Star Wars: Scene stealers from the original trilogy

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Emperor Palpatine

It was once thought that Darth Vader was the ultimate evil in the universe, but in Return of the Jedi, the Emperor comes onto the screen and says “hold my beer.” This guy is the very epitome of evil. He is covered in a black cloak from head to toe, and with his creepy cackle, orange eyes, and pasty white wrinkled skin, he is what nightmares are made of.

He is acted so deliciously evil by Ian McDiarmid, one can tell he is enjoying every second he gets to portray this epitome of darkness. McDiarmid spits out lines like “You, like your father, are now mine!” and “So be it, Jedi,” with a cocky assuredness that is almost gleeful at times. Palpatine knows he is evil as hell and seems to relish every second of it. He also seems to very much enjoy goading Luke into striking him down, attempting to turn him into his next evil apprentice.

Palpatine is so over the top evil, that it is hard to take your eyes off of him when he’s on the screen. He goes from acting sincere to a pure menace at the tip of a hat, and when he finally shoots Luke with Force Lightning one can see the happiness inflicting pain on another gives him.

Palpatine was such a strong, and memorable character that fans were excited to see him return in The Rise of Skywalker even when it didn’t really make all that much sense that he did.

What other characters from the original trilogy were scene stealers?