It's no surprise that Star Wars universe. As the evil overlord of the Empire, Palpatine was personally responsible for innumerable deaths, planetary destruction, espionage, torture and genocide. Palpatine alone was the reason for the near-eradication of the Jedi Order and the continual hunting of any survivors for decades.
Given the amount of atrocities Palpatine committed, it’s safe to say that the Emperor didn’t exactly have friends. In fact, the list of people who hated Palpatine enough to attempt to murder him was so endless that it was a surprise he managed to live as long as he did once he showed his true colors after the fall of the Republic. While Darth Vader dealt the final blow to the Emperor (at least in his original body), there were several galactic figures who came close.
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Yoda was a master Jedi and seasoned general, so why didn't he fight the Empire before Luke arrived on Dagobah? Yoda explains why.
Darth Vader Turned on Emperor Palpatine Again and Again
Vader Led a Full-On Invasion of Exegol in an Attempt to Kill Palpatine
While Palpatine's death - or first death, at least - came at the hands of his apprentice, it was not the first time Vader attempted to kill the Emperor. In 2017's Darth Vader #1 - written by Charles Soule and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli - Vader awakens after the events of Revenge of the Sith to learn that Pé is dead. In his rage, he unleashes an uncontrolled blast of the Force that sends Palpatine flying. Though Palpatine relishes the pain and anger coursing through Vader, he immediately threatens Vader as soon as he’s able to stand on his feet again, telling his apprentice that he will kill Vader if he ever does something like that again.
More recently, during Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco's 2020 Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vader led multiple attacks on the planet Exegol, having learned of Palpatine's secret operations there. Defeated once, Vader was brought low by Palpatine, only to gather new weapons and allies to try again. Sadly, because Palpatine has harnessed the Dark Side, Vader could never actually beat his master while acting out of anger - only his love for Luke made him capable of gaining the upper hand.
Darth Vader Only Unleashed His Full Potential by Trying to Kill Palpatine
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General Gentis Turned His Students into an Assassination Squad
The War Hero Refused to Keep Sending His Students to Their Deaths for the Empire
In the 2012 miniseries Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison - by W. Haden Blackman and Agustin Alessio - a heaster of one of the Imperial academies stages a coup against the Empire. General Gentis, a one-time hero of the Clone Wars, becomes disillusioned by the Empire after watching young cadets being sent to their deaths over and over. When his son is assigned to a mission, Gentis takes action.
The General hatches a plan with his graduating class, bringing them before Palpatine to present them as possible Moffs. However, when Gentis and the cadets are close enough, they open fire and take out a good portion of Stormtroopers. Gentis himself releases a biological weapon that brings Emperor Palpatine to the brink of death, saved only by the timely appearance of Darth Vader. Ultimately, Palpatine executed his would-be killer with a particularly gruesome burst of Force Lightning.
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Chewbacca Activated a Deadly Superweapon to Kill Emperor Palpatine
Chewbacca Did Something Truly Terrible to End the Threat of Palpatine
Star Wars #50 - written by Charles Soule and drawn by Madibek Musabekov - is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As the Rebel Alliance was at its most desperate, they discovered an ancient weapon known as the Grim Rose. The superweapon could use a DNA sample from its target to kill them at a great distance - even from worlds away. While Leia and Luke struggled with the ethics of using the powerful weapon, Chewbacca activated it with a sample of Palpatine's blood.
While the Grim Rose might sound like the perfect weapon, it has unbelievable collateral damage. The energy from the device 'hunts' its target by working through a network of people who have interacted with them, zeroing in on stronger and stronger connections while killing everyone it touches. Given Palpatine's influence, the death toll would have easily been in the thousands. Thankfully, the Rebels ultimately decided to find another way, deactivating the device before it could exact its grisly toll.
Lady Qi'ra Wielded an Entire Criminal Syndicate to Eradicate the Sith
Even a Human Without Powers Could End the Emperor
Having decided that the Sith were oppressing the galaxy, Solo: A Star Wars Story's Qi'ra set about turning the might of the Crimson Dawn syndicate against them. Qi'ra placed agents throughout every major place of power - the Empire, the Rebellion, and various other syndicates - before launching an attack on the Sith that actually had the Emperor panicking for one of the only times in the franchise. And while a lot of people have taken a shot at Palpatine, Qi'ra had the strongest chance of succeeding.
In Star Wars: Revelations #1 - from Marc Guggenheim and a range of artists - readers see a massive Force vision of possible future events. One of the visions shows Lady Qi'ra standing over Palpatine's corpse, having killed him with her Teräs Käs training from Darth Maul.
Sadly, this event didn't come to , and Qi'ra's massive undertaking failed in its mission. However, in distracting the Empire at a key point, Qi'ra did give the Rebellion's fleet time to regroup, while two of her spies also revealed the construction of the second Death Star. As Luke Skywalker stated of Qi'ra, "Everything touches everything else. Qi'ra saved the galaxy from the Sith - just not the way she thought she would."
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Pitina Mar-Mas Voor Tried to Usurp Palpatine's Empire
She Crafted a Plan Worthy of a Game of Thrones Villain
The influential wife of a senator, Pitina Mar-Mas Voor undertook a complex plan to undermine Palpatine. After maneuvering her husband into suicide, she took up an important ministerial position, but ultimately concluded that Palpatine didn't care enough about prosperity. She used her bureaucratic position to advance her agenda and create an opportunity to seize power. Her strategy involved manipulating events to deliver a specialized 'Farkiller' weapon to Palpatine, rigged to incapacitate or kill him.
Sadly, Voor was betrayed by Vader's lackey Doctor Aphra, who recorded her plan to get revenge on Voor for killing her mother. With Palpatine aware of the plot, Voor was ultimately thwarted by Darth Vader, who executed her.
Those are the six characters who came closest to killing Emperor Palpatine during his reign - let us know which other Star Wars characters came close in the comments below, and which plan you believe had the highest chance of success.
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- Created By
- George Lucas
- Franchise
- Star Wars
- Died
- Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise Of Skywalker
- Race
- Human
- Movies
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker
- TV Shows
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Obi-Wan Kenobi
The senator for Naboo, Palpatine rose to power and influence during the dying days of the Republic. In reality, his public persona was just a mask; he was really Darth Sidious, greatest of the Sith Lords, and he used his political skills and Machiavellian cunning to bring down both the Republic and the Jedi. Palpatine ruled his Galactic Empire for decades, until he was betrayed by his apprentice, Darth Vader. Even this wasn't enough to stop the Emperor, however, as he was resurrected by his followers - only to be defeated once again.
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- Created by
- George Lucas
- First Film
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope
- Cast
- Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
- The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
- Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
- Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand iral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
