In Lucas's early draft scripts of Star Wars, the Emperor was identified as Cos Dashit. while in a draft of Return of the Jedi the throne world is called Had Abbadon.



The initial descriptions of Palpatine were replaced in Return of the Jedi by a powerful, dictatorial ruler adept in the dark side of the Force. The Emperor was inspired by the villain Ming the Merciless from the Flash Gordon comic books. George Lucas explained in an interview that he also patterned the Emperor after several historical figures, including Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler. Lucas said, "The whole point of the movies, the underlying element that makes the movies work, is that you, whether you go backwards or forwards, you start out in a democracy, and democracy turns into a dictatorship, and then the rebels make it back into a democracy."

Film historian Laurent Bouzereau reports that Lucas and Leigh Brackett decided that "the Emperor and the Force had to be the two main concerns in the ''Empire Strikes Back''; the Emperor had barely been dealt with in the first movie, and the intention in the sequel was to deal with him on a more concrete level." Instead, Lucas decided to feature the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.

Lucas wanted to establish the Emperor as the true source of evil in Star Wars. Script writer Lawrence Kasdan noted, "My sense of the relationship between Darth Vader and the Emperor is that the Emperor is much more powerful ... and that Vader is very much intimidated by him. Vader has dignity, but the Emperor in Jedi really has all the power." He explained that the climax of the film is a confrontation between Darth Vader and his master. In the first scene that shows the Emperor, he arrives at the Death Star and is greeted by a host of stormtroopers, technicians, and other personnel. Lucas states he wanted it to look like the military parades on "May Day in Russia".

Palpatine's role in The Phantom Menace is to explain "how Anakin Skywalker came to be Palpatine's apprentice" and the events that lead to his rise to power. The true identity of Darth Sidious—the phantom menace—is left a mystery. His relationship to Palpatine is not clear. Film critic Jonathan L. Bowen remarks, "Debates raged on the Internet concerning the relationship between Darth Sidious and Senator Palpatine. Most fans believed the two characters are actually the same person with logic seeming to support their conclusion." Bowen notes that the debate was fueled by the fact that "suspiciously Darth Sidious does not appear in the credits."

When the Emperor appeared on film for the first time in The Empire Strikes Back, he was portrayed by an unidentified old woman in prosthetic make-up. Chimpanzee eyes were superimposed into darkened eye sockets during post-production "in order to create a truly unsettling image". The character was voiced by Clive Revill. In the 2004 DVD release of The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition, the old woman was replaced by Ian McDiarmid and the dialogue between the Emperor and Darth Vader was revised. During production of Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas decided to shoot new footage for Empire Strikes Back to preserve continuity between the prequels and original trilogy.Douglas Hyde, "Five major changes in the 'Star Wars' DVD," September 23, 2004, at CNN; last accessed August 17, 2006.



Lucas and Return of the Jedi director Richard Marquand cast Scottish Shakespearean actor Ian McDiarmid to play Emperor Palpatine. He was in his mid-30s and had never played a leading role in a feature film, but he had made minor appearances in films like Dragonslayer (1981). Despite his inexperience with motion pictures, McDiarmid "created a modern day icon of cinematic evil." After Return of the Jedi, he resumed stage acting in London."The Man of Mystery," in "Ian McDiarmid: Dark Force Rising," at StarWars.com; last accessed August 17, 2006.

In an interview with BackStage, McDiarmid revealed that he "never had his sights set on a film career and never even auditioned for the role of Palpatine." He elaborated, "I got called in for the interview after a Return of the Jedi casting director saw me perform in the Sam Shepard play Seduced at a studio theatre at the Royal Court. I was playing a dying Howard Hughes."Simi Horwitz, "The Emperor's New Role"
, BackStage, May 25, 2006, available here; last accessed September 5, 2006.

McDiarmid was surprised when Lucas approached him 16 years after Return of the Jedi to reprise the role of Palpatine. In an interview, he stated, "When we were doing Return of the Jedi there was a rumor that George Lucas had nine films in his head, and he'd clearly just completed three of them." McDiarmid added, "Someone said that, 'Oh, I think what he might do next is go back in time, and show how Vader came to be.' It never occurred to me in a million years that I would be involved in that, because I thought, 'oh well, then he'll get a much younger actor to play Palpatine.' That would be obvious." However, "I was the right age, ironically, for the first prequel when it was made. ... So I was in the very strange and rather wonderful paradox of playing myself when young at my own age, having played myself previously when 100-and-I-don't-know-what.""Palpatine Speaks," in Homing Beacon 134, April 14, 2005, at StarWars.com; last accessed August 17, 2006.

Recalling the initial days of shooting The Phantom Menace, McDiarmid stated, "Stepping onto the set of Episode I for the first time was like going back in time, due to my experience in Jedi. Palpatine's an interesting character; he's conventional on the outside, but demonic on the inside—he's on the edge, trying to go beyond what's possible.""Actors and Characters - Part II," in "Star Wars Episode I: Production Notes," at StarWars.com; last accessed August 17, 2006. McDiarmid added another layer to the character in Attack of the Clones. He noted, "Palpatine is a supreme actor. He has to be even more convincing than somebody who isn't behaving in a schizophrenic fashion, so he's extra charming, or extra professional—and for those who are looking for clues, that's almost where you can see them." McDiarmid illuminated on the scene where Padmé Amidala is almost assassinated:

There's a moment in one scene of the new film where tears almost appear in his eye. These are crocodile tears, but for all those in the movie, and perhaps watching the movie itself, they'll see he is apparently moved—and of course, he is. He can just do it. He can, as it were, turn it on. And I suppose for him, it's also a bit of a turn-on—the pure exercise of power is what he's all about. That's the only thing he's interested in and the only thing that can satisfy him—which makes him completely fascinating to play, because it is an evil soul. He is more evil than the devil. At least Satan fell—he has a history, and it's one of revenge."The Exercise of Power," in "Ian McDiarmid: Dark Force Rising," at StarWars.com; last accessed August 17, 2006.

Everything he does is an act of pure hypocrisy, and that's interesting to play. I suppose it's rather like playing Iago. All the characters in the play—including Othello until the end—think that "Honest Iago" is a decent guy doing his job, and he's quite liked. But at the same time there's a tremendous evil subconscious in operation.