"Who's the Leader of the club...."

Emperor Palpatine, that's who!

When I saw Return of the Jedi on opening day in 1983 at the ripe age of 13, I was a huge fan of Lord Vader. No one could be better than the Dark Lord of the Sith. Suddenly this new "menace" appeared. He wore a dark cloak. Darth Vader bowed to him and obeyed his every command. Who is this joker?

Back then, I only knew him as the Emperor. This was one of the few times I came to dislike a villain. He was inhumane to the core. Just plain evil. Like the fruits of the devil.

With the prequels, we learn more of this mask of a Senator from Naboo who pulls the wool over everyone's eyes and no one sees it coming. He has a Sith name of Darth Sidious. Even one of his own apprentices (Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus) tried to tell Obi-Wan about it, but to no avail. It may of course been to move Sidious out and Tyrannus to Sith Lord, but that's another story.

He also introduced a new power that had not been seen - Force Lightning! Where did he come from? Why is he so fearless?

Now, he is one of my favorites and second to Vader. I probably use his lines in a conversation or joke every week. My favorite being "you want this, don't you?"

Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and G4's Attack of the Show have parodies of the leader of the Galactic Empire that are a riot and worth checking out if you have not seen them.

So here's to you Emperor Palpatine. It was great while it lasted.

Other "E" considerations - Ewoks, Endor

Next week - what's the "F?"