Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, known also as The Emperor, or Darth Sidious, was a ruthless, callous mastermind who was responsible for the deaths of millions in Star Wars and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Befitting his nature as a shadowy, behind-the-scenes manipulator, he carried out fewer attacks himself, preferring to hire or manipulate others into doing his work for him.
Nonetheless, he did not rise to the highest positions in both the Sith and the Republic without getting his hands dirty on more than one occasion. The first ten kills seen in canon that he was personally responsible for are significant to his character development and his plots.
10 Darth Plagueis Needed Sidious To Kill His Father
Sheev Palpatine's father, who according to Legends sources, may have been named Cosinga Palpatine, was a member of the nobility on Naboo. He fathered Palpatine 84 years before the Battle of Yavin, and raised him on the planet that he would later become Senator of.
As his final test under the tutelage of Darth Plagueis, Palpatine was tasked with murdering his family in cold blood. He succeeded with flying colors, killing at the very least his parents as his two first noted kills in canon.
9 His Mother Wasn't Spared His Rampage
In the Legends continuity, Palpatine had an antagonistic relationship with his father and merely cared for his mother as befitted his selfish nature. His parents were his first two victims, and then Sheev moved onto his siblings.
In the current canon, there is nothing documented of Palpatine's relationship with his parents, or whether he had siblings, but it can be assumed that he had a mother who he slew alongside his father to cement his place as Plagueis' apprentice.
8 Darth Plagueis Met His End By Betrayal
One of the most significant kills of Palpatine's life, slaying Plagueis was in line with the Sith 'Rule of Two,' where an apprentice learns from his master until he has learned everything his master can teach him, and then slays him to take on his own apprentice. This was instituted to avoid the factionalism and internal strife that larger Sith movements had previously seen.
Plagueis hoped to subvert the Rule of Two and make both himself and Palpatine immortal. When he failed, however, Palpatine found an apprentice in young Dathomirian Zabrak Maul. Rather than violate the Rule of Two, he murdered his master in his sleep and set about his grand plan to seize control of the Republic.
7 Maul's Mandalorians Were Just In The Way
It is likely that Sidious killed others that viewers do not see, both before and after Plagueis. For much of the intervening period, he was forced to present a legitimate and public-facing appearance as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, which did not afford him much time to directly fight.
When his former apprentice Maul rose to power on Mandalore, however, Palpatine intervened. He traveled to Mandalore to engage the Zabrak, and found his way barred by several Mandalorians guarding him. Without even drawing his lightsaber, Palpatine strangled them with the Force.
6 Savage Opress Tried To Stand His Ground
Savage Opress was another Dathomirian Zabrak, and Maul's brother. When Sidious announced that, as he was no longer his apprentice, Maul was a rival to be killed, the two brothers engaged him in a fierce duel. Despite landing some blows and holding their own for a time, before long it became clear that Sidious had the upper hand.
In a twisted mirror of how Maul killed Qui-Gon Jinn years before, Sidious separated the two brothers and forced Maul to watch as Opress was outmaneuvered and run through with a pair of lightsabers. After that, Sidious broke Maul.
5 Count Dooku Outlived His Usefulness
Another key step in Sidious's plans, Dooku's death set in motion the events that saw Anakin Skywalker become his latest apprentice. After faking his own kidnapping, Palpatine positioned Dooku as the Sith Lord guarding him, blocking the progress of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin. After a duel, Dooku was helpless and disarmed, and Palpatine goaded Skywalker into killing him.
Although this was another kill that stemmed perpetrated by another pair of hands, Palpatine nonetheless had a far more direct role here than in the millions killed through his manipulations. Palpatine's taunts, and his betrayal of Dooku, drove Anakin to behead the Sith Lord.
4 Agen Kolar Couldn't Last A Second
Agen Kolar was one of four powerful Jedi Masters sent to apprehend Palpatine once he was revealed as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Standing prepared as Mace Windu attempted to intimidate the Chancellor into surrendering, Kolar went on to become the first casualty of the fight.
When neither Windu nor Palpatine backed down, Sidious drew his hidden lightsaber and threw himself towards the four Jedi Masters. None of them expected the sudden move, and Kolar, slow to bring his weapon to bear, was run through by Palpatine.
3 Palpatine Killed Saesee Tiin Without Looking
Another Jedi sent to arrest Palpatine, Saesee Tiin proved to be the second of the squad killed by Palpatine. As Agen Kolar fell, Tiin was also slow to react to the Sith Lord's aggression, and as he prepared to swing his first strike, Palpatine cut him across the chest with a sudden backstrike.
Tiin fell without having had the time to make even a single strike at Palpatine, helping to highlight just how skilled a duelist Palpatine was, and not just a talented manipulator.
2 Kit Fisto Lasted Only A Few Moments
Kit Fisto, a Nautolan, was one of the finest swordsmen in the Jedi Order by the time of the Clone Wars, almost on par with living legends such as Mace Windu and Anakin Skywalker. He held the distinction of being one of the few Jedi to have crossed General Grievous and survived.
As such, when he was sent to arrest Palpatine and engaged him in a duel, Fisto lasted longer than two of his allies, Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin. Nonetheless, Palpatine proved to be more than a match for him, and Fisto was killed after only a few moments of fighting.
1 Mace Windu's Death Sealed Palpatine's Success
One of the foremost Jedi of the Order at the time of the Clone Wars, and one of the best duelists the Order had ever seen, Windu was a master of the unique Vapaad form. He channeled the aggression from both himself and his opponent and used it to fuel his own strength, only avoiding the dark side through sheer willpower.
This technique was potent and Windu outlived all of the other Jedi sent to accompany him in his battle with Sidious. Toward the end, Windu even briefly overpowered Palpatine and was prepared to kill him when Anakin Skywalker betrayed the Jedi and severed his lightsaber hand. Recovering quickly, Palpatine used the Force to electrocute Windu and throw him to the distant streets of Coruscant.