People compare Snoke to Palpatine .. like in the sense that we didn't get background on Palpatine so why do we need it for Snoke. Well considering the first trilogy was told from the point of view of a farmer and a truck driver essentially, and only one of those characters meets Palpatine near the end it's understandable. However, by the time we get to the sequels, the SW universe has already been built out, a timeline of sorts has been established.. a history, and someone as powerful and as old as Snoke has to be placed fairly on that timeline, and he can't be just the same thing.. (well I guess he can but it seems unsatisfying). Clearly, Snoke is just a cypher, an obstacle RJ wrote for Kylo to overcome, and he didn't even THINK of what Snoke's backstory is.. RJ confirmed on twitter that like Palpatine he didn't sneed one .. so yeah he is just a cypher.. except the fact that it also drew Luke away from the Force in the awful flashbacks.. so this cypher character is not only terrible.. but it makes great characters into terrible ones, and that he is underwritten by design is even worse