History Characters / StarWarsTheatricalLegends

** ''The Book of Sith'', that presents his own thoughts, confirms the latter view.

Once a Kaleeshi general, Grievous was rebuilt as a cyborg following an a shuttle "accident" suffered while in service to the Intergalactic Banking Clan. Presented to Dooku as a gift by San Hill and Poggle the Lesser, Grievous was granted the title of Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies, and launched a galaxy wide reign of terror that would make him one of the most infamous war criminals in recorded history. Trained in lightsabre combat by Dooku himself, and far stronger and faster than any human, Grievous would also become one of the war's most prolific and effective Jedi hunters, outstripping even the likes of Asajj Ventress and Durge in number of kills.

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: This was mostly due to both the result of his cybernetics, as well as Mace Windu Force Gripping his chest. However, this was {{Retcon}}ned in ''StarWarsTheCloneWars'' to always have it.

* BadBoss: Vader implies in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' that the Emperor is even worse of a boss than himself. The ExpandedUniverse confirms it, actually killing an engineer seven times, each more horrifying than the last, just because he made a mistake with the Death Star that resulted in it being blown up. The novelization and deleted scenes for ''Return of the Jedi'' establish that he had ordered Moff Jerjerrod to destroy Endor if the Rebel forces succeeded in capturing the shield generator, regardless of how many of his troops died as a result.

* OffingTheOffspring: His having [[VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed Starkiller]] and [[ReturnOfTheJedi Luke]] try to murder Vader after defeating him in two separate occasions can easily be interpreted as this after ''Literature/DarthPlagueis''. See LukeIAmYourFather[=/=]NiceJobFixingItVillain for the circumstances behind this.

* YouHaveFailedMe: It's heavily implied in ReturnOfTheJedi, and confirmed in the Expanded Universe, that Palpatine was even more horrific in how he punishes those who fail their task than even the TropeNamer, Darth Vader.

* PapaWolf: Gets very upset when Thrackan Sal-Solo sells out and his daughter. Probably would have killed the guy himself if his granddaughter, Mirta, hadn't gotten to him and killed him first.

* LukeIAmYourFather[=/=]NiceJobFixingItVillain: Variation: the novel DarthPlagueis had Palpatine/Darth Sidious participating alongside his master, Darth Plagueis, in a Sith experiment where they would attempt to forcibly manipulate the Midi-chlorians to create for them the ultimate sith weapon. The experiment failed, and the Midi-chlorians then decided to strike back and conceive Anakin Skywalker as a means to destroy the Sith once and for all. Also, early versions of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' intended for Palpatine to tell Anakin that he created him from the midichlorians, but it was cut when Lucas redid the entire script.

* OnlyOneName: Is only referred to as Palpatine, or Darth Sidious. However, the prequel novel DarthPlagueis seems to imply that his full name is Cosinga Palpatine II.

* ShroudedInMyth: Although Palpatine claims that he hailed from Naboo, it has been speculated that the identity of Senator Palpatine and thus most of his past had actually been fabricated. Although the novel DarthPlagueis now confirms that Palpatine was indeed born and raised in Naboo, and was a part of a lesser noble house.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: The reason why Palpatine orchestrated his son's "defection" and later death was because he wanted Tarkin to become a more willing servant, implying that there were stuff Palpatine demanded that even Tarkin did not wish to commit.

* PapaWolf: In "Darth Vader and the Lost Command 5", the results of Darth Vader's mission resulted in Tarkin wanting to commit genocide against the natives of Altoa because he thought they murdered his son, and it is also heavily implied in the ending that Palpatine maniplated Vader's actions to bring this about to get Tarkin to become a more willing servant.
* PetTheDog: A minor one: He was Gial Ackbar's master when the former was a slave, and its implied that he treated him pretty decently.

* [[DoNotCallMePaul Do Not Call Me Cosinga]]: He's strongly implied to have been born Cosinga Palpatine II, after his father. However, Palpatine hated his father so much that he dropped his first name and is henceforth known only by his last name.

A FarmBoy from a [[SingleBiomePlanet desert planet]], Luke discovers that his father was a Jedi and that he can be one too. This led to him becoming a major figure in the [[LaResistance Rebel Alliance]], the savior of the galaxy, leader of the reborn Jedi Order and all-around {{Badass}}.

* {{Badass}}: He's usually this or getting [[TheWorfEffect Worfed]]. [[DependingOnTheWriter Depends on who's writing, really.]]

->'''Played By:''' Creator/MarkHamill (Ep.IV-VII), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III)

->'''Played by:''' Creator/HarrisonFord (Ep.IV-VII)

->'''Played By:''' Creator/CarrieFisher (Ep.IV-VII), Aidan Barton (as a baby, Ep.III)

->'''Played By:''' Peter Mayhew (Ep.III-VII)

->'''Played By:''' Alec Guinness (Ep.IV-VI); Ewan [=McGregor=] (Ep.I-III)

->'''Played By:''' Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) & Kenny Baker (R2-D2) & Ben Burtt (R2-D2 voice) (Ep. I-VII)

->Played by: Ian [=McDiarmid=] (Ep.I-III; VI, and the rerelease of V)

->'''Played By:''' Timothy M. Rose (Ep.VI)

->'''Played By:''' Denis Lawson (Ep.IV-VI) & Colin Higgins (briefly in Ep.IV)

-> Played by: Dermot Crowley(Ep. VI)

-> Played by: Garrick Hagon(Ep. IV)

->Played by: Michael Sheard (Ep.V)

->'''Played by:''' Temuera Morrison

* {{Badass}}: Y'know that Sarlacc pit he was knocked into?, he climbed out according to the EU.

->'''Played by:''' Paul Blake (Ep. IV)

->'''Voiced by:''' Larry Ward (Ep. VI)

* HeroKiller: He even provides the trope picture! In the novelization Anakin calls him "the most prolific slaughterer of Jedi since Durge" which nicely sums it up.

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Betrayed the Jedi Order for the Sith, and proceeded to wage a campaign of murder and assassination against them all, despite many of them being his close friends. In the EU, regardless of the version, he ultimately betrays his apprentice Asajj Ventress, and as per Sith tradition is conspiring against his master Sidious (which doesn't work out). The Separatist movement itself is one giant con too.

** The novelization has him planning to betray the Separatists and thinking "Deceit is the way of the Sith". Those became his last thoughts once he realized what Sidious really had planned.
* DependingOnTheWriter: His death. In ''ROTS'', although he does have some fear when he learns of Palpatine's betrayal, he nonetheless remained DefiantToTheEnd right up until Anakin beheads him. In the novelization, however, he panics on realizing [[TheUriahGambit Sidious is going to let him die]] and starts pleading for mercy.

[[caption-width-right:292:''"So be it...Jedi. If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed! Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand. Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side."'']]

[[folder:Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus]]

** BigBadWannabe: Intended to kill Sidious at some point in the future and take over the Sith Order- [[DoomedByCanon he fails]].

* YouKilledMyFather: He goes after Mace in the preteen novel series. This sends about as badly as you'd expect, given that Mace is only slightly less powerful than Yoda, and Boba's only in his middle teens.

* ConsummateLiar: Palpatine/Sidious was shown to be skilled enough at deception and manipulation to render even Plagueis' attempts at probing Palpatine via the Force to be null and void, although his being strong in the Dark Side at an early age would probably be another reason for this as well.
* TheCorrupter: He served as this Anakin, earning his trust and leading him astray in order to turn him into Darth Vader.

* DemonicPossession: Palpatine's last resort for survival in ''Empire's End'' was to possess Anakin Solo on Onderon, and it would have worked if an already dying Empatojayos Brand didn't intercept his spirit's trajectory in a variation of TakingTheBullet.

* FromASingleCell: The method in which he revived himself involved transferring his spirit into clone bodies of himself and continually doing so until his ultimate demise. This process was also heavily implied to have increased his insanity to Caligula levels.
* AGodAmI: Inverted, he believes himself [[GodOfEvil to be the Dark Side incarnate]]. Given the little amount of the story revealed for the upcoming Darth Plagueis novel (where he felt a shift in the Force shortly after murdering Plagueis and communicates with it), it's very likely that his belief is well-founded.
** By the time of ComicBook/DarkEmpire, however, he's become the closest thing to a [[PhysicalGod Physical]] GodEmperor that the series has due to his revival. Proof of this was the fact that he could generate Force Storms (the wormhole variety) simply by his own will, without any apparent drain on his force abilities. [[note]]To put it in perspective, only one Sith Lord before him, Darth Rivan, had ever utilized this sort of power, and it was only with the aid of the darkstaff, which required all of his force power to even utilize the ability; it decimated his entire army with him at the "eye" of the storm and he ended up being traveled to the Light and Darkness War in the future where he ended up dying somewhat ironically (ie, he was killed easily by a force user, whether it was a Jedi or a Sith is never specified).[[/note]]

* ImmortalityImmorality: The specific method in which he managed to come close to accomplishing this: He has people across the galaxy (including Alderaanians shortly after their planet's destruction) transferred to Byss, which served as a darkside conduit in order to sap their life energies to strengthen himself, he has Leminisk executed and revived seven times just to train himself to use essence transfer into his clones in case his original body ends up dying, made clones, and is capable of doing so even to non-clones and overwrite their original personalities just to ensure he is ensured immortality.

* LukeIAmYourFather[=/=]NiceJobFixingItVillain: Variation: the novel DarthPlagueis had Palpatine/Darth Sidious participating alongside his master, Darth Plagueis, in a Sith experiment where they would attempt to forcibly manipulate the Midi-chlorians to create for them the ultimate sith weapon. The experiment failed, and the Midi-chlorians then decided to strike back and conceive Anakin Skywalker as a means to destroy the Sith once and for all. Also, early versions of ''RevengeOfTheSith'' intended for Palpatine to tell Anakin that he created him from the midichlorians, but it was cut when Lucas redid the entire script.
* MultipleChoicePast: Although Palpatine claims that he hailed from Naboo, it has been speculated that the identity of Senator Palpatine and thus most of his past had actually been fabricated. Although the novel DarthPlagueis now confirms that Palpatine was indeed born and raised in Naboo, and was a part of a lesser noble house.

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Hot chocolate. Ever since it was introduced in [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy]], it's been something of a RunningGag in other ''Legends'' works.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: He deliberately gave up on a chance to kill Starkiller at a moment when he was vulnerable because he was having a romantic reunion with Juno Eclipse, because he felt doing that would "not have felt right." He even follows a strict code of honor in regards to his missions.

** ''DarkEmpire'' has him turn to TheDarkSide when the Emperor returns, in an attempt to bring him down [[TheMole from within]]. It doesn't exactly work. The parallels with Anakin are made blindingly obvious, though the comic came long before the prequel trilogy. Luke guides a ship far too large and damaged to land into a survivable landing on Coruscant. He constantly ruminates on his father's legacy, wondering why he had turned - ultimately it's the threat to his family that gets him to claim "My father's destiny is my own." The Emperor proceeds to replace his mechanical right hand with a different prosthetic, a "better" one speculated by some fans to be of a model Vader used, and dresses Luke in outfits clearly inspired by his fathers', as can be seen in the page image. Ultimately it's the love of his sister, and his refusal to hurt her or allow her to be killed, that brings Luke back.

* TheCaligula: While not this in the main story, his resurrection in the Dark Empire arc has him playing this trope very much straight from then onwards, as he has become so insane that he ends up not having his empire being successful under his reign. It is also heavily implied in ''DarkEmpire'' (and confirmed in ''The Essential Atlas'') that the reason for his increased insanity had to do with his constant transference of his soul into clone bodies.

* DeceptiveDisciple: Palpatine/Darth Sidious is an inversion, who instead deceives and abuses his disciples. The [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]] reveals that Palpatine never intended to be replaced by an apprentice at all; rather, he concocted a complex scheme to achieve practical immortality through the use of [[DarkEmpire clone bodies]]. Taking on apprentices seems to be somewhat of an amusing diversion to him.

** By the time of DarkEmpire, however, he's become the closest thing to a [[PhysicalGod Physical]] GodEmperor that the series has due to his revival. Proof of this was the fact that he could generate Force Storms (the wormhole variety) simply by his own will, without any apparent drain on his force abilities. [[note]]To put it in perspective, only one Sith Lord before him, Darth Rivan, had ever utilized this sort of power, and it was only with the aid of the darkstaff, which required all of his force power to even utilize the ability; it decimated his entire army with him at the "eye" of the storm and he ended up being traveled to the Light and Darkness War in the future where he ended up dying somewhat ironically (ie, he was killed easily by a force user, whether it was a Jedi or a Sith is never specified).[[/note]]
* HumanoidAbomination: Darth Sidious was already one of the most powerful Force users of all time and is believed to have mastered all known Force abilities and invented new ones. He could do things like feed off the life essences of billions and create Force Storms, wherein he would rip open the time-space continuum with his sheer will alone and create a hyperspace wormhole capable of killing a world. He was even strong enough to cloud the vision of the entire Jedi Order. By the time of his final death in ''DarkEmpire'' he had become a nexus of the Dark Side itself and was tearing holes in reality with his very existence.

* MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning: Strongly implied to be the cause of his power increase by the time of his revival in DarkEmpire.

* PhysicalGod: By the time of ''DarkEmpire''; the endnotes state that by the time of his final death, his mere existence was causing holes in reality to open, even though Palpatine is only human.

* CelibateHero: Averted by Luke's NewJediOrder in the post-''Return Of The Jedi'' ExpandedUniverse and by the Jedi of the Old Republic era, where marriage between Jedi is allowed, and manage to successfully return back to prominence despite violating the previous order's teachings.

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* BilingualDialogue: He speaks Wookiee and Han speaks Basic, and they understand each other fine.