| “ | Palpatine: I was born mature, Father, fully grown, and you hated me for it, because you grasped that I was everything you can never be. Cosinga Palpatine: Hated you more than you know. Enough to want to kill you from the start. Palpatine: Then you had better do it now. |
„ |
| ~ Cosinga and Palpatine. |
Cosinga Palpatine is a major antagonist of the novel Darth Plagueis.
He is the patriarch of the royal House Palpatine and the father of the future Emperor Palpatine. An abusive narcissist, he played a part in shaping his son into who the latter he would become.
Personality[]
| “ | Father of lies. How would you know what's good for me? Have you ever even cared? | „ |
| ~ Palpatine to Cosinga. |
Cosinga is arrogant to the point of believing that he is far more intelligent than he actually is, and has a mediocre desire for power, having been content with what he has inherited, much to the disgust of his ambitious eldest son, Palpatine. It is also implied that he is a prolific liar, as in their final argument, Palpatine calls him the "father of lies". That being said, he was at least aware of Palpatine's inner darkness. He is also conservative and pro-isolationist, which is why he agrees with then-senatorian aide Vidar Kim's notion of maintaining Naboo's semi-independence from the Republic to prevent its plasma reserves from being exploited by corporations. Unlike Vidar Kim however, who was a kind and noble-hearted man who loved his family deeply, Cosinga Palpatine was a cruel, selfish, and arrogant man who was abusive to his family.
Cosinga is greatly feared by his wife and younger children, but despised by his eldest son, who he hates in turn and admits prior to his death to willing to kill from the start. It has gotten so bad that Cosinga even doubts if Palpatine is really his son and makes the latter take a paternity test at least once to confirm it. Even his bailing his son out is purely to protect his family's reputation, rather than out of any genuine love. In essence, Palpatine and his father hated each other because they had a few things in common: they were inherently cruel, vicious and narcissistic individuals who ruledwith a tyrannical fist. Palpatine saw his father as weak, Cosinga saw his son as a monster. That said, they were able to bond over one thing: A passion for speed-racing.
Despite being married, Cosinga cheats on his wife with his mistress, who also happens to be the sister of Bon Tapolo's opponent, in order to attain a political position should the conservatives win the election.
History[]
Past[]
Cosinga was born to House Palpatine, one of the noble Houses of Naboo. When he was young, he often stood in his balcony to revel at his inherited wealth. At some point in his life, he married and had four sons and one daughter, his eldest son being none other than Palpatine, the future emperor, who resented him for what he perceived as the latter's lack of ambition. Very early on, Palpatine showed himself to be a violent, spoiled, arrogant and misanthropic psychopath, and Cosinga was often forced to bail him out to protect his family's reputation.
Darth Plagueis[]
In 65 BBY, Cosinga and his family are part of the conservative faction, the people who opposes Naboo's full integration to the Galactic Republic, and thus Bon Tapalo, a candidate who promises it. In order to attain a political position should Tapalo's opponent win the election, Cosinga has an affair with said opponent's sister. However, Palpatine instead supports the integration just to further spite his father, secretly supplying valuable information to Tapalo's campaign, thus gaining the attention of the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis, whose public persona is Magister Hego Damask. Plagueis soon forges a friendship with Palpatine and attempts to seduce the latter to the Dark Side.
However, Cosinga finds out of the two's friendship and disapproves it, as well as confirming that he hates his son from the start, only to further draw the latter to Damask's side. Deciding that he finally has it enough with his father's treatment, Palpatine uses the Force to violently smash Cosinga's skull against the ship's bulkhead, killing his father, before slaughtering everyone else onboard.
Plagueis then arranges it so that the death of Cosinga and his family would be disguised as a tragic accident, and claims the young Palpatine as his apprentice, christening him as Darth Sidious. Palpatine ultimately goes on to bring about the downfall of the Republic and becomes the Emperor of the Galactic Empire.
External Links[]
- Cosinga Palpatine on the Star Wars Wiki
