The Emperor has long loomed over the Star Wars saga. Sometimes, he’s manipulated events from the shadows. Other times, he’s stepped onto the screen and shocked audiences with his crazy powers. From his days as an apprentice to his appearance in Episode IX, here’s the entire Emperor Palpatine story.

Sheev Palpatine, the man who would become a Sith Lord and the galactic emperor, was born on the planet Naboo. According to the novel Darth Plagueis, young Palpatine first discovered the temptation of the Dark Side of the Force while collecting Sith artifacts. As a young man he met Plagueis. The encounter led Palpatine to kill his entire family and dedicate himself to becoming Darth Plagueis' Sith apprentice. As a result, Plagueis gave him the name of Darth Sidious.

Like Plagueis before him, Sidious carefully maintained his non-Sith identity as Sheev Palpatine, and he became active in politics on Naboo. He rose in rank to become a senator after secretly arranging the assassination of his predecessor, representing Naboo in the Galactic Senate. He remained in that position for years, methodically working to accumulate more power, gaining strength both politically and in the Dark Side.