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The Sith lord Darth Sidious bears a suspicious resemblance to Palpatine, and seems to have the same evil ambitions, but whether they are in fact one and the same person will not be revealed until Star Wars: Episode III.
In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, which is set ten years later, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine further manipulated events to make the Senate grant him dictatorial emergency powers by engineering a Galactic conflict. He later proclaims himself Galactic Emperor and establishes the Galactic Empire (these events have not been seen in any Star Wars film, but it is conjectured that they will be depicted in Star Wars Episode III - currently in production). He then dissolved the now-Imperial Senate in the fourth film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
In the second Star Wars trilogy, Palpatine is known simply as "The Emperor". Through his servant Darth Vader, he tries to make Luke Skywalker join the Sith (those who follow the dark side of the force), but in the end (in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi) his plot fails, and he is killed by Vader, who turns from the Dark Side to once again become Anakin Skywalker at the last moment.
Like many personalities in the Star Wars universe, Palpatine's character was clearly inspired by certain historical figures. Parallels to Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler can all be found in the Galactic Emperor's words and actions (in many ways he is an amalgamation of the two Caesars -- Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus -- and Lucius Cornelius Sulla). In writing the original drafts of the Star Wars films,in the mid-seventies, George Lucas has said he was influenced by then-US President Richard Nixon.
In many ways, Palpatine is an archetypical villain, who, like Iago in Shakespeare's Othello, does not appear to have any understandable motivation. He relies on deception and manipulation to control and corrupt individuals throughout the films, and as a result is a classically diabolical character. As Emperor, he appears to be a frail, weak old man, but is actually quite supernaturally powerful. Palpatine may be viewed as the quintessential wolf in sheep's clothing.
Palpatine's full name (assuming he has any names other than "Palpatine" alone) has never been revealed. The usage "Emperor Palpatine" suggests that Palpatine is in fact his only name. Nevertheless, the original version of his character in Lucas's early scripts was named "Cos Dashit" and many Star Wars Fan fiction writers have quite incorrectly adopted the name "Cos Palpatine" in their stories and web pages -- so much so that it has become fanon.
