For those of you that have seen Revenge of the Sith...

Palpatine's face was not "melted off" or "disfigured" in his battle with Mace Windu. Rather the deflected Sith lightning merely destroyed the Palpatine disguise and revealed his TRUE face...the horrific looking Darth Sidious...Dark Lord of the Sith.

This is proven by the fact Sidious gains "Sith eyes" (much like Anakin's yellow eyes on Mustafar), the lack of any burns on his face, and the fact that his hair remained intact and unburned. Also, the fact that Mace Windu (and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi) were not physically deformed when they were hit by more powerful doses of lightning proves that Sith lightning doesn't disfigure people. Rather it can destroy a physical disguise or mask, by burning through it with sheer dark power.

P.S. Sorry guys, I just HAD to unload all of that. There's been a lot of debate over the subject and I needed to prove that once and for all.

But its certainl worth considering.

But he certainl didnt seem concerned about his appearance after the fight.

because he has finally consolidated his power and become the Emperor. Besides, the fact that his face is so hideous and "deformed" can be blamed on the "Jedi asssination attempt". It makes for good propaganda.

In a way, Palpatine can be seen as a strong, yet tragic hero, akin to Viktor Yuschenko of Ukraine.

n/t