Saturday, January 10, 2009

Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious

Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, was the last Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and the first Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Palpatine was able to establish his Empire by concocting a complex master plan, which involved starting the Clone Wars. Palpatine himself headed both the Galactic Republic and secretly, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which allowed him to prolong the conflict in order to gain more executive powers from the Senate. When his power as Chancellor had reached its dictorial peak, Palpatine abolished the Republic and replaced it with the first Galactic Empire with himself as leader. [source: wookipedia]

Together with Hasbro's Royal Guard two-pack was this 1/6 scale 12-inch Emperor Palpatine from "Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi". The Emperor in George Lucas' original trilogy was an aged, cowled and pale-faced figure.
This electronic Emperor Palpatine was able to say the following phrases:
"With each passing moment you make yourself more my servant."
"Strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete."
"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side."
"In time you will call me Master."
Man, was he U-G-L-Y!

He reminds me of the wicked Queen from Walt Disney's "Snow White and the seven dwalves" who transformed herself into an ugly old lady and gave Snow White the poisoned apple.


Emperor Palpatine was a master of deception and chose to wear a simple dark cloak and carried a cane to give the impression that he was weak, belying the fact that he was a Dark Lord of the Sith.

Kubrick's Emperor Palpatine, on the other hand, looked a lot more like Jim Carrey's The Grinch from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" directed by Ron "Happy Days' Richie Cunningham" Howard and released in 2000



Despite his frail appearance, Darth Sidious was in truth an enormously talented fighter, with great expertise in lightsaber combat. Thanks to his tremendous skill, he killed Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin each with a single blow, and Kit Fisto moments later. He also managed to fight Yoda to a draw in a lightsaber duel later on. In addition to his fighting skills, Sidious was a master practitioner of Force Lightning.


Lego Emperor Palpatine and Royal Guard

Emperor to Royal Guard, "Red is the new Black."