The Definitive Ranking of All the Villains in the Star Wars Saga Films

2. Emperor Sheev Palpatine

Here’s the thing — With the exception of characters introduced in TFA, everybody included in this slideshow played a part in Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power. Oftentimes, they had no clue about their role in his plans. But he was able to easily manipulate them nonetheless. Regardless of his story prior to The Phantom Menace, the first film showed audiences a calm, unsuspecting Senator from Naboo who convinced Queen Amidala to call for a vote of No Confidence.

Once Palpatine became Chancellor, he found a way to maintain power while also keeping his Sith identity a secret. In Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious led Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side and took him as his apprentice, Darth Vader. While forming the Galactic Empire, he orchestrated the creation of the Clone Army and issued Order 66, which saw the extermination of the Jedi across the galaxy. At the same time, he also built the Death Star without anyone in the Republic or Jedi Order noticing.

However, Darth Sidious’ role in the original trilogy is less threatening. Of course, he lords over Darth Vader and vies for him to turn Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side. But Darth Vader also plans to the overthrow his Master in due time.

Nonetheless, Palpatine’s meticulous plan to build the Galactic Empire was unprecedented and kept him as the most powerful person in the galaxy for several decades.