Palpatine's Transformation

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DarkAge
What do you think was the cause of Palpatine's transformation to the "deformed" man that is the Emperor? My theory is that Palpatine is in fact much older than he looks, and was using the unnatural powers the Dark Side gave him to maintain youthfulness (hence his ability to fight like that). When he used the force lightning on Windu, his ability to keep this appearance disappeared. Does anyone have a different theory?

Mist
have you watched the movie yet?

DeVi| D0do
He has the ability to fight like that because he is a Dark Lord of the Sith...

I agree with you though. Even though Lucas has aparently said the lightning morphed Palpatine's face (I'd very much like to see the source of this) I like the theory that it is in fact his true appearance unmasked.

No one else gets melted when they're struck with lightning... not even Luke and he gets it the most.

DarkAge
2 replies in 3 minutes, geez this movie is popular. Yes I've seen the movie, but I figured Palpatine was lying when he siad he was deformed by the Jedi.

chuxterofdoom
Originally posted by DeVi| D0do
He has the ability to fight like that because he is a Dark Lord of the Sith...

I agree with you though. Even though Lucas has aparently said the lightning morphed Palpatine's face (I'd very much like to see the source of this) I like the theory that it is in fact his true appearance unmasked.

No one else gets melted when they're struck with lightning... not even Luke and he gets it the most.


I agree totally because luke was struck directly with near fatal doses of lighting in ROTJ but not even a scar. Yet maybe if luke was using his absorb power (yes I know that doesn't appear in the movies but doesn't mean it can't exist)then that could be why Luke didn't suffer any cosmetic effects. This would also explain why the emperor did get scarred by his own lightning (ROTS) because even if he had the absorb power to protect himself then it would be possible that he could not use both the lightning and the absorb at the same time when taking out windu.

Mist
the proximity of palpatine getting zapped and luke getting zapped is different...it probably has different effects the closer you are to its power.

DeVi| D0do
yeah... If you asked Lucas he'd say it's the lightning that did it... But personally I like the idea that he's just so evil it transforms him. Just like the red eyes.

whatever, I don't care what Lucas says, that's what I believe. Lucas doesn't know what he's doing half the time anyway...

Red Superfly
He gets red/yellow eyes.

It's his true form coming through. The lightning certainly causes him to either drop his disguise through pain, or the amount of power turns him.

The way it looked to me was that his face was simply changing, as opposed to becoming scarred. Lightning would cause random scarring, and there would be blood and scabs before any sort of scarring took place anyway, and they certainly would not be symmetrical. Melting? Helloooo, humans aren't made of wax.

I mean we saw smoke coming off him, like Luke, but the way his face changed looked like it was morphing, bit by bit. He was aging rapidly it seemed.

To me, it's either he drops his disguise, but more likely I believe the power he is using is just causing him to physically change; the evil ages and changes his face - hence the eyes. You use dark side power, it will affect your appearance. Look at how dead Anakin looks in ROTJ.

He looks old and evil. Since when do people who are badly scarred by electricity suddenly look old and evil?

Fishy
Originally posted by Mist
the proximity of palpatine getting zapped and luke getting zapped is different...it probably has different effects the closer you are to its power.

Not to mention that Palps was zapped in the face, Luke more in the body area.

SixOfTwelve
Originally posted by Fishy
Not to mention that Palps was zapped in the face, Luke more in the body area.

In that case, we're lucky we never see Luke naked afterwards. wink

jango fatt
Luke wasn't struck in his face

Red Superfly
Oh come on, lightning (Star Wars force lightning I mean) obviously doesn't do anything to skin. It just cooks you maybe like a microwave, from the inside out.

If it was truly realistic lightning, then anyone that gets hit with it would bleed and burn and show wounding wherever the lightning hits them. Look at shock victims, the only wounds come from the point of contact, so in these cases, the victims should looks badly scarred all over. But this is like microwaves or something.

It didn't burn Vader or Luke, or Yoda, or Mace, or Padawan Anakin.

It only had an effect on Palpatine, so it's obvious he changed due to him using it, or because he used too much of it, or he dropped his guard, or whatever.

And so far every Jedi that has been shocked has been coverred in the stuff. Yoda was shot in the face, it went through Vaders mask, it hit Mace's face. It was coursing all over Luke for ages. They didn't deform.

Ultimatespider
Every time Sidious uses the force he become psyichally weaker!!! He was pulling out all the stops on windu but he couldnt keep it up!!! Butr thats why he is psyically weakend every time he uses his dark powerssss!!!

mephistodesigns
That seen definetly looks like morphing,not damage. They showed CG burn damage on Anakin, it was, as someone said, more sporatic and random. Because that's how burn damage works. Also, it looked more like the T-1000 shifting then it did "damage".

All the people who are saying Lucas says it "made" him change. Has anyone stopped to think he meant made him change into his true form? Lucas doesn't say it was from DAMAGE, he simply says it made Palps change. That can also mean it made him drop his ability to mask his appearance. Thats why he didn't have Sith eyes before that seen, when he should have because he was a full sith full of hate, like Anakin once he went full time (note his eyes during the rebuilding scene) and Maul.

PVS
luke was struck in the face as well. he got hit everywhere.
i still think palps was unmasked rather than deformed. vader was also struck point blank in the face when killing sidious. i doubt it was as simple as it seemed...but it will be debated forever it seems.

Oswald Kenobi
Sidious was using quite a lot of energy in his battle with Windu. Perhaps the expense of all that energy scarred him. I like to think it wasn't his true form nor battle scarring, but the use of that much power that left Sidious looking the way he did. I have to say too that Mace Windu really showed his position as a Jedi handling Sidious the way he did. If not for Anakin, the Sith threat would have been eliminated right then and there.

palpy_666
Here is my thought...

Palpatine's deformed appearance is due to his own Force lightning hitting him back... this lightning requires one to make use of the Dark Side... when it is repelled back to you, the Dark Side energy (required to produce lightning) begins to manifest itself into the physical form of it's user.

The hatred and rage used to shoot lightning bubbled up and displayed itself on the physical body of Palpatine. I don't think he was disguising himself and then his disguise dropped-- if this were the case, then how come when we see him as Sidious in Ep. I and II his face isn't deformed? Surely dropping his disguise would make it easier for people not to recognize who he truly is (rather than just pulling his hood down over his eyes a bit).

It is noteworthy to notice Palpatine's fingernails after he is deformed-- they are long, black, and yellow. This goes also for his teeth. And not to mention his yellow eyes. These are deffinately not effects from lightning burns.

In conclusion, Palpatine's anger and his Dark Side energy was manifested physically due to his own lightning being repelled back to him.

AzOkIdD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Truth to The Face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Palpatine was deformed because of the heat from Mace Windu's lightsaber, and the sparks from the dark force lightning hitting Mace Windu's lightsaber melted his face... its in the books... all you damn movie goers need to look into the books and get the truth b4 u just go posting bs that isnt even true!

Oswald Kenobi
Originally posted by AzOkIdD
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The Truth to The Face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Palpatine was deformed because of the heat from Mace Windu's lightsaber, and the sparks from the dark force lightning hitting Mace Windu's lightsaber melted his face... its in the books... all you damn movie goers need to look into the books and get the truth b4 u just go posting bs that isnt even true!

In the book, Palpatine looks in a mirror and says it's been a long time since I have seen this face. My true face. How does that imply that the heat and sparks melted his face?

proffitt
Red Superfly and mephistodesigns have the correct information on Palps/Sids transformation. In the Episode III Visual Dictionary states that Palpatine's face was "revealed" during his battle with Windu. His face looks that way because it is his true face. The Dictionary even states something about "two faces." Palpatine's Master, Darth Plagueis, was an ancient Sith Lord. Palpatine is very old and has used his powers to extend his life.

((The_Anomaly))
umm, no matter what you think, if lucas came out and said "palpatine does not have 2 faces, he was not disguising himself. The lighting deforemed him"

then thats pretty much that....no matter if you think lucas "knows what hes doing" or not.

((The_Anomaly))
although i do agree, its cooler if he was disguisng himself and the use and expenduature of all that energy that caused him to transform into "darth sidious"

proffitt
I do not remember seeing Lucas' comments on Palp's face. Either way, the official answer may take a while to get to (i.e. Ep. III DVD); however, the Ep. III Visual Dictionary does state that Palp's true face is revealed by the lightning. He tells the Senate that he was "scarred and deformed" in order to explain his appearance. He never really reveals that he is a Sith Lord; he has no need to; he is Palpatine, the savior of the Republic and the leader of the Empire.

((The_Anomaly))
i never said lucas DID say that thats what happened, i said if lucas said thats what happens, then thats what happened.

Red Superfly
Yeah so until that day when we can speculate all we like.

I can't ebelieve people think that's what lightning does to skin though. Some people really need to have a look up a medical dictionary and have a read about skin and lightning burns. Better yet, go shock themselves and find out what happens.

I personally think it's Sidious true form being revealled, which has been suppressed for so long, but the lightning caused Palpatine to lose his ability to maintain his appearance.

I mean, old and wrinkly Emperor is his true form, but using a technique he was able to prolong his younger self. I think the lightning caused him to suddenly age as he lost his hold on his youth that he shouldn't have had in the first place. That's why he wasn't "deformed" as Darth Sidious - he had to keep it, or lose it completely. That would explain why he can't simply don the disguise afterwards.

Like in Lord Of The Rings when Bilbo gives up the ring of power, he ages really quickly. I think The Emperor had his own force rejunivation process, in order to slow down his aging process but the lightning caused him to simply drop the ball.

jrodslam
Being filled with hatred, rage and agner changes the way the sith look.
the emperor has full control over his appearance and was able to hide his true form from everyone. Anakin wasnt able to control it yet, thats why in two scenes, you see the eyes change from normal to red and yellow.

And in ROTJ, Luke is getting lightning all over hos body as well as the face. And for a longer period of time than the Emperor. When Luke got up, he was fine. No changes at all.

ShadowKing
Sith always have rotten teeth and yellow eyes (over time)...look at Darth Maul's eyes and teeth...Dooku was Sith but not fully turned to the Dark Side

jrodslam
Originally posted by ShadowKing
Sith always have rotten teeth and yellow eyes (over time)...look at Darth Maul's eyes and teeth...Dooku was Sith but not fully turned to the Dark Side

Vader was Sith for over 20 years, and he didnt have either. And Dooku was fully sith indeed. Where did you get that information saying he wasnt? Some have it, and some dont. Sidious was able to control his anger and change his apperance to that of a normal old man hiding his true apperarance.

Over time? Time has nothing to do with it my friend. Its how much of the hatred and anger you have insideof you. Anakin was sith for 1 day, and had yellow and red eyes twice.

DeVi| D0do
Originally posted by ((The_Anomaly))
umm, no matter what you think, if lucas came out and said "palpatine does not have 2 faces, he was not disguising himself. The lighting deforemed him"

then thats pretty much that....no matter if you think lucas "knows what hes doing" or not. yeah, I understand what you're saying... Lucas gets the final word. Whatever he says goes.

In another thread someone said that Lucas has said that it's the lightning that transforms Palpatine. I'd very much like to read this article if anyone has it.

Still, though, I like the idea that his true appearance is revealed.

DarkAge
Why are people saying that Palpatine was even hit by the lightning? If you watch Episode II you'll see that Obi-Wan's lightsabre completely absorbed Dooku's lightning, not deflected it. I choose to accept my initial theory.

Vanquish
1) The books basically say that he was hiding his true face with his powers, and since Windu drained him of most of his powers, his true form comes through.

2) For all those who only watch the movies and need an explanation that isn't the truth, but maybe sounds cool, here is another you can run with. Because Windu is the only one that uses Vapaad, basically re channeling the dark side and returning it to palpy. This could very well have amplified it, which is why he gets burned and nobody else does. Windu's Vapaad is the reason it was strong enough to melt his face when returned. Sound ok? Ya maybe... But the real reason is number 1 smile

astrofan428
Originally posted by DarkAge
Why are people saying that Palpatine was even hit by the lightning? If you watch Episode II you'll see that Obi-Wan's lightsabre completely absorbed Dooku's lightning, not deflected it. I choose to accept my initial theory.

No it definatly gets reflected back, you can see it hit the wall behind him.

CBright7831
Lance Krait is still around?

Captain REX
Eh, I'm going to have to say that Dooku is not as powerful as Sidious on that one, Dark.

I go with my...or the... 'Dark Side corrupts body' theory.

Sure, it didn't melt off Luke's or Mace's face. But, it did melt Palpatine's (and yes, it did hit his face, for you skeptics who need glasses). It IS his own power hitting him.

And this may be EU, but for one of the KOTOR games, or both, I dunno, the more Dark-Sider your character becomes, eh, a bit gray in the skin and not too healthy looking?

CBright7831
I was pon another forum wheni made that post in this thread.

Sorry.

Darth_Nefarus
I just assumed the lightning was such a powerful thing it broke his "force mask" as I call it.

mephistodesigns
Originally posted by proffitt
Red Superfly and mephistodesigns have the correct information on Palps/Sids transformation. In the Episode III Visual Dictionary states that Palpatine's face was "revealed" during his battle with Windu. His face looks that way because it is his true face. The Dictionary even states something about "two faces." Palpatine's Master, Darth Plagueis, was an ancient Sith Lord. Palpatine is very old and has used his powers to extend his life.

nice to have that confirmed SOMEWHERE. Thanks proffitt!

mephistodesigns
Originally posted by ((The_Anomaly))
umm, no matter what you think, if lucas came out and said "palpatine does not have 2 faces, he was not disguising himself. The lighting deforemed him"

then thats pretty much that....no matter if you think lucas "knows what hes doing" or not.

yeah well, when Lucas say that you let us know. Because all he has said so far is that the lightening "made" him look like that. Which is a very subjective statement. That can mean it MADE him look damaged, or it can mean it MADE him reveal himself. So until Lucas says definetly one way or another, the "revealing" makes much more sense within the film.

mephistodesigns
Originally posted by Red Superfly
Yeah so until that day when we can speculate all we like.

I can't ebelieve people think that's what lightning does to skin though. Some people really need to have a look up a medical dictionary and have a read about skin and lightning burns. Better yet, go shock themselves and find out what happens.

I personally think it's Sidious true form being revealled, which has been suppressed for so long, but the lightning caused Palpatine to lose his ability to maintain his appearance.

I mean, old and wrinkly Emperor is his true form, but using a technique he was able to prolong his younger self. I think the lightning caused him to suddenly age as he lost his hold on his youth that he shouldn't have had in the first place. That's why he wasn't "deformed" as Darth Sidious - he had to keep it, or lose it completely. That would explain why he can't simply don the disguise afterwards.

Like in Lord Of The Rings when Bilbo gives up the ring of power, he ages really quickly. I think The Emperor had his own force rejunivation process, in order to slow down his aging process but the lightning caused him to simply drop the ball.

exactly. You and me always see eye to eye on star wars, its weird...

adele2k5
naw i just think its because mace was pushing the lighting back into his face, lukes face was protected by his hands, and yoda was pushing the lighting away from him

mephistodesigns
laughing "luke's face was protected by his hands"? HIS HANDS ARE AT HIS SIDES FOR MOST OF THAT SCENE! The lightening is bouncing off his teeth for Yoda's sake! laughing rolling on floor laughing laughing

Sesse
At least it didn't bother him too much.


We never heard a signle complaint about his new looks.

"oh dear, now I am deformed and all... ah, but hey. POWER! ULTIMATE POWER!"

DarkAge
^That is explained by the fact that it is his true form; he probably used to revert back to it when no one was around. Cool, the Visual Dictionary has now proven that I was right about everything about Palpatine. I rule.

mephistodesigns
and the novel says, as someone pointed out, "Its been a long time since I have seen this face, my true face".

Its so obvious he was masking his appearance, he didn't have the Sith eyes until after the fight!!! He must have always had the sith eyes, he is a full fledged sith, so he must have been masking his appearance. Lucas was actually pretty consistent with the Sith eyes shockingly enough, Maul had them, Vader had them once he went full time (in the scene when they put the mask on him) and Palps had them.

adele2k5
it wasnt directly in his face if you noticed like mace was pushing it on palp also his hands do cover so of his face

proffitt
mephistodesigns and some of the rest of you are correct about palp's appearance. He masked his true face. Hopefully, some sort of information will officially come out that tells us that Plagueis was his master, Palp. killed him, etc. Either way, Palpatine's appearance comes from the fact that he has been hiding his appearance or maybe even keeping his appearance different by "slowing down" the aging process.

Darth Jello
the novel never said that, all it said was, "so the face of Sidious becomes the face of Palpatine" as he is putting on his black sith hood, which he wears in public from then on.
the technical book clearly says that his face is melted by force lightning and the novel describes his flesh and bone becoming fluid and flowing down his face.
the fact is, that he wanted to torture luke and kill him slowly, so the force of the lightning he was using was nowhere near the intensity of the stuff he uses in episode III. It was probably equally strong for vader (his bones glowed just like Palps' and Mace's) but his electronics melted before his flesh did, taking most of the energy of the lightning.

mephistodesigns
riiiiight. messed

Decay
palpatine didnt seem to really be trying to seriously injure luke in rotj, it was more toying with him and torturing him, then when he got serious and said "now young skywalker, you will die" he let loose and ended up hitting vader, which ended up killing him. as well as that it was more to lukes body and not his face, although his face did take a decent amount i dont think the emperor was trying to do any serious damage to him. his face might already be deterorating like that anyway and he uses the force to maintain it to continue to fool the jedi, when it was struck it did alot more damage than it normally would because its only being held in a normal state by the force. i liked them showing he was toying with mace a bit in the end too. after making out that he was barely strong enough to survive even without mace finishing him he gets up and yells about his unlimited power as soon as he has secured anakins turn. then he stands up without any sign of fatigue. so assuming he was in control of the situation the whole time im guessing he wasnt worried about his face, which might mean he knew he didnt need to worry about keeping it human looking, or it could just mean that he didnt care what happened to it in the first place. he didnt seem surprised at all and didnt even bother looking at it in a mirror, or even giving it a mention, other than to the senete, which i think was more to cement their opinion of the jedi as trators. in my opinion it was a bit of his unmasking and a bit of him being injured by force lightning. without the lightning i think he would have let it deterorate anyway but the lightning it deformed it much faster than it would have naturally.

Red Superfly
Originally posted by Decay
palpatine didnt seem to really be trying to seriously injure luke in rotj, it was more toying with him and torturing him, then when he got serious and said "now young skywalker, you will die" he let loose and ended up hitting vader, which ended up killing him. as well as that it was more to lukes body and not his face, although his face did take a decent amount i dont think the emperor was trying to do any serious damage to him. his face might already be deterorating like that anyway and he uses the force to maintain it to continue to fool the jedi, when it was struck it did alot more damage than it normally would because its only being held in a normal state by the force. i liked them showing he was toying with mace a bit in the end too. after making out that he was barely strong enough to survive even without mace finishing him he gets up and yells about his unlimited power as soon as he has secured anakins turn. then he stands up without any sign of fatigue. so assuming he was in control of the situation the whole time im guessing he wasnt worried about his face, which might mean he knew he didnt need to worry about keeping it human looking, or it could just mean that he didnt care what happened to it in the first place. he didnt seem surprised at all and didnt even bother looking at it in a mirror, or even giving it a mention, other than to the senete, which i think was more to cement their opinion of the jedi as trators. in my opinion it was a bit of his unmasking and a bit of him being injured by force lightning. without the lightning i think he would have let it deterorate anyway but the lightning it deformed it much faster than it would have naturally.

Paragraphs man!

What are you saying anyway? I'm none the wiser due to the many contradictions in that post.

Newsflash people. Lightning doesn't deform anything. It burns and shocks people. It doesn't melt skin like putty. Palpatine isn't made of wax dammit, it's skin!

dwizard
I believe it was the Darkside of the Force that was slowly consuming him as he continued to use his power. He was struggling with Mace reguardless of his playing the victim... If Anakin would have stayed out of the fight Mace would have killed him.

Remember that he did Kill three other jedi like cutting through a piece of cake. I dont like how Kit Fisto got it... but hey... It happens...
He is after all a SITH LORD!

theGTR
i think palpatine is half the age as old as YODA. i'm guessing 400yrs.
yoda knew that the sith lord didn't die for a long time...right?
thats probbaly cause its palpatine all along

AdamTron
This post is so long, I hope people actually read far enough to find my post. The Star Wars Insider Magazine Issue 82 hit the stands this week. There is an exclusive interview with Ian McDiarmid, the actor that plays Sidious (The Emperor). The answer is on p. 58. Ian says that the Emperor is very old and very evil and that he was wearing a "carapace" which means a disguising shell. He said that he always looked evil and hideous and when Anakin turned to the dark side by attacking Mace, that's when the Emperor's true face came forward as he let evil manifest itself. Further evidence supports this theory because if you see the movie a second time and pay attention to that scene, there is a lot of dark side electricity around the Emperor, but only a little of that touches his face. His face goes through a transformation on it's own and then there are some stray bolts of electricity and smoke afterwards. This appears to also match the information found in the novel and visual dictionary in previous posts. Hope this helps solve some of the mystery.

DeVi| D0do
un hum...

I posted this a while ago in another thread:

http://img279.echo.cx/img279/6695/palps8zt8ex.th.jpg

a good article

queeq
Very good indeed.
The masks are still ugly though...

neo313
Originally posted by Sesse
At least it didn't bother him too much.


We never heard a signle complaint about his new looks.

"oh dear, now I am deformed and all... ah, but hey. POWER! ULTIMATE POWER!"


hahahahaha, exactly laughing

all of the quotes from the visual dictionary, the ROTS novel, and now SW insider # 82 state that palps has been masking his appearance for many years

also, the scene where palp's face gets messed up was referred to as "the revelation scene" or something, before the movie came out . Gl said somthing about "the scene where palp's true appearance is revealed". he also said somthing about palps being "much older than you would think". sorry, I don't have any links or exact quotes, but there's enough evidence anyways wink

the following facts, while debatable, also suggest that palp's face was not "burned" or "scarred":

-Luke was hit with lightning for a much longer time in rotj, and he had no signs of scarring or changes in appearance. although palpatine's body was smoking, luke's was also smoking, yet he had no physical deformities
-in aotc, when obi-wan blocks dooku's lightning, the bolts just disappear, they do not bounce back (palps and mace were right next to each other tho, so this isn't really proof)
-yoda was shot in the face with lightning by palps so powerful that he flew backwards into the wall, but again, he had no physical wounds

one more thing:
palpy's whole story about darth plagueis suggests that palpatine has been using the power he spoke of to prolong his own life. the way he smirks when he speaks of plagueis' apprentice makes it seem like he is recalling the time when he murdered his master and took his power

in conclusion, it seems fairly obvious that palpatine has been using the dark side powers he learned from darth plagueis to grant himself extra long life, and make his appearance seem younger than he really was.
when he is hit with his own lightning, his disguise is dropped and his true appearance is revealed.
he then tells the republic that he was "deformed" by the jedi, in order to explain away his freakish looks, as well as to generate sympathy towards himself and anger toward the jedi.
it makes perfect sense

smokin'

jabbar
When palpatine is "melting" during the duel b/w himslef and windu, he says, quitely, "I'm too weak.... I can't keep it up much longer..." This suggests either of two things:

1) He is being damaged by the lightning and he can't sustain teh lightnning

2) His powers are draining as he is using the full brunt of his force lightning abilities, which is weakening his force induced youthful appearance and stamina

I would go with 2, as this seems most plausible, considering all prior evidence about lightning not causing similar disfigurment (cf. obi-wan vs. dooku, sidious vs. luke).

Furthermore, and most importantly, the discussions palpatine had with anakin when he talked about Darth Plageus and his apprentice also indicate this fact. Firstly, palps talks to anakin about plageus, his apprentice and the technique of cheating death, and hinted, by his wry smile as though he was remembering the story from a first person perspective. Secondly, after windu was killed and anakin swore his allegiance, palps (now revealed as sidious), mentions that he will help anakin in discovering the secrets of giving life.

Darth Plagueis
Originally posted by mephistodesigns
laughing "luke's face was protected by his hands"? HIS HANDS ARE AT HIS SIDES FOR MOST OF THAT SCENE! The lightening is bouncing off his teeth for Yoda's sake! laughing rolling on floor laughing laughing Well see, good dental hygeine DOESN"T lead to the dark side, boys and girls....

Sadako of Girth
Originally posted by DarkAge
What do you think was the cause of Palpatine's transformation to the "deformed" man that is the Emperor? My theory is that Palpatine is in fact much older than he looks, and was using the unnatural powers the Dark Side gave him to maintain youthfulness (hence his ability to fight like that). When he used the force lightning on Windu, his ability to keep this appearance disappeared. Does anyone have a different theory?

Nope. I see it the same way too....

theflyxx
Originally posted by neo313
hahahahaha, exactly laughing

all of the quotes from the visual dictionary, the ROTS novel, and now SW insider # 82 state that palps has been masking his appearance for many years

also, the scene where palp's face gets messed up was referred to as "the revelation scene" or something, before the movie came out . Gl said somthing about "the scene where palp's true appearance is revealed". he also said somthing about palps being "much older than you would think". sorry, I don't have any links or exact quotes, but there's enough evidence anyways wink

the following facts, while debatable, also suggest that palp's face was not "burned" or "scarred":

-Luke was hit with lightning for a much longer time in rotj, and he had no signs of scarring or changes in appearance. although palpatine's body was smoking, luke's was also smoking, yet he had no physical deformities
-in aotc, when obi-wan blocks dooku's lightning, the bolts just disappear, they do not bounce back (palps and mace were right next to each other tho, so this isn't really proof)
-yoda was shot in the face with lightning by palps so powerful that he flew backwards into the wall, but again, he had no physical wounds

one more thing:
palpy's whole story about darth plagueis suggests that palpatine has been using the power he spoke of to prolong his own life. the way he smirks when he speaks of plagueis' apprentice makes it seem like he is recalling the time when he murdered his master and took his power

in conclusion, it seems fairly obvious that palpatine has been using the dark side powers he learned from darth plagueis to grant himself extra long life, and make his appearance seem younger than he really was.
when he is hit with his own lightning, his disguise is dropped and his true appearance is revealed.
he then tells the republic that he was "deformed" by the jedi, in order to explain away his freakish looks, as well as to generate sympathy towards himself and anger toward the jedi.
it makes perfect sense

smokin'

Quoted for truth.

Lazerlike42
Originally posted by neo313
hahahahaha, exactly laughing

all of the quotes from the visual dictionary, the ROTS novel, and now SW insider # 82 state that palps has been masking his appearance for many years

also, the scene where palp's face gets messed up was referred to as "the revelation scene" or something, before the movie came out . Gl said somthing about "the scene where palp's true appearance is revealed". he also said somthing about palps being "much older than you would think". sorry, I don't have any links or exact quotes, but there's enough evidence anyways wink

the following facts, while debatable, also suggest that palp's face was not "burned" or "scarred":

-Luke was hit with lightning for a much longer time in rotj, and he had no signs of scarring or changes in appearance. although palpatine's body was smoking, luke's was also smoking, yet he had no physical deformities
-in aotc, when obi-wan blocks dooku's lightning, the bolts just disappear, they do not bounce back (palps and mace were right next to each other tho, so this isn't really proof)
-yoda was shot in the face with lightning by palps so powerful that he flew backwards into the wall, but again, he had no physical wounds

one more thing:
palpy's whole story about darth plagueis suggests that palpatine has been using the power he spoke of to prolong his own life. the way he smirks when he speaks of plagueis' apprentice makes it seem like he is recalling the time when he murdered his master and took his power

in conclusion, it seems fairly obvious that palpatine has been using the dark side powers he learned from darth plagueis to grant himself extra long life, and make his appearance seem younger than he really was.
when he is hit with his own lightning, his disguise is dropped and his true appearance is revealed.
he then tells the republic that he was "deformed" by the jedi, in order to explain away his freakish looks, as well as to generate sympathy towards himself and anger toward the jedi.
it makes perfect sense

smokin'

Don't be so sure, neo. The power of those quotes is insignificant compared to the power of one George Lucas statement to the contrary, which he has made.

mephistodesigns
he never said the DAMAGE from the lightening. Why don't you post the quote and the source of it Lazer? Because everyone has posted things to the contrary of what you claim. Post his quote. I'm pretty sure I know which one your talking about and he said the Palpatine starts to look old because of the incident with the lightening, he does not say it is damage FROM the lightening. So post your quote and source like the others have. I mean christ Lazer, in that article we have Ian the freaking Emperor saying that George told him the more human looking Palpatine is really the one "wearing" contacts. If you can't figure it out from there, then you need to go back to high school English.

Bicnarok

mephistodesigns
uhhhh. it could also imply he's lying. He's said how many things that are complete BS?

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