Darth Maul/Legends

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

- Darth Maul

Darth Maul was a Dark Lord of the Sith and the first known apprentice of Darth Sidious. As a young child, Maul was kidnapped by Sidious and secretly trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force. Growing up under this dark side tutelage of Darth Sidious, the only emotions Maul learned were those of bloodlust and rage.

Maul was a master of Juyo, Jar'Kai, and Teräs Käsi, and chose to use a double-bladed lightsaber for combat. In the years leading up to the Battle of Naboo, Sidious had sent Maul on several political assassination missions, but Maul longed to encounter and kill Jedi.

In 32 BBY, Maul was dispatched by Sidious to kill Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. After tracking them to Tatooine and then to Naboo, he engaged both Jedi during the Second Battle of Theed. Maul had slain Jinn, but made a fatal mistake when he underestimated Kenobi. After a brief, but fast-paced battle, Kenobi slew the Zabrak Sith Lord.

Early life (54 BBY to 32 BBY)
"It was a man... But like no other man..."

- Asa Naga



Darth Maul was a Zabrak born on Iridonia. Indoctrinated in the ways of the dark side of the Force from youth, Maul grew to have no emotions aside from bloodlust and rage. Maul killed living beings mercilessly. During his training, any show of fear was severely punished by Sidious, 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. Marked by Sith tattoos that covered his entire muscular body, the young Zabrak was now the ultimate tool of the dark side. Despite this rather traumatic childhood (if it could be called that), Maul had fatherly feelings toward his master, and never once contemplated killing him&mdash;until his final test.

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

- Darth Sidious

The ultimate test came when Maul was abandoned by his master on an isolated Outer Rim world, forced to survive alone while being hunted by hordes of assassin droids and Dark Jedi. After a month's time, Sidious returned and challenged his apprentice to a lightsaber duel, one which Maul quickly lost. Sidious then 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 tried to kill his master. But the young Maul was no match for the Dark Lord of the Sith, and when Maul's emotions were finally spent, he prepared himself for death. Yet Sidious laughed instead&mdash;by wanting to kill his own master, Maul had in fact passed the final test. Sidious proclaimed him Darth Maul and took him to a new home on Coruscant.

While fanatically devoted, Maul did maintain a bit of vanity: in the upper curvature of his left ear, a small, silver stud was positioned. It is unknown whether this was part of his master's indoctrination, but as few other successive Sith Lords possessed piercings, it can be assumed that this was merely personal preference. He also had his own sense of honor, respecting those he deemed worthy opponents and granting them quick deaths.



Abilities
"Maul had been an animal. A skilled animal, but a beast nonetheless."

- Count Dooku

Maul was skilled with the lightsaber and trained by Sidious to be a practitioner of Form VII which drew on emotions and the dark side. 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. However, Maul only devoted to the Form's physical focus, thus he remained silent when applying the Form in battles. Maul desired pure physical victory, rather than the "higher" Sith tradition of Dun Möch, which could dominate the opponent's spirit through taunts that expose inner doubts and weaknesses. Maul was a master of the fighting style Teräs Käsi, and was also skilled in the Jar'Kai style of wielding a lightsaber in each hand simultaneously, as well as a Juyo stylist. When fighting multiple opponents, Maul extended the second blade of his double-bladed lightsaber to form a saberstaff, doubling his lethality as Jedi rarely faced one. Maul often used this to catch opponents by surprise, as few were prepared for the extra blade. Maul had constructed this 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&mdash;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.

Darth Maul was also 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.

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 fighter for the Empire.



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 Neimoidian Hath Monchar, Lorn Pavan, Jedi Master Anoon Bondara, 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.

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 is 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. Both companies lost most of their ore transportation ships. The two companies came together 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 LL like 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 and the Trade Federation got its prize.

Another notable mission was to kill Hath Monchar, the Neimoidian Vice Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and anybody he may have talked to about the trade embargo of Naboo. He learned that Monchar intended to sell a Holocron containing the information to Lorn Pavan, an information broker on Coruscant, Jedi Padawan Darsha Assant and her master Anoon Bondara. Maul killed Bondara in a lightsaber fight and Darsha Assant blew up the warehouse they were fighting in, claiming her life. Maul escaped the inferno and continued to hunt for Pavan. Pavan had a chance to kill Maul when he was hibernating on board his ship, unfortunately his blaster only had enough power for one kill shot or three stun shots and he was worried about missing. He hit Maul in the back with a stun bolt, and then tried to steal his lightsaber and kill him. Maul woke up early and Pavan escaped. The mission ended when Maul ambushed Pavan outside of his room in a hotel on Coruscant and decapitated him.

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

- Darth Maul



Prior to the Battle 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 of Tatooine using the Force &mdash; and killing Aneesa Dym, a Pa'lowick smuggler who got in the way &mdash; Maul engaged the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Following a brief but intense duel Qui-Gon escaped, but with the fear of what would become the eventual revenge of the Sith. Maul, having failed in his task to prevent Queen Amidala and the Chosen One from reaching Coruscant, was eager to exact revenge on the Jedi Knights. In a second, vicious duel on Naboo &mdash;this time against both the master and the apprentice&mdash; Maul showed his true mastery of the lightsaber arts.

After a long and intense engagement, Maul slew the exhausted Jinn, inciting the anger in the Jedi Master's young apprentice. Within seconds the apprentice&mdash;Obi-Wan Kenobi had pounced upon the Sith Lord and blades had met. For a short while Maul found himself struggling against the rage-filled young Jedi Padawan, but eventually skill prevailed for the Sith Lord and he was able to Force push the young Jedi into a melting pit. Kenobi hung onto a small device on the side of the pit as Maul grinned, predicting his victory, from above. However, Maul's overconfidence was his downfall.



Kenobi used the Force to leap out of the melting pit and summon his Master's lightsaber to his hand. The Padawan sliced Maul in half through his waist causing the Dark Lord to flinch in shock. Maul fell to his apparent death, into the melting pit, in silence. It was an unfortunate setback for Darth Sidious but, for a calculating man with foreknowledge of the future, it was not a disaster. Perhaps it was even deliberate. Within a year Maul would be replaced with another powerful apprentice.

Echo in the Force
As a testament to his skill and power in the dark side of the Force, an apparition of Maul would later appear to the Jedi Anakin Skywalker in a crystal cave on Ilum, only a couple of years after his death. Anakin was to enter a cave similar to the one Luke Skywalker had to enter on Dagobah. When Anakin went into a trance-like state, Darth Maul appeared and Anakin immediately attacked him. After a furious battle Anakin won, but as real as he might have looked, this time Maul was a creation of the dark side.

It was not the last time the two would do battle.

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

- Darth Maul to Obi-Wan Kenobi

As it turns out, Maul somehow survived his bisection and fall into the shaft on Naboo and was fitted with cybernetic legs. His hunt for the only person to have defeated him, Obi-Wan Kenobi, began. He hunted Kenobi for many years, always being but a step behind him until 16 BBY when he discovered Owen Lars and a toddler-age Luke Skywalker. He attacked them menacingly while still staying in his hooded cloak, his triple-jointed droid legs (similar to Grievous') the only part of him visible. 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 adversary for years, just missing him on Kamino, Geonosis and Mustafar and to have killed many witnesses on Polis Massa before finally gaining crucial information in Mos Espa from an aged Watto, whom he beheaded for his trouble. The dark creature declared that he knew threatening Luke would bring his adversary out into the open.

At this point, a gray-haired Obi-Wan Kenobi burst out from the sand and the dark figure cast off his hood, revealing himself to be Darth Maul, his severed lower body replaced by a pair of large cybernetic legs and abdomen, and his cranial horns having grown, crown-like, to over three times their original length. Consumed with greater hatred than ever before and clearly having never resumed contact with his former master, Maul had dedicated his new life to avenging himself on the man who had bested him. Kenobi and Maul engaged in furious combat, in which Maul lost a further arm and some horns before being held at Kenobi's mercy.

With his lightsaber hilt to Maul's forehead and his finger on the blade-ignition button, Kenobi hesitated to execute his helpless opponent, but had the decision taken out of his hands when the revived Owen blew the former Sith's head apart with his damaged rifle. Obi-Wan said he would take the body and burn it in the Dune Sea, to which Owen replied, "I told you I'd keep him safe, and I will. Even if that means from YOU. You don't come back here. Understand?" Obi-Wan departed with Maul's corpse, speaking to Luke through the Force, assuring him "Don't worry. I'll be right here... even if you can't see me."

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 resurrect Darth Maul. It is unknown whether this Maul was created through cloning techniques, by using some form of Sith alchemy to reanimate Maul's actual corpse, or through other means. The Prophets themselves state that "there are techniques to mold a being in every way." As an example to the lesser vassals of Palpatine's Empire and to put an end to his tainted Sith Apprentice, Darth Vader was chosen as the first target for the dark warrior. These dark side worshippers believed Vader to be too much of a Jedi to be a worthy Sith Lord.

On the shadowy volcanic moon Kalakar VI, 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. Darth Maul then dueled Vader on equal terms, but gained the advantage late in the duel. 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 circuits and almost losing his own life in the process. With Maul defeated, the observing acolytes were executed by Palpatine himself for their "treacherous" act towards his rule.

Holographic resurrection
"I will have my revenge..."

- Darth Maul

Later, during the reign of the New Republic, a mad Zabrak 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.



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 wraithlike 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.

Behind the scenes
"You worms are no match for the dark side!"

- Darth Maul



Early concept art of Darth Maul became the Nightsister Sith witch. 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's earlier escapades were later documented in the comic book miniseries Jedi Council: Acts of War, the e-book Darth Maul: Saboteur, the comic book miniseries Darth Maul, and the novels Episode I Adventures: The Fury of Darth Maul and Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter.

Darth Maul's name is likely a reference to his role as Palpatine's personal assassin. His pre-Sith name is unknown; Khameir Sarin is often cited as a possibility due to its appearance in some foreign translations of the Episode I novelization, but this has yet to be substantially proven. SuperShadow claims that the real name is indeed Khameir Sarin, but due to the fact that SuperShadow is infamous for creating unverifiable and mostly untrue fanon, this claim is very likely another fanon material.

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 clear in the story if it was Maul himself or just a clone, but Leland Chee later declared the incident canon, without clarifying the true identity of this doppelgänger. Darth Maul also appeared in the story Phantom Menaces in Star Wars Tales 17, where a "solid-state hologram" controlled by Maul's preserved brain battled Luke Skywalker.

Recently, Maul has become the subject of another spin-off story in Star Wars: Visionaries. The story Old Wounds featured the return of (most of) the original Darth Maul, with a new robotic lower body and longer horns. Bent on revenge, Maul tracks Obi-Wan down at the Lars' Homestead on Tatooine.



The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War by Abel G. Peña has a sentence which implies Old Wounds and its cyborg Darth Maul may just be canon: "The Soulless One was eventually tracked down by a cyborg acquaintance of Obi-Wan's, an old enemy who anonymously reported the ship to the local Imperial authorities." Despite the implication, Old Wounds is not officially announced as a canon story yet.

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.

Darth Maul made an appearance in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.