10 Best Movie Villains Of 2019
8. Emperor Palpatine - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
The first Star Wars trilogy made for a consistent story, pitting the heroes of Skywalker, Organa, and Solo against the evil Emperor and his protégé Darth Vader throughout. The prequels expanded the scope of villainy to Darth Maul and Count Dooku, alongside Senator Palpatine, but the final trilogy literally changed the main villain for each movie.
Kylo Ren was the antagonist of the Force Awakens, and Supreme Leader Snoke was the big bad for the Last Jedi, before the Emperor returned in the Skywalker saga's swansong. Palpatine revealed himself to be the puppet master behind everything that had happened in the trilogy, and while this did seem like a flimsy pretext to bring back the classic character, it made him the one constant villain throughout the entire saga.
Palpatine commanded respect as an antagonist from the moment his familiar voice sent chills down the spines of the audience. Playing on nostalgia, the Emperor was inserted into the movie as a ready made villain already well known to Star Wars fans everywhere, though his introduction could have been something more than opening crawl exposition.
His incredible power was shown off during the climactic battle, and though he was defeated in a somewhat questionable way, this went to strengthen the perception and legend of Rey Skywalker.