[En Sabah Nerd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jester

I've heard somewhere that Palpatine played at being a rather humble, unassuming sort of person as Emperor in public (hence the simple black robe). Can't remember if it was old EU, interviews with Lucas, movie novelizations or what, though.

Even just watching Jedi it's pretty obvious he pretends to be old and weak what with his cane which he immediately tosses aside to zap Luke. In ROTS he makes a point of announcing to the senate that he has been injured and barely survived an assassination attempt, playing for sympathy points I assume.