Star Wars: 5 Most Evil Things Emperor Palpatine Has Done

Orchestrating the fall of the Jedi Order, destroying Luke Skywalker's New Jedi Order, and mastering death were some of Palpatine's greatest achievements.

Arguably the most powerful and successful Dark Lord of the Sith to have ever lived, Sheev Palpatine had designs for galactic conquest since he was a young man. Ascending through the Galactic Senate, becoming Chancellor, and eventually the Emperor, Palpatine used some truly nefarious means to ensure his rise to power.

He committed many atrocious acts through his long life, some in order to gain further power, and some purely because he was the embodiment of Sith cruelty. In short, Palpatine really was a dark force of nature. Proficient in all seven forms of lightsaber combat, and a true master of the Dark Side of the Force, Darth Sidious was a scourge upon the Jedi, and a plague on the galaxy.

Menacing the Skywalkers for three generations, Emperor Palpatine is one of the most iconic villains in cinematic history. He's performed countless acts of inexplicable (and badass) evil. Here are the 5 Most Evil Things Emperor Palpatine Has Done across the Skywalker Saga.

When Palpatine was defeated at the end of Return of the Jedi, we were all hopeful for Luke Skywalker to establish his New Jedi Order, bringing the Light Side of the Force back into the forefront of the galaxy, after years of evil rule under the Sith Lord Palpatine.

However, it was not to be. Not only did Darth Sidious orchestrate the downfall of the Jedi Order at the end of the Clone Wars, he also managed to bring about the destruction of Skywalker's New Jedi Order, too. He managed this through the control of Supreme Leader Snoke, who was working away to corrupt the mind of Ben Solo. Ultimately, although Luke sparked Ben's final fall from grace, it was Palpatine (via Snoke) who had been sowing the seeds of the Dark Side in Ben's mind.

This killed Ben Solo, and gave rise to Kylo Ren, the Dark Side user who slaughtered countless numbers of his enemies in his quest for ultimate power. Without Palpatine's influence, Ben would have no doubt become a powerful Jedi Knight, like his uncle and grandfather both were before him.