14 Creepiest Things Done By Star Wars Characters

4. Palpatine Seduces Anakin To The Dark Side (The Prequel Trilogy)

The Scene: At the end of The Phantom Menace, Palpatine thanks Obi-Wan for his service and then turns to Ani, saying, "And you, young Skywalker, we will watch your career with great interest", as he taps him on the back and walks off with a Cheshire Cat grin. As it later transpires, Palpatine aka Darth Sideous was essentially grooming Anakin for the Dark Side since childhood, and in Episode 3, his manipulation becomes much more blatant, even transparent. He uses doublespeak and takes full advantage of Anakin's fiery emotional state to manipulate him into committing heinous acts, such as co-operating in the murder of Mace Windu. The full payoff of Palpatine's scheme can be seen when Anakin, now in full Darth Vader form, is told of Padme's death, and as Vader breaks down in anguish, Palpatine's expression turns to an extremely creepy sinister grin. Why It's Creepy: If George Lucas hadn't so blatantly signposted that Palpatine would become the Emperor, then the Phantom Menace scene would seem pretty innocent, but given that Lucas totally failed at subtlety, it's remarkably clear that his interest in Ani is not totally healthy from the outset. When you're dealing with a 9-year-old boy, that's about as creepy as it gets. Plus, Ian McDiarmid did a great job milking those sinister grins... As for Revenge of the Sith, because Palpatine had been plotting this for years and clearly takes so much pleasure in Anakin's heartbreak, it's really, really messed up. Who wouldn't love to smack that s***-eating expression off the wrinkly old dude's face? At least Darth got to hurl him down the reactor shaft years later...