Palpatine

Palpatine Darth Sidious
Star Wars character
Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.
First appearance	The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Last appearance	Star Wars Rebels (2014)
Created by	George Lucas
Portrayed by	Ian McDiarmid (Episodes I-III, VI and V 2004 DVD and subsequent releases) Marjorie Eaton (Episodes V original release and 1997 Special Edition)
Voiced by	Clive Revill (Episodes V original release and 1997 Special Edition) Paul Hecht (The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi audio dramas) Nick Jameson (Clone Wars and video games) Nick Tate (Read-along storybook CDs) Ian Abercrombie (The Clone Wars film and The Clone Wars seasons 1-4) Samuel Witwer (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, Disney Infinity 3.0 and Star Wars Rebels) Robert Martin Klein (Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace) Tim Curry (The Clone Wars seasons 5-6) Trevor Devall (The Yoda Chronicles, Droid Tales and The Freemaker Adventures) Seth MacFarlane (Robot Chicken and Star Wars Detours)
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Original trilogy: Emperor of the Galactic Empire Prequel trilogy: Senator from Naboo Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic Dark Lord of the Sith
Affiliation	Sith Order Galactic Empire
Homeworld	Naboo

Sheev Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious or simply the Emperor) is a fictional character of the Star Wars franchise, mainly portrayed by Ian McDiarmid. In the original trilogy, he is depicted as the aged, pale-faced and cloaked Emperor of the Galactic Empire and the master of Darth Vader. In the prequel trilogy, he is portrayed as a charismatic Senator from Naboo who uses deception and political manipulation to rise to the position of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, and then reorganizes the Republic into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor.

Though outwardly appearing to be a well-intentioned public servant and supporter of democracy prior to becoming Emperor, he is actually Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith – a cult of practitioners of the dark side of the Force previously thought to have been extinct in the Star Wars galaxy for a millennium. As Sidious, he instigates the Clone Wars, nearly destroys the Jedi, and transforms the Republic into the Empire. He also manipulates Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into turning to the dark side and serving at his side as Darth Vader. Palpatine's reign is brought to an end when Vader kills him to save his son, Luke Skywalker.

Since the initial theatrical run of Return of the Jedi, Palpatine has become a widely recognized popular culture symbol of evil, sinister deception, tyranny, and the subversion of democracy.

The Emperor is briefly mentioned in the original Star Wars, the first film in the original trilogy. Grand Moff Tarkin explains to his fellow Imperials that the Emperor has dissolved the Senate.