After almost a quarter of a century, ‘Star Wars’ fans realize who Palpatine was inspired by

When it comes to the Star Wars franchise, it can never be said fans are completely aware of what it’s intended to mean all the time. Some have said the Empire are heroic from a certain point of view, others have blasted the series’ recent projects for a number of reasons, and now, a few have only just grasped who helped birth its biggest bad.

The above post on Reddit is burning up with a discourse as hot as a red lightsaber. Many are mentioning memes, others are joking about Hitler being inspired by Palpatine (who Lucas almost gave a very ridiculous name to), but for one user, such a thing is odd to mention now given its blatancy. Essentially, if you look, the influences on the look of the serious are glaringly clear.

For the record, this is true. Others are pointing out how the Nazi Party was voted into power (though it only ever received a plurality and not an outright majority in the free elections it participated in) in a manner similar to the ever-shifty Sheev. In addition to Hitler, the Sith Lord was also influenced by other tyrants throughout history (as well as some U.S. politicians, but we’ll get to that) and a different user points out one of his most memeable lines is a paraphrase of what a real Frenchman once uttered.

Louis XIV ruled for over 70 years, and like Palpatine much of the power in his kingdom rested absolutely with him. Because everything eventually revolves back to contemporary or at least recent politics, there is discussion of how former President George W. Bush used a war for his own ends in the eyes of critics similar to how Palpatine exploited the Clone Wars. While Lucas did say there were parallels with Bush during the time the prequel story was released, his original influence for the character was former President Richard Nixon. In the past, Lucas has said Star Wars was a reaction to the Vietnam War and Palpatine “was a politician. He subverted the Senate, finally took over, became an imperial guy, and he was really evil. But he pretended to be [nice].” 

Other influences include Samurai culture and the Flash Gordon franchise. Of course, people also see what they want to see, and, given the inability of the franchise and its fans to move on, odds are this conversation will come up once again in the near-future.