Who is Snoke?

About

Who is Snoke refers to various ideas and conspiracy theories surrounding the character of Supreme Leader Snoke, who first appeared in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Since his announcement in the film, fans and writers have speculated as to who the character actually is, If they are related to characters from previous installments of the Star Wars franchise, to literally being an existing character with a new name. One of the most prevailing theory connecting him to Darth Plagueis.

Origin

On April 29th, 2014, the official Star Wars] website announced that Andy Serkis had joined the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While his character name was then kept secret, many began speculating that he'd be playing a CGI character, given that the performer is mostly known for his motion capture performances in such films as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The following year, a Vanity Fair^[2] profile on the film revealed this to be the case--Serkis was to play the computer-generated character Supreme Leader Snoke.

Spread

After The Force Awakens premiere in December 2015, Google^[3] mentions of "Who is Snoke" rose significantly.

On December 19th, 2015, Redditor cgcallahan0 ^[4] posted in the /r/StarWars subreddit "(Spoilers) About Supreme Leader Snoke" in which the author starts a discussion about Snoke's use of holograms. The post (shown below) received more than 1,800 points (89% upvoted) and 890 comments before archival. Shortly after the inital post was made, Redditor^[5] jedifan421 responded, noting that the theme songs for both Plagueis and Snoke were very similar. Another Redditor DoctorSteve03 responded in the affirmative, elaborating on the theory that Plagueis was Snoke, laying out the theory that all of this was Plagueis' plan. They wrote:

"You create an illusion, or do die and self-resurrect, or are just gravely injured and able to heal using the Force. Now, as an injured/resurrected Sith Lord, you know you can't return and face your old apprentice one-on-one because he'll kick the crap out of you. However, you can watch from the shadows as he eliminates the Jedi Order, builds up the Empire, draws out the Son of Skywalker, and self-destructs, leaving you the perfect opportunity to swoop in, corral the Empire's remnants, and take control of the galaxy without needing to do any real legwork. Then, knowing Luke is the most powerful (and still living) Force user out there, you find a weak point you can exploit to take control of that power--what better than a disenchanted, emo youth of the same bloodline? Turn that youth to the Dark Side, bring down the new Jedi Order from within, and move your pieces into checkmate position."

On December 22nd, Business Insider^[7] published a theory that Snoke was the infamous Darth Plagueis, the infamous Sith lord mentioned in Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith (image below).

The following day, YouTuber ^[8] The Comic Book Cast posted a video entitled "Snoke Explained Star Wars The Force Awakens." In the video, the narrator tells some of the information from The Force Awakens novelization, which explores Snoke's history in more detail. The video (shown below, left) received more than 620,000 views. Four days later, YouTuber^[9] StarWarsHeadquarters published a video entitled "Who is Snoke?" The video (shown below, right) explores the various theories that crept up since the character's introduction, receiving more than 580,000 views as of September 2017.

On February 22nd, 2016, YouTuber^[10] Jon Solo published a video called "Snoke's Identity CONFIRMED?!" The post (shown below, left) received 2.2 million views in a year and a half. Eight months later, on September 10th, YouTuber^[11] Vincent Vendetta positing the idea that Mace Winu, the Jedi played by Samuel L. Jackson in the Star Wars prequels. The post (shown below, right) has been viewed more than 5.7 million times in one year.