Snoke, also known as Malvis, was a Force-sensitive humanoid male who ruled as Supreme Leader of the First Order and was the mastermind behind the Malvis Cabal.
Biography[]
Mysterious mentor[]
Snoke's origins were a mystery to those that knew him. Some time after the Battle of Endor, he had taken up residence at the Amaxine Station, where he was found by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vorath. Despite being strong in the dark side, Snoke did not consider himself a Sith and thus did not formally join Vorath's Sith Order. Nonetheless, he agreed to work with Vorath towards undermining the New Republic and taking over the galaxy.[1][2]
Around 8 ABY, Vorath's agents captured the young Ben Solo, son of Han and Leia Solo and grandson of Anakin Skywalker. Vorath decided to entrust the young Solo in the care of Snoke while he focused on the rest of his plans. Over the next twenty years, Snoke raised Ben Solo as if he was his own son, warping his mind and bringing him over to the dark side. In 21 ABY, Snoke sent Solo away to be trained by the Knights of Ren.[1][2]
When Solo returned from his journeys seven years later, having taken the name Kylo Ren and becoming leader of the Knights of Ren, Snoke decided to take him on as his apprentice. With Darth Vorath's Sith Order having collapsed, Snoke believed that the Sith's time had come to an end and taught Kylo to ignore the teachings of the Sith.[2]
Malvis[]
At some point, Snoke created the persona of "Malvis" and became a prominent member of the secretive organization known as the Society. As Malvis, he would ingratiate himself with both the Society and members of the criminal underworld, bringing them together to form the Malvis Cabal.[3]
Following the collapse of Black Sun in 40 ABY, Malvis seized the opportunity to bring the Cabal to the forefront of the criminal underworld, absorbing Black Sun's assets to expand the Cabal. Around this time, Malvis used his operatives to infiltrate the Galactic Alliance and install someone connected to them in the office of Chief of State, effectively bringing the galaxy under their control.[3]
Supreme Leader[]
At some point, Snoke seized control of the First Order, an Imperial splinter faction operating in the Unknown Regions.
In 39 ABY, Snoke made contact with the Sith apprentice Varon Krul. Pretending to be a Sith Lord from Darth Vorath's Sith Order, Snoke informed Varon that he was made to serve as a vessel for Vorath's consciousness in order to bring the ancient Dark Lord back into power. Eager to fulfill his destiny, Varon agreed to a series to tasks given to him by Snoke that would help bring back Vorath from the dead. Unbeknownst to him, Snoke's ultimate goal was not to bring back Vorath but to clear the path for the First Order to reveal themselves and make their move to take over the galaxy.[4]
Behind the scenes[]
Introduced in canon in Episode VII The Force Awakens, Snoke was brought into the Destiny Universe in The Final Destiny—the final installment of the Endgame series—and was revealed to be Varon Krul's secret master, as the author had not given much thought towards said master's identity before putting Endgame on hiatus a year prior to the release of The Force Awakens.
The character of Malvis was introduced in Miserable Woe and was originally intended to be a separate character. When planning out the Vergence series, the author decided to make Malvis and Snoke one and the same in order to connect the Malvis Cabal and First Order plotlines more closely together.
Appearances[]
- First Order of Business
- The Final Destiny
- Miserable Woe (Mentioned only) (First identified as Malvis)
- The Dragon's Claw (Mentioned only) (As "Malvis")
- Withering Glare (As "Malvis")
- The Corellian Conspiracy
- Walkers in the Sky
- The Seventh Heir
- There Be Dragons
- The Balancing Act