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Palpatine is a fictional character in George Lucas' science fiction saga Star Wars. Palpatine,...

Palpatine is a fictional character in George Lucas' science fiction saga Star Wars. Palpatine, portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in the feature films, is the main antagonist of the saga. He first appears in the original trilogy as the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Here, he is an aged, pale-faced figure who dons dark robes and walks with the aid of a twisted wooden cane. Palpatine rises to power in the prequel trilogy. Here, he is an avuncular middle-aged politician of the Republic who slowly rises to the rank of Emperor through deception and treachery. Secretly, Palpatine is Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith who initiates and manipulates the Clone Wars to destroy the Jedi and usher in the authoritarian Galactic Empire. In Lucas' original scripts of Star Wars, the Emperor was characterized as a weak but cunning politician under the control of powerful bureaucrats. However, in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the prequels, Lucas depicts the character as the embodiment of evil and heavy-handed authoritarianism. Palpatine first became a prominent character in the saga when Lucasfilm used his visage in the Star Wars merchandising