Who Is Star Wars: The Force Awakens Villain Supreme Leader Snoke?

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ left audiences with a number of questions, some unintentional, some left to keep people invested in and excited about 2017’s ‘Episode 8’.

One of those latter questions involves Andy Serkis’s villainous Supreme Leader Snoke.

[Warning: Spoilers follow]

We see Snoke in much the same way we first see Emperor Palpatine for the first time in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ – as a holographic message, addressing his student Kylo Ren. He’s given more dialogue and attention than ol’ Palpy, but we know very little about who he, or even it, actually is.

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So who is he? And what is his connection to the characters new and old of ‘The force Awakens’. Here are the six most popular theories about who he might be, and what we think of each possibility.

Is he Darth Plagueis?

The most popular theory has been that Snoke is Darth Plagueis, the master Sith Lord killed by his apprentice Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine) in his sleep. Palpatine explains to Anakin Skywalker in ‘Revenge of the Sith’ that Plagueis could cheat death and create life.

As far as we can tell from the films (and not the Expanded Universe fiction which is no longer canon) this could all be nonsense concocted by Palpatine to further tempt Anakin to the dark side, but if not – the theory is that through his ability to cheat death he was able to regain life and somehow build or find himself a body - which might explain Snoke’s disfigured appearance.

There is some actual sort-of evidence that supports this theory. The music that players during Snoke’s theme (which you can hear here) sounds very reminiscent of the soundtrack to the scene in which Plagueis is first mentioned by Palpatine to his future ward.

Is he Emperor Palpatine?

This seems less likely. The possibility of this being true immediate presents a huge plot hole (how did Palpatine survive his fate in ‘Return of the Jedi’ but the logic of Plagueis resurrecting himself could well extend to his former apprentice. In the aforementioned scene Palpatine does say his knowledge was passed on.

It would certainly be cheap though and would undermine the entire point of ‘Return of the Jedi’s ending and Darth Vader’s last minute redemption. We certainly don’t think this is happening.

Is he Darth Vader?

You can see the physical evidence supporting this theory in the picture above. The scar on the top of Snoke’s head aligns with that on the head of an unmasked Vader, and the wounds to the right-hand side (our right) of Snoke’s face align with the deeper melting of Vader’s mask.

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Like Palpatine this would undermine the end of Return of the Jedi hugely, so we certainly doubt this is the case. ‘The Force Awakens’ played close to the story-beats of the original trilogy, but fans now want that to change in future films. Vader’s return would undermine that greatly.

Is he a clone?

Clones have played their part in the ‘Star Wars’ saga of course (see the clone army above), and it’s certainly possible that they may return. So, what if Snoke is the botched clone of Palpatine? One created by the man himself to continue his reign long after death, but an unsuccessful or botched clone that retained its ability to think for itself, but escaped and never got over the rejection.

It would continue the ongoing theme of messed up father-son relationships in ‘Star Wars’ but anything involving the return, even a partial return, of either original trilogy villain might be too much for audiences.

Is he Jar Jar Binks?

No. He is not.

Is he an entirely new character?

Very probably yes. We’re imagining him as an ancient, battle-scarred Sith – perhaps even one of the first – who has dwelled in the background during the entire six film saga, moving the pieces and waiting to make his move and seize control of the galaxy.

His appearance comes from age, his notoriety (Han and Leia are aware of him) comes from the discoveries of Luke Skywalker in ancient Jedi temples, and the adoration Kylo Ren has for him comes from his stature as a centuries-old master of the dark side.

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Picture Credits: LucasFilm / Del Rey Publishing