Supreme Leader Snoke

"There has been an awakening. Have you felt it? The droid we seek is aboard the Millenium Falcon in the hands of your father, Han Solo. [...] Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a task."

- Snoke to Kylo Ren.

Supreme Leader Snoke is the main antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He first appears as a supporting antagonist in The Force Awakens, and will return in The Last Jedi, presumably as the main antagonist.

He is the founder and supreme leader of the First Order, as well as the founder of the Knights of Ren, and is also the master of both Kylo Ren and General Hux, as well as a powerful entity of the Dark Side of the Force.

He was portrayed/voiced by Andy Serkis, who also played Gollum, Mr. Grin, and Capricorn, and voiced Spike and the Witch-King of Angmar.

History
"If Skywalker returns... the new Jedi will rise."

- Snoke on Luke Skywalker

Star Wars Episode Vll: The Force Awakens
After the escape of Poe Dameron by help of the deserting stormtrooper Finn, General Hux and Kylo Ren are called before Snoke. Snoke tells them that if the droid BB-8, whom Dameron gave the map leading to Luke Skywalker, brings the map to the Resistance a new Jedi Order will rise. Hux claims full responsibility for the failure and tells Snoke that Starkiller Base is ready to be used against the Republic. Snoke orders Hux to oversee the preparations and dismisses him. After the general has left, Snoke exclaims that there has been an awakening and asks Ren whether he felt it too. He then tells Ren that the droid they are searching is in the hands of Ren's father, Han Solo. Ren tells Snoke that Han means nothing to him but Snoke responds that despite his training, Ren has never faced such a task before. His hologram then fades away, leaving Ren alone in the room.

After Ren has captured Rey, but is unable to read her mind, as she herself is strong with the Force, he reports to Snoke who can not believe that the scavenger girl bested his apprentice. When Snoke asks of news of the droid, Hux tells him that because he had the girl in his hands, Kylo deemed the droid irrelevant and stopped the search for him. To prevent the Resistance from finding Luke Skywalker, Snoke tells Hux to prepare the base's weapon to destroy the home planet of the Resistance. Snoke then tells Ren to bring Rey to him, but she has already escaped her prison cell.

After Han Solo calls out to Kylo Ren (by his name Ben) to come home and depart Snoke, his son asserts that Snoke is wise while Han claims that Snoke doesn't care about him and will crush Ben once he gets what he wants. It is unspecified what Snoke wants, it could be obedience from all over the galaxy or Luke Skywalker's location, if not both. Kylo Ren may have believed Han's warning that Snoke will crush him and then secretly made plans to kill Snoke later on to prevent that from happening. Nonetheless, Han's lecture to him about Snoke did not change his relation with his son, and his son executed him anyways.

When it becomes imminent that Starkiller Base has reached a critical condition and will be destroyed under the attack of the Resistance, Snoke calls General Hux to him and orders him to evacuate the base as well as to bring Kylo Ren to him, promising he will complete Ren's training.

Personality
"No; it was Snoke. He seduced our son to the dark side."

- Leia Organa to Han Solo about their son's turning to the dark side by Snoke

Snoke is an extremely intelligent, deceitful, and wise leader. However, he is very sly and manipulative, as he exploited Force-sensitive individuals, such as Ben Solo, only for their power.

Snoke displays tendencies unusual for practitioners of the Dark side of the Force; he is somewhat emotional and melodramatic. His anger and frustration were on clear display after learning of failures from General Hux (the loss of BB-8) and Kylo Ren (inability to extract the map from Rey).

His reason for choosing Ben Solo as his apprentice (as explained in the novelization of The Force Awakens) is that as Anakin Skywalker's grandson, he is a focal point in the Force; a perfect balance of light and dark.

For mostly unknown reasons, Snoke has a dislike for Luke Skywalker. However, in the film's novelization, Snoke is shown to believe that Darth Vader's loving and compassionate nature for his son, Luke, was the reason for the fall of the Galactic Empire. He also passed on that belief to Kylo during the the latter's apprenticeship.

Description
Snoke is a male individual who served as Kylo Ren's master approximately thirty years after the Battle of Endor and a very powerful practitioner of the dark side of the Force.

He appears as a very thin and frail being with large hands. His hologram used on the Starkiller Base projected him several times larger (around 25–30 feet) than his natural appearance, towering over Kylo Ren and General Hux similar to the Emperor making his true height up to 7–8 feet, as Andy Serkis said.

Snoke had an elongated face with pale, scarred skin and dark black eyes. He sported a large scar from the top of his head, all the way down to his brow. Snoke also has a scar or burn on his right cheek. Snoke wore a simple cloak similar to those worn by Sith Lords (even though Snoke is not a Sith, as Director J.J. Abrams said that there are no Sith in The Force Awakens). Snoke tended to speak slowly and enunciate his desires with a forceful undertone.

Powers

 * The Force: None of Snoke's powers are actually shown yet. However, it can be assumed that he is extremely powerful and has an extremely strong connection to the Force.

Abilities

 * Lightsaber Skills: None of Snoke's skills are actually shown yet. However, it can be assumed that he is extremely skilled in lightsaber combat and an extremely gifted duelist.
 * High-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader/Manipulator: Snoke is highly intelligent. As the leader of the First Order and the Knights of Ren, Snoke is a highly skilled tactician and a capable leader. Snoke's skill in manipulation is so strong that Snoke even managed to manipulate and deceive Ben Solo into becoming his apprentice and turning him against the New Jedi Order.

Trivia

 * Although Snoke is the main antagonist in the sequel trilogy, he is a supporting antagonist in Star Wars: The Force Awakens because Kylo Ren has a bigger role. However, it is likely that he will be the main antagonist in Star Wars: The Last Jedi because he has a bigger role than in the previous film.
 * His appearance was created using motion capture (CGI).
 * His name was officially unveiled on May 28, 2015.
 * The role of Snoke in the sequel trilogy mirrors the role of Emperor Palpatine in the original trilogy. The case of Snoke is similiar to the roles of both Kylo Ren and General Hux in the sequel trilogy, who respectively mirror Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin in the original trilogy.
 * He is played by Andy Serkis who also played Gollum in the Lord of The Rings films. Andy Serkis is the second Lord of The Rings actor to play a Star Wars after Christopher Lee who played Count Dooku in the prequel trilogy.