In the Star Wars sequel trilogy, fans were introduced to the mysterious new villain, Supreme Leader Snoke. Though answers regarding Snoke’s origin were presented in the trilogy’s final movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Snoke is still a very secretive character, with lots of mystery surrounding his rise to power, past, and motives – especially considering the origin that was revealed for him in the films.

Supreme Leader Snoke first appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, played by Andy Serkis in motion capture. The character only appeared as a hologram until 2017’s sequel, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where Snoke appeared in the flesh – and was killed by Kylo Ren. This shocked fans all over the world, and dramatically changed how they viewed Snoke. Now, almost 10 years on from his first introduction, here’s everything that Star Wars has revealed about Supreme Leader Snoke.

8 Supreme Leader Snoke Was Created By Palpatine

A Strandcast Experiment From Exegol

As revealed in The Rise of Skywalker, Snoke is who nobody expected him to be: a genetic creation of the late Emperor Palpatine. During the film’s opening scene, Kylo Ren walks past a vat full of yellow liquid and more copies of the dead Supreme Leader. Palpatine created Snoke to act as a puppet, controlling the First Order and crafting Kylo into a suitable heir to the Empire.

As for Snoke’s creation date, it’s highly likely that the being who would become Supreme Leader was actually created before the events of the original trilogy. Snoke was said to predate the creation of Dathan, the failed clone of Palpatine who became Rey’s father, who was made in 12 BBY – 12 years before the original trilogy. This means Snoke was likely present on Exegol for a very long time even before the creation of the First Order.

7 Supreme Leader Snoke Didn’t Know He Was A Strandcast Pawn

The Mystery Of Snoke’s Motivation & Palpatine’s Control

Another confusing and intriguing aspect of Snoke’s identity is how much control Emperor Palpatine actually had. Was Palpatine puppeteering Snoke using the Force, or was Snoke an independent actor? And how much knowledge did the Strandcast have in this situation?

The one thing that is known for certain is that Snoke did not know about his true origins. Snoke was unaware of the fact that he was created via cloning technology, and was likely influenced by the Emperor without his knowledge. He expanded the First Order’s borders just as Palpatine had planned, and due to his influence.

Snoke is implied to be part-Palpatine, combined with the DNA of other Force users.

6 We Still Don’t Know How Snoke Met Ben Solo

Master & Apprentice Drawn Together

Snoke was not only the First Order’s supreme leader, but was the master of Kylo Ren, training Ben Solo in the ways of the dark side. Though both Solo’s fall to the dark side and the later years of his training have been depicted in Star Wars stories, their first meeting has never actually been established.

We still don’t know how Snoke met Ben Solo. Han Solo and Leia seem to know who Snoke is and speak of him as instrumental to Ben’s fall to the dark side, but their first meeting or introduction is still largely a mystery. The Rise of Kylo Ren comics by Charles Soule and Will Sliney have, however, shown that Ben was mentally connected to Snoke and went to the dark sider after the destruction of Luke Skywalker’s Ossus Jedi Temple.

5 Snoke Fought Luke Skywalker Sometime Before Ben Fell To The Dark Side

Snoke Claims Skywalker Injured Him… Is He Lying?

Shortly after Ben Solo arrived at the Amaxine Space Station, where Snoke was waiting for him, Ben remarked on Snoke’s scars, saying “Snoke… look what Master Luke did to you.” This vastly changes the general idea of who Snoke is in relation to the main characters of Star Wars during the New Republic era, implying that Snoke fought Luke Skywalker before he met Ben. Was Snoke known to the likes of Luke and Ben before his villainous identity was revealed?

Snoke… look what Master Luke did to you.

This also complicates the Snokes seen in the vat on Exegol, because those apparently untouched Snokes already have the same exact scars that we all know Snoke to have. This leads to the assumption that Snoke may have simply fabricated this story, claiming his pre-made scars were from Skywalker to further convince Ben that his uncle wasn’t to be trusted. This hasn’t been confirmed either way, but the idea of Snoke fighting Luke would make for an incredible story sometime in the future.

4 Snoke’s Role In Kylo Ren’s Fall

A Solo Drawn To The Darkness

Whenever Snoke did indeed meet Ben Solo, he began to have an influence on his life – though it also may have been Palpatine speaking through Snoke’s voice. The young man was training under his uncle, going on missions across the galaxy, and he constantly heard Snoke’s voice in his head. Luke even detected this too, noticing dark moments in Ben’s training.

This culminated in the night when Luke looked into Ben’s mind, where he saw the extent to which Snoke had turned Ben’s heart was much more than he’d expected. Luke ignited his lightsaber, startling Ben, who then reacted by initiating the fire that burned down Skywalker’s temple. Snoke was immediately there for Ben as Solo retreated to Snoke’s space station, where the Supreme Leader directed Ben to the Knights of Ren, helping him further down the dark path.

3 How Snoke Ruled The First Order

Secretive, Cunning, Mobile Leader

During the late New Republic era, the First Order began to gain hold in the galaxy through Imperial sympathizers, and the Imperial Remnant. After the Galactic Concordance was signed, ending the Galactic Civil War, Imperials were disarmed and left in their own areas of space, with strict rules governing their ability to produce weapons and ships. This all changed when these worlds seceded from the New Republic in 28 ABY.

After the Galactic Civil War, many of the surviving Imperials retreated into the Unknown Regions, where they met Snoke. The benevolent being helped them survive in the dangerous area of space, but slowly took power for himself as he culled the rest of the Imperial leaders, eventually reforming the remnant into the First Order. Snoke ruled the fascist military junta from his seat of power on the Supremacy, the largest star destroyer ever built, in order to stay mobile as they conquered the galaxy.

2 Supreme Leader Snoke’s Death

Betrayed By Kylo Ren

After the destruction of the New Republic’s central government and Defense Fleet at Hosnian Prime by Starkiller Base, Snoke deployed his legions throughout the galaxy. During this time, in The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren brought the young Jedi student Rey to Snoke onboard the Supremacy. There, Snoke tried to force Ren to kill Rey, but instead, Kylo ignited the Skywalker lightsaber next to Snoke, slicing him in half and killing him.

The death of Snoke immediately resulted in a battle between his Praetorian Guards and the newly allied Rey and Kylo Ren. The two fought off and killed all eight guards, but their alliance soon fell apart, as Kylo Ren took the role of Supreme Leader for himself. Kylo Ren ran the First Order much differently than Snoke did, giving leadership responsibilities to a Supreme Council while he raged across the galaxy trying to snuff out the Resistance.

1 We Still Don’t Know Why Palpatine Was Creating More Snokes

Was Snoke To Be Replaced?

After Snoke’s death, when Ben Solo arrived on Exegol to find the resurrected Emperor, he encountered a vat full of other Snoke clones. This has introduced one last mystery to the character, with the reasoning for multiple Snokes being rather confusing. Why did Palpatine need more than one Snoke?

Were the Snokes in the vat simply failed clones? Or was Palpatine planning on using Snoke for other things? One theory even posits that Snoke may have actually been multiple Snokes, replaced at different times. Either way, Star Wars still has a lot of explaining to do when it comes to Supreme Leader Snoke.