Content approaching. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, Restraint, End Game, Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul, Back From the Depths!–class. Parts of this article have been identified as no longer being up to date. Please update the article to reflect recent events, and remove this template when finished.

Sorry about the mess. This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Please follow the guidelines in the Manual of Style and complete this article to the highest level of quality before continuing on smaller articles. Remove this message when finished.

There are three conflicting canon sources for this article, from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Obi-Wan, and Star Wars: Episode I Jedi Power Battles. A cohesive timeline has not yet been devised by Lucasfilm Ltd. Editor discretion is advised.

This article contains information that is affected by the ongoing Star Wars: The Clone Wars project. The new official Clone Wars timeline has not yet been established by Lucasfilm. The exact chronology of the events described in this article is currently unknown.

Darth Maul
Biographical information
Homeworld	Dathomir[1]
Born	54 BBY (19BrS),[2] Iridonia[3]
Physical description
Species	Dathomirian[4] Zabrak[1]
Gender	Male[5]
Height	1.75 meters[5] 2.13 meters (post-reconstruction)[6]
Mass	80 kilograms[7]
Hair color	None[5]
Eye color	Yellow (dark side)[5]
Skin color	Red[5]
Cybernetics	Six-legged apparatus[3] (c. 32 BBY–20 BBY)[8] Two cybernetic legs (20 BBY) Two cybernetic legs (20 BBY)
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Rise of the Empire era[9] Rebellion era (Dopplegänger)[10] New Republic era (Solid-state hologram)[11]
Affiliation	Nightbrothers[12] Order of the Sith Lords[9] Trade Federation[9] Ohnaka Gang (Briefly)[13] Shadow Collective[14][15] Death Watch (Briefly)[14] Black Sun (Briefly)[14] Pyke Syndicate (Briefly)[14] Hutt Cartel (Briefly)[14] Mandalorian super commandos[16]
Known masters	Darth Sidious[9] (Sith Master)
Known apprentices	Savage Opress (Sith apprentice)[13]

[Source]

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. However, he was kept as a Sith assassin and thus technically wasn't an actual Sith apprentice, and in addition, Plagueis had discontinued the Rule of Two by the time he trained Sidious.

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. Sidious would quickly replace Maul with a more powerful apprentice: the late Jinn's former Master, Dooku, who had fallen to the dark side, and whom Sidious dubbed Darth Tyranus.

Though his body was physically destroyed, Maul's spirit remained intact due to his intense feelings of hatred fueling the dark side of the Force; this hatred kept Maul alive. The fallen Sith eventually ended up on the junkyard world of Lotho Minor, where he would spend the next twelve years of his life with little to no memory of his former self. Maul kept himself mobile by manifesting a spider-like lower half, feeding off of rodents while his mental equilibrium slowly became undone. Although Darth Sidious and the Jedi Order were unaware of Maul's continued existence, Mother Talzin continued to keep an eye on Maul. In 20 BBY, three years into the Clone Wars, Talzin sent Maul's brother, Savage Opress, the ousted apprentice of Maul's Sith successor, on a quest to find the fractured man who dwelled in the depths of Lotho Minor. Savage successfully brought his brother back to Dathomir to undergo physical and mental reconstitution by Talzin's dark magic. Maul's memories were unclouded, and he was given a more natural-looking two legged mechanical apparatus. Now completely rehabilitated, Maul swore to restablish his place in galactic history, starting with taking vengeance on Kenobi. Maul and Savage caught the attention of the Jedi Order by slaughtering innocents on the planet Raydonia in an attempt to lure Kenobi out. Kenobi and an unexpected ally confronted Maul and Savage over Raydonia, a conflict which ended in stalemate.

Maul and Savage soon cut a bloody swath across the galaxy, catching the attention of the public eye. The Rim Mining Company placed a bounty on Maul's head following his reappearance, and Maul opted to confront their CEO directly on the planet Moorjhone, where another Jedi attempt to arrest the two ended with the capture of Savage. Maul soon found himself among the indigenous Moorjhoni clans, who worshipped Maul as "The Demon in the Light" who would save them from the Day of Three Suns. Maul rallied the clans against the Rim Mining Company, who ousted the Moorjhoni from their caves which would naturally protect them from the power of the Moorjhone system's three stars, using the Moorjhoni army as means to rescue his apprehended brother. Thereafter, Maul and Opress slaughtered and pillaged throughout the Outer Rim, culminating in their attempt to recruit a band of dissident Weequay pirates to their cause, which was thwarted when Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia arrived to prematurely bring an end to their plan, forcing the two Nightbrothers to reconsider their options. 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.

Biography

Sith Lord (54—32 BBY)

Early life and training

From Dathomir to Mustafar

Maul, the Dathomirian^[4] Zabrak male^[1] who would become the feared Darth Maul, was born on Dathomir^[3] to Kycina, a human Nightsister of Mother Talzin's coven and a Zabrak father who, by tradition, was murdered after Maul's conception.^[1] By birth, Maul was a Nightbrother;^[1] a clan of male Zabraks from Dathomir who served as warriors and slaves of the dominant Nightsisters.^[12] 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.^[1] Later stripped of his black Nightbrother markings, Maul was left solely red-skinned.^[17] Agonizing Sith Tatoos were applied personally by Darth Sidious in an attempt to cleanse Maul's mind^[17] as well as demonstrating Maul's complete dedication to the dark side.^[18]

Maul was a blood brother to Feral and Savage Opress,^[12] and 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.^[1]

Maul spent the first few years of his life in the care of droids, TD-D9 in particular,^[3] in a secret location on Mustafar. A year after Maul was given over to the Sith, Sidious was granted permission from his own Master to train him as an apprentice. Plagueis, however, instructed Sidious not to give away their most treasured secrets to the Dathomirian; Maul was to be trained as a Sith assassin, not a Sith Lord like Plagueis and Sidious.^[1] During his training, Maul did not know the human who served as his mentor, he only referred to him as "Master Sidious." He had no idea that he was being taught by a Dark Lord of the Sith.^[3]

Life was hard for young Maul. Any show of hesitation or a mistake was severely punished, and any hint of mercy rewarded with cruelty.^[3]

At one point in his early training, Maul exercised on an ice-covered planet,^[19] possibly Mygeeto, where Darth Plagueis had taught Sidious the ways of the dark side in the human's early years as a Sith apprentice.^[1] He ran up a mountain and back down with "superior balance and control." As he expected praise from Sidious, the Sith Lord lifted him with the Force and tossed him into a vast, icy lake. Maul struggled to get out, while his Master watched on and refused to answer any call for help. The boy feared for his life, but he learned that he must turn his fear into anger, therefore using it to swim hard to shore. Still, Sidious did not congratulate him. They just continued to walk as they had before.^[19]

The Orsis Academy

In 44 BBY,^[20] reaching age 10, Maul was sent to the Academy on Orsis, so that he could learn the skills of an assassin. However, Sidious ordered him that he had to forgo any use of the Force, save for his heightened senses.^[3][21]

Upon arrival, Sidious disguised himself as a blind, anonymous businessman in need to have Maul trained as his future "bodyguard." Director Trezza, a Falleen who could "smell" a Force user^[3] and old associate of Darth Plagueis,^[1] agreed to show Maul around the Academy. The young Zabrak, upon being introduced to the students, challenged the tall Abyssin Dalok to prove himself, and defeated him with such ferocity that he bit him on the nose.^[3]

Nearly three years inside the Academy, Maul became friends with Trezza's Nautolan ward, Kilindi Matako, who showed him so much compassion and secretly gave him advice on how to survive an encounter with Trezza's chargrecks. Once accomplished, he lied to Trezza about how he killed those chargrecks with his own hands, when in fact he used an electroshock net at Kilindi's suggestion.^[3]

Another two years, Maul made rivals of the Rodians Fretch and Hubnutz in a sniping exercise. After that, he and Kilindi were instructed by Meltch Krakko, a brutish Mandalorian who worked in the Death Watch during the Mandalorian Civil War and hunted Jedi.^[3][21]

Maul had to endure every hit he had from a blaster during training. If he dodged every hit, Kracko would have suspected he was a Force-user. Then, one day, Maul was training with the Rodians and Kracko, the latter wearing mimetic suits, in a chasm so that he could be prepared for the Academy's rite of passage known as the Gora. He believed that he could win their respect. But that was when he believed that something was wrong: they were trying to kill him. In a rage, he forgot about Sidious's orders and launched himself via the Force, taking Kracko and the Rodians by surprise. He injured both Hubnutz and Fretch and was about to take Kracko apart, when Trezza demanded that he stop, a furious look on his face.^[3][21]

Sidious, though furious at Maul's disobedience, he explained that Maul wasn't "entirely to blame." The dark side could make the Sith want to unleash its power in their time of secrecy. There could have been a Jedi spying on Trezza's activities and would no doubt have sensed Maul's dark presence. When Maul asked how long it would take for him to continue without using the Force and what plans were made for him, Sidious replied that he may take him as his apprentice one day. Then, he passed a lightsaber to Maul, activated his own, and sparred with the Zabrak, resulting in wounding the latter.^[3][21]

Final test

In 37 BBY, by the time Maul was seventeen,^[3] his Master had already forged him into a living 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—until his final test.^[3][19]

The ultimate test came when Maul was abandoned by his master on an isolated Outer Rim Territories world, which was Hypori^[1], and was forced to survive alone while being hunted by hordes of assassin droids.^[3][19]

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, 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.^[3][19]

Sidious then laughed and revealed to him the truth: 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, where a medical droid tended for him.^[3][19]

Facing Siolo'urmanka

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.^[19]

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.^[22][23]

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.^[22]

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,^[22] based upon Sith schematics which he had originally received from Darth Sidious^[3][19] and inspired by the Zhaboka, a traditional weapon of his species.^[1] Fabricating two lightsabers, Maul welded them together, pommel to pommel, creating a double-bladed lightsaber.^[22]

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, finishing the Jedi off.^[22]

Chryya

Around 34 BBY, Maul was sent to Chryya to force the merchants of the planet's spice business into signing an agreement with the Trade Federation. In the beginning, he was successful; but then, one merchant organized a protest, which started into a rebellion. The entire population destroyed the spice on account of "principle."^[19]

Seeing himself unable to fight every single citizen on Chryya, Maul was forced to report his failure to Sidious. The Dark Lord, furious, held his apprentice by the throat via the Force until he nearly passed out. It was one punishment Maul would never forget.^[19]

The Yinchorri Uprising

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.^[1] Darth Maul was sent to fetch Vilmarh "Villie" Grahrk, a petty Devaronian smuggler that the Sith could manipulate into instigating the crisis. He found him in the slums on Coruscant and activated a holocomm that transmitted Sidious, who gave Grahrk the proposition of leading the Yinchorri. Grahrk, a little skeptical, asked why not Maul be the one to do the job; at the same time, he made the mistake of calling the Zabrak a "bad boy," which earned him a brief Force choke. The Devaronian got the message and went to get the Yinchorri prepared for war, awaiting further instructions from Sidious in the future.^[24]

As the Sith were observing the events from within the shadows, Maul asked Sidious how the Jedi would react to the crisis. Sidious replied that they could do nothing but his "bidding"; they would have to fight the Yinchorri. He speculated two outcomes: either the Yinchorri — known for their "inconvenient resistance to mind control" — would be defeated; or some Jedi would be killed. Maul could not help but intervene, as he watched the Yinchorri attack the Jedi Temple,^[25] something he has been waiting to do by himself for a long time.^[1] But Sidious instructed Maul to get him Vilmarh Grahrk via holo-transmitter, to which the Zabrak obeyed. Grahrk reported that the Yinchorri were ready for battle. Sidious, saying that he and Grarhk would talk again later, cut the transmission. Maul once again begged Sidious to reconsider sending him to Yinchorr. Sidious, who agreed with Maul that leaving such an important task to the likes of Grahrk was "distasteful," nevertheless told his apprentice to be patient; it was important to let underlings become the Sith's "hands."^[25]

Maul surveyed the Jedi Temple from the Works through his electrobinoculars and saw that the Yinchorri were beginning their assault. He reported his findings to Sidious, who already what was happening.^[25] Maul continued to watch the incident. He saw that the Jedi sentry,^[1] Jude Rozess,^[25] had feigned unconsciousness and was disgusted by the Yinchorri's gullibility; he was even more dismayed as he watched the Yinchorri fall into the Jedi's trap.^[1]

Later, after sensing the death of Jedi Master Micah Giiett, Sidious ordered Maul to contact Grahrk. Maul responded that he had already done so and there was no response. Sidious concluded that the Devaronian and all of his relatives had fled; yet he felt secure about letting him go, stating "He cannot reveal what he does not know."^[25]

When the crisis was over, Maul mused that the Jedi had triumphed. Sidious, however, had reason to believe otherwise: the Yinchorri would no longer be a threat, thanks to the Jedi and the Senate. Maul reasoned that if Sidious had sent him there with the Yinchorri, more Jedi would be dead already. The Dark Lord assured him that their time would come and the Jedi High Council had given the Sith a "small victory."^[25]

Weeks later, Sidious listened to Maul's harsh criticisms of the Yinchorri's attack on the Jedi Temple. The Zabrak's belief in what he could have done to be there at the Temple went into more detail: with his skill in stealth, he'd have killed every single Jedi there, including younglings and members of the Council. Seeing that Maul was becoming a bit "prideful" — as Darth Plagueis had originally told him — Sidious reminded Maul that he had given him the title of Darth due to his loyalty and obedience, not his physical accomplishments. Bringing down the Jedi Order wasn't his immediate objective.^[1]

With that discussion over, Sidious bid Maul to hide in the shadows while he contacted Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray through the Neimoidian's private viewscreen; it was best to keep him "in reserve" for now. Maul began to question the order, but his master told him to wait; he would soon play a huge role in what would happen next.^[1]

Maul watched as Sidious began his offically business with the the Trade Federation. Once that transmission was over, the Dark Lord instructed him to travel to Dorvalla. Maul bowed in compliance and left.^[1]

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.^[26]

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.^[26]

Shortly after, Maul hoped that he would take on the Jedi during the business on Eriadu, but Sidious denied his wish, stating "You have no role in this." Instead, he was tasked with building the DRK-1 Dark Eye probe droid from the schematics he was given.^[1]

Takedown of Black Sun

After his latest trial with assassin droids, Maul had received a mission to put the crime syndicate Black Sun into complete chaos, for one day, Sidious would find use for it. For that, he would have to eliminate all the vigos.^[27] Before Maul left, Sidious instructed him whom to strike in order: first Vigo Darnada, then Morn, and finally the rest on Ralltiir. He warned him of a few skilled foes: Darnada had a Twi'lek bodyguard named Sinya; Black Sun leader Alexi Garyn had "some strength of the Force"; and Garyn would have a Nightsister bodyguard named Mighella. She would recognize Maul as a Nightbrother from his markings. Maul pointed out that a Nightsister was not the same as a Sith, but knew he had to "leave no witnesses."^[1] He was provided with a Sith Infiltrator, Scimitar: a heavily modified Star Courier equipped with a cloaking shield generator. He set off, setting the ship to stealth mode as he flew to Coruscant's atmosphere.^[27]

As Maul arrived on Darnada's hideout, Deep Space Demolition and Removal, he posed as a hired killer looking for Black Sun membership after killing a runaway Sullustan debtor named Feen Fenoob. Once he was inside he killed just about everyone in Darnada's private chamber, including Sinya,^[27] whom he beheaded,^[1] saving Darnada for last; everyone except Asa Naga, whom the Sith Lord needed to contact the other vigos into Ralltiir for this emergency. Before leaving, he spread the rumor that the vigos were "at war"; that Black Sun "battled itself"; that at least one of the Vigos might try to overthrow Alexi Garyn. Maul had the whole space station blown up before he set out to kill Vigo Morn. What he didn't know was that minutes earlier, Hath Monchar, the Neimoidian Deputy Viceroy of the Trade Federation, had come to warn Darnada of the Sith's presence, only to be thrown out by the ignorant Dug.^[27]

Maul then proceeded to Vigo Morn's homeworld of Dac, where he killed the Mon Calamari's men. Morn was saved for last. In a futile attempt to save his life, he revealed that all the Vigos would be rendezvousing on Raaltiir,^[27] just as Sidious had predicted.^[1] When he asked that Maul spare him, the Sith Lord cruelly said "No" and cut him down.^[27]

Once he had landed on Raaltiir, Maul deployed his Dark Eye probe droids around the Black Sun Fortress. He watched through his electrobinoculars and awaited as the droids returned. He had learned that Alexi Garyn and every single remaining Vigo were inside, along with their separate bodyguards and a large legion of Black Sun's "finest" enforcers. He contacted Sidious and made his report. The Dark Lord instructed his apprentice to begin his attack and "leave no survivors." Maul obeyed, sent the Dark Eyes away, and started his speeder bike Bloodfin. He plunged from the cliff had positioned himself on and revved Bloodfin through Ralltiir's waters.^[27]

As Maul reached the fortress, two sentries spotted him and fired at him. Still on his speeder, he activated his lightsaber and deflected the blaster bolts before decapitating the sentries with one strike. The Sith Lord launched from his speeder and stood between every single enforcer within the fortress, atop a fourway platform. Believing that they could defeat Maul because he was just one man, the legion rushed at him. But Maul proved more than a match for them and headed for the main entrance, leaving behind a trail of mangled, maimed, and smoking corpses: some lying on the floor, others falling over the edge. Then, a lone gun man tried to ambush him, but was met with a Force-choke that ended his life.^[27]

Maul opened cut his way through the door with his lightsaber and was met by eight of the Vigos' bodyguards: an Iktotchi, a Kiffar, a Nikto, two female Barabels, Phuii, a Gamorrean, and an assassin droid. The Iktotchi launched his compatriots after the Sith Lord. Maul killed the Kiffar first, sliced the Phuii's left hand off to use his blaster pistol on him and the Nikto, and then slashed the Gamorrean. He was injured in the back by the Barabels' claws, but one of them was shot accidentally from behind by the assassin droid. Maul threw his lightsaber at the droid, stabbing it in the chassis. Next, he grabbed the remaining Barabel, flipped her over to the ground, and snapped her neck. Just then, he was stopped by the Iktotchi, who aimed the muzzle of his blaster at the Zabrak's face. The remaining bodyguard was amazed by what he had seen: Maul had annihilated "seven of deadliest beings in the galaxy" in less than a minute. He demanded the assassin to say who sent him here, but not a word was spoken. As the Iktotchi tried to use his telepathy on Maul, all he received was a horrifying mind of darkness and died for it. With that, Maul stripped his ravaged top clothing, regained his lightsaber, and walked to the door of the Black Sun leadership's grand chamber. He opened his way via the Force and reactivated his weapon for the kill.^[27]

The astounded and terrified Vigos fled for their lives, but Alexi Garyn had closed the gates behind them while making his escape. Maul slaughtered all the Vigos in order: Whee Tillatch, Mother Dean, a Narees, Dardo, a Devaronian, Nep Chung, and a Twi'lek. Asa Naga was saved for last. Once that was done, the Sith Lord sliced his way through the gates and went after Garyn.^[27]

At the catwalk of the fortress' hanger, Maul met face-to-face with Mighella, Garyn's Nightsister bodyguard. As they prepared to face off, he told her that she understood "so little" of the dark side. Despite what Mighella said about Maul not facing her kind before,^[27] Maul had indeed experienced the Nightsisters via Mother Talzin on Orsis in his teen years^[3][21]; it was his kind that Mighella had never fought in her life. The witch responded "We'll see" before Maul leaped in his attack.^[27]

The duel was short. After a few passes, Maul sliced Mighella's darksword in two. As he lunged toward her, the seemingly unarmed Nightsister shocked him with Force lightning. She taunted him for not being able to withstand the dark side, but Maul gathered up all his power to resist the electricity, retorting that that Mighella knew nothing of the dark side. It was at that moment that an astonished Mighella began to realize Maul's Sith nature, before the Zabrak sliced her in half.^[27]

As Alexi Garyn reached for his private yacht, Maul jumped via the Force and blocked his way. Calmly, the Black Sun leader expressed his previous disbelief that one man could kill an entire organization of criminals; that he never thought there would be anyone like Maul. The Zabrak warrior replied that there was only one like him; his master. Garyn revealed that he had a feeling that the Sith really existed. After explaining his previous desire to become a Jedi, he asked why the Sith would reveal themselves now. Maul replied that it was their "time"; after hundreds of years, the galaxy would be under Sith control.^[27]

Then, reasoning that Black Sun would have to be "out of [the Sith's] way" first, Garyn drew up his concealed vibroknife and slashed Maul on the chest and left hand. It was all in vain, however, as Maul lunged at Garyn, grabbed him by the neck with his right hand and the knife with his left. Both men fell into the reservoir. Maul managed to drown Gayrn before emerging victorious; his injured hand bled a ripple onto the water, creating the symbol of the defeated Black Sun.^[27]

Maul returned to Coruscant immediately afterwards. His wounds were treated. He was in the middle of meditating when Sidious asked him of his progress: there were no survivors, Maul reported (although Oolth, Garyn's retainer, escaped off Raaltiir unnoticed,^[27], yet did not live long enough to tell the tale^[28]). When pressed by Sidious to admit that Garyn had dealt his wounds — even if the Black Sun leader's Force sensitivity was pale, in comparison to his — the Zabrak further confessed that he told Garyn about the existence of two Sith. Sidious reprimanded his apprentice for almost putting the Sith's plan in jeopardy. Even as Maul begged for his master's forgiveness, he was ordered off Coruscant for a while until further notice.^[1]

Later, when Sidious reported Maul's success as well as his near-blunder to Darth Plagueis, the elder Sith Lord expressed what the Zabrak assassin said did not matter; Alexi Garyn and his Vigos were dead, leaving Black Sun in chaos. The Sith could now continue their plot unhindered.^[1]

Silus

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.^[17]

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.^[17]

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.^[17]

Shadow Hunter

Another notable mission was to kill Hath Monchar 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. He 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, which ended the Jedi Master's life. 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.^[28]

Later, Darsha Assant blew up the warehouse that she and Maul 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.^[28]

A Sly Encounter

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.^[29]

Maul's Fury

Having amassed his full arsenal — the Bloodfin, the assassin droid C-3PX, the Scimitar and the three Dark Eye probe droids — Maul was tasked with retrieving 25 hyperdrive-equipped droid starfighters from the Bartokk assassins in the Esseles system.^[30]

The Invasion of Naboo (32 BBY)

Revealing Two Sith

At the time of the Invasion of Naboo, Maul was ordered to stand in the shadows and listen while Sidious spoke with the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation about why they contacted him. The Zabrak was excited when he learned of two Jedi sent by the Republic to settle the conflict.^[3] Angry of these turn of events, Sidious ordered the Neimodians to kill the Jedi and deploy their forces on Naboo's surface.^[9] Maul asked whether these "fools" could actually kill the Jedi, for he knew they would fail; Sidious said that the Nemoidians weren't good enough, but they "sometimes get lucky."^[19][3]

Shortly after, Maul began another practice round with three assassin droids. This was more intense than previous exercises, as the droids were programmed to be extremely lethal. Nonetheless, Maul took them all down, saving a lightsaber throw for the last one. In his sense of triumph, he was caught offguard by Sidious' unexpected arrival. As a result, Sidious harshly told Maul to never subject himself to surprise, even when he was busy. When the Dark Lord levitated Maul's still activated lightsaber with the Force and threw it at him, Maul did not flinch. Satisfied, Sidious shut the weapon off, handed it back to Maul, and then left.^[19]

In another transmission with the Neimodians, the Sith learned that the Jedi and Queen Amidala of Naboo had escaped the blockade. Sidious motioned Maul to stand forward, mentioning that his apprentice would find the Neimodians' "lost ship."^[9] Maul took delight at the sight of the Viceroy Nute Gunray and Settlement Officer Rune Haako's fearful expressions.^[19][3]

Duel on Tatooine

After tracking them to the planet Tatooine with an edited transmission made by Naboo governor Sio Bibble,^[3] Maul reasoned that he would find the runaways in no time. Sidious ordered him to first confront the Jedi and then make the Queen return to her homeworld and sign the treaty with the Trade Federation.^[9]

As Maul approached Tatooine, he ambushed by Togorian pirates upon exiting hyperspace. Before the Scimitar could be captured, he slipped into the box-shaped freighter via the Sith Infiltrator's escape pod. With all his skill on mechanics and the Sith arts, killed five of the pirates and the captain, set the freighter to detonate by mixing the proton torpedoes in the propulsion units, and left the remaining pirates to die in the explosion, surviving the ordeal with only a wounded leg from Hela-Tan, who died from lack of oxygen in the open hatch and drifted into space.^[3][19][31] He proceeded to Tatooine, landing outside the most densely populated towns of the planet. He immediately deployed his three Dark Eye probe droids to find the Jedi and the Queen's ship.^[9]

As the next day rose, while tending to his leg, Maul encountered a band of around thirty Tusken Raiders who managed to to lure him out with the tracks their banthas left behind near the Scimitar. He refrained himself from killing them, though; any dead bodies of Sand People near his location would raise suspicion. He escaped, postponing any healing for his leg.^[3][19]

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—the Sith Lord promptly cut the innocent woman down.^[3][32] Afterwards, a single droid reported that it had located the Naboo royal starship in the Xelric Draw.^[3][19] The Sith Lord immediately took the Bloodfin and headed toward the location the probe had revealed; upon reaching the ship, he sensed that the boy who was traveling with Jinn, Anakin Skywalker, was unusually strong with the Force. But he had no time to figure this out^[3][19]; he leaped from his speeder and—wielding his lightsaber in its single-bladed configuration—engaged. Jinn told young Skywalker to tell the crew of the ship to take off and the boy did so.^[9] This was the first time in a while that 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.^[3][31] In the brief, but intense duel, he sensed that Jinn was getting tired. He was sure he could kill him right then and there, so he used his leg injury to further fuel his anger.^[19][3] But thanks to Skywalker, Jinn escaped aboard the ship, 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.^[9]

Taking command of Naboo

Maul contemplated the mistakes he made because of the actions he took on Tatooine, since he failed his mission to kill the Jedi and capture the Queen as a result. Sidious, however, was not angry, revealing that Queen Amidala would try to persuade the Senate to help liberate her planet. He then assigned him to overlook the rest of the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo.^[3][19][31] When he told Viceroy Gunray that he was sending Maul over to Naboo,^[9] the Zabrak could tell that the Neimoidian was not so sure about this.^[19]

On Naboo, Maul took the position as chief commander over the Trade Federation's occupying droid army and he was disgusted over the idiocy and incompetence from the likes of the Federation's leaders in the Neimodians, especially while speaking with them face-to-face.^[3][19][31] He had good reason to do so after Viceroy Gunray gave him the reports on the Federation's setbacks: Naboo Resistance members had successfully escorted their new supposed ally, Borvo the Hutt, to safety; Comm 4 was disabled; slave camps had been freed; Borvo, in fact a Federation spy, had Captain Kael killed and Bravo Squadron of the Resistance ambushed; and then, a former Federation plasma mining camp was destroyed.^[31] Nevertheless, Maul carried on with the mission assigned to him by Sidious as he commanded the droid army to begin looking for the Gungans and eliminate them as a threat.^{[3][19][31][33]}

Advised by OOM-9, Gunray's command battle droid, Maul searched the swamps of Naboo for any Gungans in sight. Upon introductions, OOM-9 had a lead on the Gungans' location when a captured mariner from Harte Secur informed his captors of a Gungan city called Rellias, which was connected to the Gungan capital Otoh Gunga via the Rellias Straits. Unaware or the city's exact location, the droid commander's forces established a forward observation base on the shore of a nearby marsh and had begun to scout the area when they were joined Maul. He showed him to a group of Gungan prisoners captured while meeting with Naboo traders outside the city of Moenia. Seeking to end the search for the Gungans quickly, Maul ordered OOM-9 to begin poisoning the marsh to force the Gungans to the surface, and to drain the water if that proved unsuccessful. When Maul departed soon after, OOM-9 did as instructed, but the droids discovered that the marsh was linked to vast reserves of underground water and had made little progress in draining it by the time Maul returned. However, while he was away, the Sith Lord had learned of Relias's location from a Bothan surveyor named Leika, and the name of its governor, a Gungan named Boss Ganne. OOM-9 accompanied Maul aboard an S-DST and proceeded to Rellias, where his STAP patrols began to saturate the city with depth charges. During the ensuing battle, Maul captured Boss Ganne^[31] and used the Force to manipulate Ganne into opening the Gates of Rellias, the only obstacle preventing Federation forces from accessing the Rellias channel. After eliminating all resistance from the Gungan defenders, the troops proceeded to the channel.^[33]

The Rellias channel led to Lake Paonga, location of Otoh Gunga. On the shore of the lake, the Trade Federation forces established an outpost, and OOM-9 sent patrols to locate any Gungan settlements on the mainland and the islands located in the lake. Resources collected on the land were being used to supply Otoh Gunga, so OOM-9's forces destroyed the settlements and secured the resources, cutting the supply lines to the underwater city. The Gungans retaliated by sending their naval forces to attack the Trade Federation outpost, but OOM-9 repelled the counterattack and his forces soon located Otoh Gunga itself.^[33] OOM-9 ordered his forces to deploy depth charges; when no Gungan bodies were brought to the surface after the resulting explosions, the droid commander dispatched drone submersibles to scout the lake, confirming that the city had been virtually abandoned. On Maul's orders,^[31] OOM-9 proceeded to eliminate the remaining resistance and laid waste to much of the city. With the apparent defeat of the Gungans, Naboo was firmly under Trade Federation control,^[33] but OOM-9 was contacted by Gunray and relayed news to Maul that Amidala and the Jedi were returning to the planet.^[31]

During his venture, Maul learned from former Royal Naboo Security Forces captain Maris Magneta that her employer and Naboo's previous monarch, King Ars Veruna, had been mysteriously killed prior to the Federation's occupation of Naboo; a Muun banker named Hego Damask was somehow involved. The significance of this to Maul struck him when he learned that Damask was actually working with Naboo's representative Senator to the Galactic Republic, Palpatine, who was Darth Sidious's alter ego, in orchestrating the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo. From this, Maul hypothesized that Damask may very well be a Sith Lord controlling Sidious, and that Sidious himself was disobeying the Rule of Two by making Maul into a Sith Lord, even though Maul figured that he wasn't really much of a Sith Lord so much as he was a weapon. However, there was little time to ponder that over. When Magneta ambushed him with her gang of thugs, Maul killed every one of them with his own bare hands before resuming his work on the planet.^[31]

After being given a review by the Neimoidians of the situation in Theed, Maul surprised them with a suggestion that Queen Amidala was on Naboo and then ordered them to increase security measures.^[3][19] Later, as Maul, Nute Gunray, and Rune Haako reported their findings to Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord saw that Amidala was becoming "too aggressive." He advised Maul to wait for the resistance to strike first.^[9]

Duel on Naboo

In a second, vicious duel on Naboo—this time against both Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi—Maul showed his true mastery of the lightsaber arts.^[9]

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.^[9]

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, Jinn meditating and Kenobi waiting anxiously behind.^[9]

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; Maul then quickly impaled Jinn through the abdomen.^[9]

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.^[9]

Defeat

Maul struck the edge of the pit's upper rim repeatedly with his lightsaber, impatient to see Kenobi fall to his doom.^[3] 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. Flinching in shock and pain, Maul fell backwards into the shaft in silence, his two halves separating.^[9]

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.^[3] Maul went down the reactor shaft and landed in water. Maul was then dumped into a container, which was taken to Lotho Minor. As he lay submerged, he fell into unconsciousness, cursing Kenobi.^[34]

Arriving at his destination, Maul woke up. He activated his lightsaber and carved his way out of the container, screaming with rage. He struggled to move on through the junkyard world. Soon, he encountered insects the size of his arm and managed to crush one with his own left hand before using his teeth to rip a leg off. But as he started eating, the Sith Lord heard a scream coming from his right.^[34]

A sly and mysterious Anacondan named Morley was slithering away in fright from one of Lotho Minor's gigantic machines, the Fire-Breather. Maul threw his lightsaber with the Force directly at the Fire-Breather's head, piercing it through. The machine instantly fell to the ground, the fire from its mouth extinguished. His weapons returned to him, Maul once again blacked out. Morley rapped the Zabrak in his coils and brought him into the caves of the planet, which would eventually become his sanctuary.^[34]

Maul reawakened and, with all of his anger, was able to use the Force to acquire a six-legged arachnid-like cybernetic apparatus to replace his lost lower body.^[34] For twelve years, Maul's memories were lost and he was in a state of near-madness, eating only the small animals that came to the cave, aided in obtaining shelter and sustenance only by Morley, but the only thing he remembered was Obi-Wan Kenobi and how he took his legs.^[3][34]

Maul's defeat was a setback for Darth Sidious — souring his triumph over his own master — but not a disaster.^[1] Within a year, Maul would be replaced with the former Master of the late Jinn, Count Dooku. Given the Sith name Darth Tyranus, Dooku was not only a trained warrior and duelist, but also a political idealist, exactly the traits Sidious needed to instigate the Clone Wars.^[1][35]

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.^[36][37]

Return (20 BBY)

Reunited with 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,^[38] 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.^[12]

In 20 BBY,^[8] Opress found Maul on Lotho Minor with the help of the Nightsister talisman that contained Maul's blood, and by a creature that considered Maul his master. Opress was betrayed by the creature and dumped into the recesses of Maul's cave. Over here, Maul attacked him until the shocked Opress introduced himself as the Sith's brother. Maul had not been aware of his kinship to Opress prior to losing his memories. He thus did not recognize his long-lost brother.^[39] Opress presented Maul with the talisman from Talzin. Through this, Maul reclaimed fragments of his lost memories. He was then brought back to Dathomir to be treated by Mother Talzin, both physically and psychologically.^[40]

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. After finishing her work, she disappeared before Maul regained full consciousness. Maul felt that the Force was out of balance and Opress told him that the Clone Wars had started. Maul showed disappointment that it had begun without him. Darth Maul also told Opress his story, and his hatred for Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was now a member of the Jedi High Council. Opress gave his brother a severed half of Maul's old Sith lightsaber and suggested getting revenge. Maul agreed, saying they would "start" with revenge, hinting of greater schemes afterwards. The two vicious warriors set out to find the Jedi Master.^[40]

Vengeance

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.^[40]

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. 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.^[40]

It wasn't long before the two were confronted by the brothers, and a fierce lightsaber battle quickly ensued in the cramped interior of the tanker's hold. Kenobi and Ventress found themselves outmatched despite their best efforts, and were forced to make a hasty retreat to the ship's cockpit, where they ejected themselves to safety in an escape pod. Even though his prey had escaped, Maul remained calm and composed, stating that he waited many years for his revenge and could wait a little longer. Opress warned him that the Jedi would be coming after them; Maul replied that he was in fact counting on it.^[40] Kenobi and Ventress flew the tanker's cockpit to Otor's Hub, where they parted ways. Kenobi contacted the Jedi Council and relayed the events. The Jedi Masters reached the decision that a task force should be created immediately to capture the brothers.^[34]

Hunted by the Jedi

After their encounter with Kenobi and Ventress above Raydonia, Maul and Opress traveled to Yellowblade's Landing, where they visited a local cantina. There, the brothers were attacked by the Scourge gang after both sides attempted to recruit the other, but the two Sith easily eliminated the thugs. Opress allowed a Rodian with a severed right hand to escape, as a warning to others, but Maul reminded him that, since they had to hide in order to survive, they should leave "no witnesses." So together, the brothers killed the remaining patrons in the cantina and departed.^[34]

Sometime after that the two were chased by a team of Jedi led by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Plo Koon. Among those Jedi was Bruu Jun-Fan, Grohto and Ko Solok. After an encounter with those Jedi at Pleem's Nexus and Paklan, Maul and Savage murdered all the Jedi save for Koon and Kenobi. When it came to Jun-Fan, he began to choke Maul declaring that his evil was at an end, but Maul used his cybernetic legs to fatally wound Jun-Fan.

In one of their expeditions, Maul and Savage murdered an individual who worked for the powerful Rim Commercial Mining company as an exporter, causing CEO Ja'Boag to place a bounty on Maul's head.^[41] After exterminating a team sent to retrieve him on Paklan, Maul and Savage traveled to Moorjhone to kill Ja'Boag.^[8] Jedi Masters Judd and Salmara tracked them there and managed to take Opress prisoner, and Maul was forced to flee with his cybernetic legs damaged. He was rescued from a death in the desert by the Moorjhoni.^[42][41]

Shortly after that, Maul went to rescue his captive brother before Obi-Wan Kenobi and his forces could arrive on Moorjhone. After Opress was freed from his carbonite prison, he slew Salmara, sparking revenge and hate in her apprentice, Dray. With Salmara dead and Dray no longer a threat but still alive, the two Sith fled with the captive Ja'Boag. After the Gossam removed the bounty, they ejected him out of an airlock, killing him.

Resurfacing in the galaxy

Eventually, the Sith brothers' galactic pillaging rampage took them to a space station the Cybloc system controlled by the InterGalactic Banking Clan. After defeating the station's droid guards, the brothers discovered a credit coffer filled to the brim. Maul demonstrated his martial superiority to his brother by disarming him, earning the latter's respect. From that point, Maul referred to himself as Opress's Master, taking upon himself control of the traditional Banite dynamic.^[13]

After stealing the valuables on the space station, the brothers traveled to Florrum, where they bribed a squad of Weequay pirates into joining them. Although some joined, others questioned Maul and Opress's motives, earning them death by their hand as their leader, Hondo Ohnaka, watched. Eventually, they ended up forced to face off against Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia, a fellow member of the Jedi High Council, having been tracked there. After a fierce duel that left Gallia killed, the Sith brothers were lured into the base by Kenobi, where they continued their duel in an isolated passage. However, after Opress had his arm cut off, Maul realized they should call a retreat. He also discovered that Ohnaka's forces reconciled with the renegade pirates, and likewise, his hired group had turned on him. They promptly escaped, also telekinetically throwing the Jedi shuttle at them to distract them, although the escape cost Maul one of his artificial legs. They later barely escaped the doomed ship after one of Ohnaka's pirates shot out its engines with a rocket launcher. Because of this, the rest of the Jedi believed that Maul and Opress were incinerated in the crash, although Obi-Wan suspected otherwise.^[13]

Palpatine, and reluctantly, Yoda, suggested to Obi-Wan that they not pursue the Sith brothers. As the Jedi left, however, Palpatine smirked, hinting that he had plans for Maul and Opress in the future.^[13]

Forming the Shadow Collective

Joining Death Watch

Maul and Savage managed to escape Floruum although they eventually passed out from lack of oxygen in the escape pod. As they floated aimlessly in deep space, they were discovered unconscious and half-alive by an advance force of Mandalorians led by former Governor Pre Vizsla. Discovering Maul's lightsaber, Vizsla decided not to kill them as his lieutenant, Bo-Katan Kryze, wished to do, declaring that, if they were enemies of the Jedi, then they were his friends. Vizsla and his men returned to their base on the planet Zanbar, with Maul and Savage in tow.^[14]

On Zanbar, medical droids healed Maul from his wounds and replaced the legs he had received from Mother Talzin for a pair of human mechanical legs that returned him to his previous size. Waking after the surgery was completed, Maul was groggy and only tried to react when he saw the still unconscious Savage next to him, as the droids fitted him with a mechanic arm. Vizsla and Bo-Katan entered and began to interrogate Maul, threatening to kill Savage if he refused to answer. Maul revealed that they were Sith Lords which immediately led Vizsla to question him as to his links to Count Dooku, also known as the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus. Maul angrily stated that he and Savage served no one and that they were brothers, the true Lords of the Sith. Satisfied, Vizsla asked him as to his intentions. Maul revealed his plans to seek power and influence to gain his revenge over the Jedi. He also informed the Mandalorians that the Jedi responsible for their troubles was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vizsla then ordered the droids to complete the repairs to the brothers.^[14]

Later on, Maul was taken to Vizsla's shelter where he was offered Cassius tea. As Maul sipped his tea, he noticed the sign on Vizsla's helmet and inquired after it. Vizsla revealed it to be the sign of Clan Vizsla and introduced himself and his warriors as the Death Watch, the descendants of Mandalore's true warrior faith which had been rejected by the pacifistic New Mandalorians who now ruled Mandalore. Vizsla also informed Maul of his and his warriors' exile from Mandalore after failing to overthrow the government of Duchess Satine Kryze and mused against the one responsible for their exile: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Realizing that they possessed a common goal and a common enemy, Maul proposed an alliance between him and his brother, and the Death Watch, claiming that it was the will of the Force. Bo-Katan rebuffed him, stating that the last time they had allied with a Sith, they had been betrayed. She also denigrated the Sith as being weaker than they claimed as opposed to the Jedi. Maul used the Force to choke her and, as the Mandalorians aimed their weapons at him, he claimed that, thanks to their alliance, Mandalore would be theirs and they would dispose of all their enemies, as well as gaining their revenge against Kenobi and Dooku. He then released Bo-Katan and Vizsla sent him to see to Savage while they put the alliance to a vote among the Mandalorians.^[14]

Savage emerged from his coma and proceeded to destroy the medical droids with his new mechanical arm while Maul watched. As Savage grew agitated, Maul appeared to calm him and informed him of who they had fallen upon. He insisted that they would be more useful to their plans than the pirates ever would have been because they had honor. While Savage rejected this as a weakness, Maul stated that his plans would be better served by them and, once they had reclaimed Mandalore, they would use its resources to further their own plans, with the Death Watch under their command. Vizsla then arrived and announced that the alliance had been accepted by the Death Watch.^[14]

Rallying the galactic underworld

Maul convinced Pre Vizsla they needed to recruit the Black Sun, so they could build an army. They then proceeded to go to Mustafar to recruit the Black Sun ruling council, led at that time by Xomit Grunseit, into their ranks. Upon arrival, their request for them to join were shot down and mocked by the Falleen, although their captain of the guard, Ziton Moj, ended up joining after witnessing Opress single-handedly wiping out all the Falleen present. Upon returning to their camp at Zanbar, the Pykes also declared their allegiance to the Sith brothers.^[14]

They also traveled to Nal Hutta to get the Hutt Grand Council to join their group. They were initially met with refusal, and bounty hunters began to attack them so they retreated outside and began an attack, killing almost everyone. After defeating the bounty hunters and the guards, they met Oruba the Hutt, who was captured by the Nite Owls, led by Bo-Katan. After the Hutt could only tell that they would find the other Hutts at Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, they killed Oruba, resulting in Jabba declaring the Hutts' allegiance to the Sith brothers, eventually culminating in Lom Pyke joining the group. Afterwards, Maul named the group the Shadow Collective.^[14]

Taking over Mandalore

The Shadow Collective then plotted on making the Duchess Satine look weak by orchestrating having the criminal elements of their alliance attack the city of Sundari, at which time Death Watch would swoop in and drive them off. Maul also anticipated and counted on Death Watch leaders Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan to be genuinely treacherous and knowing this factored into his plans.^[43]

Afterwards, Maul and Opress were arrested by Death Watch after they had managed to "defeat" the crime syndicates attacking Sundari and become the new leaders of Mandalore. While imprisoned in the Sundari prison, Maul guessed that there might be other political prisoners besides Satine imprisoned with himself and Opress, and, after they broke out of their cell, they they sought to find their puppet, killing any guard who attempted to stop them. With an indirect comment from Satine, Maul chose former Prime Minister Almec.^[43]

Storming his way into the Sundari Royal Palace, Maul challenged Vizsla to an honorable death match, knowing that the winner would gain the allegiance of Death Watch. After a long and spectacular duel in the throne room, Maul did win by beheading Vizsla with Vizsla's own Darksaber and claiming the sword as his own. However, Maul's victory had the effect of splitting the Death Watch group in two, with Bo-Katan leading the remaining forces that were loyal to Vizsla, the Nite Owls, to defy Maul, while the other half submitted to Maul's rule. Almec was reinstated as Prime Minister, but Maul became the true ruler of Mandalore.^[43]

Revenge complete

Obi-Wan arrived on Mandalore in response to a message from Satine, and attempted to rescue her. Kenobi ended up being captured, and bore witness to Maul's murder of Satine. Maul then sent Kenobi back to prison, intending to let him suffer from his failure. However, Kenobi was able to escape with help from the Nite Owls.^[16]

Duel with Sidious

Concurrently, Maul's old Sith Master, Darth Sidious, arrived at the Sundari Royal Palace, having already learned about Maul's survival and his taking Opress as a Sith apprentice from their previous actions on Florrum - which he learned from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul sensed a dark presence and said as much to his brother, and as he realized in fear that it was his former master, the two guards were suddenly choked to death and the doors parted to reveal Lord Sidious himself. After a brief exchange of words, Sidious then proceeded to duel both Maul and Opress. ^[16]

Although the two temporarily gained the upper hand, Sidious overwhelmed them, proceeding to impale Opress in the chest. Maul went to his brother's side, as the Nightsister magic started to bleed from him. With his dying breath, Opress expressed his regret that he could never be Maul's equal. Sidious then reminded Maul of the Rule of Two and that he was no longer his apprentice, having been replaced. Enraged, Maul lashed out at his former Master, wielding the Darksaber taken from Vizsla as well as his own, but was repelled. He was then telekinetically thrown about. Badly wounded, Maul weakly pleaded for mercy. Sidious deviously stated that he wouldn't kill him, implying that he had other plans for him, and subjected him to torture from Force lightning.^[16]

Influence of Maul

The program remains

Though no longer the apprentice of Darth Sidious, Darth Maul was still a symbol of fear and Sith power.^[44] During the era of the Galactic Empire, Maul's legacy was preserved by the holodroid PROXY, who incorporated the Dathomirian Sith's appearance and fighting style into himself as a training module. The droid was programmed to kill its own master, Darth Vader's secret apprentice, codenamed Starkiller, and thus PROXY utilized a variety of Jedi modules in an attempt to fulfill his primary directive. Over the course of many failed attempts, PROXY never revealed its "Maul" program to the apprentice, intending to reserve his Sith module for the perfect opportunity to kill Starkiller.^[45]

During a mission on Raxus Prime, PROXY interfaced with the planet's Core system, and inadvertently allowed the A.I. to seize control of him. His programming overwritten, the Core-controlled PROXY attacked his master, using various training modules—such as the late Qui-Gon Jinn and Anakin Skywalker—before unveiling the holodroid's secret weapon: the "Darth Maul" program.^[46]

Unaware of Maul's identity or the fact that PROXY had been storing it for years, Starkiller was momentarily taken aback by the Zabrak Sith. The module reflected the fallen Sith Lord's appearance—from hate-filled eyes to the horns, red-and-black skin, and black robes—prior to his defeat on Naboo in 32 BBY. The droid also possessed a replica of Maul's double-bladed lightsaber.^[46]

PROXY's mimicry of Darth Maul's combat skills was ineffective against Starkiller, however. A survivor of numerous attempts on his life by his own droid, the apprentice found another advantage in his ability to wield the Force. After unleashing a series of fast strikes and acrobatic maneuvers, Starkiller ended the duel with a single strike through the droid's chest. Defeated, the visage of Darth Maul faded and PROXY was not only freed from the Core's influence, but also—much to his horror—the programming that compelled him to kill his master.^[46]

Doppelgänger on Kalakar VI

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.^[10]

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 false 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's 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.^[10]

Holographic resurrection

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,^[11] even if he was born of Dathomirian descent.^[1] Stories would later spread of this happening.^[23]

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.^[11]

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.^[11]

Personality and traits

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.^[28] Although he often ordered Savage Opress around and defined their relationship in the Sith tradition of master and apprentice, Maul genuinely cared for his brother as shown when he cried out his name when Obi-Wan Kenobi sliced off his arm and the obvious grief he displayed when he was killed by Sidious. After Oppress' death, the enraged Maul tried his best to kill Sidious in order to avenge him.^[16]

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—including the Jedi High Council—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.^[1]

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—mainly by learning about politics and criminal businesses—Maul held little knowledge of how the real world worked. He understood that the Jedi Order, rather than 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

Like his Master, Maul had a distaste for incompetent underlings and certain aliens with characteristic handicaps. As he fought the Togorian pirates above Tatooine, he believed them to be completely stupid, sloppy, and lazy, due to their greed. However, he noted that the captain was smarter than his crew and that Hela-Tan was the strongest and biggest of the pirates.^[3][19] He enjoyed scaring the Neimoidians with his very presence; that way, he could keep them in line when he arrived to take command on Naboo.^[3][19][31]

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.^[1] However, his arrogance was justified when he sensed he could destroy Qui-Gon Jinn, after sensing that the elderly Jedi was using Ataru, a fighting form that would tire him completely.^[19][3] But he underestimated Obi-Wan Kenobi, which led to his downfall when he opened himself up to an attack from the young Padawan, an opponent he tried to have eliminated.^[3][9]

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.^[4] By the time Savage Opress found him on Lotho Minor, Maul had been trapped in a state of madness for roughly a decade.^[39] After being repaired by Mother Talzin in both mind and body, a bitter and enraged Maul targeted Kenobi for revenge.^[40] A scheming mastermind and uncompromising killer,^[4] much like his former master,^[47] much of Maul's personality—as shaped by his Sith training—remained intact. He spared no feelings of hesitation or remorse for killing civilians, believing that the murder of innocent lives 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 his mentor Qui-Gon Jinn's death. Years of living in agony and exile also caused Maul to develop a new-found sense of patience,^[40] something that he never truly learned under Sidious's tutelage.^[1][19]

In addition, after he regained his strength, Maul discarded his loyalty to Sidious,^[16] and declared an intention to exact revenge on both him and Count Dooku, the latter of whom he disdainfully referred to as a "Sith pretender."^[14] Despite this, Maul displayed shock and fear upon sensing his former master on Mandalore. He was also not above begging for his life as shown when he pleaded with Darth Sidious, although Maul had spent his entire childhood being abused and tortured by Sidious, so he knew how sadistic his former Master was; this may have been the reason why he preferred to kill worthy opponents quickly—although it should be noted that Qui-Gon Jinn, one of the most powerful opponents Maul had ever faced, died painfully, possibly because Maul was so eager to engage Obi-Wan Kenobi and thus dismissed Jinn as he was no longer a threat.^[16]

Powers and abilities

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.^[40] In addition to this, Maul had training in Niman lightsaber combat^[48] and the Jar'Kai dual-saber technique.^[1][10][16] as well as mastery of the fighting style of Teräs Käsi. He also, like his arch-nemesis Obi-Wan Kenobi, incorporated a spinning attack move in his lightsaber fighting style.^[49]

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—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.^[22]

Darth Maul was one of the very few living lightsaber duelists who was powerful enough to duel Darth Sidious alone for more than a few seconds. During their ferocious duel on Mandalore, Maul used both his lightsaber and the darksaber he had taken from the slain Pre Vizsla. In the end, Sidious dueled Maul to his knees and dispatched him with telekinesis.^[16]

Force abilities

Maul displayed a reasonable amount of competence in telekinesis, utilizing Force grip and Force choke while interrogating Hath Monchar,^[28] and being able to activate a set of door controls behind him with a flung piece of wreckage.^[9] While dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maul used both Force push and Force lightning against the Jedi.^[50]

Maul also demonstrated a resistance to Force lightning, shrugging off a barrage unleashed by the Nightsister Mighella while hunting for Alexi Garyn.^[27]

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.

After his return, Maul's abilities were still as sharp as ever, and he was able to Force choke a Falleen without even facing him, and then brutally twist his head 180 degrees. He then later compelled a guard into committing suicide, by having him blow up a bomb, killing himself and a large group of soldiers stationed at the mine.^[8]

As to how Maul survived, Jedi Master Salmara believed that it was Maul's hatred of Obi-Wan Kenobi that kept him alive, making him a far more powerful and dangerous adversary than he was before.^[8]

During the Skrimish on Florrum, Maul displayed exceptional telekinetic feats. The most impressive use of this was when he Force pulled a several ton Eta-class shuttle off of a hill and forced it to the ground. While this remarkable act might have been the result of desperation as the pirates were gaining on him, it appeared that Maul had become more powerful with the Force after his reemerging to the Galaxy than before his first duel with Kenobi.^[13]

Despite his strong Force abilities however, physical combat was where Maul was in his element, and thus his talents with the Force never became anywhere near as strong as those of his former Master. This was shown when he almost overpowered Sidious with a lightsaber and darksaber but was then easily defeated by his Master's superior telekinesis.^[16]

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 the bodyguard of Vigo Narees 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.^[27]

Maul had also mastered the use of the lanvarok.

Sidious also gave Maul the powerful Sith Infiltrator 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.

Behind the scenes

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).^[51]

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 changes to the 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.^[51]

The novelization of The Phantom Menace suggests that Darth Maul never dueled a Jedi before Qui-Gon Jinn.^[52] This is contradictory to Darth Maul's Expanded Universe duels with Anoon Bondara and Darsha Assant.^[28]

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 of the film, and makes a noticeable yell and several gasps when he is struck at the waist.

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.^[12] 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.^[53]

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^[54] in the episode "Brothers."^[3] Various materials were released, such as Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, that fleshed out Maul's backstory more than ever before. However, these changed his species from Zabrak, which was created for the character, to Dathomirian, a Human-Zabrak hybrid. In addition, Maul's bipedal cyborg body was also partially derived from his appearance from the non-canon comic serial Old Wounds.^[55]

Release information

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 where he stood and even move around as if still attached to his 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.^[56] 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.^[57]

Contract of Evil

Darth Maul was featured as a protagonist in Contract of Evil, a 2004 fan film awarded by The Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards, where Maul is tested in battle against several Sith Lords, and in which, he succeeds.

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

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.^[58]

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.^[58]

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.^[58]

Demolition games

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.^[59]

Appearances

Non-canonical appearances

Wookieepedia has 203 images related to Darth Maul.

• Clash of the Lightsabers
• Contract of Evil
• Hate Leads to Lollipops
• LEGO Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
• LEGO Star Wars: Darth Maul's Mission
• Star Wars: Racer Revenge
• Star Wars Mythos
• Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace (Appears in hologram)
• Old Wounds
• Star Wars: Battlefront II
• Star Wars Infinities: A New Hope (Vision to Luke Skywalker)
• Star Wars: Demolition
• Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing
• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
• Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron
• Star Wars: Epic Duels
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes (Head only)

Sources

Notes and references

External links

•  Darth Maul on the Official Star Wars Soundboards
• Darth Maul on Wikipedia
• Darth Maul at the Internet Movie Database