Highlights
- Palpatine mastered the Force to manipulate events and destroy enemies easily, standing as one of the most evil figures in Star Wars .
- Palpatine displayed a range of devastating Force powers, from telekinesis to essence transferring, showcasing his terrifying strength.
- His abilities, like force lightning and essence transferring, allowed him to cheat death and manipulate the future to further his lust for power.
Sheev Palpatine is one of the most evil characters in the Star Wars galaxy, and his reign of terror over the galaxy far, far away as Emperor Palpatine and Darth Sidious was one of cruelty and power. Palpatine's mastery of the Dark Side of the Force enabled him to manipulate events, orchestrate wars, and destroy his enemies with ease. Star Wars has a wealth of different Sith powers, and Palpatine held a mastery above his apprentices to never be overruled.
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Exploring the most impressive and devastating Force abilities that Palpatine displays throughout the Star Wars saga, spanning from the saga movies to TV shows, comics, and novels, it is clear how he became such a powerful ruler. By delving into some of the Legends material, where Palpatine's power reached even greater heights, a comprehensive list of every Force moment of Palpatine's can be made. Whether it was unleashing Force lightning, creating Force storms, or transferring his essence, Palpatine's Force powers were truly terrifying.
9 Force Telekinesis
Pull, Push, Choke & Throw With Ease
Every Jedi and Sith seems to possess a variation of this ability and can often be seen utilizing it to pull lightsabers towards them or push away a group of droids. There are countless examples where other characters have utilized this power, but Palpatine appears to use it in restraint.
In Star Wars: Rebels he uses this ability to remove cuffs from Ezra Bridger over an immense distance, showcasing Palpatine's control over the Force. In the films, he uses it to lift and throw pods within the senate at Yoda during his duel with the Jedi Grandmaster in Revenge of the Sith.
8 Shatterpoint
Bending The Will Of Others
Palpatine has the natural ability to perceive the weaknesses or flaws in people, objects, or events, and then is able to exploit them with the Force. He used this power to manipulate Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side and to break Mace Windu’s lightsaber in their duel during Revenge of the Sith.
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The Shatterpoint power mostly relies on his strong ability to notice the flaws in others but is heightened by his connection to the Force, and his hunger for manipulation.
7 Force Jump
Leap Higher Than The Average Jump
Force Jump is another ability possessed by most Jedi and Sith. However, Palpatine has seemingly mastered this ability one step further. He can levitate and fly with the Force. Fans saw glimpses of this in Revenge of the Sith during his duel with Master Yoda in the Senate.
Additionally, he has shown this Force ability in the Legends series of the Dark Empire comic. In this comic, he used this power to escape from Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, who had confronted him on Byss.
6 Force Vision
Foresight Allows Palpatine To See The Future To Manipulate His Gain
Palpatine can see glimpses of the future and the past using his connection to the Dark Side of the Force. It is using this ability that he claims to have foreseen Anakin's fall to the Dark Side and Palpatine's rise after the fall of the Jedi Order in Revenge of the Sith.
He has also been seen using greater control of this power for control when it comes to the characters of Star Wars: Rebels, as he projected a false vision of his younger self to Ezra Bridger in an attempt to trap the Jedi in an alternate reality, and further his lust for power.
5 Pyrokinesis
Shaping The Elements With The Force
In the Darth Vader comic series, Palpatine demonstrated his control over the force as he manipulated the element of fire, by using the Force to sweep flames from fire to incinerate a group of rebel spies who had infiltrated his palace in Coruscant.
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Whilst Palpatine is still unable to physically create elements just through the Force, the ability to control even the most unstable forms of matter exemplifies the strength of the Dark Side.
4 Force Drain
Draining The Health Of Others For His Own
The power to drain the life force from other lifeforms and use it to heal himself or enhance his strength is a skill that Palpatine learned near the end of his reign of power.
This likely is an extension of his ability to transfer his essence and spirit. He used this Force ability in The Rise of Skywalker to siphon the energy of Rey and Kylo Ren and restore his body to its former glory.
3 Force Lightning
Shocks, Burns, And Breaks His Foes’ Will
This is Palpatine’s signature power, which he uses to torture and kill his enemies with bolts of electricity. It was first seen in Return of the Jedi as Palpatine used it to attack Luke Skywalker and turn him to the Dark Side, and later in Revenge of the Sith to defeat Mace Windu and kill the other Jedi Masters who came to arrest him.
His duel with Windu and use of Force Lightning left Palpatine severely disfigured by the deflected bolts of energy. It is probably this moment that led Palpatine to explore life-draining and essence-transferring Force powers to try and fix his scars and disformities at the hands of his own twisted powers.
2 Force Essence Transferring
The Ability To Cheat Death
Palpatine learned the ability to transfer his spirit into another body or vessel, which he used to cheat death and prolong his life; aiming to be the final Sith. Fans first saw him use this power in the Legends continuity with the Dark Empire comic series, where he possessed a series of clone bodies after his death in Return of the Jedi.
This power was then renewed in canon during The Rise of Skywalker, where he transferred his essence into a decrepit body on Exegol, and later attempted to possess Rey, believing her to be the purest descendant of his with a high midi-chlorian count.
1 Force Storm
A Volatile Hyper-Space Wormhole
Creating massive wormholes in space is a rare and powerful Force ability that can destroy entire planets or fleets of starships. Palpatine first used this power in the Star Wars Legends Dark Empire comic series, where he unleashed a force storm on Coruscant to stop the Rebel Alliance. More notably, he used this Force power in The Rise of Skywalker, where he created a force storm to prevent the Resistance from escaping Exegol, to bring forth the Final Order.
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