Why Palpatine LOVED His Deformed Face (Terrifying) - Star Wars Explained

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[@dan0507]

Palpatine looking in mirror: I love my deformed face...

[@dr.bright6272]

He loved it as much as he loved democracy and the Republic.

[@dan0507]

@@dr.bright6272 ...or Kathleen Kennedy

[@PngReaver]

If disney had the chance to write him first lmao

[@PinkyJujubean]

He'd run his fingers through the giant pit wrinkles and get all aroused.

[@thomaslovelidge3449]

Completely read that in his voice without even thinking about it hahaha

[@nightpandas7178]

The actor who plays Palpatine never gets enough credit, but his acting is A+ always

[@HCProds1]

never gets enough credit, and yet you can't even name him lmao

[@Knightboomer_559]

Yes, Ian McDiarmid is awesome, I hope we get to see more of him in the prequels and animations. Even at the this year's Star Wars celebration in London, he walks out on stage giving the crowd Force lightning gestures, he knows what the fans wants, the guy is a rock star !!!

[@dmwmm]

lol dude, he gets credit literally all the time. star wars fan probably regard him as the best actor and character in the franchise.

[@planetphatness]

Word on the street is they're bringing Palpatine back in the next star wars movie. Apparently Disney can't come up with something new.

[@bluntslt8023]

@@planetphatness they said rey not palpatine what you smoking on

[@dr.bright6272]

The attack by the Jedi left him deformed but left his resolve stronger than ever

[@nodatastored684]

.... To whip them out

[@YTHandlesSuck]

@@nodatastored684yes hes gonna take off his belt and whip all the jedi so hard that they disintegrate

[@filipecaramelo5443]

I believe he said "The attempt on my Life"

[@YTHandlesSuck]

@@filipecaramelo5443 “The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed. But I assure you, my resolve has never been stronger!”

[@marial8235]

“You can say that again”

[@savagedarksider2147]

Sidious (Thoughts): who cares what I look; I have unlimited power.

[@Sirplusgmd]

he is gonna get laid either way lol

[@aliastheabnormal]

You mean POWAH! UNLIMITED POWAAAAHHHH!!!!

[@lordofpain3476]

Exactly

[@ChristianMcAngus]

I remember discussion that Palpatine was actually maintaining a normal appearance through Sith alchemy. Mace's counterattack merely damaged this mask and revealed his true face.

[@leerogish7223]

I agree since the clone in rise of skywalker had the same deformed face. If it was casued by mace’s attack than the close wouldn’t look like that.

[@easterbeast843]

I agree .....if it was just the lightning then how can they explain the rotten teeth and nasty fingernails

[@TerryMcQ79]

We aren't allowed to talk about that since it's now considered Legends and not Cannon

[@MartiniScreamz]

Technically Lucas canon is that it was the lightning that damaged him... I don't know about Disney

[@markmathisen3908]

​@@MartiniScreamz I don't CARE what Disney says. Lucas has the final word for me.

[@j0nnyism]

His loss of looks is I think an allegory for aging. At first we’re horrified at the idea of losing our looks as we age but as we become wiser we learn to accept that our appearance is not as important as who we are as humans. We lose our looks but gain the wisdom and experience to accept it

[@bm-ub6zc]

exactly applies to palpatine

[@MikeChamp]

I always got the feeling that's how he viewed his true self all along so the change in appearance just shed the burden of disguise.

[@jonnyfernandez12]

I very much liked Palpatine's reaction in the Robot Chicken skit about his burnt face😂

[@edwardslater2252]

He could've got laid one last time.

[@ryansauchuk7290]

Palpatine: what am I supposed to call myself Darth Syphilis?!

[@jeremyredandblueify]

I want a young palpatine movie

[@donttreadonweeee9478]

Darth Sideous's head resembles a walnut

[@tribalwestcoastartenterpri603]

A face that only a mother can love

[@papichefitup]

I always thought he wasn't deformed it was just his true loom was revealed

[@glang5154]

I think this too

[@navylaks2]

As did I and that what we had seen up until then was actually some type of mask. Ian McDiarmid said that the original pitch was that the emperor was very old, at least 120 by the time of the Return of the Jedi

[@johan9428]

The novelization and Ian McDiarmid all but stated that the deformed face is Sidious true face (maybe a result of being very old but maintaining himself alive with the Dark Side thanks to Darth Plagueis secrets or simply from being totally immersed in the Dark Side), the Palpatine face being a disguise which he conveniently dropped after Mace reflected his lightning so he could stop pretending and to show as a proof of the Jedi attack on him. Else, why was Luke not deformed when hit with Sidious Force lightning? And why Sidious cloned body in SW9 is also deformed despite never having been hit by Force lightning (unless Force lightning somehow messes with DNA)?

[@Egalitarian917]

@@johan9428 I always thought it did legitimately deform his face, but you make some interesting points. I guess I never really thought much about it. Apparently he was born 82 BBY. Younger than I thought. About "SW9" - because Disney doesn't make anything consistent or worth watching (for Star Wars anyway)

[@johan9428]

@@Egalitarian917 Palpatine's eyes turning yellow as his lightnings are reflected are also a clue that the "transformation" is Sidious dropping his disguise and showing his true self: we know that the yellow eyes are a passive side effect of being immersed in the Dark Side and not some kind of direct damage. And just like the deformed face, Sidious kept the yellow eyes permanently until he died. Sidious would have needed to be constantly disguised as Palpatine for decades (it would have been hard to become Chancellor and to stay under the Jedi radar with "evil/Dark Side" written on his face. He is not going to hide himself a second more once he got the perfect excuse and when he finally has all the cards in hand. After the Order 66 and the creation of the Empire, he may as well admit he is a Sith Lord: what are the others going to do? It may even keep the likes of Tarkin in line. "I am not so kind of old feeble man, but the most powerful Force user in the Galaxy, so don't get any sort of idea". Regarding "Disney Star Wars", we can consider it as a bad fanfiction. So many rules ignored or broken for the sake of convenience it could be a drinking game. Going lightspeed when in the gravity well of a planet. Then why the heroes from SW1 to 6 had to waste time taking off and getting far away from planets when in hot pursuit by the enemies? And how was Admiral Ackbar fleet "trapped" during the Battle of Endor? The Holdo maneuver. Then why Admiral Ackbar didn't set up one of his MC ships to lightspeed through the Executor and OS the whole Empire fleet in one go during the Battle of Endor? And now being pierced by a lightsaber gives you just bad gut pain. Qui-Gon probably had some unknown medical condition and being pierced by Darth Maul was the last straw.

[@ericblue5436]

I never thought that Palpatine regretted his facial transformation. I always thought that he was proud because it was the final step of his revealing The Dark Lord Of The Sith to everyone. The final culmination of everything he'd been working towards since giving himself to the darkness. I really believe that he could hardly wait to kill that part of himself.

[@leerogish7223]

And I’m sure if it really bothered him he could have gotten plastic surgery.

[@ericblue5436]

@@leerogish7223 You're absolutely right about that. With all of the galaxy's financial and medical resources at his disposal, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been a problem to fix his appearance with plastic surgery if he wanted to.

[@leerogish7223]

@@ericblue5436 same with Vader. With the resources of the empire he could have given him cloned limbs and lungs and and plastic surgery to reduce his scarring to a minimum.

[@ericblue5436]

@@leerogish7223 True, but I think that Lord Vader was brooding entirely too much for that. Not to mention that he was trying to kill off and bury any semblance of Anakin.

[@leerogish7223]

@@ericblue5436 more importantly if he were to attempt any procedure to restore his organic limbs and lungs palpatine would interpret that as a challenge and immediately sabatoge i.e kill Vader to prevent him from being strong enough to overthrow him

[@davidsmith7962]

Palpatine… Aw… there’s the face I know & love

[@metalspinda9594]

I always used to look at old Starwars action figures of Emperor Palpatine in disbelief when the discription stats in the back of the box would say that his species was "Human". Original Palpatine's makeup was so crazy that I thought he was an ALIEN species. The Prequel trilogy Cohesively explained his physical appearance to my satisfaction however! xD

[@dtxspeaks268]

What? He always looked human, just looked like a very old witch.

[@metalspinda9594]

@@dtxspeaks268 I mean Teal skin and "Sauron" eyes aren't something that typically occurs in HUMAN biology...But magic and Chain smoking DOES fit in with the lore of Starwars, so I suppose I can give it a pass! xD

[@thomasparque7834]

I don’t think he did regreated what happened to him but I think still missed his old handsome more then he lead on. Also think his ungle face was reveal in dual with Windo and not caused by it, thought I think it got a little worse. It will be hard for Palpatine not to suffer an more damange to his face by his own lightning

[@navylaks2]

I always had my own personal theory and that was that Palpatine was actually a lot older than he made out to be and only when the force lightning hit him do we get to see his actually appearance behind some type of artificial face. Ian McDiarmid said that in the Return of the Jedi George had told him that the emperor was very old, at least 120

[@dtxspeaks268]

I agree. In my headcanon Palpatine is over 100 years old.

[@CharlesMosley129]

it was my thinking that he liked his facial deformity as Darth Maul liked his facial markings. Maul saw them as intimidating. and many opponents would fear him before the battle began. i felt Sidious had that same idea: intimidate them with a stare.

[@freeman1785]

Evil often presents itself with beauty but it will always finds its true face,

[@TieSyndicate]

examined" not examinated lol 4:45-4:50 Im pretty sure examinated would be a describing word "The body lays on the ground examinated" as Palpatine examined the corpse

[@joshuahenderson3444]

Discovering this is the equivalent of how a young handsome Tom Riddle became a snake nosed Voldemort

[@eaphantom9214]

That he was no longer living a lie to remain undercover This was - HIS True Face HIS true self No longer needing to hide in the Shadows - He was free to be himself at long last Sidious could also enjoy intimidating his subjects including - Vader and much like Vader too with his underlings Vader only wore a mask because it was part of his life support systems

[@f0ry0u81]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my Dad about hair loss.

[@SuperKillasin]

His master darth plagueis once told him, "The power of the darkside is an illness no true sith would wish to be cured of."

[@antoniosantaniello9277]

Yeah we know we watched the video

[@ZootedUchiha]

They always makes the darkside sound so seductive, I love it lol.

[@andrewpaige1194]

Palpatine to Anakin/vader: “If ud have acted 2 seconds sooner, we couldv ruled the galaxy AND maybe I could’ve gotten laid once more in my life!”

[@rasnac]

He was not interested in beauty, he was only interested in power.

[@Gor85]

He liked his new face :) but also he was sad. He was handsome,charismatic,charming. But for few moments. Palpatine was a mask. Sidious is his real face,he's real self. He didn't regret it. Not really. He liked it. And the power he had. May the Force be with you too. Have a nice day too :)

[@Ataximander]

If Anakin had been quicker they would have ruled the galaxy AND Palpy would've gotten laid one more time before he died.

[@coomodus2592]

He gets laid plenty. He’s the Emperor, he takes cunny at will

[@michaelv9833]

Palps was still clapping cheeks. He did so to rub it in to Anakin that he still could.

[@maltheopia]

@@michaelv9833 Not that Anakin really cares anymore, lmao.

[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

I personally would love to see a prequel movie or mini series explaining the full origin of how Palaptine became Darth Sidious. it's long overdue and it's a story that needs to be told.

[@brentgarner3143]

Thank you for this video

[@macbruno357]

Great video, thank you.

[@oldmangreywolf6892]

When you have all the power in the galaxy, it does not matter what you look like.

[@brokenbridge6316]

This was a very interesting look into one of the great villains of the SW universe.

[@tsaikofilms1851]

What am I gonna call myself now? Darth Syphilis?!

[@zakiutruto]

2:58 hiddelston's appearance fits very well for being young palps of thrawn actually, the should have cast him for ahsoka

[@jakepschirrer9150]

Very cool. Thanks

[@collinphillip217]

I think he reacted as such because maybe he knew he was on the brink of cloning force sensitive clones and or body parts etc

[@ironman44320]

Palpatine was no fool. Power comes with a price, particularly the dark side. The face of Palpatine was merely a mask to hide who he was and what he intended from the rest of the galaxy. Now with order 66 in place and jedi facing extinction there was no need for the mask anymore.

[@jorgev2834]

May the force be with you

[@mattturner6017]

Another example of the Sith as pure pragmatists. If the Sith mind truly recognizes anything as "wrong" or "bad," it is only that which is a stumbling block towards attaining or maintaining power. Even for them, Vanity is a vice.

[@DANRBEAM]

I don’t think he regretted it as his old face was his mask and behind it was all the evil and hate that he finally got to realise onto the galaxy once it and his obstacles were removed. He finally got to be the true dark lord and use his power freely and openly. He was set free upon the worlds

[@alankirk3422]

Are these old and re uploaded? Always enjoy anywho

[@redpirate6254]

I always wondered why the emperor wears such simple, plain clothes. As emperor he could wear a lot of more luxuary things...

[@chrisnichols9014]

Palpatine is actually a pretty down to Earth guy. An evil one, though.

[@mison9264]

Imma keep it 100% I would start off as a sith and mold into a grey Jedi I wouldn’t sacrifice love for power as malgus did

[@Ktr-1142-ema]

For great power sacrifices must be made

[@LooneyPoliticsTunes]

Sith teaching us valuable life lessons , substance is what’s more important ! But cosmetics are a very nice bonus

[@clerns]

The attempt on my life has left me LOOKING ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS! SLAY EMPEROR, SLAY!

[@jacobdrolet4262]

Amazing

[@kevincalgta]

The ancient dark Lord of the Sith Darth, Mogus, and Darth Marr it has been said that their appearance has been corrupted by the Darkside of the force, and it has also been said that Darth Marr told a grandma off to go to his quarters to speak about something private and afterwords them off road, a letter of resignation from the Empire, and took his own life afterwards, because Darth Marr revealed his true appearance to the grand march

[@marshalllatta2073]

His face is terrifying but l love his palpatine face it looks so cool

[@lordofpain3476]

There is no Sheeve Palpatine , there is only Darth Sidious .... the Dark Lord of the Sith ....... the Sith'ari .... Your Emperor .

[@stretopovermind9680]

Darth Sidious never was anywhere close to being the Sith'ari and he knew it. He hoped to make Darth Vader into one, but this did not work out either.

[@holeeshi9959]

Darth Bane: don't you dare call yourself that, that is MY title, and MINE alone.

[@Brownie-tg3nu]

He is Emperor Palpatine. Darth sidious is his sith title much like Darth Vader is really Anakin Skywalker.

[@DavidSaintOnge2007]

Soon as I saw the thumbnail for this, that guy in his undies saying “Love yourself. Phhbbtttt” popped into my head 😂

[@jaredquinney204]

This story is very curious

[@morrgash]

I wish we see more and more deformation from the Darkside specially the Yellow eyes of the sith!

[@RedeemerE23]

4:46 ... yeah i dont think thats a word dude 😂

[@JamesRDavenport]

If I'm not mistaken isn't one of the actresses in the Naboo stills from Phantom Menace Marina Sirtis?

[@phakawatjadpon4447]

He love it when people call him Darth Syphilis

[@mm-yt8sf]

i had heard his true face was already sidious...err i mean hideous :-) and figured that when the lightning hit him it broke his concentration and he thought "to hell with it" and didn't waste any more effort on the illusion. so...i suppose if i were there and just popped out of the shadows and tickled him it might have had the same effect 😀much to everyone's horror

[@Noup309729]

Now we're talking about appearance, I wanna dive into Darth Nihilus' story.

[@prestonpretorius482]

What would Darth Vader's position be in the empire if you didn't get burnt on mustafar and what would his responsibilities be

[@mahiyatsafiyullah7103]

I wonder if Leia is called Princess of Alderaan and Naboo since her mother is Padme same with Luke like Leia was already a royal with her adoptive parents but with their original parents they are both royals anyway.

[@kurtpaulsen6579]

One small point about Naboo's 'royalty'... They are elected to terms, two maximum, and only as teenage girls... After they have served their terms, they return to normal civilian life, though some such as Padme go on to serve in Galactic representation. Padme even makes a comment about this to Anakin in Episode II, and says words to the effect that it was a relief to give up the throne... So technically, upon the end of her second term she renounced the throne and was no longer a queen...

[@dovleac]

I read somewhere that Sidious already looked ugly even during The Phantom Menace. He was using what's called a Sith Mask, a strong force enabled disguise, so he could look normal. When the lightning comes back on him in the fight with Windu, it isn't the lightning that deforms him, but reveals his true face by destroying the mask. Whether Sidious let the lightning come back on him as a trick to enlist Anakin is debatable, I think maybe Windu was pushing back some, but I don't know that one's own Sith lightning can harm them. Maybe lightning from another Sith, but that's another matter.

[@ethaneveraldo]

Nothing like seeing a KZbin ad for L’oreal just before seeing this.

[@anaveragespider4797]

Wasn't he using a disguise? I assumed he look like that beforehand -- Mace just revealed his true face.

[@steveomac385]

That or he dropped it to push Anakin over the edge.

[@darthrowsdower3554]

Palpatine every morning in the mirror: hello gorgeous!

[@keithwarren2226]

No regrets because he had ultimate power 😮👹👺

[@JarJarStudiosPlus]

Palpatine is body positive, mesa support him and his beautiful body! Cheers to mesa apprentice, yousa doin bombad palpy!

[@takeshimarufuji4356]

What is the ambient music that is playing throughout most of the video?

[@kashiro2492]

He really said it is what it is

[@albertko1]

Considering hate fueled the Dark Side power of an individual, even self-hate and rage at being disfigured by Mace might allow him to call upon even more Dark side power.

[@davidwas77]

Hey I just had a thought and was curious if you had a take on this: What do you think would happen if Qui Gon had lived to face off against his old master Dooku in Revenge of the Sith? I couldn’t find any video on this topic so as far as I know this is an original question.

[@Krackdown96]

Well I personally think that if Qui-gon could not handle Maul, he had no chance against Dooku. That said they are both incredible in their own right and with a few more years of training maybe Qui-gon could have become more powerful than even Yoda. Sucks we will never know.

[@rdkap42]

Dooku wouldn't have turned full sith if Qui Gon hadn't died.

[@mrmacura3421]

​@@Krackdown96Qui-Gon was unique because of his outlook on the force and his instinctive wisdom. His power, while remarkable, was nowhere near that of Yoda. As for his fighting skills we know he once had been a very fine duelist using Form IV Ataru which focuses on quickly overwhelming your opponent with rapid strikes and acrobatic maneuvers. However at the time of Phantom Menace he was already quite old and no longer agile enough to use the form to its full extent. And even if he had been Dooku clearly states (in the RotS novel when he is duelling Anakin and Obi-Wan) that his Makashi would have beaten Qui-Gon's Ataru

[@Macen-st5pv]

3:00 is it just me or young palpatine looks like Tom Hiddleston loll

[@marial8235]

Upon looking into the mirror post-Windu fight. Palpatine “quick, get me a microdermabrasion kit, 50 TCA acid peels, and a tanker full of Botox.”😂😂😂😂

[@hottowers]

Where is all that footage of light saber duels from?

[@georgetrapp6666]

Many of the novels, now inexplicably considered non-canon, describe stories of the Witches of Dathomir as having horribly disfigured, purrulent flesh just about everywhere, and it said to have occurred from extreme use of Dark Side energy, almost overload. Mace Windu didn't cause Palpatine's disfigurement, almost like expending a bee stinger (except that he doesn't die from it) Palpatine's use of Force lightning may have been the threshold of overuse, and the point of no return for his appearance. In the same way, he could accept this as an achievement, almost a new stage of metamorphosis, and certainly be evilly proud of his new appearance.

[@ArtByAhri]

Turning Anakin was his biggest achievement. Forming his empire depended on it. I love Anakin but I am mad at him because he can't control himself most of the time :(

[@hackman669]

Sites cannot bottle up that rage for long!🤭

[@dtdimeflicks6708]

"The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed... but I assure you, I am still mad scrumptious!"

[@planetphatness]

I figured he didn't have to hide his true self anymore

[@twiceborn_by_grace]

I tried to make a Palpatine build in Skyrim but realized how fast you achieve unliiiimiiiittted poooowwwwwahhhhhh.

[@Storytime2023x]

It’s no mystery how he felt about his face being deformed. He’s human, so it is a no-brainer. No one would feel good about it, but rather extremely depressed. If you think otherwise, you are not dealing in reality.

[@davideluciano7761]

Thought that was he's true form from using the Dark side and he's was masking he's face with the force

[@OverHeed]

Calling it now before watching. “He liked it since it showed that the Jedi tried to kill him AND that he gave everything to the galaxy”

[@OverHeed]

I freaking called it!

I guess he didn't mind revealing his true form - Darth Hideous.

[@Sunstar808]

A face only a mother could love 😢

[@lander77477]

4:46 "examinated"? hmm.. new words invent you do?

[@risitasfrance9020]

Palpatine looks better as Emperor Sidious than before !

[@stephenmerry5399]

I read that passage and came to the same conclusion the day the book came out, the day before the films release. I have been in the minority in this bit of story telling because everybody wanted to say it was an accident, or Mace did it because he was too powerful for Sidious. Finally someone else caught on and has straightened things out!

[@superdougie4637]

His face looks as though he used the aging filter in a photo editor dozens of times.

[@howell721]

"examinated."

[@leerogish7223]

So if mace deflecting the lightning caused said deformity why did the clone in rise of skywalker have the same deformities?

[@steveomac385]

Because it's true face. The lightning did nothing. Just gave him the opportunity to drop his mask and use it to get sympathy from Anakin and the senate.

[@Headloser]

exactly 6:22 you can actually see the evil smile that can come to the surface.

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

Palpatine shows us his REAL face!!

[@blakemcnamara9105]

Reminds me of The Picture of Dorian Grey.

[@colesonjuul1463]

All hail Emperor Shev "The Scary Raisin" Palpitine

[@douglascohen2521]

That’s a stretch! In the book he caused by the force lightning rebounding from Windom. He was glad he survived. His vocal cords where damaged . I think he would been happier unscathed.

[@silverchairsg]

If the dark side makes one look like crap, does the light side do the opposite? I've seen dialogue in KOTOR 2 where Atton comments something like you're glowing and look better or something if you're significantly light side.

[@yaeldragwyla8170]

". . . had its peaks . . ." should have been :. . . had its *perks" . . .:

[@EvilJ069]

"examinated" lol...

[@williamgillespie8131]

I know right! 😂

[@Fire-kid20]

If someone was to make a movie about dark sidious as a young man , I could see bill skarsgurd portraying him or James McAvoy playing a young Darth sidious .

[@Sultan_Vader_VI]

Yk, I genuinely think I know what he did. I’m a avid SWTOR player and Sith Inquisitor main. In that class story, the pc’s master, Darth Zash, appears normal until finally revealing her true degradation before you kill her, revealing she used the force to hide the deformity. I believe palpatine did the same thing, the deformed face we see had likely been his true face well before his duel with Windu, yet he used the force to hide it under a mask, only revealing it to make it seem to anakin that mace was deforming him, to add to his facade of weakness that eventually lead to Darth Vader.