ST Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke) in the ST

Kind of like Exar Kun? I guess that story might make for some interesting inspiration for Snoke's backstory. Perhaps it could explain how Kylo Ren was corrupted by Snoke (like Kyp Durron), and explain how Snoke was able to exist all this time, during the galactic empire if he was not personally involved, yet still be able to know the details of the Empire's fall?

 

When you see the back of his neck still framed in the DVD it looks creepy and definitely not human looking. Reminded me more of looking at E.T. from behind than a real skinny human.

 

Hadn't seen this guess to who Snoke could be before.....thoughts?

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http://fandom.wikia.com/articles/who-is-supreme-leader-snoke

 

couldn't that whole "i've seen the empire rise and fall" just be something he says? i mean, it doesn't have to indicate his age. to me, it doesn't seem like he's old, just deformed

 

Seemed pretty old to me.

 

I have just watched most of the special features on the TFA blu-ray, and while they’re mostly fluff best summarised by gifs I did notice something very intriguing that I haven’t seen anyone else pick up on.

It basically comes in a behind-the-scenes moment that shows Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher filming their key scene together on the Resistance Base. In character, they have the following exchange:

While the documentary overall is very carefully designed to let nothing slip, this line is rather fascinating because it is - to the best of my knowledge - unique. It is not featured in any of the many tie-in novelisations, though it was clearly in the script and filmed.

I think there are two possibilities as to who they could be talking about: Ben Solo and Snoke. And while Ben might seem like the obvious choice, I find it more likely that the exchange is actually about Snoke.

It is subtlety implied elsewhere that Snoke knew Leia personally (he refers to her by her first name in the junior novelisation, for example), perhaps through their political connections, and I can see a scenario where he earned her trust and used their professional relationship to target the young Ben Solo. If my suspicion is correct, Han will have been the person looking at Snoke and finding him suspicious and unsettling. Thus, he sensed that something was off about him but couldn't pinpoint what.

That is what makes the most sense to me. What do you think about the exchange? As far as I’m concerned, it’s probably the most intriguing thing in the entire documentary (mostly because it’s largely PR and fluff, but still) because it has actual implications for the mystery of who.what Snoke is and how he wormed his way into Ben Solo's life.

 

I think you're onto something there.

 

I think it just means he was around even though he had no active role in it like has been said. I think a canon source said Snoke was around during the clone wars so he doesn't necessarily have to be really old especially being an alien.

 

I am curious to see how those grave injuries are explained if Snoke doesn't turn out to be who many think he might be. How would they explain that? An assassination attempt or an explosion in a ship he was on that came under attack?

As far as Snoke and Leia referring to each other in the novel etc. I don't think it means much for sure. It could have mostly been due to the force that they were well aware of each other once Snoke came onto the scene trying to lure Ben to the darkside.

 

Yeah I mean Leia knew who Sheev and Vader were in the OT, and perhaps met them. But they obviously weren't especially close. So it's hard to gauge that right now.

 

Definitely. His skin is aged to the point of translucence, apparently.

"Seated on the raised platform that was the focus of the chamber was the blue- tinted holo of Supreme Leader Snoke. Tall and gaunt, he was humanoid but not human. The hood of the dark robe he wore was down, leaving visible a pink, pale face so aged it verged on translucence."

 

He just gives off the aura of a guy who's been around for awhile and seen some stuff as well.

 

Beat up by Luke Skywalker? That's a pretty easy answer. Maybe he has had experience fighting Jedi before Luke if he is really ancient.

 

My own pet theory as to how he got those scars is that he's so old that he was around during the time of the early Jedi, and the other early Force using sects. I see this period as somewhat like feudal Japan's Heian period, where the various schools of Buddhism fought were engaged in long running battles for centuries:

"Warrior monks first appeared during the Heian period, when bitter political feuds began between different temples, different subsects of Buddhism, over imperial appointments to the top temple positions (abbot, or zasu). Much of the fighting over the next four centuries was over these sorts of political feuds, and centered around the temples of Kyoto, Nara, and Ōmi, namely theTōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, Enryaku-ji, and Mii-dera, the four largest temples in the country."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sōhei

I think that Snoke scars are the result of a long history of conflict with the Jedi, and perhaps with the Sith, too.

In fact, his use of the term 'awakening' to describe Rey's discovery of the Force, his clothing, and general look make me think that there's an element of the Yamabushi, the Shugendo mountain mystics, about him. These people follow very strict ascetic lifestyles.

"Yamabushi (山伏?) (one who prostrates himself on the mountain) with a long tradition, endowed with supernatural powers in traditional Japanese mysticism. They follow the Shugendō doctrine, an integration of mainly esoteric Buddhism of the Shingon sect, with Tendai Buddhist, Taoism, and Shinto elements. For the most part solitary, they did form loose confederations, and associations with certain temples, and also participated in battles and skirmishes alongside samurai and sōhei warrior monks on occasion. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some hijiri (聖) of the eighth and ninth centuries.There has also been cross-teaching with samurai weaponry and Yamabushi's spiritual approach to life and fighting.

In modern use, the term ubasoku-yamabushi refers to laymen practitioners of shugendō. The religion places a heavy emphasis on asceticism and feats of endurance, and white and saffron-robed yamabushi toting a horagaiconch-shell trumpet are still a common sight near the shugendō holy site of Dewa Sanzanand in the sacred mountains of Kumano and Omine."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamabushi

There are even Yamabushi who have practised a form of self mummification. These are known as 'living Buddhas'. Actually, there are Buddha statues signifying this severe ascetism that do resemble Snoke, somewhat.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism#

 

Maybe prior Jedi if he is ancient like you say but I highly doubt Luke gave him those scars. His focus on Luke seems to be with stopping him from creating a new Jedi order to oppose the First Order not like he is after him due to Luke giving him those injuries.

 

Yeah it doesn't seem to be personal between him and Luke. And honestly I kind of would find "Luke or some other named Jedi from the previous films gave him those scars" to be a little underwhelming as an explanation, to be honest.

 

Someone said recently in one of the many Snoke threads in the forums that he may be one of the lost 20 Jedi mentioned in AOTC.

I like that idea if he's the first of these lost 20, perhaps the first who left the order to form the Sith, but who was then attacked by a group of Sith who gave him the injuries we see today.

So he's wise because not only old but also he's been both Jedi and Sith but now has formed something new since the Sith betrayed him.

 

Interesting idea.

 

Maybe his defection from the Jedi predates the Sith

 

I find it an interesting juxtaposition that Snoke's mind seems agile and bright in TFA while his body is malformed and disfigured.

He looks really old, yet he is a sharp guy. Weird, isn't it?

Given his smartness, I don't think he is as old as he looks. I also think Leia knew him when he looked healthier and less handicapped. Snoke is a holoprojection throughout TFA, like he is hiding. I think very few people in GFFA know how badly messed up Snoke is. What does he have to hide? Why act so secretly? What is it about Snoke that Snoke can't show?

 

You gain wisdom and knowledge through experience. It's one of the contradictions of life. He learn more and more as you age, but at the same time to physical skills needed to apply that knowledge start to slip away more and more.

 

dlbates

It could, but I like having a connection between the two that explains why he's not a Sith but knows about them. I also like the idea that it took a number of Sith to do this to him. This would be before the Rule of 2 and Bane's reforms.

 

Isn't it interesting that Ben Solo can read minds... wonder where he learned that from?

 

Dra--- You may be interested in the fact that in Star Wars #9, Luke opens a Jedi Holocron that says, "Once we were brothers in the Force. But from the Hundred-Year Darkness were born the Sith." Maybe Snoke started the Hundred-Year Darkness but was defeated early on, and only at the end of the Hundred-Year Darkness to did the dark side faction become "the Sith."