Memes dictionary
Darth Plagueis
or The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise [dahrth pleyg-ihs]
What does Darth Plagueis mean?
Darth Plagueis or The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise is a meme based on a speech from the movie Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). The speech concerns a Sith lord named Darth Plagueis who mastered death and was able to keep those he loved from dying; however, after he taught his apprentice all that he knew, that apprentice murdered Darth Plagueis in his sleep.
Where does Darth Plagueis come from?
The story of Darth Plagueis first appeared in the third Star Wars prequel, where it’s told by Emperor Palpatine as part of his plan to turn Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side.
The speech was transformed into a meme in late 2015 after the release of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens spawned new fan theories regarding Darth Plagueis’s identity and brought focus back to the previous Star Wars movies. Darth Plagueis or The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise was first posted in full on r/copypasta on Reddit, after which the text of the speech began to spread quickly and achieve widespread recognition.
Examples of Darth Plagueis
Who uses Darth Plagueis?
Darth Plagueis or The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise is often used as trolling; people respond to comments or posts, send links, or write instant messages with the entire text of the speech copied in.
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend
— The Senate (@TheSena01046537) October 26, 2018
The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise can also be used to reference other topics in pop culture. People will swap out the name Darth Plagueis and/or other specific wording for the names of other characters and/or subject matters. Since the speech is about the irony of dying after having cheated death, Darth Plagueis is often used to reference characters in oblivious or ironic situations.
The meme usually appears as a block of text copied and pasted, but sometimes it’ll just be the first sentence (“Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?”). Whether the full text or just the one sentence, the meme is often accompanied by a still from the scene in the movie where Palpatine tells the story. Users also sometimes use images of Palpatine by himself, or photoshop his face onto other characters.
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Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of Darth Plagueis like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of Darth Plagueis that will help our users expand their word mastery.