Wookieepedia:April Fools' Day 2012/Darth Maul

"Fear. Fear attracts the fearful&hellip; the strong&hellip; the weak&hellip; the innocent&hellip; the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally."

- Darth Maul

Darth Maul was a male Dathomirian Zabrak Dark Lord of the Sith who lived during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. Originally a Dathomiri Nightbrother born on Iridonia and known only as Maul, he was given, as an infant, by his Nightsister mother on Dathomir to Darth Sidious, who trained him in the ways of the dark side of the Force as his secret apprentice on a secret Mustafar training facility, along with the help of a split personality droid. Maul became a master of Juyo, Jar'Kai, and Teräs Käsi, with training in Niman, and chose to wield a red-bladed saberstaff in combat. Though well trained in the ways of the Sith, Maul was technically a Sith Lord in violation of the Rule of Two because his own Master was at the time apprenticed to another, the Muun Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.

In 33 BBY, Sidious gave Maul his first mission: put the criminal organization Black Sun in disarray. Maul carried out this task perfectly, dealing the group a grievous blow. Maul played an instrumental role in the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY. The crisis was engineered by Darth Sidious, who lived a double life as Senator Palpatine of Naboo, to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum removed from office, allowing Sidious to take his place and set the stages for a Sith-influenced government. After Padmé Amidala, queen of the Naboo, escaped the blockade, Maul was dispatched to follow her. He found her on Tatooine, where he had a short but intense duel with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Later, Maul was sent to Naboo, where he fought Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though he killed the Jedi Master, Maul underestimated Kenobi’s skill and was severed in half at the waist by the Padawan. THEN HE DIED. THAT'S IT.

In 0 BBY, Darth Vader encountered either a clone or dopplegänger of Maul created by the Secret Order of the Empire. Though he believed that he could easily defeat Vader and serve under the Emperor once more, this false Maul was eventually slain by the fallen Chosen One.

Sith Lord (54&mdash;32 BBY)
"It was a man&hellip; But like no other man&hellip;"

- Asa Naga

Early life and training
Maul, the Dathomirian Zabrak male who would become the feared Darth Maul, was born on Iridonia to Kycina, a human Nightsister of Mother Talzin's coven and a Zabrak father who, by tradition, was murdered after Maul's conception. By birth, Maul was a Nightbrother; a clan of male Dathomirians who served as warriors and slaves of the dominant Nightsisters. Like the rest of his kin, Maul was subjected, shortly after birth, to an initiation ritual during which he was immersed in a "magic" oily bath, and covered head to toe in black and red tattoos. A blood brother to Feral and Savage Opress, Kycina wanted at least one of her sons to live free of Talzin's control. Less than a year after Maul's birth, his mother encountered Darth Sidious, the young Sith apprentice of Darth Plagueis, and implored him to save Maul from the life of a Nightbrother. Though somewhat reluctant, Sidious was persuaded to take Maul, especially given the infant's strong connection to the Force.

Maul spent the first few years of his life in the care of droids in a secret location on Mustafar. A year after he was given over to the Sith, Sidious was granted permission from his own Master to train Maul as an apprentice. But in order to avoid breaking the Rule of Two, Sidious was only allowed to train the young Dathomirian as a weapon; he was never trained to be a true Sith Lord in the same way as Plagueis and Sidious. During his training, any show of fear was severely punished, and any hint of mercy rewarded with cruelty.



By the time Maul was an adolescent, his Master had already forged him into a weapon of pure hatred. He had a sense of honor, however, respecting those he deemed worthy opponents and granting them quick deaths. Despite a traumatic childhood, Maul had filial feelings toward his master, and never once contemplated killing him&mdash;until his final test.

Facing Siolo'urmanka
One of Maul’s earliest missions was the assassination of Siolo'urmanka. One of the greatest living Jedi warriors, Manka had since gone into seclusion, renouncing the lightsaber to concentrate on what he felt was a "purer" technique. He now lived on a jungle world in the Jentares system. Maul arrived on the world and cautiously approached the Jedi Master, brandishing his lightsaber. Thinking that he could easily kill the meditating Manka, Maul was caught off guard by the Jedi Master’s sudden attack.

Wielding a wooden staff, Manka displayed incredible speed, batting Maul across the face with his simple weapon. Maul quickly countered with a quick overhand slash, but Manka managed to dodge. As the Jedi Master pivoted to face him, Maul extended his lightsaber out. However, Maul’s stance only opened himself up, and Manka batted his lightsaber out of his hand. Disarmed and injured, Maul was at Manka’s mercy. Manka allowed Maul to flee.

Rather than accept death, the punishment for failure, Maul resolved to best Manka. Knowing that Manka was much faster than himself, Maul determined to outsmart the Jedi Master, get in close and attack. He proceeded to create a new lightsaber, based upon Sith schematics which he had received from Darth Sidious and inspired by the Zhaboka, a traditional weapon of his species. Fabricating two lightsabers, Maul welded them together, pommel to pommel, creating a double-bladed lightsaber.

Confronting Manka again, Maul kept his second blade hidden. Evading the Jedi Master’s opening attack, Maul countered, with exactly the same attack he used before. Allowing himself to be disarmed, Maul caught his weapon with his other hand. However, before he could regain his composure, Manka rushed inside Maul’s guard, with his staff to the Sith Lord’s throat and the "pommel" of Maul’s lightsaber pinned against his own back. Maul triggered the second blade of his lightsaber and ignited it through Manka’s back.

Ultimate test
The ultimate test came when Maul was abandoned by his master on an isolated Outer Rim Territories world, forced to survive alone while being hunted by hordes of Assassin droids. After a month's time, Sidious returned and challenged his apprentice to a lightsaber duel, one which the weak and famished Maul quickly lost. Sidious then tossed Maul's lightsaber aside and told Maul that he had failed, and revealed that he had been secretly training another apprentice to replace Maul the entire time. Rage and hatred overwhelmed Maul and, in one final act of defiance, he lunged forward and sunk his teeth into his master's hand. As he spat the blood back into his master's face in contempt, Maul realized he was no match for the Dark Lord of the Sith, and when Maul's emotions were finally spent, he prepared himself for death. Sidious struck his lightsaber down on Maul, but without killing him since it had only been a training lightsaber. Sidious then laughed. By wanting to kill his own master, Maul had in fact passed the final test. There had been no other apprentice. Sidious proclaimed him Darth Maul, a Dark Lord of the Sith, and took him to a new home on Coruscant.

Assignment on Dorvalla
One of Maul's more notable missions was to unite Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore, two companies operating on Dorvalla, a planet in the Outer Rim, in order for the Trade Federation to move in and control all shipping of the ore. Lommite ore was an important component of transparisteel, a durable metal alloy used in many construction projects. Wilhuff Tarkin issued a challenge to the two companies for a major contract and both companies looked to the Toom clan to sabotage the other. This led to the loss of the majority of each company's ore transportation ships, and because of this the two companies made a joint effort to destroy the Toom clan. Maul followed the small army to the battlefield and, once they destroyed the Toom clan, killed the survivors, including high-ranking members of Lommite Limited such as Patch Bruit and the Falleen Caba'Zan, who was the leader of the InterGalactic Ore portion of the army. The mission was a success since the two companies' leaders came together to form Dorvalla Mining and the Trade Federation received its prize.

The Yinchorri Uprising
"Plagueis was right. I made him prideful."

- Darth Sidious thinks back on his master's words while listening to his young apprentice wanting to prove himself.

In 33 BBY, Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious both instigated the Yinchorri Uprising, by provoking the Yinchorri to attack the Republic and the Jedi, as part of their plan to destabilize the Republic from within. As the Sith were observing the events from within the shadows, Darth Maul could not help but intervene, as he watched the Yinchorri attack the Jedi Temple, something Maul has been waiting to do by himself for a long time. Unknown to Maul, his Master was watching him, listening to him wanting to prove himself to his Master, making him believe he was becoming prideful. Later, after sensing the death of Jedi Master Micah Giiett along with his Master, Maul was sent by Sidious to get Vilmarh Grahrk, the one the Sith had manipulated into instigating the crisis.

Takedown of Black Sun
"Stealth is the greatest tool of the Sith assassin."

- Darth Sidious



Maul originally went on countless missions of terror for his master, killing politicians, crime bosses, merchants, and warlords. Maul's very appearance had been carefully conceived to inject fear into the heart of the Sith's enemies and even their unwitting allies. Despite his untold successes, Maul longed for victory over Jedi. Victims of his included the Black Sun leader Alexi Garyn and his Nightsister guard Mighella, and all of the Black Sun vigos of 33 BBY, including Darnada and Morn. In addition, he killed the assassin Sinya.

Silus
"Wipe them out. All of them."

- Darth Sidious

At some point in 33 BBY, Sidious pitted Maul against the Force-sensitive Drovian Silus, sending Maul to an unknown planet in the Outer Rim. Sidious claimed Silus to be a threat to his plans, due to the surge in the dark side created by the Drovian. Should the Jedi feel it through the Force too, Sidious's presence could be threatened; that, however, could just have been used to persuade Maul into doing his master's bidding.

Silus was a hulking, savage brute using the Force for financial gain by pitting himself against other lesser opponents in a dueling ring. Sidious offered to take Silus on as his new apprentice should he be able to kill Maul. He found the Drovian, and after showing him a holo-message of his master containing Sidious' proposal of replacing Maul with Silus the two began to fight. A nullifier field surrounding the dueling ring prevented use of energy weapons, rendering Maul's lightsaber useless and forcing the pair into fighting using only the Force and unarmed combat tactics. Sidious' proposal of replacing Maul with Silus alarmed and unnerved his apprentice, causing a near-fatal lack of focus that allowed Silus to gain the upper hand. Calling upon his rage Maul prevailed in the end, using the Force to overload the field and using his lightsaber to end Silus' life. Darth Sidious then revealed to Maul that the ordeal had only been a test.

Shadow Hunter
Another notable mission was to kill Hath Monchar, the Neimoidian Deputy Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and anyone he may have talked to about the trade embargo of Naboo, Sidious's own homeworld. Maul learned that Monchar intended to sell a holocron that contained details of the embargo to Lorn Pavan, a Corellian information broker on Coruscant. Maul had to face both Jedi Padawan Darsha Assant and her Master Anoon Bondara. He dueled Bondara in a lightsaber fight on top of a building and nearly lost his life in the ensuing explosion when Bondara destroyed Maul's speeder bike. Darsha and Pavan escaped into the sewer system where they encountered and killed subterranean lifeforms. They made it to a cavern where they fought and escaped from a taozin, a beast invisible to the force. Later Darsha Assant blew up the warehouse that they were fighting in, in an attempt to prevail where her Master had failed, claiming her life in the process. Maul escaped the inferno and continued to hunt for Pavan. Pavan followed Maul into space, and had a chance to kill Maul when he was hibernating on board a space station. However, Pavan's blaster only had enough power for a single kill shot or three stun shots, and he was worried about missing. He planned to hit Maul in the back with a stun bolt, and then try to steal his lightsaber and kill him. Maul was seemingly unaffected by the shot, woke up, and sliced the Corellian's right hand off. He then pursued Pavan through the station and Pavan escaped. The mission ended when Maul ambushed Pavan outside of his room in a hotel on Coruscant and gave him a quick death for his surviving skill.

Some time before the Invasion of Naboo, Maul imprisoned the Umbaran Sly Moore in a tomb somewhere in the Cron Drift after he captured her. Later Moore was rescued by Sidious.

The Invasion of Naboo (32 BBY)
"At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."

- Darth Maul

Duel on Tatooine
"You have been well trained, my young apprentice. They will be no match for you."

- Darth Sidious

At the time of the Invasion of Naboo, Maul was dispatched to eliminate the Jedi who had been sent by the Republic to settle the conflict. After tracking them to the planet Tatooine, he was ambushed by Togorian pirates upon exiting hyperspace. Maul killed them all, surviving the ordeal with only a wounded leg, and proceeded to land on Tatooine, outside the most densely populated towns of the planet. He immediately deployed his DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droids to find the Jedi and Queen Amidala's ship.

One of the Queen's protectors, the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, encountered one of the probes, and destroyed it with his lightsaber. Darth Maul followed the trail to the smuggling vessel Dusty Duck, where he found Pa'lowick smuggler Aneesa Dym instead of the Queen&mdash;the Sith Lord promptly cut the innocent woman down. Afterwards, a single droid reported that it had located the Naboo royal starship in the Dune Sea. The Dark Lord immediately took the Bloodfin and headed toward the location the probe had revealed; upon reaching the ship, he leapt from his speeder and&mdash;wielding his lightsaber in its single-bladed configuration&mdash;engaged Master Qui-Gon Jinn. This was the first time Maul had faced a Jedi Master in combat, and had prepared for it for years; indeed, he considered it to be the next step in his training as a Sith. Following a brief, but intense duel, Jinn escaped, but with the fear of what would become the eventual revenge of the Sith. Maul, despite having failed in his task to prevent the Queen and the Chosen One from reaching Coruscant, was eager to exact revenge on the Jedi.

Duel on Naboo
"Lord Maul, be mindful. Let them make the first move.''" "''Yes, my Master."

- Darth Sidious instructs his apprentice before the Second Battle of Theed

In a second, vicious duel on Naboo&mdash;this time against both Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi&mdash;Maul showed his true mastery of the lightsaber arts.

A long and intense battle ensued, with Maul seemingly on the defensive, but in actuality, steering the battle to a location of his choice. Drawing the Jedi out of the hangar and into the Palace reactor room, he engaged them on the high catwalks. Kicking Kenobi off the platform onto one of the lower catwalks, he turned to Jinn, only to be knocked down himself. As Jinn leaped down to deliver the killing blow, Maul kicked him in the face and quickly righted himself.

However, the Jedi Master delivered a flurry of attacks and drove Maul along the catwalk into the laser-walled security hallway protecting one of the exhaust shafts. Suddenly, the walls activated, separating Jinn and Maul, but also Kenobi from his master. With the battle momentarily halted, the three took a moment to recover, with Maul pacing like a caged animal.

When the wall deactivated, Jinn immediately attacked, driving Maul to the edge of the shaft. However, Maul managed to regain the offensive. In the confined space around the shaft, Jinn was unable to adequately counter-attack, and Maul eventually hit the Jedi Master in the face with his weapon's long hilt, stunning Jinn; once this act was finished, Maul quickly impaled him in the stomach.

Turning to Kenobi, Maul again awaited the laser-wall's deactivation. As soon as it did, the Jedi Padawan viciously attacked, momentarily catching Maul off guard, even managing to sever Maul's weapon in two. Discarding the nonfunctional lesser half of his weapon, Maul unleashed a flurry of his own attacks, driving Kenobi back. Eventually, Maul pushed Obi-Wan into the reactor shaft. As Kenobi grasped hold of an input nozzle, Maul kicked the Jedi Padawan's lightsaber into the reactor pit.

HE DIED
"I hope you are more challenging than your master. I'm somewhat disappointed in him."

- Darth Maul, to Obi-Wan Kenobi, after he fatally injured Qui-Gon Jinn.

As Maul struck the edge of the pit repeatedly with his lightsaber, Kenobi managed to calm himself. Although Maul had disposed of his lightsaber, the Padawan remembered that Jinn's weapon still lay by his fallen master's side. Using the Force, Kenobi leaped out of the shaft and summoned the lightsaber to his hand. The Jedi Padawan landed after a mid-air turn, executing a blindingly fast horizontal slash that bisected Maul, and then Force-pushed the Sith Lord away. Flinching in shock and pain, Maul fell backwards into the shaft in silence, his two halves separating.

Maul's defeat was a setback for Darth Sidious—souring his triumph over his own master—but not a disaster. Within a year, Maul would be replaced with the former Master of the late Jinn, Darth Tyranus, who was not only a trained warrior and duelist, but also a political idealist, exactly the traits Palpatine needed to instigate the Clone Wars.

However, Maul managed to survive his defeat at the hands of Kenobi. Through his hate and will to live, as well as his hatred against Kenobi, he reached out with the Force and grabbed an air vent. He escaped to Lotho Minor in order to escape Sidious' anger for his failure. Maul acquired a six-legged arachnid-like cybernetic apparatus to replace his lost lower body, and stayed in the caves of the planet. For over ten years, Maul's memories were lost and he was in state of near-madness, eating only the little animals that came to the cave, aided in obtaining shelter and sustenance only by a sly and mysterious Anacondan, but the only thing he remembered was Obi-Wan Kenobi and how he took his legs.

An apparition of Maul later appeared to Kenobi's Padawan Anakin Skywalker in a crystal cave on Ilum, only a few years after the duel on Naboo. When Anakin went into a trance-like state, Darth Maul appeared and Anakin immediately attacked him. After a furious lightsaber duel in which Maul taunted Anakin about Qui-Gon's death and about the boy's training lightsaber, Anakin won, but as real as he might have looked, this time Maul was merely a creation of the dark side.

Reunited with Opress
"I was apprentice to the most powerful being in the galaxy once. I was destined to become&hellip; so much more. But I was robbed of that destiny by the Jedi, by Obi-Wan Kenobi.''" "Then you must have your revenge, my brother." "''Yes, we shall start with revenge&hellip;"

- Darth Maul and Savage Opress

Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters, was the only one who knew that Darth Maul was alive and in exile somewhere in the Outer Rim. Around 21 BBY, over ten years after Maul's defeat, she gave a special necklace to his brother, Savage Opress, to find him again. Opress left, promising Talzin that he would return.

Opress found Maul on Lotho Minor with the help of Nightsister talisman that contained Maul's blood, and by a creature that considered Maul his master. When Opress was betrayed by the creature and dumped into the recesses of Maul's cave, Maul attacked Opress. A shocked Opress introduced himself as Maul's brother, but as Maul had not been aware of his kinship to Opress prior to losing his memories, he thus did not recognize his long-lost brother. Opress presented Maul with the talisman from Talzin, and subsequently reclaimed fragments of his lost memories, and the former Sith Lord was brought back to Dathomir to be treated by Mother Talzin.

After Savage brought Darth Maul to be treated, Mother Talzin used her magic to remove his psychosis and reconstitute his spider-like cybernetic legs into a more humanoid form from the destroyed bodies of super battle droids. She disappeared after finishing her work, and before Maul regained full consciousness. Darth Maul ran, testing his new legs, and yelled out with rage. When Opress asked what was wrong, Darth Maul told him his story, and how much he wanted revenge on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Opress gave his brother a severed half of Maul's old Sith lightsaber, and the two vicious warriors set out to find the Jedi Master.

Vengeance
"Your Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. I gutted him while you stood helpless and watched. How did that make you feel, Obi-Wan? Your rage has unbalanced you. That is not the Jedi way, is it?"

- Darth Maul taunts Obi-Wan Kenobi during their rematch

Opress and Maul went to Raydonia to slaughter victims in order to get Obi-Wan's attention. Maul sent a transmission to the Jedi Council of himself executing hostages and demanding that Kenobi come to him. Kenobi went alone, with the ambivalent blessing of Yoda and Mace Windu to face the mysterious murderer.

After a short fight with Maul and Opress, Kenobi was knocked unconscious and abducted by the brothers. Maul and Opress did not kill Kenobi immediately, as Maul desired to exact revenge by torturing him. Kenobi's circumstances improved considerably with the unexpected arrival of former Separatist lieutenant Asajj Ventress, who had come to collect the bounty on Opress' head. She distracted the pair long enough to rouse Kenobi so that the unlikely pair could stand together against the dark brothers.

The two of them were then found by Maul and Opress, and another lightsaber duel ensued. Kenobi and Ventress made it off of the ship alive, and Darth Maul stated that he waited many years for his revenge, and he could wait a little longer. Opress told him that the Jedi would be coming after them, and Maul responded by saying he was counting on it.

The Program remains
"Shut down, PROXY. There's nobody inside you that I haven't already defeated.''" "''Give me some credit, Master. I have one module you've never seen. An enemy I've stored for years&hellip;"

- PROXY and Galen Marek

Though no longer his apprentice, Maul still proved to be valuable to Sidious. The Emperor had recorded many of Maul's training sessions over the years. Using this data, a training program mimicking his fighting style was developed. Darth Vader placed this fighting program, along with many others, into PROXY, Galen Marek's droid. Proxy used Darth Maul's holographic visage in his final attempt to complete his primary programming: to kill his own master. He failed once again, and after a short but furious battle on Raxus Prime, Starkiller cut the double-bladed lightsaber in half and impaled Proxy with the two pieces.

Doppelgänger on Kalakar VI
"What could you hate enough to destroy me?''" "''Myself."

- Darth Maul and Darth Vader

Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, a dark side splinter group called the Prophets of the Dark Side managed to create a doppelgänger of Darth Maul. It is unknown whether this Maul was created through cloning techniques, or through other means. The Prophets themselves stated that "there are techniques to mold a being in every way." As an example to the lesser vassals of Sidious's Galactic Empire and to put an end to the tainted Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, was chosen as the first target for the dark warrior. These dark side worshipers believed Vader to be too much of a Jedi to be a worthy Sith Lord. So they agreed that with Vader out of the way, Maul would once again become Sidious's apprentice and, with the Empire intact, together rule the galaxy.

On the shadowy volcanic moon Kalakar Six, Vader thought he would intercept a Rebel courier with the stolen plans to the first Death Star. Instead, he was met by a reborn Darth Maul and the observing dark acolytes. After dealing with Vader's stormtrooper guards, Maul then dueled the armored Sith Lord. The two appeared to be evenly matched until Vader cut Maul's saber in two. Unlike on Naboo, this time both ends of the weapon continued to function, allowing Maul to switch to the Jar'Kai style. Due to his size and armor, Vader had a difficult time countering this style, and Maul gained the advantage. Yet, in the final moments of the battle, Vader surprised Maul by stabbing his lightsaber through his own body (and, through proximity, Maul as well), damaging his own life-support circuits and almost losing his own life in the process. With Maul defeated, the observing acolytes were executed by the newly-arrived Darth Sidious himself for their "treacherous" act towards his rule.

Holographic resurrection
"I will have my revenge&hellip;"

- Darth Maul

Later, during the reign of the New Republic, a mad Iridonian scientist named Drell Kahmf managed to retrieve and resuscitate Darth Maul's brain from where he was killed. This mad Iridonian scientist believed Maul to be a paragon of the Iridonian people. Stories would later spread of this happening.

To the end of giving Maul new life he placed his brain in a chemical vat, wired up to a device which utilized technology he called a "solid-state holographic projection" which could manifest anywhere in Iridonia's capital. As a hologram, this wraith-like version of Maul had the ability to strike, but could not be struck back.

When Jedi Master Luke Skywalker arrived on Iridonia in an ambassadorial capacity, he was attacked by the Jedi-hating holographic Maul. Not easily fooled by the dark warrior's ghostly appearance, Luke searched for the anomalous presence of Maul through the Force and stumbled upon Kahmf's hideout. Luke declared that "artificially keeping him alive was causing an unnatural disturbance in the Force" and scared Kahmf away before switching off the life-support system sustaining Maul's disembodied brain. Finally, Maul was brought to an end.

Personality and traits
"Maul had been an animal. A skilled animal, but a beast nonetheless."

- Darth Tyranus's thoughts on Darth Maul

Darth Maul was little more than a being of pure hatred and evil, thanks to his harsh, severe training under Darth Sidious. However, he was not completely heartless, granting those he felt worthy of his respect quick and painless deaths. He was even capable of some level of emotional connection with others, feeling respect, admiration, perhaps even a level of attachment towards his master, despite his torturous years under Sidious, likely because he knew nothing else.

As Darth Sidious observed, Darth Maul was obsessed with achieving absolute victory in anything and at any cost. Sidious regarded Maul as a terrifying being capable of withstanding pain in order to succeed against all odds. He was brave, yet prideful as well. Though still an apprentice, Maul was convinced that he could defeat the entire Jedi Order&mdash;including the Jedi High Council&mdash;in their own Temple. Maul's hatred of the Jedi notwithstanding, his master cautioned him to guard against his pride. According to Sidious, Maul was a formidable warrior, but not a "one-being army." Maul was heavily prone to acts of gloating, despite his master's disapproval. His overconfidence was such that he revealed his true identity, his master, and the survival of the Sith to his target Alexi Garyn.

Despite his loyalty and obedience, Maul could not help but wonder about the extent of his role in the Sith Grand Plan. Having no knowledge of Darth Plagueis, Maul never knew that his master answered to another master, and thus believed himself to be the second half of the Rule of Two. As apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Maul viewed himself as the eventual successor of Darth Sidious. However, he was also aware of his own inability to carry the Sith legacy forward, mostly because he had been trained only as a Sith assassin. Unlike Sidious, who hid behind the facade of Senator Palpatine, Maul did not have the advantage of a secret identity. Despite this, he realized how his own physical appearance made it virtually impossible for him to be seen in public without drawing unwanted attention. In spite of all his efforts to understand the galaxy around him&mdash;mainly by learning about politics and criminal businesses&mdash;Maul held little knowledge of how the real world worked. He understood that the Jedi Order, rather the Galactic Republic, was the true enemy of the Sith. Beyond that, he had no idea as to how his Order would exact vengeance against the Jedi.

While he relished combat, Maul longed to evolve as a Sith Lord. Upon moving to Coruscant, he initially hoped that his role would advance beyond that of an assassin. Yet his training remained the same in many ways. As a result, Maul feared for the future of the Order of the Sith Lords. In the event that some unexpected misfortune befell his master, Maul did not know how to execute the Grand Plan in Sidious's place, or if there even existed a contingency plan at all.

In battle, Maul was a ruthless and implacable enemy, possessed of an arrogant urge for self-improvement, to be the best. Ultimately, Maul failed to heed his master's warnings against the distraction of overconfidence. Thus, his arrogance ultimately led to his downfall when he opened himself up to an attack from Obi-Wan Kenobi, an opponent he believed defeated.

After his near-death experience on Naboo, Maul struggled to remain alive through his all-consuming hatred for the Jedi who defeated him, and therefore lost his sanity in the process. By the time Savage Opress found him on Lotho Minor, Maul had been trapped in a state of madness for roughly a decade. After being repaired by Mother Talzin in both mind and body, a bitter and enraged Maul targeted Kenobi for revenge. A scheming mastermind and uncompromising killer, much like his former master, much of Maul's personality&mdash;as shaped by his Sith training&mdash;remained intact. He spared no feelings of hesitation or remorse for killing civilians, believing that the murder of innocent lives, especially women and children, was the quickest method for gaining the Jedi's notice; nor was he a silent opponent who focused primarily on achieving victory through martial prowess any longer. During his duel with Kenobi, Maul utilized Dun Möch by taunting the Jedi Master for his inability to prevent Qui-Gon Jinn's death. Years of living in agony and exile also caused Maul to develop a new-found sense of patience, something that he never truly learned under Sidious's tutelage.

Lightsaber training
"A saber-staff! The weapon of Exar Kun! Did he construct that?''" "The prototype was two lightsabers he had wielded pommel-to-pommel in imitation of the Iridonian zhaboka. I furnished the knowledge that allowed him to improve on the original design and construct the one he is using." "''It strikes me as unnecessary, but I won't deny his mastery of the Jar'Kai technique. Niman and teräs käsi will never substitute for dun möch, but I appreciate that you have trained him to be a fighting machine rather than a true apprentice."

- Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, discussing Maul's lightsaber training

Darth Maul was a highly skilled lightsaber duelist, trained by Darth Sidious in Juyo, which drew heavily on volatile emotions and the dark side. However, Maul only devoted himself to Form VII's physical focus, desiring pure physical victory, rather than the "higher" Sith tradition of Dun Möch; dominating the opponent's spirit and exposing his inner doubts through taunts and psychological warfare. However, after being reborn on Dathomir, he had employed Dun Möch during his rematch with Obi-Wan Kenobi above Raydonia. In addition to this, Maul had training in Niman lightsaber combat and the Jar'Kai dual-saber technique. as well as mastery of the fighting style of Teräs Käsi.

When fighting multiple opponents, Maul extended the second blade of his lightsaber to form a saberstaff, doubling his lethality as Jedi rarely faced such a weapon, or a skilled practitioner in its use. Maul often used this to catch opponents by surprise. Maul had constructed the weapon himself, using ancient plans stored within one of the holocrons the Sith still possessed. He had based his lightsaber design upon that of Darth Zannah's weapon, which in turn had been a development on Exar Kun's original design. It is likely that this choice also came from his species' penchant for the zhaboka, a similar weapon.

Unlike the traditional dueling techniques of most Jedi, Maul combined his swordsmanship with martial arts and hand-to-hand combat skills&mdash;a combination which made him a nearly unstoppable dervish of destruction. And whenever Maul encountered a foe he could not best through his martial prowess, he would fall back on his tactical know-how, outmaneuvering such enemies.

Force abilities
Maul displayed a reasonable amount of competence in telekinesis, utilizing Force grip and Force choke while interrogating Hath Monchar, and being able to activate a set of door controls behind him with a flung piece of wreckage. While dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maul used both Force push and Force lightning against the Jedi.

Maul also demonstrated a resistance to Force lightning, shrugging off a barrage unleashed by the Nightsister Mighella while hunting for Alexi Garyn.

Darth Maul was skilled in combining Force talents with mechanics. Sidious gave Maul the funds and schematics he needed, and provided his apprentice with a secret facility on Coruscant in which to work. There Maul constructed his signature speeder bike Bloodfin and the Dark Eye seeker droids. Using the Force mechanical skill mechu-deru, Maul modified the protocol droid C-3PX into an assassin droid to guard his ship.

Other talents
Due to his Zabrak heritage and his intense training at the hands of Darth Sidious, Maul was able to withstand immense amounts of physical pain.

When crippling the Black Sun Syndicate, Maul came across an Iktotchi Guard who in turn attempted to read his mind in order to find who sent him and who he was hunting. Maul let him but the Iktotchi was soon incapacitated because of the darkness of his mind. Maul then neutralized the guard.

Maul had also mastered the use of the lanvarok.

Sidious also gave Maul a powerful Sith Infiltrator called Scimitar which contained a cloaking shield generator. This vehicle was developed by Raith Sienar, the man whose company would later develop the TIE/LN starfighter for the Empire.

Production information
In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul was played by martial arts specialist Ray Park and voiced by British actor Peter Serafinowicz. Darth Maul's striking visual design, in addition to his limited role in the film, have left many fans wanting to know more about him. Maul would also eventually appear in Star Wars books by Michael Reaves, and other authors.

In Shadow Hunter, Maul is depicted as "almost 2 meters tall". However, in the rest of his appearances, his height is supposed to be 1.75 meters.

George Lucas had described Darth Maul as "a figure from your worst nightmare". Designer Iain McCaig thus offered Lucas a design based on a nightmare of his, which was rejected, but later inspired the Nightsister Sith witch. One day McCaig was trying to make "Sith Lord versions" of the art department crew, and drew David Dozoretz, head of the animations group, with a circuit board on his face. Lucas got intrigued by the circuit board idea, and McCaig started producing similar caricatures. After getting frustrated with a drawing of production designer Gavin Bocquet, McCaig started covering it in tape. He liked the result, described as "a kind of Rorschach pattern", and so did Lucas. The final drawing had McCaig's own face, with a pattern based on three things: a concept of a "flayed flesh face", face-painting of African tribes and further Rorschach experimentation (dropping ink onto paper, folding it in half and opening).

Darth Maul's head originally had feathers, based on prayer totems, but the Creature Effects crew led by Nick Dudman interpreted those feathers as horns. Other changed design was his clothing, from a tight body suit with a muscle pattern to the Sith robe based on Samurai pleats, because the lightsaber battles involved much jumping and spinning.

The novelization of The Phantom Menace suggests that Darth Maul never dueled a Jedi before Qui-Gon Jinn. This is contradictory to Darth Maul's Expanded Universe duels with Anoon Bondara and Darsha Assant.

In The Phantom Menace, Maul only has three lines, two of which are spoken in the same brief scene: "Tatooine is sparsely populated. If the trace was correct, I will find them quickly, master.", "At last, we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge.", and "Yes, my master." The first two lines are spoken during the first scene in which he physically appears (not counting the scene where he is a hologram), when he is talking to Darth Sidious (who we are also seeing for the first and only time (in this film) as a non-hologram) on Coruscant. The third and last line is spoken when Maul is in the Theed Throne-Room with Nute Gunray, talking to the hologram of Darth Sidious. Maul makes a few grunts during the lightsaber duel at the end, and makes a noticeable yell when he is killed.

In the various Expanded Universe sources, it was suggested that the Jedi never knew Darth Maul's name and identity. In the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin refers to Maul only as "the one Obi-Wan left in pieces on Naboo." Dooku then muses that "Maul had been an animal," but does not say his name. However, several other sources claimed the opposite. For example, in the Star Wars: Purge, Shadday Potkin described Darth Vader as "Palpatine's mailed fist, Dooku's successor, Maul's inheritor." However, this was not the first time this "mistake" has been made; in Rogue Planet, Obi-Wan Kenobi mentions Maul by name, and in The Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo Ferus Olin claims that every Padawan of his and Anakin's generation knew the story of Qui-Gon Jinn's death, and of how Obi-Wan had dueled Maul to the death. In the third season of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series, Obi-Wan mentions Maul by name when he mistakes Dooku's new assassin, Savage Opress, for him. Mace Windu also speaks the name while discussing Maul's possible origins. As a solution to this problem the Witches of the Mist episode guide confirmed that the Jedi actually knew Maul's identity and suggested that the name of the Sith Lord was leaked by the captured Neimoidians after the Battle of Naboo.

Maul was revealed to have survived in the series' fourth season on Lucas's order, and was featured in the series, beginning in spring 2012 in the episode "Brothers."

Release information
"You worms are no match for the dark side!"

- Darth Maul

The duel between Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine and the duel with the two Jedi in Theed are featured in the video games Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles (1999), and Star Wars: Obi-Wan (2002). In the first two games he was voiced by Gregg Berger.

The duel in Star Wars: Obi-Wan contradicts that of the movie. Kenobi fights Darth Maul until he reduces the latter's health, then cuts his lightsaber in half. Then the duel resumes until Kenobi emerges victorious, slicing into Maul then Force-pushing him into the pit. The sequence omits Kenobi being knocked into the pit.

In the LEGO video game, Darth Maul takes the form of a LEGO minifigure to fight the heroes of the saga. After his final duel, his torso falls into the pit, but his lower legs remain as if still attached to a body.

During the planning stages of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which was released in 2008, Darth Maul was one of the characters being considered to have his own game centered around him. Instead, he was given a cameo as one of PROXY's training holograms. He also makes a non-canon appearance in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 as a secret unlockable character. Darth Maul is a playable character in Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Darth Maul was featured in two "Evolution" three-packs from Hasbro. One was entitled The Sith Legacy, where Maul was alongside Darth Nihilus and Darth Bane. In the other, entitled The Sith, Maul was alongside Count Dooku and Palpatine.

Non-canon appearances
Darth Maul is a favorite subject for non-canon, what-if stories. He was first "resurrected" in Star Wars Tales 9, where he fought Darth Vader in the short Infinities story Resurrection, though it was never made clear in the story how this Maul was resurrected. Leland Chee later declared that the incident was canon, without clarifying the origins of this doppelgänger.

Early life
During Maul's early years, he was sent to the Happy Nerf Herder, a maximum security home for wayward boys on Coruscant. While there, he was involved in a breakout and, upon escaping, went on a hunt for a lollipop. After using a cable to get to the nearby Mon Calamari Fish Market, Maul stole a hoverboard from a bystander, accidentally causing an explosion by doing so. He used this hoverboard to get to the RIB hutt, restaurant where he stole a lightsaber from a Jedi who was at the establishment.

Maul used this lightsaber to descend the building. Though the Jedi chased him, Maul eventually landed upon a granite slug and onto an air taxi, catapulting both Maul and the slug onto a nearby building which contained a lollipop shop. Before Maul was able to obtain his sought-after lollipop, however, he was taken captive by a Senate Guard who brought him before Senator Palpatine. Though the Guardsman wanted to take him back to the home, Palpatine stated that Maul simply needed better guidance, and that he would re-educate the boy personally.

Hunting Obi-Wan
"There is no Palpatine. No Empire. No Jedi. There is no light, no dark&hellip; just you and I here now."

- Darth Maul, to Obi-Wan Kenobi

After the Clone Wars, Maul hunted Obi-Wan Kenobi for many years, always being but a step behind him until 16 BBY when he discovered Owen Lars and a young Luke Skywalker.

He attacked them while still staying in his hooded cloak, his digitigrade droid legs the only part of him visible to others. He proceeded to call out through the Force to an unseen enemy he could nevertheless sense. The evil, psychic voice claimed to have been tracking this ancient adversary for years, just missing him on his missions to Kamino, Geonosis, and Mustafar and to have killed many witnesses on Polis Massa before finally gaining crucial information in Mos Espa from an aged Toydarian junk dealer, whom he then murdered. The dark creature declared that he knew threatening Luke Skywalker would bring his adversary out into the open.

At this point, a gray-haired Ben Kenobi resolved from the sand and confronted Maul, provoking the former Sith to cast aside his cloak and reveal his identity. With his severed lower body replaced by a pair of large cybernetic legs and abdomen, and his cranial horns having grown to over three times their original length, Maul was consumed with greater hatred than ever before and clearly never resumed contact with his former master, having dedicated his new life to avenging himself on the man who had bested him.

Kenobi and Maul engaged in a furious rematch. Kenobi managed to gain the upper hand when he severed Maul's right arm, cutting the darksider's weapon in two in the process, as well as breaking several of Maul's horns with his bare hand. Maul summoned the remaining half of his weapon and turned to face Kenobi, only to find himself facing the Jedi's lightsaber emitter.

Kenobi hesitated to execute his helpless opponent, but had the decision taken out of his hands when the revived Owen killed Maul with his damaged rifle. Obi-Wan said he would take the body and burn it in the Dune Sea; Owen told Kenobi that Luke would be safer if Kenobi never returned. Obi-Wan departed with Maul's corpse, speaking to Luke through the Force, assuring him that he would always be present; if not in person, then in spirit.

Demolition games
"None shall survive."

- Darth Maul

Maul was somehow once more alive on Tatooine, sometime shortly after the Battle of Hoth. Before anyone had even seen him, the young Wade Vox felt his presence in the Force as a strange, prickling sense of fear as he was getting ready for combat in Jabba's demolition games; this feeling stayed with him throughout the combat, though Vox tried to shake off the feeling of impending dread after his narrow victory. It was soon after this that Jabba, floating over the Dune Sea and awaiting the next round of combat, spotted Maul's speeder bike on the horizon. Jabba lifted his arm to point at the object in the distance and his suspicions were soon confirmed by Bib Fortuna who informed his master that what he saw seemed to be a contraption favored by the Sith. Jabba let out a long, rumbling laugh and soon managed to convince Maul to take part in his demolition games so that Jabba could exploit his new "wild card" to gather even more ill-gotten gains. Maul fought against the other competitors on his Bloodfin, striking them down with its cannons as well as his double-bladed lightsaber.