Was Emperor Palpatine always evil?

Just think about it, how long has the Emperor really been bad, heck how old is he to begin with? But back to the point when did he actually turn to the darkside and.....who trained him?

 

Ian McDiarmid said he was always evil -- more evil than the Devil, because at least Lucifer used to be an angel.

I agree with all this, myself. I don't think there was ever any goodness in the Emperor's black soul. My kind of guy



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

Yeah, he's totally evil, IMO..

 

Then if Palpatine was always evil, how could pure evil be conceived? This is one thing that still baffles me. Either way about Palpatine becoming evil would be difficult to imagine.

 

In many fantasy stories and myths there's always someone who's unquestionably evil, regardless of the other antagonists being at least somewhat morally ambiguous(Dooku and Vader, for example).

Palpatine is to Star Wars as Sauron is to Lord of the Rings.

 

Personally, I don't believe Palpatine was always evil. He came from such humble beginnings as Naboo, I just think he got kind of power hungry when he started rising in power on his home planet, realized what wrath he could stir up, and turned it into an elaborate egotistical plan to conquer the galaxy.

 

Ian McDiarmid said he was always evil -- more evil than the Devil, because at least Lucifer used to be an angel.

But Ian seems like such a nice guy!

 

Palpatine is to Star Wars as Sauron is to Lord of the Rings.

Close but no cigar. Sauron was a creation of Melkor, the original evil. Yes, I am a geek.

 

Nobody is born evil. But they can show signs of it from very early on. I generally think Palpatine started out like any other kid, showed some fairly sadistic tendencies as a child, then grew up power hungry, at some point meeting up with a Sith Lord who trained him (or found the teachings and taught himself), and thus started on his slow rise to power.

 

Palpatine could not always have been evil. And Sauron was not created by Melkor, he was corrupted, so once he was a being of light.
Anyway back to Star Wars.

Darth Sidious had another apprentice before Maul, as far as I know, but that apprentice took an apprentice, and Darth Sidious found out and killed them both. Then he got Maul.

 

I like to think of Palpatine a little like Damien from The Omen I. He was perhaps conceived by the Dark Side or The Dark Side called to him when he was a child. Slowly he has grown up, becomming more and more attuned to The Dark Side. Or perhaps he simply is The Dark Side.

 

Deep down I'm sure Palps is a nice guy. He probably just needs a hug.

 

The prologue to the novel of ANH says:

"Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the government, and the massive organs of commerce, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President of the Republic. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic.

"Once secure in office he declared himself Emperor, shutting himself away from the populace. Soon he was controlled by the very assistants and boot-lickers he had appointed to high office, and the cries of the people for justice did not reach his ears."

It's interesting that this prologue foreshadowed what we are seeing in the prequels, except for the part about Palpatine being used as a puppet by his aides. Lucas seems to have turned him into a character of pure evil, and the idea of a leader being manipulated by others became Valorum in Episode I. I think Palpatine was simply motivated by ambition and power initially, and it was his discovery of the Dark Side that made him irredeemably evil.

 

I agree with Darth_Guy, Palpatine is just your unquestionably evil dude, there's no hope of turning him. Personally I really don't feel I have to know how Palpatine became evil, I'd rather it be something for the mind to ponder.....

 

in the same way that yoda is nothing but pure good and his jedi strength is in the light side of the force, palpatine is pure evil and all his sith strength comes from the dark side

 

I personally don't believe anyone can be born evil, and I don't think Palpatine is some kind of manifestation of the Dark Side, just as Anakin is of the Force itself (in the way he is concieved) - I'm guessing Palpatine started out the same way as Darth Maul, that he was taken by the Sith at a fairly young age, and completely indoctrinated into that culture. I don't think he has any redeeming qualities, I think he is 100% evil - but I don't think he was born evil.

 

I think it is possible to be born evil. Just like Anakin was conceived by the Midichlorians, Palpatine could have been conceived by the dark side of the Force.

 

I think Palpatine/Sidious was evil from day one.

 

Darthmarkymark: It's fantasy. The real-world rules do not apply. Palpatine has always been pure evil; his nice-guy cover has about as much reality as Hannibal Lecter's.

 

I would say he was raised (like Maul) as a Sith from a young age. With that enviornment it would be pretty hard to have any goodness. IIRC Palpatine tortured young Maul when he made tiny errors. Just to teach him a lesson about failure. I woundn't be surprised if the Sith before Palps toruted him too.

 

his nice-guy cover has about as much reality as Hannibal Lecter's.

Ah, but Hannibal Lecter started out good ...

 

He has always been evil since his birth.

 

I'd say Palpatine was always evil

 

But we aren't talking about Hannibal, Mark.

Palpatine is teh devil.

 

I read on a site somewhere that Palpatine was taken as a young boy from Naboo and trained as a Dark Jedi to begin with. (Not that credible a source of info)

I think this is when he began to start his evil doings. Then again this is just my opinion. There really hasn't been any enlightenment (or should i say endarkenment ahaha, bad joke) about his past. This would be a sweet new book series to start up in the future post-ROTS release. I would differently read them at least.