duel, Palpatine contacts Vader in his Mustafar castle via hologram, questioning Vader's motives and loyalty when Vader reports that he will not rest until Obi-Wan is found. Vader reassures Palpatine that Obi-Wan does not mean anything, reaffirms his commitment to Palpatine and abandons his search. Darth Sidous appears in

5125-414: Is the universal term for characters who pose as catalysts for certain ideals that readers or observers find immoral, but the term "villainess" is often used to highlight specific traits that come with their female identity—separating them, in some aspects, from their male counterparts. The use of the female villain (or villainess) is often to highlight the traits that come specifically with the character and

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5250-453: Is to serve as the opposite to the hero character, and their motives or evil actions drive a plot along. In contrast to the hero, who is defined by feats of ingenuity and bravery and the pursuit of justice and the greater good, a villain is often defined by their acts of selfishness, evilness, arrogance, cruelty, and cunning , displaying immoral behavior that can oppose or pervert justice. The term villain first came into English from

5375-513: Is unambiguously evil. William Shakespeare modelled his archetypical villains as three-dimensional characters and acknowledged the complex nature that villains display in modern literature. For instance, he made Shylock a sympathetic character. However, Shakespeare's incarnations of historical figures were influenced by the propaganda pieces coming from Tudor sources, and his works often showed this bias and discredited their reputation. For example, Shakespeare famously portrayed Richard III as

5500-557: The Inspector Gadget animated series, Dr. Evil and Mr. Bigglesworth from the Austin Powers film series , or Dr. Blowhole from the animated TV series The Penguins of Madagascar . The overarching villain of Star Wars , Emperor Palpatine , leads the tyrannical Galactic Empire , and was inspired by real-world tyrannical leaders. Villain The villain's structural purpose

5625-1081: The Terminator films, Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future films, The Joker in Batman and Dark Helmet in Spaceballs . 1990s films had villains like General Mandible in Antz , Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park , Edgar in Men in Black , Van Pelt in Jumanji , Rameses in The Prince of Egypt , Carrigan in Casper and Shan-Yu in Mulan . The Star Wars prequels also introduced several villains in addition to those

5750-711: The Anglo-French and Old French vilain , which in turn derives from the Late Latin word villanus ,. This refers to those bound to the soil of the villa , who worked on the equivalent of a modern estate in Late Antiquity , in Italy or Gaul . Vilain later shifted to villein , which referred to a person of less than knightly status, implying a lack of chivalry and courtesy . All actions that were unchivalrous or evil (such as treachery or rape ) eventually became part of

5875-560: The Green Goblin , Loki , the Reverse-Flash , Black Manta , Ultron , Thanos , and Darkseid are some notable male comic book supervillains that have been adapted in film and television. Some notable female supervillains are Catwoman , Harley Quinn , Poison Ivy , Mystique , Hela , Viper , and the Cheetah . Just like superheroes, supervillains are sometimes members of groups, such as

6000-786: The Injustice League , the Sinister Six , the Legion of Doom , the Brotherhood of Mutants , the Suicide Squad , and the Masters of Evil . In the documentary A Study in Sherlock , writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss said they regarded Professor James Moriarty as a supervillain because he possesses genius-level intelligence and powers of observation and deduction, setting him above ordinary people to

6125-785: The Jedi Council , whose members deny Anakin the rank of Jedi Master and order him to spy on the Chancellor. Palpatine tells Anakin the story of Darth Plagueis , a powerful Sith Lord who was able to create life and prevent death, but was killed by his own apprentice. Eventually, Palpatine reveals his secret Sith identity to Anakin; he knows that Anakin has been having prophetic visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, and offers to teach him Plagueis' secrets to save Padmé's life. Anakin informs Jedi Master Mace Windu ( Samuel L. Jackson ) of Palpatine's treachery. With three other Jedi Masters at his side, Windu attempts to arrest Palpatine, but Palpatine produces

6250-632: The Looney Tunes had villains like Elmer Fudd , Yosemite Sam , Marvin the Martian and Blacque Jacque Shellacque . In 1937, Disney made the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and it had the Evil Queen as its antagonist. Since then, Disney made a lot of animated movies with villains based on fairy tale villains. Disney Villains became a major part of that franchise. Saturday-morning cartoons also had villains like Dick Dastardly , Muttley and Snidely Whiplash . Since then cartoon villains have had

6375-722: The Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he advises the corrupt Trade Federation to blockade and invade Naboo. Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo ( Natalie Portman ) flees to the planet Coruscant to receive counsel from Palpatine, unaware that he actually engineered the invasion. After a plea for help from the Senate results in bureaucratic delays, Palpatine manipulates and deceives Padmé to call for a motion of no confidence against Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum ( Terence Stamp ). When Padmé attempts to liberate Naboo, Sidious sends his apprentice Darth Maul (portrayed by Ray Park , voiced by Peter Serafinowicz ) to capture her. The invasion

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6500-512: The Star Wars franchise and the character Palpatine. His conceptualization of Palpatine and the role he plays in the franchise changed over time. Lucas's initial notes discuss a line of corrupt emperors, not just one. In the 1974 draft of Star Wars , the "New Galactic Empire" was led by a relatively young human named Cos Dashit. The name Palpatine first appears in the prologue of Alan Dean Foster 's 1976 novelization of Star Wars , which details

6625-457: The evil queen and Lady Tremaine , are influenced by jealousy/vanity whereas only 4% of male villains are driven by these same factors. Rather the men, such as Hades and Captain Hook , have motives grounded in wealth and power, giving in to masculine stereotypes and signifying an attachment to the patriarchy . Additionally, in animation there is a history of mothers and grandmothers being posed as

6750-414: The series finale "Family Reunion - and Farewell". In the episode, Ezra, having surrendered himself to Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen ) to protect Lothal, is taken by him to a room containing a reconstructed section of the ruined Jedi Temple and a hologram of Palpatine as he appears in the prequel films. Palpatine, having acknowledged the threat Ezra poses to the Empire, presents himself as

6875-598: The titular character warns Palpatine of "threats lurking in the Unknown Regions." Chuck Wendig 's Aftermath book trilogy reveals that, prior to his death, Palpatine enacted a plan for the remnants of the Empire, intended to be led by his adoptive son Gallius Rax , to retreat to the Unknown Regions, where they formed into the First Order . The dark side was thought to be concentrated in this region, where one Sith cultist believed that Palpatine would be found alive. The upcoming illustrated book Star Wars: The Secrets of

7000-441: The "how" and "why" behind their motivations rather than simply creating a one-dimensional character. Because of their motives, many of these types of villains are commonly nicknamed "anti-villains". Palpatine Sheev Palpatine is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back as The Emperor . He is also known by his Sith name, Darth Sidious , which

7125-456: The 1980 sequel to the original film. He appears as a hologram to inform Vader that Luke Skywalker has become a threat to the Empire. Vader persuades him that the young Jedi would be a great asset if he could be turned to the dark side of the Force. In 1983's Return of the Jedi , the Emperor appears in person to oversee the last stages of the second Death Star 's construction. He assures Vader that they will together turn Luke, Vader's son, to

7250-417: The 2014 novel Tarkin . During the story development of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lucas decided that, with the original having only passingly mentioned the Emperor, he needed to "begin to deal with him on a more concrete level". Lucas realized, however, that the primary conflict with the Emperor would be best saved for the trilogy's third film, Return of the Jedi , because "[w]hen you get rid of

7375-543: The 2021 book Skywalker: A Family at War describes Palpatine's son as an "offshoot of [his] genetic research, not precisely a clone but made of cloned tissue and donated cells." Star Wars: Lords of the Sith (2015) was one of the first canon spin-off novels to be released in the Disney canon begun in 2014. In it, Vader and Palpatine find themselves hunted by revolutionaries on the Twi'lek home planet Ryloth . In Thrawn (2017),

7500-584: The Clone Wars behind the scenes. Palpatine was voiced by Ian Abercrombie (from 2008 to his death in 2012), and by Tim Curry (from 2012 to 2014). In the film, Sidious engineers a Separatist plot in which Count Dooku (voiced by Corey Burton ) turns Jabba the Hutt (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson ) against the Republic by kidnapping his son Rotta and framing the Jedi for it. Meanwhile, Palpatine suggests that

7625-517: The Clones , set 10 years later, Palpatine exploits constitutional loopholes to remain in office after his term expires. Meanwhile, as Sidious, he continues to manipulate events from behind the scenes by having his new Sith apprentice Count Dooku ( Christopher Lee ) lead a movement of planets in seceding to form the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He has the Separatists try to assassinate Padmé, now

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7750-419: The Emperor's rise to power. From Return of the Jedi (1983) onwards, the Emperor became the ultimate personification of evil in the series, replacing his apprentice Darth Vader as the central villain. Though the films of the original Star Wars trilogy do not actually state the Emperor's name, the novelization of Return of the Jedi states his surname as Palpatine. He was given the first name Sheev in

7875-473: The Emperor, the whole thing is over." Discussing the character's importance to the story, Lucas stated that "In the end, the Emperor does exactly what [ Obi-Wan Kenobi ] did; he can also transform himself", referring to the ability to live after death through the Force . Although Palpatine dies at the end of Return of the Jedi , the plot point of his metamorphosis was utilized for the sequel trilogy , which Lucas had no direct involvement with. In Return of

8000-708: The Galactic Empire. He briefly appears off-screen at the end of season two's premiere " The Siege of Lothal " (originally voiced by Sam Witwer and later Ian McDiarmid from 2019). Darth Vader informs Palpatine that the Rebel Alliance cell on Lothal has been broken and that Ahsoka Tano is alive and is now helping the Rebels. Palpatine sees this as an opportunity to seek out other remaining Jedi, ordering Vader to dispatch an Inquisitor to hunt down Ahsoka. Palpatine returns physically in season four (voiced again by McDiarmid). In

8125-522: The Jedi . Palpatine also appears in Rae Carson 's novelization of The Rise of Skywalker , which expands upon the film's story. In the book, Palpatine is revealed to have discovered the "secret to immortality" from his former master, Darth Plagueis, using this knowledge to survive after his death in Return of the Jedi . The novelization also describes Palpatine's son as a failed clone of himself. However,

8250-557: The Jedi , he resumed stage acting in London. In an interview with BackStage , McDiarmid revealed that he "never had his sights set on a film career" and never auditioned for the role of Palpatine. He elaborated, "I got called in for the interview after a Return of the Jedi casting director saw me perform in the Sam Shepard play Seduced at a studio theatre at the Royal Court . I was playing

8375-555: The Jedi , the initial conception of Palpatine as a weak, isolated figurehead was superseded by his depiction as a dictatorial ruler adept in the dark side of the Force. The Emperor was inspired by the villain Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon comic books. The characterization of Palpatine as an ambitious and ruthless politician dismantling a democratic republic to achieve supreme power

8500-417: The Jedi . The film's director, J. J. Abrams , spoke of Palpatine's inclusion in the sequel trilogy: "...when you look at this as nine chapters of a story, perhaps the weirder thing would be if Palpatine didn't return. You just look at what he talks about, who he is, how important he is, what the story is — strangely, his absence entirely from the third trilogy would be conspicuous". On Palpatine's portrayal in

8625-595: The Jedi and pledges himself to the dark side as Palpatine's Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine issues Order 66 , a command instilled in the Clone Troopers that forcibly compelled them to view their Jedi generals as traitors to the republic and subsequently executing them, while dispatching Vader to kill everyone inside the Jedi Temple and then murder the Separatist leaders on the planet Mustafar . Palpatine deceives

8750-505: The Republic ally itself with the Hutts. Although Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein ) foil the plot, the outcome suits Palpatine's ends: Jabba places Hutt hyperspace routes at the Republic's disposal. In season two of the TV series, Sidious hires bounty hunter Cad Bane (voiced by Corey Burton ) to infiltrate the Jedi Temple and steal a holocron . He then takes

8875-490: The Resistance fleet with Force lightning. Rey uses the power of the past Jedi to face Palpatine once more; he attacks her with lightning, but Rey deflects it using the Skywalker lightsabers, finally killing Palpatine and his Sith loyalists. In the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the subsequent animated series (set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith ), Palpatine continues to serve as Supreme Chancellor while his Sith identity orchestrates

9000-470: The Senate once the crisis has ended. His first act is to allow a clone army's creation to counter the Separatist threat; this results in the first battle of the Clone Wars . With the galaxy now at war as Sidious planned, Dooku brings him the secret plans for the Death Star. In the 2005 sequel Episode III: Revenge of the Sith , set three years later, Palpatine is captured by cyborg Separatist leader General Grievous (voiced by Matthew Wood ). Palpatine

9125-566: The Senate was hampering the powers of the head of state; both pressured the Senate to grant extraordinary powers to deal with a crisis, falsely claiming that they would rescind those powers once the crisis was over; and both relied on their strong control over military force. When the Emperor first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back , he was portrayed by Marjorie Eaton under heavy makeup. Chimpanzee eyes were superimposed into darkened eye sockets during post-production. The character

9250-399: The Separatist leaders into believing that Vader would protect them. Palpatine then reorganizes the Republic into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor. Jedi Master Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz ) confronts Palpatine and engages him in a lightsaber duel that ends in a stalemate. Sensing that Vader is in danger, Palpatine travels to Mustafar and finds his new apprentice near death following

9375-423: The Sith is told from Palpatine's perspective. Palpatine appears frequently in the comic book series Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith (2017–2018), written by Kieron Gillen and Charles Soule. It is suggested at the end of the series that Palpatine manipulated the Force to impregnate Vader's mother Shmi Skywalker , making him, in essence, Vader's father—although this is left somewhat ambiguous. This builds on

9500-456: The Sith fold with promises of eternal life." McDiarmid was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Revenge of the Sith. According to Cory Barlog , the planned-but-never-produced Star Wars: Underworld television series would have depicted Palpatine in a sympathetic way. The character is referred to as "the Emperor" in the original trilogy . He

9625-565: The Sith planet Exegol , where a physically impaired Palpatine is supported by machinery. Palpatine reveals himself as the power behind Ren's former master, Snoke ( Andy Serkis ), whom he created to rule the First Order and lure Ren to the dark side. He then unveils the Final Order, a massive fleet of Sith Star Destroyers built by the Sith Eternal . Palpatine offers the Sith fleet to Ren on

9750-444: The abilities they possess that are exclusive to them. For example, one of the female villain's greatest weapons is her alluring beauty, sexuality or emotional intelligence. The perversion of inherently female traits in storytelling also alludes to the demonic display of the succubus and their affinity for utilizing their beauty as a weapon—a trait utilized by many female villains throughout modern fiction and mythology. However, this

9875-433: The case of men with feminine traits, this may stem from both a homophobic and misogynistic point of view which is further discussed below. As for female villains who are portrayed with "displeasing" characteristics, not only are they crafted to look unattractive, but their motivations for becoming evil are rooted in very trivial matters. Debra Bradley's survey on Disney films discovered that 28% of female villains, such as

10000-468: The character in Attack of the Clones . He said, "[Palpatine] is a supreme actor. He has to be even more convincing than somebody who isn't behaving in a schizophrenic fashion, so he's extra charming, or extra professional — and for those who are looking for clues, that's almost where you can see them." McDiarmid reflected on the scene in which Padmé Amidala is almost assassinated: There's a moment in one scene of

10125-478: The condition that he find and kill the galaxy's last remaining Jedi, Rey, who is revealed to be Palpatine's granddaughter. It is subsequently revealed that Palpatine had a son who renounced him; the son and his partner took their daughter Rey to the planet Jakku , assuming lives as "nobodies" to keep her safe. Palpatine's assassin Ochi eventually found Rey's parents and killed them on his orders, but never found Rey. Near

10250-666: The connotations worsened, so that the modern word villain is no unpolished villager, but is instead (among other things) a deliberate scoundrel or criminal. At the same time, the mediaeval expression "vilein" or "vilain" is closely influenced by the word "vile", referring to something wicked or worthless. As from the late 13th century, vile meant "morally repugnant; morally flawed, corrupt, wicked; of no value; of inferior quality; disgusting, foul, ugly; degrading, humiliating; of low estate, without worldly honor or esteem", from Anglo-French ville , Old French vil , from Latin vilis "cheap, worthless, of low value". In classical literature,

10375-511: The dark side and orders Dooku to eliminate her; he suspects that Dooku is planning to have Ventress assassinate him. Ventress survives and her revenge against Dooku sets off a chain of events including the return of Sidious' former apprentice and Dooku's predecessor, Darth Maul. In season five, Sidious personally travels to the planet Mandalore to confront Maul, who has become the leader of Death Watch. Sidious kills Maul's brother Savage Opress (voiced by Clancy Brown ) before torturing Maul with

10500-564: The dark side of the Force. Unbeknownst to Vader, the Emperor plans to replace him with Luke; Vader, meanwhile, intends to overthrow the Emperor and rule the galaxy with Luke at his side. When Vader brings Luke before his master, the Emperor tempts Luke to join the dark side by appealing to the young Jedi's fear for his friends, whom he has lured into a trap. This leads to a lightsaber duel in which Luke defeats and nearly kills Vader. The Emperor betrays his apprentice by urging Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses and declares himself

10625-432: The dark side." In The Rise of Skywalker , Palpatine is unable to move without the aid of a large machine, to which he is attached. His eyes have no pupils and his hands are rotting. Costume designer Michael Kaplan opted to dress Palpatine in a utilitarian black robe, which he wears for the majority of the film. At the end of the film, Palpatine rejuvenates himself using the Force and becomes physically mobile. He dons

10750-465: The democracies aren't overthrown; they're given away." Lucas also said, "The whole point of the movies, the underlying element that makes the movies work, is that you, whether you go backwards or forwards, you start out in a democracy, and democracy turns into a dictatorship, and then the rebels make it back into a democracy." Lucas wanted to establish the Emperor as the true source of evil in Star Wars . Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan noted, "My sense of

10875-425: The duel between Palpatine and Mace Windu were performed by McDiarmid. Advanced fencing and acrobatic stunts were executed by McDiarmid's stunt doubles. In the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker , McDiarmid returned to the role of Palpatine on screen for the first time since Revenge of the Sith . McDiarmid was surprised to learn of the filmmakers' decision to bring back Palpatine, given the character died in Return of

11000-502: The embodiment of national political cultures that may collude or collide against one another. The usage of villain to describe a historical figure dates back to Tudor propaganda, pieces of which ended up influencing William Shakespeare 's portrayal of Richard III as a spiteful and hunchback tyrant . The sympathetic villain or anti-villain is one with the typical traits of a villainous character but differs in their motivations . Their intention to cause chaos or commit evil actions

11125-483: The end of the film, Rey arrives on Exegol to confront Palpatine. Surrounded by his Sith loyalists, Palpatine embodies all the Sith's power. He orders Rey to kill him in anger so his spirit can pass into her, which will allow him to possess her body . Rey refuses, and she and Ren (now the redeemed Ben Solo ) confront Palpatine together. Sensing their power as a dyad in the Force, Palpatine absorbs their life energy to rejuvenate his body. He incapacitates Ben and attacks

11250-571: The episodes "Wolves and a Door" and "A World Between Worlds", he appears as a hologram overseeing the excavation of the Lothal Jedi Temple , which contains a portal to a separate dimension of the Force outside of space and time, which Palpatine considers a 'conduit between the living and the dead' that could give him unrivaled power of the Force itself if he can access it. Shortly after Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray ) reaches through time and space to rescue Ahsoka from Vader, Palpatine sets up

11375-518: The events of Rogue One and A New Hope happen shortly after this episode, thus refocusing Palpatine's attention from Ezra and Lothal's liberation to the Rebel Alliance and Luke Skywalker. Palpatine appears in the first season of the 2021 animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch . The series is set during (and immediately following) the events of the 2005 film Revenge of the Sith . The series' first episode depicts Palpatine's senate speech from

11500-400: The false donor will pose as a benevolent figure or influence on the protagonist (or those associated with them) to present them with a deal. The deal will present a short-term solution or benefit for whoever accepts it and, in return, benefit the villain in the long term. During the story's climax, the hero often has to find a way to rectify the agreement in order to defeat the villain or achieve

11625-417: The film Spartacus had Marcus Licinius Crassus as its villain. In the same year, the film Psycho had Norman Bates as a villainous protagonist. The 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird , like the book, had Bob Ewell as its villain. Other 1960s films like The Guns of Navarone and The Great Escape had Nazis as their villains. Beginning with Dr. No in 1962, every James Bond film has had

11750-430: The film in animated form, using the archive sound of McDiarmid's dialogue. As in the film, Palpatine orders the extermination of the Jedi and declares himself emperor. Palpatine appears in season 3, in which he inspects the progress of Project Necromancer's clone experiments under the supervision of Imperial scientist Dr. Hemlock. Palpatine appears in the sixth episode of the 2022 series Obi-Wan Kenobi . The series

11875-502: The film, McDiarmid said, "he's fairly physically impaired, but his mind is as sharp as ever." Transforming McDiarmid into Emperor Palpatine for Return of the Jedi required extensive makeup, which took between two and four hours to apply. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the Emperor "looks uncannily like Death in The Seventh Seal ," and film historian Robin Wood compared him to

12000-629: The fourth episode of the Tales of the Jedi TV series talking with Darth Tyrranus. The first appearance of Palpatine in Star Wars literature was in the prologue of Alan Dean Foster 's ghostwritten novelization of the script of A New Hope , published as Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976). His background as a senator of the Republic was explored in James Kahn 's novelization of Return of

12125-739: The franchise already had. Early 2000s films like the Spider-Man trilogy , The Dark Knight Trilogy , the Harry Potter films, The Lord of the Rings films and Avatar all had villains like, Green Goblin , Two-Face , Lord Voldemort , Saruman and Miles Quaritch . In the 2010s, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Extended Universe have had several notable supervillains such as Thanos and General Zod . The term villain

12250-533: The hag from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). McDiarmid remarked, "When my face changes in [ Revenge of the Sith ], my mind went back to the early silent movie of The Phantom of the Opera with Lon Chaney ." Palpatine's wardrobe in the prequels, tailored by costume designer Trisha Biggar, played an important part in the development of the character. In Attack of the Clones , explained McDiarmid, "The costumes ... have got much more edge to them, I think than

12375-401: The happy ending. Similarly, the devil archetype is one that also makes an offer to the protagonist (or someone associated with them) and appeals to their needs and desires. However, the devil archetype does not hide their intentions from the protagonist. The subsequent story often follows the protagonist's journey to try and annul the agreement before any damage can be done. The beast

12500-424: The hero must struggle to overcome. In their role as a foil, they exemplify characteristics that are diametrically opposed to those of the hero, creating a contrast distinguishing heroic traits from villainous ones. Other have pointed out that many acts of villains have a hint of wish-fulfillment, which makes some readers or viewers identify with them as characters more strongly than with the heroes. Because of this,

12625-531: The identity of a villain in the modern sense of the word. Additionally, villein came into use as a term of abuse and eventually took on its modern meaning. The landed aristocracy of mediaeval Europe used politically and linguistically the Middle English descendant of villanus meaning "villager" (styled as vilain or vilein ) with the meaning "a person of uncouth mind and manners". As the common equating of manners with morals gained in strength and currency,

12750-404: The intent to make use of his former apprentice. In season six, Sidious goes to lengths to conceal his plan from the Jedi by silencing Clone Trooper Fives from learning of Order 66, and having Dooku wipe out anything tied to the former Jedi Master's connection to the conspiracy. In Star Wars Rebels , set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope , Palpatine is portrayed as the Emperor of

12875-508: The making of that film.) In 1896, Georges Méliès made a horror film titled The House of the Devil which had The Devil as an antagonist. Edison's The Great Train Robbery , released in 1903 had the bandits who rob the train as its villains. In 1909, there was a feature length adaptation of Les Misérables with Javert as a villain and in 1910, Otis Turner had a Wicked Witch as the villain of

13000-527: The mere senator had in The Phantom Menace . So we see the trappings of power." McDiarmid's favorite costume in the film was a high-collared jacket that resembles reptile skin. He stated that "it just feels reptilian, which is exactly right for [Palpatine]." Biggar explained that the character's costumes become "progressively darker and more ornately decorated throughout the movie." She added: "He wears greys and browns, almost going to black, taking him toward

13125-759: The motherly stereotypes in their villains. Other female villains are portrayed as hyper-sexual and powerful beings that are used to juxtapose the beauty or physical characteristics of the heroine ; for example, the Lady Tremaine and stepsisters in Cinderella . Male villains also hold several traits that are characteristically feminine. Characters like Jafar ( Aladdin ) and Hades ( Hercules ) have features such as shaded eyelids and accentuated facial features, similar to those typically associated with femininity. Zachary Doiron has argued that animated villains are based on homophobic stereotypes. As an example, he brings up

13250-425: The narrative forward and influence the hero's journey. These, while not as rounded as those that appear in other forms of literature, are what is known as archetypes . The archetypal villain is a common occurrence within the genre and come under different categories that have different influences on the protagonist and the narrative. The false donor is a villain who utilises trickery to achieve their ends. Often

13375-434: The narrative through another character. The legacy of the villain is often transferred through that of bloodlines (family) or a devoted follower. For example, if a dragon played the role of a villain but was killed by the hero, another character (such as the dragon's sister) might take on the legacy of the previous villain and pursue the hero out of revenge. The fairy tale genre utilises villains as key components to push

13500-532: The narrative, in which they can portray themselves as villainous in a more general sense. The first is the false hero : This character is always villainous, presenting a false claim to be the hero that must be rebutted for the happy ending . Examples of characters who display this trait, and interfere with the success of a tale's hero, are the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella who chopped off parts of their feet to fit in

13625-420: The new film where tears almost appear in [Palpatine's] eye. These are crocodile tears , but for all those in the movie, and perhaps watching the movie itself, they'll see he is apparently moved — and of course, he is. He can just do it. He can, as it were, turn it on. And I suppose for him, it's also a bit of a turn-on — the pure exercise of power is what he's all about. That's the only thing he's interested in and

13750-457: The only thing that can satisfy him — which makes him completely fascinating to play because it is an evil soul. He is more evil than the devil . In Revenge of the Sith , McDiarmid plays an even darker version of the character. He explained that "when you're playing a character of solid blackness, that in itself is very interesting, in the sense that you have no other motivation other than the accumulation of power. It's not so much about not having

13875-411: The original version of the Emperor was replaced by Ian McDiarmid, and the dialogue between the Emperor and Darth Vader was revised. Lucas and director Richard Marquand cast McDiarmid to play Emperor Palpatine for Return of the Jedi . He was in his late 30s and had never played a leading role in a feature film, though he had made minor appearances in films like Dragonslayer (1981). After Return of

14000-741: The past, and at times, tempts scholars and historians to construct a world of black and white in which the terms "hero" and "villain" are used arbitrary and with the pass of time become interchangeable. These binaries of course are reflected to varying degrees in endless movies, novels, and other fictional and non-fictional narratives. As processes of globalization connect the world, cultures with different historical trajectories and political traditions will need to find ways to work together not only economically, but also politically. In this evolving framework of globalization, tradition, according to political theorists like Edmund Burke , historical figures perceived and evaluated as either positive or negative become

14125-413: The plot point of Anakin's virgin birth introduced in The Phantom Menace , and the claim that a Sith lord "could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life," as Palpatine tells Anakin in Revenge of the Sith . This would seem to have incestuous implications for Rey and Ben Solo at the end of The Rise of Skywalker , but Soule says that "The Dark Side is not a reliable narrator," and

14250-817: The point where only he can pose a credible threat to Sherlock Holmes . Fu Manchu is an archetypal evil criminal genius and mad scientist created by English author Sax Rohmer in 1913. The Fu Manchu moustache became integral to stereotypical cinematic and television depictions of Chinese villains. Between 1965 and 1969 Christopher Lee played Fu Manchu five times in film, and in 1973 the character first appeared in Marvel Comics . The James Bond arch-villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld (whose scenes often show him sitting on an armchair stroking his cat, his face unseen) has influenced supervillain tropes in popular cinema, including parodies like Dr. Claw and M.A.D. Cat from

14375-447: The relationship between Darth Vader and the Emperor is that the Emperor is much more powerful ... and that Vader is very much intimidated by him. Vader has dignity, but the Emperor in Jedi really has all the power." He explained that the climax of the film is a confrontation between Vader and his master. In the first scene that shows the Emperor, he arrives at the Death Star and is greeted by

14500-470: The release of the original trilogy, Palpatine has become a widely recognized symbol of evil in popular culture. Since the prequel trilogy, he has been a symbol of sinister deception and the subversion of democracy. In addition to the films, Palpatine appears in the series Clone Wars , The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , The Bad Batch , Obi-Wan Kenobi and Star Wars: Tales . He also appears in Star Wars novels and comics. George Lucas created

14625-464: The sequel trilogy, set three decades following the events of Return of the Jedi , the First Order has risen from the fallen Empire and seeks to destroy the New Republic , the Resistance , and Luke Skywalker. In the trilogy's first installment, The Force Awakens (2015), Palpatine's voice is heard during a vision that Rey ( Daisy Ridley ) experiences upon touching Luke and Anakin's lightsaber. In

14750-509: The sequel, The Last Jedi (2017), Luke briefly mentions Palpatine as Darth Sidious while explaining the fall of the Jedi Order to Rey. Palpatine, again played by McDiarmid, appears in the trilogy's final film, The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Prior to the film's opening , Palpatine threatens revenge against the galaxy, having used the dark side to cheat death. This prompts First Order leader and fallen Jedi Kylo Ren ( Adam Driver )—the grandson of Anakin and nephew of Luke—to seek him out on

14875-434: The shoe. Another role for the villain would be the dispatcher, who sends the hero on their quest . At the beginning of the story, their request may appear benevolent or innocent, but the dispatcher's real intentions might be to send the hero on a journey in the hopes of being rid of them. The roles and influence that villains can have over a narrative can also be transferred to other characters – to continue their role in

15000-400: The villain character is not always the same as those that appear in modern and postmodern incarnations, as the lines of morality are often blurred to imply a sense of ambiguity or affected by historical context and cultural ideas. Often the delineation of heroes and villains in such literature is left unclear. Nevertheless, there are some exceptions to this such as Grendel from Beowulf who

15125-498: The villainous Delilah and George Sanders as the villainous Prince of Gaza . In 1953, Byron Haskin made a film of The War of the Worlds . Like the book, it has Martians as villains. Cecil B. DeMille 's 1956 remake of The Ten Commandments had two main villains. Ramesses II , played by Yul Brynner and Dathan played by Edward G. Robinson . (It also had Nefertari be a Lady Macbeth figure egging Ramesses on.) In 1960,

15250-483: The villains of many stories. Neil Gaiman 's Coraline presents this phenomenon through the idea of the other-mother. In Coraline , the Other Mother is a loving, caring parent who welcomes Coraline to a new life, helping in the face of troubles back home. By glorifying this other mother, the story paints Coraline's real mother as negligent, in turn causing her to be the villain of the story. Disney films also take on

15375-531: Was first used in the novelization of the 1999 film The Phantom Menace . Palpatine appears in all three film trilogies in the Skywalker Saga , and is portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in all five films in which he physically appears. In the original trilogy , Palpatine is Emperor of the Galactic Empire and the master of Darth Vader . In the prequel trilogy , which chronicles his rise to emperor, Palpatine

15500-401: Was in part inspired by the real-world examples of democratic backsliding during the rise and rule of Julius Caesar , Napoleon Bonaparte , Alberto Fujimori , Ferdinand Marcos Sr. , and Adolf Hitler . Other elements of the character come from Richard Nixon . Lucas said that Nixon's presidency "got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships. Because

15625-413: Was voiced by Clive Revill . The makeup was sculpted by Phil Tippett and applied by Rick Baker , who initially used his own wife, Elaine, for the makeup tests. "With [director Irvin] Kershner ," Revill said, "you had to keep the reins tight — you couldn't go overboard. It was the perfect example of the old adage 'less is more' — the Emperor doesn't say very much. But when he finally appears, it's at

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