A secretive master of the Force and seeker of ancient lore, Snoke saw Luke Skywalker’s nephew Ben Solo as a Jedi of potentially limitless power, heir to the Skywalker bloodline. While Luke debated whether or not to restore the Jedi Order, Snoke influenced Ben, preying on his feelings of abandonment, his fascination with his family legacy, and his need for a teacher.

Luke eventually made Ben one of his first new Jedi apprentices. But Snoke had already turned the boy’s heart. Following a confrontation with his uncle, Ben destroyed Luke’s temple, departing with several of his students and killing the others. He then took the name Kylo Ren and became Snoke’s apprentice.

Meanwhile, in the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, Snoke had become the ruler of the First Order, a hermit state that sought to reclaim the Empire’s legacy and glory. Under the direction of officers such as General Hux, the First Order secretly constructed a formidable war machine in violation of treaties signed with the New Republic.

While preparing for war with the New Republic and Leia Organa’s Resistance, Snoke feared that Luke might return and rally the galaxy against the First Order. He ordered Ren to find Skywalker and destroy him – but a long-sought map to Luke wound up in the hands of Rey, a scavenger from Jakku.

Hux persuaded Snoke to draw the First Order’s enemies out by attacking the New Republic with the planet-killing Starkiller superweapon. Snoke agreed, and Hux gave the order to fire on the Hosnian system, destroying the New Republic Senate and its home fleet. The galaxy was once again at war.

Ren captured Rey and sought to pry Skywalker’s location from her head – but discovered to his shock that the young scavenger had considerable power with the Force. Determined to prove himself to his master and complete his journey to the dark side, Ren then confronted and killed his father, Han Solo.

The Resistance raided Starkiller Base and destroyed it, and Rey defeated Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel, sparing his life. Contacted by Hux, Snoke ordered the general to collect Ren and bring him to the Supreme Leader.

The Starkiller raid had revealed the location of the Resistance’s base. With the New Republic in tatters, Snoke ordered Hux to destroy the Resistance, berating the general when Leia’s group escaped. But Hux assured the Supreme Leader that victory was at hand – his researchers had found a way to track ships through hyperspace.

Snoke joined the pursuit aboard his massive flagship and mobile capital, the Supremacy. Summoning Ren, he berated the former Ben Solo as a failed apprentice who was no Darth Vader but a mere child in a mask. A desperate Ren vowed to show his master that he was wrong.

But Kylo was troubled by a mysterious Force connection with Rey – one that seemed to be growing stronger. Though Ren didn’t know it, Snoke was manipulating events – determined to fulfill his dark visions and eliminate both the Jedi and the Resistance.

Snoke had created the connection, betting that Rey would respond to Kylo’s conflict and try to turn him from the dark side. When she arrived on the Supremacy to do so, Snoke used his Force powers to rip Skywalker’s location from her memory. He vowed to destroy the Resistance and then incinerate the Ahch-To island, ending the Jedi Order.

Snoke ordered Kylo to complete his training by killing Rey, exulting at the resolve he sensed in his oft-conflicted apprentice. But Snoke’s visions and Force senses had betrayed him. The former Ben Solo ignited Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, cleaving his master in two and ending Snoke’s life.

When Emperor Palpatine revealed he had returned from death, Kylo rushed to Exegol to confront the reborn Sith Lord and made a shocking discovery. Snoke had been Palpatine’s puppet, a part of his plan to take revenge on the Skywalkers, scuttle plans for a restoration of the Jedi Order and the Republic, and return to power.