Palpatine was NOT deformed

[Illuminatus Primus]

My preferred explanation is that he got reckless and channeled so much Dark Side energy into his force lightening that it exceeded his body's capability to deal with it. I've heard many times that the Dark Side is supposed to be like a physical toxin to a certain extent, that it drains the vitality of a person and eats away at their physical health. Palpatine was channeling massively unsafe levels of it, and as it a result it physically scarred him, sort of like overdosing on a drug or getting radiation burns. Either that or he put so much of his own Force into the lightening that he drained his own life energy (we know from the books with the Ssi-Ruuk that people do have individual Force energy, it's not like magic that just comes from nowhere).
Personally I'm glad they actually set an upper limit to Palpatine's power level. The disguise thing is just BS by people who don't want to admit it. There go those continent-levelling force storms. Suck it down Sith-wankers.

Wrong. Official LFL publication > Newb's Agenda.

[Junghalli]

Wrong. Official LFL publication > Newb's Agenda.

Aww, I thought I'd advanced beyond no0bness by now.
Anyway, let me ask you this. Before Palpatine's face-deformation incident Darth Sidious has a smooth neck, just like the public persona of Senator Palpatine. Afterwards he has a wrinkled neck. Why was he maintaining his disguise even when he was in his Sidious persona? Wouldn't it be safer for him to have Palpatine and Sidious look visibly different?

[Jack Bauer]

Wrong. Official LFL publication > Newb's Agenda.

Aww, I thought I'd advanced beyond no0bness by now.
Anyway, let me ask you this. Before Palpatine's face-deformation incident Darth Sidious has a smooth neck, just like the public persona of Senator Palpatine. Afterwards he has a wrinkled neck. Why was he maintaining his disguise even when he was in his Sidious persona? Wouldn't it be safer for him to have Palpatine and Sidious look visibly different?

It could be that Sidious cannot easily switch between personas easily. If he dropped his Palpatine disguise, he would lose it for good. So beneath the surface, he still IS the Dark Lord. But in order to keep his visage intact, he must keep the Palpatine face, even when he's acting as the Dark Lord to his minions.

Now, when that mask is finally exposed, Sidious has already consolidated his power. He no longer needs to hide behind the face of Palpatine.

[Utsanomiko]

It's also presumable that his disguise hides his force-presence as well as his appearance. In fact it is implied by the films that the Sith are keeping the Jedi from sensing through the Force properly.

Putting on the hood and sending holotransmissions to his minions is one thing, but if he completely dropped the visage and went "Boo! Ima Dark Lord of the Sith!" the Jedi would notice a lot more than a vague feeling around Palpatine.

[Junghalli]

That's true, but I still don't buy the disguise theory.
What we apparently see is Palpatine throwing Force lightening at Mace Windu for a long period of time and probably at high intensity, and his face distorts. What evidence is there that anything other than what we seem to see is actually going on? The fact that we've seen other people throw force lightening and the same thing doesn't happen to them? We have no clue what intensity the lightening was, I'll bet that Palpatine just put too much energy into the force lightening and absorbed too much Dark Side energy or drained himself. It's the simplest and most straightforward explanation.
Notice that he did appear to be rendered helpless afterwards, at least for a few moments.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

You're either being obtuse or ignoring what was discussed on the last three pages. Either way I see no need to actually reply to what you're saying at this point, and will merely dismiss it.

[Utsanomiko]

That's true, but I still don't buy the disguise theory.
What we apparently see is Palpatine throwing Force lightening at Mace Windu for a long period of time and probably at high intensity, and his face distorts. What evidence is there that anything other than what we seem to see is actually going on? The fact that we've seen other people throw force lightening and the same thing doesn't happen to them? We have no clue what intensity the lightening was, I'll bet that Palpatine just put too much energy into the force lightening and absorbed too much Dark Side energy or drained himself. It's the simplest and most straightforward explanation.
Notice that he did appear to be rendered helpless afterwards, at least for a few moments.

Not more than a second, which was a lot shorter than how long Luke was in pain and paralisys. And you're ignoring the clear fact that whatever level of power Sidious was using on Mace Windu had to have been much lower than what was used on him after he lost his hand. Yet he wasn't 'deformed' in such a way. Nobody has ever suffered such changes in appearance despite the examples of lethal Focr-lightning attacks in the saga.

This whole argument on injurries stems entirely from the inability to pay attention to the facts and context of the situation and accept that Sidious is a liar and threw the fight. It's really no different than the argument that Mace Windu really was strong enough to whoop Sidious even though Yoda wasn't.

[Kurgan]

To pull a term from Dune then, he's a Face Dancer. Not a Changeling like Zam Wessel, but you get the idea. He can re-arrange his facial structure to hide his hideous appearance. The "Sith Eyes" come and go (for reasons that aren't yet fully understood apparently) with some, but not all Sith Lords.

But it's just a little tougher to maintain/change in this universe than in Dune. This explains how he can fool technology (the hologram projectors for example). He can mask his "force signature" from Jedi Masters, so they can't detect his disguise either.

I mean, he DID also change the disguise over time, as he appeared to age like a normal human over the course of 13 years.

The reflected lightning screwed up his concentration (it's painful stuff) and it was a perfect excuse to claim the Jedi disfigured him to gain extra sympathy from his dupes in the Senate et al. Once his enemies are (thought to be) dead, why waste energy with disguises?


As to why he looks so messed up, I'd theorize that he's much older than he looks (maybe a few centuries old). If Yoda and Dooku can be all sprightly with the Force despite being old geezers, so can Palpy. And his "legendary" master might have taught him a thing or two about physical longevity.

PS: Why didn't he just invest in some good ol' plastic surgery? Well perhaps he just had a Michael Jackson happen to him, only worse...

[Spanky The Dolphin]

To pull a term from Dune then, he's a Face Dancer. Not a Changeling like Zam Wessel, but you get the idea. He can re-arrange his facial structure to hide his hideous appearance.

Um...NO.

It's not something physical. It's Force-related, possibly a branching off from the Doppleganger skill.

[Robert Walper]

Wrong. Official LFL publication > Newb's Agenda.

Aww, I thought I'd advanced beyond no0bness by now.
Anyway, let me ask you this. Before Palpatine's face-deformation incident Darth Sidious has a smooth neck, just like the public persona of Senator Palpatine. Afterwards he has a wrinkled neck. Why was he maintaining his disguise even when he was in his Sidious persona? Wouldn't it be safer for him to have Palpatine and Sidious look visibly different?

Another point against the disguise arguement.

[LordShaithis]

Jesus, this is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. The novelization and the visual dictionary both claim it was damage from the lightning, and absolutely nothing in the film contradicts this.

And no, Spanky, your personal ruminations and cries of inconsistency DON'T OVERRULE FUCKING LFL CANON POLICY. Force lightning doesn't usually do that to people? Well it did THIS time, because the novel says so and the movie doesn't contradict it! You can accept the explanation as to WHY this is so, or not, but don't try to paint this as anything but you wanting to subvert canon policy to get rid of things you don't like.

[Utsanomiko]

Wrong. Official LFL publication > Newb's Agenda.

Aww, I thought I'd advanced beyond no0bness by now.
Anyway, let me ask you this. Before Palpatine's face-deformation incident Darth Sidious has a smooth neck, just like the public persona of Senator Palpatine. Afterwards he has a wrinkled neck. Why was he maintaining his disguise even when he was in his Sidious persona? Wouldn't it be safer for him to have Palpatine and Sidious look visibly different?

Another point against the disguise arguement.

Only if you're an idiot and haven't realized in the last four pages that Sidious [was hiding from the Jedi that whole time. Whoooa, big revelation there considering just how many times the prequels mentioned it.

[Utsanomiko]

Jesus, this is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. The novelization and the visual dictionary both claim it was damage from the lightning, and absolutely nothing in the film contradicts this.

And no, Spanky, your personal ruminations and cries of inconsistency DON'T OVERRULE FUCKING LFL CANON POLICY. Force lightning doesn't usually do that to people? Well it did THIS time, because the novel says so and the movie doesn't contradict it! You can accept the explanation as to WHY this is so, or not, but don't try to paint this as anything but you wanting to subvert canon policy to get rid of things you don't like.

1. The novel describes the scene taking place differently than seen in the film. The lightning was clearly not fusing flesh and warping his bones. There is in fact a contradiction.

2. 'It did THIS time because the novel said so'? Only if you somehow construe canon policy to say the novel overrules the film whenever you fail to analyze the event in question. Force lightning just doesn't work that way, no matter what book or simplified description of lesser canon says so.

I suppose we can claim that Kit Fisto's lightsaber wound somehow detached his head (like he was decapitated in the novel), even though that's clearly not what happened in the film nor how lightsabers work? It's all an appeal to ignorance on the facts pointing to Sidious being disguised and not seriously injured by his defensive lightning's backwash.

[Robert Walper]

Aww, I thought I'd advanced beyond no0bness by now.
Anyway, let me ask you this. Before Palpatine's face-deformation incident Darth Sidious has a smooth neck, just like the public persona of Senator Palpatine. Afterwards he has a wrinkled neck. Why was he maintaining his disguise even when he was in his Sidious persona? Wouldn't it be safer for him to have Palpatine and Sidious look visibly different?

Another point against the disguise arguement.

Only if you're an idiot and haven't realized in the last four pages that Sidious [was hiding from the Jedi that whole time. Whoooa, big revelation there considering just how many times the prequels mentioned it.

Yes, because Sith are dead giveaways by their twisted physical appearance which is the norm. Well, you know, except Darth Maul, Dooku, Anakin, etc.

[Utsanomiko]

How does that deal with the notion his disguise covered his appearance and his Force-presence?

God dammit, is anyone even reading the posts made here, or is this just a *read OP, add $.02* parade?

[Robert Walper]

How does that deal with the notion his disguise covered his appearance and his Force-presence?

God dammit, is anyone even reading the posts made here, or is this just a *read OP, add $.02* parade?

Explain why this "disguise" variable of your theory is required or necessary. Occam's Razor applied to the arguement suggests it isn't.

[Utsanomiko]

Because the Sith are said to be hiding their presense from the Jedi (despite being in the same room half the time) and because it fits with evidence on the function of force lightning, lethal and non-lethal. Suggesting he has no disguise fails to explain his appearance change consistently and leaves his hidden force presense unresolved. And yes, Sidious threw the fight.

[Robert Walper]

Because the Sith are said to be hiding their presense from the Jedi (despite being in the same room half the time)

I'll accept your concession on this point, since there's nothing about a Sith's physical appearance that gives them away. I already mentioned Darth Maul, Dooku, Anakin...which you ignored.

Their ability to "hide their presence" does not equate to "they change their physical appearance".

and because it fits with evidence on the function of force lightning, lethal and non-lethal.

Palpatine's disfigurement do to Force lightening is easily explained along with other examples which others here have already submitted, including myself. Noteably, Palpatine was affected by his own Force lightening, which taxes his ability to defend against it since he's putting his effort into creating it.

Suggesting he has no disguise fails to explain his appearance change consistently

Where? It's already been pointed out Sidious's appearance prior to the ROTS lightening sequence looks just like Palpatine...without the disfigurement.

and leaves his hidden force presense unresolved.

How does the Jedi's inability to determine who exactly the the Sith Lord is equate to Palpatine having a disguise? I've already pointed out Sith don't have any physical characteristics that identify them.

And yes, Sidious threw the fight.

In your opinion. It looked to me like Mace beat him fair and square, with only the Palpatine wankers claiming he "let it happen".

[Deathstalker]

I was rereading the article and thought I'd post the entire releveant section.

SW Insider #82 Pg. 58

Did George ever give you advice on how to approach playing the role?

George once said a really useful thing when I began playing Palpatine (in TPM), and I don't know if he remembers this. He said, "In a sense, your eyes are contact lenses." In other words, the Palpatine character was the most artificial-it was as if they had grafted hs face and put in (his) eyes. Because the real Palpatine is the one who bursts forth at a calculated moment in Episode III just after persuading Anakin to kill Mace. That is when the true person comes out, letting the evil fully manifest itself. The Emperor that you see in the last film looks like he does because he's very old and very evil-it is what he always looked like. He just had this carapace of looking like a fairly ordinary guy, a politician that smiled a bit, and so on.

Was there always the intention to show Sidious as he appears at the end of the film?

I don't think George had made up his mind when we started shooting whether to continually show Lord Sidious as he really is after his initial transformation or if Sidious would go back and forth with his appearance. I (believe) when George finally saw Dave's wonderful makeup he decided that constantly changing Palpatine's appearance would be a step backward. So the moment in the film where I make the transformation is the way I appear until the end. It's an interesting sort of study of schizophrenia really-the nice guy that you saw was revealed later in the monstrous mask as the self, the Sith self.

I bolded what I think the relavant parts are. The Pally face was just a disguise, or else GL wouldn't have bothered to consider going back and forth with appearances.

[Robert Walper]

*snip article*

I bolded what I think the relavant parts are. The Pally face was just a disguise, or else GL wouldn't have bothered to consider going back and forth with appearances.

The fact he "considered it" isn't particularily helpful. What's important is what he actually did. In this case, Palpatine looked normal as himself and Sidious until being exposed to his Force lightening feedback. After which Palpatine has been disfigured ever since.

[Kurgan]

To pull a term from Dune then, he's a Face Dancer. Not a Changeling like Zam Wessel, but you get the idea. He can re-arrange his facial structure to hide his hideous appearance.

Um...NO.

It's not something physical. It's Force-related, possibly a branching off from the Doppleganger skill.

So the Force can fool technology too? If it can, fine, I'm just asking...

And this Doppelganger skill, lets a Dark Side user appear in two places at once (Dark Empire series), but the one is just a phantom decoy. So you're saying he might have this decoy pasted on himself like a holoshroud?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

So the Force can fool technology too? If it can, fine, I'm just asking...

Yes, it can. Again as a reference, a Doppleganger is indistinguishable from a real person even to electronic sensors and scanners. It basically reads as a perfect duplicate of the Force user.

And this Doppelganger skill, lets a Dark Side user appear in two places at once (Dark Empire series), but the one is just a phantom decoy. So you're saying he might have this decoy pasted on himself like a holoshroud?

Keep in mind that I'm not saying that it is the Doppleganger skill reapplied, only that it's similar to the Doppleganger skill in many ways, so it might be a related skill.

[LordShaithis]

Should I trot out a list of other strange notions "considered" by Lucas? (Fighter-sized "Star Destroyers" anyone?) What matters is what is in the canon material. And the canon states it was damage caused by Force lightning.

"BUT OMG, THAT ISNT WHAT ITS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE WHEN FORCE LIGHTNING MELTS YOUR FACE AND WARPS BONE OR WHATEVER!"

How the fuck do you know?

"BUT LIGHTNING NEVER MELTED OTHER PEOPLES FACES!"

Already explained by Walper and others.

"BUT OTHER MINOR THINGS IN THAT SCENE ARE DIFFERENT IN THE BOOK!"

There's still nothing in the film to suggest it's just a disguise, and the book explicitly speaks in favor of my position.

"BUT IT MAKES MY HERO LOOK LIKE A BITCH!"

There you go.

[Noble Ire]

"BUT IT MAKES MY HERO LOOK LIKE A BITCH!"

There you go.

Who the hell would hold Palpatine as their hero?

[Spanky The Dolphin]

"BUT LIGHTNING NEVER MELTED OTHER PEOPLES FACES!"

Already explained by Walper and others.

Quite poorly, I might add.