Snoke, known variably as Darth Snoke or Supreme Leader Snoke, was an ancient and mysterious Dark Lord of the Sith who left a profound mark on Galactic history. His life spanned millennia before he met his ultimate end in 35 ABY at the hands of two Jedi; Rey and Jacen Solo.
Biography[]
Origins[]
The true origins of Snoke are shrouded in mystery and nigh-mythical in nature. At least one source indicated that the "original" Snoke was born sometime around 3700 BBY and was a member of Vitiate's reconstituted Sith Empire. He was known go have participated in three Great Wars and managed to escape the collapse of the Sith Empire.
Sometime prior to the end of the Third Great War in 3622 BBY, "Darth Snoke" and several other like-minded Sith fled to the Unknown Regions in order to survive the inevitable collapse of their empire. During their flight, these Sith broke into the personal vaults of Darth Nox and seized the Rakatan Infinite Engine, intending to use it to rebuild Sith society elsewhere. These Sith refugees eventually stumbled upon the lost world of Exegol and established a new home there.
Shortly after establishing a foothold on Exegol, the Sith refugees utilized the power of the Infinite Engine to establish a new cult-based society they dubbed the Sith Eternal. The Sith Eternal was intended to revive and preserve the language, customs, and traditions of the ancient Sith Empire as it existed prior to Vitiate's reconstitution. Darth Snoke was an early leader of the Sith Eternal, alongside Darth Ren, Darth Noctyss, and Darth Sanguis.
In the early days of the Sith Eternal, Snoke, Noctyss, and Sanguis had all conducted experiments into the concepr of immortality. In the end, Noctyss and Sanguis were consumed by their work and regressed into mindless beasts. Snoke on the other hand was able to develop a somewhat sustainable form of immortality based on Vitiate's body transference technique.
Using his knowledge of Sith sorcery and alchemy, Snoke was able to create an artificial Sithspawn tailored to his liking and transferred his consciousness into it. Snoke then created several more Sithspawn clones. Whenever one of Snoke's Sithspawn bodies was killed or destroyed, he was able to transfer his consciousness into a backup clone body. Through this, Snoke was able to achieve a form of pseudo-immotality. However, it soon became apparent that with each successive "rebirth," Snoke's new Sithspawn bodies would appear increasingly decayed.
Once his thirst for immortality had been quenched, Snoke turned his attention towards gaining more more power within the Sith Eternal. Darth Snoke did indeed manage to become the sole, undisputed leader of the Sith Eternal whose reign lasted for more than a thousand years. However, a crisis amongst the Sith Eternal in 2250 BBY resulted in the apparent, permanent death of Darth Snoke. Snoke's followers were either unwilling or unable to create a suitable host body for their master to inhabit.
Rebirth[]
In 12 BBY, Exegol was rediscovered by Darth Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious. Sidious also rediscovered Darth Snoke's old laboratory, including his incomplete notes on Sithspawn creation and consciousness transference. Sidious combined his prior knowledge on the subject with Snokes own notes and managed to at least partially rediscover the whole of Snoke's teachings.
In order to test that his new theory worked, Sidious created a new Sithspawn body and successfully transfer Snoke's long-dead consciousness into it. Sidious was careful to implant a Kaminoan control chip into Snoke's new body to ensure that the reawakened Sith Lord would obey him unquestioningly.
With their ancient leader now revived and under the control of another, leadership of the Sith Eternal effectively fell to Darth Sidious. Sidious subsequently began using Exegol as a secure bolthole. During this time, Snoke, under the near-total control of Sidious, was left in charge of Exegol as the Emperor's proxy and as a means to control the Sith Eternal.
It is believed that the main reason Darth Sidious kept Snoke alive is so that he could discover how the ancient Sith was able to produce suitable clone bodies and transfer his consciousness into them. Although Sidious eventually succeeded in creating multiple clones of himself, he ultimately failed to transfer his consciousness
Forming the First Order[]
When Darth Sidious died during the climax of the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Snoke was able to regain his autonomy. A recently liberated Snoke was able to reassert his control over the Sith Eternal along with any other Imperial assets Sidious had left behind in the Unknown Regions.
Between 4 ABY and 19 ABY, Snoke used his power and influence to lure scattered groups of Imperials into the Unknown Regions were he dominated their minds and turned them to his cause. By 21 ABY, Snoke was able to coalesce his assets and form the First Order.
As the nascent First Order was sorely lacking in assets, Snoke sought to reactivate the Rakatan "Infinite Engine." Although it wiuld take time to make functional again, the Infinite Engine would allow the First Order to rapidly arm themselves in a matter of years. Under Snoke's orders, the First Order turned to cloning to bolster the ranks of their Army and Navy.
From the beginning, Snoke planned to use the First Order to challenge and topple the New Republic before conquering the Galaxy and installing himself as Emperor. However, Snoke's initial plans of attack were put on hold when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the Galaxy in 25 ABY. Because they were located in the Unknown Regions, Snoke and the First Order were complety spared from the Vong attack.
First Order Crisis[]
Shortly after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War ended in 29 ABY, the existence of the First Order became public knowledge to the rest of the Galaxy. Although neither the newly formed Galactic Federation of Free Alliances (the successor of the New Republic) nor the Imperial Remnant take much note of the newly unveiled First Order. Only a small cliqus within the Alliance military sees the true threat the First Order could potentially hold. This clique was led by Leia Organa Solo and based on the planet D'Qar.
Although the First Order was revealed, Snoke was not yet ready to go on the offensive as he only recently managed to reactivate the Infinite Engine.
By consuming the natural biosphere of Exegol and using it to fuel the Infinite Engine, Snoke was able to to quickly churn a vast fleet and enough war materials to supply a sizeable army within the span of five years.
The first ship produced by the Infinite Engine was the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy. A small portion of the Infinite Engine was incorporated into the Supremacy allowing it to act as a foundry in its own right.
The Infinite Engine was also used to transform an otherwise unnamed snow planet in the Exegol into the dreaded Starkiller Base, a powerful superweapon capable of devastating entire star systems from a great distance.
During the First Order crisis, Snoke manged to track down Jacen Solo and lure him to the Unknown Regions. Once there, Snoke dominated young Solo's mind, turning him into his secret sleeper agent. While Jacen Solo would still remain active in the Galaxy, Snoke could activate his conditioning on a moments notice, transforming him into an alter ego known as Kylo Ren. The masked Kylo Ren was a phantom menace for the New Jedi Order and the newly established Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Kylo's efforts kept the Jedi and the Alliance on their toes long enough for Snoke and the First Order to prepare their attack.
Snoke's actions also managed to trap Luke Skywalker in a wild goose chase across the Unknown Regions, drawing him away from the New Jedi Order, leaving it effectively leaderless.
By 34 ABY, the First Order was at last prepared to strike against the Galactic Alliance. The First Order's initial attack involved using the Starkiller Base weapon to destroy the planet Hosnian Prime, home to a major Galactic Alliance naval base. This shocking declaration of war was followed by a sudden blitzkrieg attack from the Unknown Regions. Although most of the Galactic Alliance was caught off guard, the actions of Leia Organa Solo and her clique managed to take the fight to the First Order immediately. The so-called "Organa Resistance" even managed to destroy Starkiller Base before it could destroy another target.
The destruction of Starkiller Base proved to be a bad omen for the First Order. A few short days after the loss of Starkiller Base, the Organa Resistance managed to cripple the First Order flagship Supremacy and even kill Snoke's most recent clone body. Some within the First Order saw this as the beginning of the end. The First Order-Alliance War would prove to be astoundingly brief.
In 35 ABY, a few months after the destruction of Starkiller Base, the Galactic Alliance managed to pull itself together and go on the offensive against the First Order. The Alliance was able to quickly push towards the First Order capital of Exegol. The subsequent Battle of Exegol was disastrous for the First Order. Jacen Solo broke his mental conditioning and returned to the Jedi, the Infinite Engine was destroyed, and Snoke was killed for good after all his clone bodies were destroyed.
The First Order was left in shambles after the Battle of Exegol. The Galactic Alliance was able to easily eliminate any First Order Fleet outside of the Unknown Regions and any First Order fleets within the Unknown Regions were quickly scrambled or scuttled. Even the Sith Eternal suffered and dissolved in the wake of Snoke's death.
In the end, all that Snoke had worked so hard to build up was washed away in a matter of days. However, his influence managed to linger on after his death. Jacen Solo's time as Kylo Ren had made him susceptible to the Dark Side and ultimately led him to become the dreaded Darth Caedus. Five years after Snoke's death, an ascended Darth Caedus plunged the Galaxy into a brief but bloody civil war.