Supreme Leader

As the leader of the First Order and holding ultimate authority, the Supreme Leader held an undisputed command over its military. The Supreme Leader had the power to make strategic decisions at will; changing the First Order's strategy needed the Supreme Leader's explicit approval. The Supreme Leader could also govern through a proxy, choosing to give control of the armed forces and propaganda to First Order officers of high military rank. This was the method of Snoke, who chose to focus on spiritual issues during his term as Supreme Leader.

Within the First Order, the Supreme Leader's authority was absolute, with personal interests taking a backseat to orders from the Supreme Leader. The Supreme Leader had the right to summon subordinates when he wanted, and to punish those who failed him. An officer with direct access to the Supreme Leader had more authority than their rank would suggest because of the Supreme Leader's status in the First Order. Saying malicious, offensive, or defamatory things about the Supreme Leader during the war between the First Order and Resistance was a crime.

The First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire in almost every way, was governed by the Supreme Leader, an office with absolute power similar to that of Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious. The death of the Emperor ushered in a new era in which the New Republic rose to power. After defeating the Empire at the Battle of Jakku, the newly formed democracy focused on restoring peace and stability to the galaxy, while Imperial holdovers fled into exile in the Unknown Regions, refusing to accept the surrender terms of the Empire or the peace treaty that ended the Galactic Civil War.

The departure of Imperial officers, nobles, and scientists eventually led to the First Order's creation, inspired by the former regime's ideology, and fulfilling the mandate of Counselor Gallius Rax, who wanted to build a new Empire on the ruins of the old. The First Order secretly adopted a rearmament policy to create new fleets and armies, rejecting the treaties and war reparations that had reduced the once-powerful Empire to a rump state. Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and Commandant Brendol Hux were among the officers who fled from known space, and it was originally thought that one of them would lead the new Empire emerging in the Unknown Regions.

The Supreme Leader title existed as early as 24 ABY. Snoke, a mysterious being with a strong connection to the Force, especially the dark side, outmaneuvered his rivals and secured absolute power as Supreme Leader, despite some thinking Sloane or Hux would lead the First Order. His reputation as the First Order's master preceded him by the last days of the Cold War between his regime and the New Republic. Snoke was a genetic strandcast created by the Sith Eternal to serve as their proxy while they gathered their strength, but even the highest levels of the First Order didn't know this.

Snoke remained steadfast in his refusal to designate a planet as the First Order's base of operations during his reign, choosing to rule from a mobile command center. Snoke was ambitious and not content to rule the few sectors claimed by the First Order in the Outer Rim Territories, nor was he satisfied by colonizing clusters of worlds beyond the frontier. He believed that limited ambitions would make the First Order no different from the various nonaligned states that emerged after the Empire's collapse, or the hermetic kingdoms in the Unknown Regions that the First Order had dismantled or destroyed during its secret rise.

Snoke wanted the First Order to reclaim the galaxy that the Empire had lost in its war with the Rebel Alliance. The Supreme Leader would then build on that foundation, taking the First Order beyond what the Empire had achieved in its time. The Supreme Leader wanted to keep the First Order's capital mobile until that goal was achieved. He chose to rule from his throne room in the Supremacy, the first in a line of massive warships known as the Mega-class Star Dreadnought.

Snoke's authority was unchallenged, but he designated General Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren, Brendol Hux's illegitimate son and Snoke's dark apprentice, as his chief commanders, allowing them to lead the First Order's armies in his name. They were among the few who could contact the Supreme Leader directly, and as rivals, they competed for Snoke's approval. They were sometimes required to work together despite their rivalry, but their objectives differed: Hux oversaw the First Order's military program, while Ren pursued his personal quest to destroy the last Jedi, his former Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.

Ren and Hux both acted as loyal and obedient lieutenant in the presence of their master, but secretly, they both wanted the title of Supreme Leader. Hux was careful not to hint at his ambitions, knowing the Supreme Leader had spies throughout the First Order, and only imagined himself as Snoke's successor. However, having the Supreme Leader's favor gave him more authority than his rank as General would suggest. He asked for the title of Grand Marshal, but the Supreme Leader denied his request.

After completing the construction of Starkiller Base in 34 ABY, Hux convinced Snoke to authorize the superweapon's use on the Hosnian system, arguing that a direct attack on the capital of Hosnian Prime would destroy the New Republic's leaders, including the Galactic Senate and Chancellor Lanever Villecham. Snoke agreed with his general's plan and allowed Hux to carry out the attack, which resulted in the system's annihilation and the fall of the New Republic.

Although the Resistance, a paramilitary group founded by Ren’s mother General Leia Organa, subsequently destroyed Starkiller Base, the First Order was confident that victory was inevitable. Snoke directed the First Order to deploy its vast military forces across the galaxy to seize control of the major systems. He also continued to pursue his objectives of eliminating the surviving members of the Resistance and hunting and killing Skywalker. Snoke personally oversaw the First Order Navy's assault on the Resistance fleet using Hux's hyperspace tracker. At the same time, he used his mastery of the Force to forge a Force-bond between his apprentice and Rey, a Force-sensitive Jakku scavenger who sought to learn the Jedi arts under Skywalker. Rey ultimately left Skywalker to seek out the fallen Jedi, determined to turn the tide of the war by restoring Kylo Ren to his former persona of Ben Solo, having gained new insights into Ren's inner conflict through their bond.

Snoke anticipated Rey's intentions and used the bond to lure her to him. Snoke commanded Ren to execute Rey after successfully probing her mind for Skywalker's location. Snoke was confident that his apprentice had fully embraced the dark side, no longer sensing weakness but strength and resolve, even though he had previously berated Ren, calling him a child and unworthy of his grandfather's legacy. To his shock, Ren used Rey's lightsaber to bisect Snoke at the waist, killing his master and saving Rey in the process. Rey urged Ren to save her allies after defeating Snoke's personal bodyguards, but the First Order warlord came to believe that the Resistance had to be destroyed along with all reminders of the past in order to usher the galaxy in a new era under his rule. He invited Rey to rule the galaxy at his side, but she rejected his offer and fled to help the Resistance, prompting Ren to blame Snoke's death on her.

Ren, claiming Rey had murdered Snoke, ordered Hux to send their forces in pursuit of the survivors, knowing that the last of the Resistance would make their stand on the planet Crait. Ren silenced the general's protests by asphyxiating him through the Force, as Hux was initially opposed to following orders from his rival. Hux was intimidated into proclaiming Ren as the new Supreme Leader because he was unable to breathe. Under Ren's leadership, the First Order all but destroyed the Resistance at the Battle of Crait, but Rey managed to save a handful of survivors due to Skywalker's sacrifice. However, the apparent arrival of Luke Skywalker himself stalled Ren's advance, with the Supreme Leader focusing all of the First Order's efforts on destroying the Jedi Master instead of continuing the wider battle in spite of Hux's advice. Ren chose to duel Skywalker in a one-on-one duel while the Resistance escaped, silencing Hux's criticism by throwing him against the wall of their command shuttle. He then discovered that Skywalker was not truly present at all, but had projected himself to buy the Resistance time to flee.

First Order personnel watching were unable to explain how Skywalker was seemingly indestructible and able to vanish into thin air. The story of Skywalker's stand against the First Order, which saw Ren defeated by the legendary Jedi Master, spread across the stars and undercut Ren's reign as a message of hope and rebellion. The event was also emotionally damaging for Ren, who had just attempted to murder his uncle and was cut off by Rey. Nonetheless returning to the Finalizer, which now stood as the regime flagship, to formally introduce himself to the First Order as its new Supreme Leader, Ren stood before assembled ranks from the First Order military, additionally preventing Hux from doing the introduction for him. Ren blamed the Resistance for Snoke's demise, unveiled Snoke's corpse, and threw it out to space to mark the new beginning he promised he would usher in, offering the First Order a new era of glory under his leadership. After a moment of pause, the Stormtrooper Corps saluted Ren, formally crowning him the new Supreme Leader.

Under the new Supreme Leader, the First Order devoted its resources to hunting down the remnants of the Resistance, with Rey and her friends deemed priority targets by Ren himself. Ren wielded more authority than he ever had in his life in his new capacity as Supreme Leader, but he still thirsted for greater power, which he hoped to gain by launching a quest to find dark Force secrets that he would use to secure himself as the ultimate controller of the galaxy, leaving the Resistance and all other enemies to his reign crushed. Ren declared that the First Order would follow up on every rumor and utilize all of its assets, from informants to bounty hunters until every trace of the Resistance was destroyed, while Hux considered it a waste of his time to investigate every rumor of a Resistance sighting. Hux, controlled by Ren through fear and intimidation, notwithstanding his authority as Supreme Leader, was compelled to acquiesce and carry out his ruler's orders.

Ren acted without mercy to anyone who contacted or aided Organa's fugitives in his desire to destroy the Resistance and any other threat to his reign, with even neutrality punishable by death if the neutral party earned the regime's ire. The Tah'Nuhna people of the planet of the same name, who always took a neutral stance in political conflicts but aided those in needed, provided refuge to the Resistance for a time, an action that enraged the First Order and was regarded as choosing a side. Despite the Tah'Nuhna's politically neutral status, a starship assault group and force of accompanying ground personnel were dispatched to Tah'Nuhna, where they began a massacre of the native population as punishment for helping the regime's enemies.

After learning that the Resistance had passed through Fondor, the First Order deployed a fleet of Star Destroyers to seize control of the planet's shipyards. A Fondorian prisoner explained that his world refused to support the Resistance to no avail. The fact that Fondor had any communication with the Resistance at all was treason in Ren's view. He declared that the First Order would seize control of the shipyards effective immediately, believing that Fondor's actions necessitated extreme measures. When the prisoner protested by citing his homeworld's history of independence, which even the Empire respected, Ren revealed his belief that the Empire's weakness was its leniency. The Supreme Leader summarily executed the Fondorian as a warning to the rest of the galaxy. Although he enjoyed how simple his life as the galaxy's sole leader was, Ren still sought to bring Rey to the dark side so they could rule together. He offered her that place by his side during a duel aboard the Star Cruiser Halcyon, but she denied his request and escaped.

The Supreme Council was formed as an advisory board to Supreme Leader Ren. The Council, comprised of high-ranking members of First Order High Command such as Admiral Frantis Griss and Generals Amret Engell and Bellava Parnadee, was intended to implement Ren's plans for the conquest of the galaxy. Ren allowed General Hux to serve in the new cabinet, but he ensured that his former rival would have neither the power nor the autonomy that he once exercised under the previous Supreme Leader. Allegiant General Enric Pryde, a veteran of the Empire whom Snoke had designated as commander of the First Order's reserve forces, succeeded in gaining Ren's favor. The Council grew concerned by their Supreme Leader's complete submission to the dark side in his pursuit of power, as they favored more orthodox tactics and strategies, despite Ren's growing responsibility and maturity.

Ren sensed his late uncle Skywalker watching over him through the Force during his reign. Despite Skywalker's death, his nephew was still fixated on seeking revenge and began revisiting several locations from his past, hoping to no avail for the reckoning he had sought. The First Order's forces and the Knights of Ren accompanied their leader on his journey from Crait to Ossus, where the ruins of Skywalker's Jedi Temple were located, though confused by Ren's behavior. The Supreme Leader ordered General Hux to have the remains of the temple completely destroyed from orbit, holding to his philosophy of "killing the past."

Although Kylo Ren commanded his forces to expend every resource the First Order had to crush the Resistance, he dismissed what remained of his mother's movement as insignificant. His chief concern was solidifying his position as Supreme Leader. The First Order, under his command, seized control of vast regions of the galaxy. However, when a message echoing the voice of the deceased Emperor was broadcast, Ren immediately shifted his focus to locating the transmission's source, viewing it as a direct challenge to his authority.

These actions led General Hux to believe that Ren had lost his mind. He thought Ren was foolishly diverting the First Order's resources away from their galactic conquest, allowing rebellions to flourish while the Supreme Leader chased after the ghost of the Emperor, who everyone thought was dead. But Pryde knew someone was behind the transmission and the Supreme Leader will never answer to anyone again. Driven to uncover the secret origin of the mysterious broadcast, Ren journeyed to Mustafar and discovered Vader's wayfinder, an ancient Sith relic containing hyperspace coordinates. The Sith wayfinder guided Ren to the mythical planet of Exegol, where he found a fully operational Sith fortress.

Within the depths of the Sith sanctuary, the Supreme Leader came across a repository filled with numerous genetic duplicates of his former Master and predecessor, Snoke. Ren encountered the resurrected Emperor, whose essence resided within an imperfect clone of his original form, who had foreseen Ren's arrival. Aware of the Supreme Leader's desire to forge a new Empire, Sidious revealed his latest creation: the Final Order, a massive fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, each equipped with technology capable of obliterating planets. The Emperor offered to make Ren his successor if he succeeded in completing Vader's mission: eliminating the last of the Jedi.

Despite his suspicions about Sidious's true intentions, the Supreme Leader believed that merging his forces with the Sith Eternal military would transform the First Order into a genuine Empire, with Ren ruling the galaxy as the new Emperor and Master of the Knights of Ren. He had his helmet reconstructed, after destroying it in a fit of rage when his master mocked him as a "child in a mask," by the time he made his way back to the First Order. By then, it was both a symbol of his reign as the new Supreme Leader and a representation of his leadership over the Knights of Ren.

Even though General Quinn, along with other officers who preferred military protocol over the fanaticism of Sith cultists, voiced concerns about the Sith Eternal, Ren's enthusiasm was shared by the other members of the Supreme Council, especially Allegiant General Pryde, who championed the Supreme Leader's alliance with the Sith cult. Ren swiftly dealt with Quinn for questioning the Emperor's conditions before ceding command of the Sith fleet to the Supreme Leader. He then instructed the remaining members of the Supreme Council to suppress any dissent against his rule. Accompanied by the Knights of Ren, the Supreme Leader embarked on a personal quest to find Rey, not to kill her as Sidious desired.

Sidious had revealed the former scavenger's secret heritage to the Supreme Leader; she was the Emperor's granddaughter, inheriting the power of the Palpatine bloodline, just as Ren was a descendant of the Skywalker dynasty. Furthermore, he had discovered that they were linked as two halves of a rare and potent dyad in the Force. The Supreme Leader was convinced that their combined strength would enable them to defeat Sidious, eradicate the Sith forever, seize the Throne of the Sith, and govern the galaxy.

Pryde and Hux remained loyal to Ren, dedicating their resources to aiding the Supreme Leader in his pursuit of the scavenger across the galaxy. Ren had acquired a husk necklace from Rey during a Force-induced mind bridge. An intelligence officer, Tishra Kandia, traced the necklace's origins to the desert planet Pasaana, where Rey was searching for a clue to locate the Emperor's wayfinder. Although she evaded the Supreme Leader's forces, the First Order tracked Rey to Kijimi, where she learned the complete truth about her lineage from Ren, as well as their connection as a dyad. The Supreme Leader paid little attention to the damage inflicted on his flagship or the soldiers who had been killed or injured in his service. As far as Ren was concerned, any loss of life or resources was a worthwhile price to pay for seeing Rey, who had once again managed to escape him.

Ren located Rey in the remains of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station on Kef Bir. She had discovered her grandfather's wayfinder, only to have it seized by the Supreme Leader, who destroyed it to prevent her from going to Exegol alone. They engaged in a lightsaber duel that nearly resulted in Rey's death; Ren was essentially paralyzed as he felt his mother from across the galaxy. General Organa had reached out to her son through the Force, reminding Ren of her love for him. Rey capitalized on his distraction by severely wounding the Supreme Leader with his own lightsaber. Both she and Ren sensed Organa's passing into the Force. Although she had struck down Ren in anger, Rey used her abilities to heal Ren's wound. This act of compassion, combined with his mother's love and the memory of his father, extinguished the last vestiges of Kylo Ren as a persona, restoring his true identity as Ben Solo.

The loss of Ren was a setback in Sidious' plan, but it allowed him to gain direct control of the First Order as well: with Ren having abandoned it, the First Order was left without a Supreme Leader, leaving command to fall to the next highest ranking officer, Enric Pryde. As an Allegiant General, he controlled both ground and naval forces, and with Ren gone, Pryde was free to take orders directly from Sidious as he had done in secret for sometime already. As his faithful servant, Pryde then formally pledged his allegiance to Sidious and began transforming the First Order into a revived Sith Empire, in an unholy alliance with the Sith Eternal. Pryde was also granted authority to command the warships of the fleet. By then, the fleet was ready for full deployment.

The Resistance dispatched its forces to Exegol in an attempt to prevent the Sith fleet from spreading throughout the galaxy, with the Battle of Exegol already underway when Ben Solo arrived; no longer in control of the forces he commanded as Kylo Ren, the former Supreme Leader's only objective was to shield Rey from Darth Sidious. As the dyad united against the Emperor, a fleet of civilians appeared on the battlefield, traveling to Exegol from across the galaxy to defeat the Sith Eternal forces. The battle culminated in the destruction of Sidious and his forces, as well as Pryde, who perished aboard his flagship. Solo also died, sacrificing his life for Rey. With Pryde's death, the remaining forces of the First Order collapsed under a galactic uprising against its military rule.

As the leader of the First Order, Snoke was addressed by his formal title of Supreme Leader. He was also referred to as "Leader Snoke" by his subordinates, including Kylo Ren and General Armitage Hux. This title was inherited by Ren who, as Snoke's successor, was subsequently addressed as "Supreme Leader," even by his rival Hux. Ren, however, would have preferred a title such as "master of the dark side" or "commander of the Knights of Ren," although he eventually came to appreciate the Supreme Leader title. The Supreme Leader could also be addressed as "Your Leadership" or "Sir."

The Supremacy, the first Mega-class Star Dreadnought, served as the de facto headquarters of the First Order during Supreme Leader Snoke's reign. A colossal capital ship spanning over sixty kilometers in width, the Supremacy was also a heavily armed warship with formidable firepower. In addition to housing shipyards, production lines, R&D labs, and army training grounds, the ship featured a throne room from which Snoke would project his image across the First Order's territories using holographic technology. Despite suggestions from various officers and allies to establish a planet as their capital, Snoke insisted on using the Supremacy as his headquarters, refusing to establish a planetary capital until the galaxy was under the First Order's complete control.

Access to the throne room was restricted to the Supreme Leader's alien Attendants and elite guards, as well as his top commanders, General Hux and Kylo Ren. The throne room sustained significant damage following Snoke's assassination, around the same time that the Supremacy was bisected by the Resistance flagship Raddus, which rammed through the First Order battleship at lightspeed.

After Snoke's death and the destruction of the Supremacy, Supreme Leader Ren initially governed the First Order from the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer. Before his rise to power, Ren shared command of the Finalizer with his rival, General Hux. They continued to serve together as the Finalizer's commanding officers, albeit with Hux now subordinate to Ren, until their vessel sustained severe damage at Batuu. Ren subsequently designated the Steadfast as his new flagship, bringing Hux along to prevent his former rival from plotting against him. The Steadfast was a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer commanded by Allegiant General Enric Pryde and Admiral Frantis Griss. When Hux was forced to join the Steadfast's crew, his authority was superseded not only by Ren but also by Pryde.

The Elite Praetorian Guard consisted of eight sentinels, heavily armored and highly skilled in melee combat. Following the example of Emperor Palpatine's Imperial Royal Guard, the Praetorian Guard served as Supreme Leader Snoke's personal bodyguards, tasked with protecting him from any threat to his safety. The Guard was divided into four pairs, each wielding unique melee weapons such as vibro-voulges, electro-bisentos, and vibro-arbir blades.

After the destruction of Starkiller Base, Kylo Ren was summoned to the Supremacy throne room, where his master reprimanded him for his failure in the presence of the Praetorian Guard. The apprentice rose to his feet in a fit of anger, prompting the Praetorians to assume an attack formation until the Supreme Leader signaled them to stand down after subduing Ren himself. After Ren brought Rey to Snoke as a prisoner, the young Jedi hopeful attempted to assassinate the Supreme Leader, to which the Praetorians responded by taking an offensive stance, only to stand down again at their master's command. Having overpowered Rey with the Force, Snoke urged his apprentice to complete his training by executing the girl. However, using cunning and deception, Ren assassinated his master, causing the Praetorians to engage both him and Rey in an attempt to avenge their slain leader. Despite their best efforts, the entire Praetorian Guard was defeated by Ren and Rey.

As Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren regarded the Knights of Ren as his equivalent to Snoke's Praetorian Guard. As Master of the Knights of Ren, only Ren could command the Knights, much to the frustration of General Armitage Hux and the First Order Supreme Council. The Knights were Force-sensitive, but only to a limited extent. In previous eras, they would have been considered ideal candidates for the Imperial Inquisitorius.

A band of dark marauders, the Knights of Ren comprised six warriors: Vicrul, the harvester and reaper of the fallen; Cardo, whose attacks left widespread destruction; Ushar, the Knight most likely to force his victims to beg for mercy; Trudgen, a collector of trophies from conquered territories; Kuruk, the most reclusive of the Knights; and Ap'lek, the strategist who reveled in deception and employed misdirection to ensnare his opponents. During the war, the Knights were assigned the task of hunting the scavenger, Rey, who troubled their master.

The Knights of Ren turned against their master after he renounced the dark side, reverting to Ben Solo. Solo had trained alongside the Knights after abandoning the Jedi path, and as such, he considered them his brothers-in-arms. Realizing that their true allegiance lay with Darth Sidious, he viewed it as the ultimate betrayal in his life. However, the Knights believed that their actions were justified; they had sworn loyalty to Kylo Ren, not Ben Solo, whom they perceived as a weaker version of Ren. The return of the Jedi apprentice who idolized Luke Skywalker filled the Knights with hatred for their former master. The Knights attempted to kill him, convinced that Solo had traded the dark side's strength for weakness, but in the end, they were all defeated by the Jedi's Force abilities and lightsaber combat skills during the Battle of Exegol.

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren used a personal Upsilon-class command shuttle, a line of shuttles inspired by those of the Old Empire, such as the Lambda-class T-4a shuttle that once transported Emperor Palpatine. Ren's shuttle served as his mobile command station during the Battle of Crait, shortly after his ascension as Supreme Leader. The distinguishing feature of the Upsilon-class shuttle was its advanced sensor suites and military-focused design, making it more than just a pleasure craft or luxury starship.

The position of Supreme Leader of the First Order was first introduced in the 2015 sequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams.