Characters / Star Wars – Snoke

All spoilers regarding the Skywalker Saga and The Clone Wars are unmarked. Examples relating to Disney's EU can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary.

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Supreme Leader Snoke

"Darkness rises... and light to meet it."

Species: Artificial humanoid

Homeworld: Exegol

Portrayed by: Andy Serkis

Voiced by: Octavio Rojas (Latin American Spanish), Luis Mas (European Spanish), Féodor Atkine (French)

Appearances: The Rise of Kylo Ren | Age of Resistance | The Force Awakens | The Last Jedi | The Rise of Skywalker ^note Palpatine briefly impersonates his voice, while copies of his inert cloned body can be seen in a tank on Exegol

"There has been an awakening... have you felt it?"

The Supreme Leader of the First Order military junta, Snoke commands General Hux and the rest of the resurgent Imperial Military in their goal of destroying the New Republic and building a New Galactic Empire to replace the one of old. Snoke is also a powerful wielder of the Dark Side and the teacher of Kylo Ren. He has no permanent base of operations, preferring to contact his underlings via hologram from his gigantic ship, the Supremacy.

Initially presenting himself as an ally to Ben Solo, he helped turn him against his family and embrace the Dark Side of the Force as Kylo Ren. Snoke was betrayed after he humiliated his student and threatened Rey, who Kylo formed an unlikely bond with — Kylo killed his master and assumed the title of Supreme Leader for himself.

While much of his life remains shrouded in mystery, it was eventually revealed that Snoke was actually an artificial creation of Darth Sidious, who he used for two purposes: to consolidate control over various fractured Imperial forces to form the First Order after the Galactic Civil War, and to corrupt the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. Snoke appeared to have some degree of autonomy from Sidious, but was nonetheless completely unaware of his status as a pawn to help Kylo Ren ascend, and to allow Sidious to reestablish his Empire over his corpse.

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A-G

• Abusive Parent: As a Parental Substitute to Kylo Ren, Snoke is physically, emotionally and psychologically abusive, exploiting Kylo's vulnerabilities and mental instability to both motivate and control him. This ends up coming back to bite Snoke in a major way, as it provokes Kylo into forsaking his loyalty to Snoke and murdering him to save Rey, who notably doesn't mistreat him.
• Actually a Doombot: Snoke is actually a pawn of Emperor Palpatine, serving as his eyes and ears while the Sith Lord recovers from his injuries.
• Adaptational Jerkass: In the film version of The Last Jedi, he laughs and praises Hux for tracking the Resistance through lightspeed. Meanwhile, in the novelization, he sneers at Hux's methods (which is Boring, but Practical brute force calculation).
• Ambiguously Human: Although he is confirmed to be an alien, he can be mistaken for a malformed-looking human—as the proportions of his hands, legs, eyes, and nose are similar to human standards. However, his height, his coloring, and the fact that even without the scarring, his face just looks wrong suggests otherwise.invoked Of course, it turns out this was because he was created with the DNA of several donors.
• Ambiguous Situation:
  • It's not completely clear when Snoke was created. While it's indicated that he has memories of events going back to the Fall of the Republic, more evidence suggests that he was actually created in the middle of the Imperial Era or even after the Battle of Endor.
  • It's also not clear how autonomous Snoke was. While he had some degree of free will, he was also unaware that he was a pawn of Darth Sidious. It is unknown how many of his thoughts were even his, and how many were simply implanted by Sidious to keep him from realizing his true nature or purpose.
• An Arm and a Leg: After being fatally bisected by Kylo Ren, the still-ignited lightsaber cuts through both of his arms, severing him from his already-detached torso.
• Bad Boss: For all that Snoke doesn't needlessly kill his underlings, The Last Jedi shows that he has no qualms about treating them like dirt. When the Resistance manages to take out the First Order Dreadnought, Snoke calls Hux from his flagship and uses the Force to mop the floor with Hux for allowing this to happen. He also mocks Hux behind his back to other underlings like Kylo. He later viciously chews out Kylo Ren for the latter's defeat at the hands of Rey and electrocutes him with Force lightning when an angry Ren tries to lash out. This mistreatment ends up biting Snoke in the ass, as Ren gets fed up with it and kills him.
• Bait the Dog: At first, the new trilogy and tie-in media seemed to be painting him as A Lighter Shade of Black to Palpatine and being genuinely Affably Evil. Toward the end however, it's revealed that he's really a Bad Boss who's just as cruel as his predecessor.
• Bald of Evil: He has no hair and has wiped a solar system clean of life.
• Big Bad Wannabe: He sees himself as the second Palpatine, but is in fact the second Darth Plagueis, complete with being usurped by his apprentice when he grows too smug and vain in thinking his powers make him invincible. Kylo Ren with a bit of Exact Words side-steps the Telepathy Snoke thinks makes him invincible. And as if twist to knife even further, The Rise of Skywalker reveals that he was always meant to be killed by Kylo Ren as Palpatine had foreseen.
• Black Cloak: Snoke wears a robe like his predecessor, but it has a high collar, no apparent hood, and is light-colored.
• Body Horror: Aside from the obvious problems with his face (as mentioned below), the actual structure of his torso, arms, and legs are clearly warped in such a way that is clearly not normal for his species, described by Serkis as being a result of a kind of Osteoporosis. Some of his damage gives the effect of his skin and muscles being blurred, most clearly on his neck, which has what looks like gaps between muscular cords, but made of regular skin.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Despite clearly being able to kill Rey himself, he orders Kylo Ren to do it to demonstrate his conviction and loyalty. Kylo, who has forged a bond with Rey (thanks to Snoke's manipulations), instead chooses to kill Snoke.
• Break Them by Talking: After Kylo Ren's defeat at Rey's hands (largely due to his own, earlier injuries, which Snoke leaves out, and his emotionally-unbalanced state, which he does mention), Snoke tells his student that he will never be like Darth Vader, a person he aspires to emulate. Throw in a bit of Force Lightning, and Kylo Ren's motivations completely shift after this confrontation. Problem being that instead of re-doubling Kylo's efforts to emulate his grandfather and please Snoke, it makes him realize both ventures are useless and inspires him to take matters into his own hands.
• Bright Is Not Good: Wears a golden robe and is the touted as the Big Bad of the Sequel Trilogy.
• Bring Him to Me: Snoke commands Kylo Ren to bring the captured Rey to him after being informed of Rey being powerful in the Force. Rey escapes before Ren has a chance to comply. At the end of The Force Awakens, he also commands General Hux to bring the wounded and incapacitated Kylo Ren to him as Starkiller Base explodes so that Snoke may complete Ren's training.
• Broken Pedestal: Snoke's callous treatment and manipulation of Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi end up killing the reverence that the fallen Jedi once had for him. By the time Snoke orders Kylo to kill Rey, Kylo has come to see Snoke as his enemy and strikes down his former master.
• Characterization Marches On: In contrast to The Force Awakens, which painted him as a brooding Benevolent Boss and Pragmatic Villain, The Last Jedi depicts him as a flamboyant Bad Boss and Smug Snake.
• The Chessmaster: Snoke is, as Andy Serkis describes him "a long-range schemer" — and he doesn't seem to be all that fazed when Starkiller Base is being destroyed, given that he already accomplished one of his major goals — throwing the Republic into complete chaos — and is now shifting his attention to his next objective.
• Cold Ham: He's rather dramatic with how he speaks, but he rarely raises his voice to the point of shouting. He starts getting a little hammier in The Last Jedi.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Much like Kylo Ren, he shares superficial similarities with his predecessor, Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine was a careful and cautious man who was able to cultivate a civilian identity as senator and chancellor and put on a convincing Mask of Sanity, whereas Snoke is an open cult leader with No Social Skills. Palpatine was also cunning and shrewd in undermining the Republic from within, whereas Snoke depends on the violent and unpredictable Kylo Ren radicalizing after his fallout with Luke for his chance to form the First Order. Palpatine was Master of All, his skills in the Force being a match for Yoda, a genius military and political strategist, and an organizer without parallel, whereas Snoke depends greatly on Kylo Ren and General Hux for his military and technological power. Ultimately, Snoke proves to be the Darth Plagueis to Palpatine's true successor, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, when he grows overconfident and complacent in his telepathic Force abilities only to blind himself from the fact that his apprentice is a better student than he gives credit for.
• Cool Starship: Snoke made his home aboard the Supremacy, flagship of the First Order Navy. The only Mega-class Star Destroyer in existence, it is roughly three times the size of Darth Vader's Executor and functions as a mobile shipyard and mobile base. It can perform every function that a planetary base can and dwarfs pretty much every interstellar vessel ever made other than the Death Stars.
• The Corrupter: Snoke was critical in seducing Kylo Ren over to the dark side of the Force, a process which he was working on before the latter was even born which also makes it More than Mind Control.
• Covered with Scars: His face has a large gash on the forehead, smaller cuts in other places, a real nasty burn scar on his left cheek and more scars on his chest and neck.
• Crazy-Prepared: He spent well over 20 years trying to corrupt Kylo Ren before he actually succeeded — he did this for so long, in fact, that he was actually using the dark side to manipulate the future Dark Lord while he was still forming in his mother's womb.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: His staring, pale blue eyes add to his overall creepiness.
• Creepy Monotone: Snoke has a slow, deliberate way of speaking, and he seems to struggle pronouncing some words, likely due to a mouth injury. He rarely raises his voice.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: To the point that there wasn't really a battle at all and Snoke didn't even have to get out of his chair. In The Last Jedi's climax, Snoke very easily subdues Rey using telekinesis and seems quite amused by her repeated attempts to attack him; he admires her spirit, but it's made clear that she was woefully unprepared and isn't perceived as much of a threat. Unfortunately for Snoke, he underestimates Kylo and ends up on the receiving end of this trope.
• Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly enough, he has a streak of dry wit in The Last Jedi, mocking both Kylo Ren and Rey alike.
• Diabolus ex Nihilo: In the first two films of the Sequel Trilogy, nothing about Snoke's origins and rise in power as Supreme Leader of the First Order are established. He's merely said to be an immensely evil person, a dark side Force user of incredible power, and most importantly, the man responsible for Kylo Ren's corruption and thus the Sequel Trilogy's new conflict. After his apprentice murders and usurps him, it becomes clear his role in the story wasn't to be the Big Bad, only to help explain the origins of the true Big Bad Kylo Ren, and to provide an outlet for the Greater-Scope Villain of the Skywalker Saga, Darth Sidious, to set the stage for his return.
• Didn't See That Coming: Both figuratively and literally; he had no idea that Kylo Ren had turned on him until it was too late to save himself, and he didn't see Anakin's lightsaber turning in his direction because he was too distracted by gloating over his apparent victory. His expression as he feels the blade piercing his side practically screams this trope.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He just toys around with Rey instead of actually fighting her, and then gets bisected by Kylo Ren halfway through The Last Jedi. Kylo then usurps Snoke's title as the Big Bad of the The Last Jedi and serves as a Big Bad Duumvirate with Palptine for most of The Rise of Skywalker.
• The Emperor: Comes with being Supreme Leader of the First Order.
• Enlightened Antagonist: In contrast to Palpatine, he is calm, collected, and wise. While he heads the First Order, The Remnant of The Empire, he does not think that the ideal is pure focus on The Dark Side. In fact, he considers his disciple Kylo Ren to be the "ideal embodiment of the Force, a focal point of both light and dark side ability," showing that he sees the Balance of Good and Evil as the best course to power, rather than abandoning one for the other altogether. These traits, combined with his position as the Big Bad, paint him not only as a successor to Palpatine, but also as an Evil Counterpart to Yoda.
• Entertainingly Wrong: Takes credit for bridging the minds of Kylo Ren and Rey, but was completely unaware of the fact that they were a Dyad in the Force, and that they're able to bond without his involvement.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He seems to genuinely appreciate Kylo Ren as an apprentice, even going so far as to call him the best student he ever taught in the novelization. After the emotionally abusive treatment he gives him in the The Last Jedi however, it's likely this another one of his manipulation strategies; the novelization even indicates he was planning on getting rid of Kylo once he had no more use of him, as Han warned Kylo in the previous film.
• Even Evil Has Standards: In the novelization of The Force Awakens, Snoke mentions how he doesn't feel any pleasure using mind-reading techniques on people. Again, in the The Last Jedi he spends a large portion of his big monologue reading the mind of Kylo Ren just to show Rey how powerful he is, it doesn't go over well.
• Evil Counterpart:
  • To Luke Skywalker in the Sequel Trilogy. Where Snoke is the Greater-Scope Villain, Luke is the Greater-Scope Paragon. Both are survivors of past decades, and both were teachers of Kylo Ren. While Snoke heavily relies on the Force to carry out his sinister goals, Luke has shut himself off from the Force out of an erroneous belief that he can't then cause anymore harm as a Jedi.
  • Snoke's Enlightened Antagonist tendencies and use of meaningful jokes make him this to Yoda as well. The difference is that Snoke mentors people as tools to maintaining his own power, while Yoda believes that the teacher has truly succeeded when the apprentice has surpassed the teacher. This is made explicit in his Age of Resistance comic, where some of his training of Kylo mirrors what Yoda taught Luke, albeit from a warped, Dark Side perspective. He even takes Kylo to Dagobah and gets him to enter the Cave of Evil.
  • To Maz Kanata as well. Both of them are Force-Sensitive aliens who have lived long enough to witness the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire. Despite being helpful toward the heroes, Maz is not a Jedi, while the dark side master Snoke is not a Sith despite being more-or-less one in personality. They are both criminals, with Maz being known as the "pirate queen" and Snoke being the Supreme Leader of the remnant faction of the Galactic Empire.
• Evil Cripple: Through a combination of the ravages of time, what appears to be multiple injuries and possible medical conditions (Andy Serkis described Snoke's twisted posture as a result of osteoporosis), Snoke's body is quite badly damaged, giving the impression that, despite his formidable powers in the Force, his lack of personal involvement in combat is less from disinclination and more from lack of capability.
• Evil Former Friend: Both the movie and the novelization of The Force Awakens imply, and Pablo Hidalgo later confirmed to be true, that Leia and Snoke used to know each other on a personal level.
• Evil Gloating: Snoke spends his confrontation with Rey in The Last Jedi bragging over his success in luring her, how deeply he has corrupted Kylo Ren, and his impending victory over both the Resistance and Luke Skywalker. As it turns out, Snoke was counting his chickens before they hatched.
• Evil Is Bigger: At 7'2", he towers over the good guys.
• Evil Makes You Monstrous: Word of God is that Snoke was once handsome, with the physique of a Greek statue, but years of drawing on the dark side turned him into the ghoulish husk we see in the films.
• Evil Overlord: Downplayed. He is not a Sith Lord like Palpatine and his predecessors, and he is more of a Glorious Leader military junta type that also happens to be a powerful Dark Side user himself.
• Evil Sorcerer: Snoke is very powerful in the Force, being the one who seduced Kylo Ren to the dark side.
• Evil Sounds Deep: His deep and booming voice is terrifying even in hologram.
• Evil Sounds Raspy: Due to his disfigurements.
• Expy: Initially, of Palpatine, as a creepy old man with Force powers who wants to bring the Galaxy Far, Far Away under his control. The Last Jedi makes him one for Darth Plagueis. He's an arrogant but powerful user of the Force whose abilities lead him to unlock new possibilities, chiefly in telepathy, and he's so blinded in his mastery of the same that he underestimates his apprentice, who acts on his hidden ambition, and ultimately kills and usurps him. The Rise of Skywalker indicates that this isn't an accident, since he was created by Palpatine himself. In addition, his role as the wealthy leader of an upstart government who was unknowingly intended by Palpatine to be a sacrifice to corrupt a Skywalker makes him one for Count Dooku.
• Face Framed in Shadow: In The Force Awakens, his face is partially-obscured most of the time. Mostly to hide the more mangled side of his visage, but the damage is still visible.
• Facial Horror: Snoke's face is hideously twisted and disfigured. Behind the scenes, the character designers have noted that Snoke was considered handsome prior to his scarring.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Much like Palpatine before him, Snoke’s overconfidence and pride prove to be his downfall. He’s so assured of his victory and of Kylo Ren’s loyalty that he doesn’t even realize Ren is planning to kill him, despite reading his mind and knowing exactly what he’s thinking.
  • Snoke's cruelty also proves a terribly costly flaw; his abuse of Kylo Ren and shameless exploitation of his apprentice's inner conflict and feelings for Rey end up being the last straw that turns Kylo from a faithful servant to Snoke's enemy and killer. Likewise, his desire to kill Rey with "the cruelest stroke" (having Kylo execute her) backfires badly, as it gives Kylo the perfect opportunity to betray Snoke, ending with Rey living to fight another day, Snoke meeting a violent end, and Kylo assuming power over the First Order.
• Faux Affably Evil: Snoke is well-spoken at all times and comes across as fairly respectful when addressing his underlings; it's little more than an act, and comes across as him twisting the knife by allowing his underlings or enemies to imagine they're safe. Even his praise is little more than a method of manipulation. This is perhaps best seen in his first shared scene with Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi. He opens by casually remarking to Kylo about how he's using Hux as a tool and little more, leaving it open for Kylo to be unsure if Snoke is disparaging Hux or both Hux and Kylo himself. He then switches to a place of concern, asking about his wound. From there, things escalate. He approaches slowly, speaking softly of Kylo's potential and how much faith he had in Kylo, describing him as "truly special" and heir to Darth Vader. Then he starts truly admonishing Kylo in a way that goes beyond mere anger at Kylo's previous favor. He strikes at his apprentice's weakest spots, calling him a child in a mask and essentially saying that despite everything Kylo sacrificed to get where he is, Snoke's belief in him was mistaken. Soon enough he's screaming that Kylo was bested by a girl who'd never even held a lightsaber before zapping him (albeit in what seems to be self-defense due to Kylo rising so quickly) with force lightning and letting Kylo go with a final, devastating tone of not rage, but disappointment, even regret and sadness. Snoke knows how to give someone a serious talking-to.
• Genre Blindness: For all his Manipulative Bastardry, he somehow fails to see Ren's inevitable betrayal, considering Ren's idolization of the Sith Order and his empathy for Rey.
• Gold Makes Everything Shiny: As an effect of his confidence in his power and arrogance from his achievements, Snoke wears a simple yet luxurious outfit of a golden robe and slippers, with his ring being golden as well. This makes him stand out in his very red throne room, which contributes to his presence.
• Gone Horribly Right:
  • Wanted to corrupt Ben Solo into a incredibly powerful and evil warrior who would betray anyone (even his own flesh and blood) to serve the Dark Side. He probably should have thought a little more about the possible ambitions of such a figure once he'd succeeded, especially since both knew full well this was the way of the Sith.
  • Specifically, Snoke attempted to push Kylo Ren to stop longing for his past life and sever his ties with the past in The Last Jedi. It worked, but rather than making Ren turn on Leia, it made him turn on his attempt to become the new Darth Vader, and drove him to seize power for himself.
  • His plan to use Rey and Kylo's Force bond to get them to empathize with each other and give Rey hope she could turn him ends up being this. It works so brilliantly that Kylo decides he can assassinate Snoke, take out his guards with Rey's help and then rule the galaxy with her instead. Oops.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His face is horribly disfigured, and he is Covered in Scars, most prominently a large curved scar on his forehead.
• Graceful Loser:
  • He orders Kylo and Hux to obtain the map to Luke if they can, but Snoke is okay with the map being destroyed if they have to do so, if it means Luke is not found by the Resistance.
  • Keeps it completely cool when he hears that Starkiller Base is going down, a disastrous defeat for the First Order by any measurement. He hardly even seems bothered, instead ensuring that Kylo Ren is returned to him for further training.
• Greater-Scope Villain: According to the novelization of The Force Awakens, he's been around long enough to remember the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire, has had some involvement in the Original Trilogy, and everything related to the conflict of the Sequel Trilogy can be traced back to him. He founded the First Order and remains its Supreme Leader with the goal of conquering the galaxy, he's the most powerful known dark side practitioner left in the galaxy, he is responsible for the destruction of the Hosnian System, turning Kylo Ren to the dark side and by extension the fall of the burgeoning new Jedi Order. The Force Awakens places a much larger amount of focus on Kylo Ren, with only hints as to what Snoke is and wants... and then, when he seems to be taking over as the Big Bad of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren betrays and kills him and takes his place as the Supreme Leader. And then even his status as the Greater-Scope Villain is completely subverted in The Rise of Skywalker, which reveals that he was just a cloned puppet of Palpatine the entire time.

H-Y

• Half the Man He Used to Be: Kylo Ren bisects Snoke with Anakin's lightsaber and the Force, without him noticing.
• Handicapped Badass: Snoke's damaged and decrepit body does nothing to impede his power with the Force, which he handily demonstrates by casually putting both Hux and Kylo Ren in their place and by throwing Rey around like a ragdoll, laughing off her attempts to attack him.
• Hate Sink: What's been established about Snoke in The Last Jedi makes him far worse than before. For all his mystery and gravitas, it slowly but surely becomes clear that he is little more than a vile Smug Snake who emotionally manipulates and abuses Kylo Ren for his own selfish gain. Later on, he arrogantly toys and tortures Rey, making her watch the destruction of Resistance fleet, before forcing Kylo Ren to kill her to complete his training. His sudden Undignified Death at the hands of Kylo Ren all but cements him as a Big Bad Wannabe who has all of Emperor Palpatine's cruelty but with none of the charm or intelligence that the Sith Lord was best known for.
• The Heavy: The Rise of Skywalker reveals that he was created by Palpatine to rule the First Order in his stead, making him this for the first half of the New Republic Era.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Turns out to be created by Palpatine, who used him as proxy-ruler of the First Order while the Sith Lord recovers from his injuries.
• High Collar of Doom: He sports one, fitting of his character.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: In The Last Jedi, Snoke boasts that he was the one responsible for stoking Rey and Kylo Ren's connection, bringing them together with the intent of Rey handing herself over to the First Order for a chance at redeeming Ren, and Ren bringing Rey to Snoke so Ren can confirm his true allegiance by "striking down the true enemy." Unfortunately for Snoke, by boosting that connection, both parties ended up empathizing with each other, and by the time Snoke calls for Rey's execution, Ren decides to usurp and kill him instead, and offer Rey a chance to join him.
• Huge Holographic Head: Has a variant, in a unnecessarily massive holographic chamber for him and his throne to tower over his reporting subordinates. It is so big, the projector and platform are apparently installed in a natural cave. Almost makes you think he is Compensating for Something despite the fact that he's the tallest member of the major First Order members.
• Iconic Outfit: He's well-known for his shiny gold robe and slippers, which he was first seen wearing in The Last Jedi and has worn in almost all his appearances since then.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Though you can't really see it most of the time because of the shadows, the artbook, VFX video and the novel show Snoke has cobalt blue eyes. The Last Jedi shows Snoke in better lighting conditions, giving us a better look at them.
• If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Orders Kylo Ren to kill his father as a way of proving his commitment to the Dark Side. He does, and then admonishes his student for still being conflicted about it. So later, when Rey is at his mercy, Snoke orders him to kill her. Oops.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Word of God is that Snoke was considered beautiful in his youth before he became decrepit and scarred with age.
• Jerkass: While in The Force Awakens he was portrayed as Affably Evil, The Last Jedi makes it clear that he is a cruel, unpleasant Bad Boss, exposing his earlier demeanor as a façade.
• Just Toying with Them: In The Last Jedi, he does this with both Kylo Ren and Rey. When Kylo moves to strike him, he simply incapacitates him with a bolt of lightning without flinching at his aggressive approach. Meanwhile, when Rey tries to take her lightsaber back, he uses the Force to make it fly behind her — and then hit her on the head with it — just to taunt her and drive home just how out of her league she is in going up against him.
• Karmic Death: He ends up being killed by Kylo Ren, the very apprentice he had corrupted.
• Kick the Dog: He spends most of his final scenes doing this non-stop. Once he's got Luke's location from Rey's head, he could just kill her because he has no more use of her. But, no, he's just gotta rub it in her face that the Resistance is about to be wiped out and all hope is lost for her, while throwing her about the room with the Force simply because and calling her a "pathetic child". He tops it off by forcing her to her knees and making her face Kylo Ren, the man she befriended and hoped she could redeem, so that him killing her will be the last thing she'll see. Ends up as a Deconstructed Trope, as Snoke's cruelty towards Rey is the final straw for Kylo.
• Large and in Charge: At 7'2", he towers over everyone in The First Order and is its Supreme Leader.
• Lean and Mean: He is very thin, almost anorexic looking. Though whether this is due to the dark side withering his body or just the way his race is we aren't sure .
• A Lighter Shade of Black: In general Snoke isn't quite as horrible as Palpatine. For example, when the Starkiller Base is about to explode he makes sure it's evacuated, whereas Palpatine would probably just let them die. Then again, this could just be out of pragmatism as the First Order really can't afford to throw away personnel and resources willy nilly like the Empire.
• Light Is Not Good: Unlike the Sith, who typically wear black, Snoke wears a bright gold robe. Word of God states that this is meant to symbolize his materialistic nature.
• Love Is a Weakness: In the novelization, Snoke accuses Kylo Ren of feeling compassion for Rey, voicing his belief that such emotions make one weak. He also believes that sentiment is the thing that brought down the Empire, citing Darth Vader's compassion for his son as being the thing that led him to kill Palpatine and himself as a reason why it should be done away with. It's also why he has Kylo Ren kill his father.

• Manipulative Bastard:
  • Snoke's modus operandi is to exploit his minions' vulnerabilities to both control them and get the results he wants, taking advantage of Hux's ambition to fuel his drive to succeed, and using Kylo Ren's mental and emotional issues to corrupt him and maintain his loyalty. He also makes use of the bond between Rey and Kylo to capture Rey and get Luke's location out of her, deliberately building up their feelings for one another to get what he wants.
  • The novelization of The Last Jedi shows some of his manipulative abilities: The corruption of Ben Solo, and his fall to the Dark Side, was all part of a ploy to trick Luke and then wipe out any chance of the Jedi Order rebuilding.
• Mean Boss: In The Last Jedi, he berates and attacks Hux with the Force after the Fulminatrix is destroyed, and derides Kylo Ren for his failure to defeat Rey in the previous film.
• Metaphorically True: While restraining her with the Force, Snoke goes out his way to taunt Rey, with seeing Kylo Ren strike down a Force wielder with a lightsaber. However it was his death at Kylo Ren's hands he foresaw, not Rey's.
• Mind over Matter: In The Last Jedi, Snoke demonstrates some impressive telekinetic abilities, throwing Hux around like a ragdoll from many light years away and easily subverting Rey's attempts at attacking him before torturing her into submission, all without so much as standing up.
• Modest Royalty: Subverted. In The Force Awakens, he's only seen wearing a modest cloak akin to what Palpatine wore during the Empire's reign when he speaks to Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux. However, come The Last Jedi, he starts wearing gold robes, albeit ones that are also muted in color.
• Mysterious Past:
  • Very little is revealed about Snoke's background in The Force Awakens. Interestingly, both Han and Leia speak about him with a degree of familiarity, suggesting they originally knew him in a different context. In the novelization, Leia tells Han that she knew Snoke was watching Kylo when he was a baby, so she was aware of him not too long after the Emperor's defeat. Snoke's own comments about the fall of the Sith imply that he spent some time watching the greater galaxy from afar, but aside from that, we know next to nothing about the enigmatic Darksider. The Visual Dictionary gives him further background as one of the key figures in helping the Imperial remnants settle in the Unknown Regions to become the First Order, but even then, nothing major about his actual early life. The Last Jedi doesn't give anything on who he is, leaving supplemental material to give hints, such as the fact he gradually back-stabbed his way to the top of the First Order, without elaborating much on when and how he met them.
  • In The Rise of Skywalker, it's revealed that he was genetically engineered by Palpatine to serve as a sort-of-decoy/puppet and to organize the imperial fleet that would become the First Order and corrupt Ben Solo. His final purpose ended up being to serve as a sacrifice to help Kylo Ren become a worthy successor to the Sith, and potentially a vessel for him to possess.
  • Among Snoke's very scarce pieces of backstory is his ring, which is made of gold and obsidian from Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar and inscribed with glyphs from the Four Sages of Dwartii according to Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary. The Four Sages are described as "controversial" philosophers and lawgivers (read: demagogues who pioneered study of The Dark Side) from the early days of the old Republic — Sidious/Palpatine kept statues of them in his office on Coruscant. The Star Wars Legends novel (not canon) Darth Plagueis links them to its eponymous Dark Lord of the Sith. He's also stated in the Visual Dictionary to be the leader of the Attendants, the race of humanoid aliens inhabiting the Unknown Regions and who helped the Empire's remnants survive there and reorganize themselves into the First Order. The novelization for Last Jedi also gives a few small glimpses into his backstory.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Snoke is clearly a believer in the direct approach; in The Force Awakens, he's fine with BB-8 and the map he carries being destroyed as long as it prevents Luke's return, orders the complete destruction of the Republic's capital to neutralise its threat and tries to do the same with the Resistance's base. In The Last Jedi, he orders a sizable assault on D'Qar after Starkiller Base fails, then personally leads the pursuit of the Resistance fleet. After Rey is brought before him, Snoke doesn't bother trying to turn her to the dark side, simply shutting down her attempts at attacking him and torturing her until he has the information he wants, then ordering Kylo Ren to kill her.
• Non-Action Big Bad: While he is adept in the Force and uses it frequently in The Last Jedi, he does not actually partake in any major battles due to his frail condition.
• Not So Invincible After All: Snoke's great power certainly gives off the impression that he's virtually untouchable. Even Snoke himself believes that he cannot be beaten. In The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren proves him wrong through a little trickery and a nearby Jedi lightsaber.
• Obviously Evil: With a scarred appearance and a booming voice, he qualifies.
• Oh, Crap!: His reaction to a lightsaber igniting through his torso.
• Ominous Latin Chanting: Snoke's Leitmotif is a choral theme based on a Rudyard Kipling poem translated into Sanskrit and sung by a 24-voice men’s chorus.
• Opportunistic Bastard: The novelization of The Last Jedi makes clear that Snoke is more prone to improvisation than Palpatine and that the First Order's rise and Snoke becoming Supreme Leader were less of a grand plan and more of Snoke seizing opportunities as they presented themselves.
• Orcus on His Throne: While Kylo Ren appears more prominently in the story, Snoke is the more powerful Big Bad, while Kylo is merely The Heavy. During The Force Awakens, Snoke only appears via hologram, sitting on his throne, addressing Hux and Kylo. And while he actually gets off of his throne in The Last Jedi, he stays far away from the front lines.
• Our Homunculi Are Different: His ultimate nature is revealed to one of the latest number of Sith created beings, acting in place of the Emperor.
• Parental Substitute: In a twisted way, Snoke seems to be this for Kylo Ren. In addition to rejecting his father and birth name, Ren praises Snoke to others, turns to him for guidance, and fears disappointing him. Notably, this contrasts Darth Vader's deep loathing for the Emperor. However, their relationship ultimately goes the way of Ren's previous father-son relationship.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: There's a hint of sexism in his voice when he emphasizes that Kylo Ren lost to a girl at Starkiller base.
• Powers Do the Fighting: When he finally comes face-to-face with Rey, she visibly stands even less of a chance than Luke did against Palpatine. Snoke just calmly sits in his throne as he knocks her around like a ragdoll. He doesn't even deign to use Force Lightning on her.
• Pride: Snoke is extremely confident in his abilities, though not unjustifiably so. Nevertheless, this proves to be his Fatal Flaw; his absolute confidence in his own invincibility and his control over Kylo Ren blinds him to Kylo's newfound hatred for him, which leaves him vulnerable. This is to the point that even when he reads Kylo's mind, he misinterprets what he finds based on these assumptions, so that he fails to see Kylo's intent to kill him until he's already been impaled by a lightsaber.
• Puppet King: The Rise of Skywalker reveals he was but another pawn of the Emperor, ruling the First Order in his stead.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In The Last Jedi, he takes Kylo Ren to task for the latter’s unbalanced emotional state and failure to defeat Rey, pointing out that he lost to a girl who’d never held a lightsaber in her life.
• Recurring Element: Like Darth Sidious, Snoke is an old, wizened, pale-skinned, bald, and scarred master of the dark side of the Force, the leader of the new version of The Empire, and the master of the new version of Darth Vader.
• Retcon: The novelizations to the previous two movies say he was alive during the original trilogy and had never met Palpatine while The Rise of Skywalker says he was a clone that Palpatine created and controlled.
• Revenge: Stated to be one of the reasons he has it in for the New Republic and the Resistance. For what is anyone's guess.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons:
  • He does a play-by-play commentary of Kylo Ren twisting his saber into position to strike down his true enemy. While he's referring to the impending execution of Rey, he doesn't notice the altered position of Anakin's saber beside him...
  • One other thing he was right about, in the same speech: Rey wasn't going to turn Kylo Ren away from the Dark Side simply because the two were empathetic to one another.
• Serkis Folk: Snoke is portrayed by Andy Serkis himself via motion capture.
• Shock and Awe: He rebukes Kylo Ren with a blast of Force lightning during his first scene in The Last Jedi.
• Shrouded in Myth: He's very mysterious and very powerful. All that's known about him, aside from the fact that he's the Supreme Leader of the First Order and that he's able to tap into the dark side, is that he knew Han and Leia on a personal level as a way to get close to their son and corrupt him.
• Slouch of Villainy: He spends much of The Last Jedi slouching in his throne, rarely sitting up straight. It's possible his deformities actually prevent him from sitting straight for too long.
• Smug Smiler: He can barely wipe the grin off his face as he torments and tortures a helpless prisoner, telekinetically tossing said prisoner around the room while chortling at their pain.
• Smug Snake: Although he is possibly one of the most powerful Force wielders in the series, he underestimates everyone else. He constantly and publicly belittles his Co-Dragons while showing everyone else less respect than even that. He is so sure of his victory and Kylo's loyalty, and so confident in the belief that his immensely strong Force powers render him essentially untouchable, that he is utterly blindsided by Kylo's betrayal.
• Smug Super: Snoke's supreme confidence is born from his truly immense power. His defeat doesn't come from overestimating his own power level nor from underestimating that of others, but from his overconfidence allowing him to be caught so utterly off-guard that it doesn't matter.
• The Sociopath: Snoke's generally calm demeanor hides a callous monster who has no qualms about ordering the deaths of billions. He's extremely manipulative and controlling, sports an inflated sense of self (evidenced by his line "I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten"), and demonstrates a sadistic streak when he telekinetically brutalises Hux and tortures Rey.
• Squishy Wizard: Snoke is an incredibly powerful telekinetic and telepath, but also a frail old man who needs to wear things like slippers for comfort. His frailty and reliance on his Force powers mean that Kylo just needs one well-placed sneak attack to bring him down.
• The Starscream: The little explanation given for how he ended up in charge of the First Order explains that when Snoke and the Order first met, there were several other people around to be in charge. One by one they either died or were removed, leaving Snoke as undisputed Supreme Leader.
• Stealth Insult: In The Last Jedi, he explains to Kylo how a "rabid cur, properly manipulated" can be useful. At the time, he seems to be refering to Hux, but the metaphor works even better for Kylo himself.
• The Stoic: He doesn't seem the least bit scared or angry when Starkiller Base is destroyed.
• Suddenly Shouting:
  • The usual relaxed and sedate Snoke suddenly stands and bellows "GENERAL!" when Hux speaks out of turn.
  • As he gloats over Rey's impending execution, Snoke goes from a steady voice, reveling in his victory, to snarling as he declares Kylo's intent to kill his true enemy. These turn out to be Snoke's last words.
  • In The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine speaks to Kylo Ren in a combination of his own voice, Snoke's voice, and Darth Vader's voice. When he speaks as Snoke, he's loudly screaming "you have ever heard" (out of the complete sentence "I have been every voice you have ever heard inside your head").
• Telepathy: The Last Jedi shows Snoke to be a very powerful telepath, with him creating a psychic connection between Rey and Kylo Ren without either of them being aware of his involvement, and later probing Rey’s mind for the location of Luke Skywalker. It’s not infallible, however, as shown when he reads Ren's mind and fails to realize that Kylo is about to kill Snoke thanks to some Exact Words in their Conveniently Coherent Thoughts.
• Tempting Fate: He proudly proclaims that he cannot be betrayed or beaten, and that he can see Kylo Ren's intentions, to ignite his lightsaber and "kill his true enemy". Little did Snoke realize that Kylo's "true enemy" was him.
  Snoke: I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten! I see his mind; I see his every intent. Yes... I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child, he ignites it, and kills his true enemy!
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill:
  • Snoke's preferred method for defusing the threat of the Resistance and preventing the return of Luke Skywalker is to destroy the star system where the Resistance is based. In the novelisation of The Force Awakens, when Hux questions this plan on grounds of Pragmatic Villainy, Snoke responds that destroying the system would bring pause to anyone else who would challenge the First Order, as well as kill almost everyone who would get any use out of the map to Luke's whereabouts. That said, Snoke reserved this for a last resort, having previously ordered that the map be recovered or destroyed, only deciding to destroy the system after it had definitely reached the Resistance.
  • Reflected in his choice of command ship, the utterly gargantuan Star Dreadnought Supremacy. Weighing in at a staggering 60 kilometers in length, it's larger by an order of magnitude than any ship used by either side, and is clearly meant to overawe and overwhelm opponents.
  • Some of his last words are a plan to do this, telling Rey that once she's dead, and the Resistance destroyed, he'll take his troops to Ach-To and glass the island Luke's on.
  • Done to Snoke himself eventually. First Kylo impales him directly through the gut with Anakin's lightsaber, which is already an instant kill, then Ren pulls it through him with the Force, cutting Snoke's torso in half.
• This Cannot Be!: His final expression is one of stupified disbelief that his own apprentice has turned on him.
• Tom the Dark Lord: "Snoke" is a rather odd sounding name for a Big Bad.
• Token Non-Human: The successor regime to the infamously speciesist Empire has a non-human at its reins.
• Too Powerful to Live: His control of the Force is so great he can exert the Force on targets light years away, defeat people with only a finger, and read people's minds, so naturally he dies the moment he grabs the Villain Ball so things are more even.
• Undignified Death: For all his power, gravitas, and grand plans, Snoke goes out with a whimper, outwitted by his once-submissive apprentice and brutally bisected. Adding to the indignity of it all, Snoke's body falls to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut, which is played for Black Comedy in the film itself. This is only emphasised when a close-up of Snoke's corpse is shown shortly after; he's left with his eyes half-open and his tongue hanging out like a dead dog, far from the seemingly all-powerful tyrant he'd been a few scenes prior.
• The Unsmile: Does a jovial smile improve Snoke's looks? No. No it does not.
• Unwitting Pawn: According to the The Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary, Snoke serves as one to the resurrected Palpatine, with the end goal of seeing whether Kylo Ren would kill him or not, and prove himself a worthy heir to the Sith.
• Villain Respect: While Luke's power may have made him the Jedi that Snoke feared, Rey's courage and determination makes her the only Jedi he admired and respected.
• Villainous Face Hold: Snoke uses the Force to drag a captive Rey towards him and hold her there so she's forced to look at him as Snoke mockingly reveals he was the one behind her connection to Kylo Ren. He does this again a few moments later, this time forcing her to look at Kylo Ren as Snoke orders him to execute her.
• We Can Rule Together: Subverted. The novelization for The Last Jedi indicates that he was willing to take up Rey as another apprentice, but after seeing Starkiller Base destroy the Hosnian System and realizing that Kylo Ren has taken an interest in her, he decides that it isn't necessary and that she's a loose end to tie up.
• Worthy Opponent:
  • Regards Luke as the only person in the galaxy who could topple him and will do anything to keep his allies from finding him again. In Age of Resistance he even states he believes he could've conquered the galaxy long ago if he'd had Luke at his side. He does, however, grow to underestimate Luke just as he underestimates Rey and Kylo Ren.
  • He sounds slightly impressed when Kylo Ren reports that Rey is actually strong with the Force and was able to resist and retaliate against him, and orders Rey to be brought directly to him. And Snoke was positively delighted with admiration when she not once but twice drew sword (first Anakin's, then Kylo's) to defy him, complimenting her courage with sincere respect before ordering Kylo to execute her.
    Snoke: Ooh. And still that fiery spit of hope. You have the spirit of a true Jedi! And because of that... you must die.
• Would Hit a Girl: He has no qualms telekinetically throwing Rey around and forcibly probing her mind to find out where Luke Skywalker is hiding at.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: He thinks he's the Evil Overlord and successor of Palpatine with Kylo Ren as the Darth Vader he can promote and/or replace at any time. In actual fact, he's Darth Plagueis, the chump who proves to be the stepping stone for the real Big Bad of the story.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: He originally sought Rey as a potential apprentice for the First Order's conquest of the Galaxy, but following the destruction of Hosnian Prime and all but destroying the Resistance Fleet after chasing them through Hyperspace, he sees her as a loose end to eliminate.
• You Have Failed Me: He subverts this, much like the First Order in general. While he certainly has no concern for those who die, he also doesn't issue any major punishments for failures, and indeed wishes to preserve surviving soldiers rather than abandon them to their fate (he commands that Starkiller Base be evacuated). May be simply a matter of practicality, as the First Order doesn't have the sheer numbers that the Empire relied on. This bites him in the ass in The Last Jedi. By not punishing Kylo Ren for his failures during The Force Awakens, Kylo lives to kill him off and make himself Supreme Leader.

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"I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten. I see his mind. I see his every intent! Yes, I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true. And now, foolish child, he ignites it, and kills his true enemy!”