10 Smartest Villain Plans From Sci-Fi Movies
1. Infiltrating The Republic - Palpatine (The Star Wars Prequels)
Sheev Palpatine - yes, that's his first name - might be more of a meme than a Sith these days, but he was a very clever bloke.
Beginning as a lowly Galactic Senator on Naboo, Palpatine slowly rises up the ranks and eventually takes power by becoming Chancellor.
He does this not through force, but through clever political strategy. Ok, and force too, if you count all the stuff he did as Darth Sidious.
As both Palpatine and Sidious, the future Emperor could manipulate events on both sides of the galaxy-wide conflict to suit his personal interests. This comes to a head when his crispy fried version dissolves the Republic and forms the Galactic Empire.
It took decades of deception to reach this point. Palpatine exercised immense restraint whilst waiting for his plan to come together and you know, good on him. Patience is a virtue and this Sith Lord had it by the bucketful.
Time is a great weapon if used correctly and Palpatine put his time to exceptional use in the Star Wars prequels.
Just a shame that this brilliant scheme was buried under all the nonsense that these three films produced.