Darth Maul
Darth Maul, also known simply as Maul, is a character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. He first appeared in the prequel film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Maul returned in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, as well as the standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story, and is set to appear in the upcoming series Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord. Lucas had intended for Maul to feature in the sequel film trilogy, but these plans were discarded when Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012.
Maul is introduced as a Zabrak from Dathomir and a powerful Sith Lord, having been trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force as Darth Sidious' first apprentice. He mortally wounds Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn during the Battle of Naboo before being bisected by Qui-Gon's Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Fueled by his hatred, Maul survives and is driven insane until his brother, Savage Opress, finds him over a decade later during the Clone Wars. Once his mind and body are restored with magick and cybernetics by the Nightsister Mother Talzin, Maul becomes an independent criminal mastermind and endures as Obi-Wan's archenemy. In his obsessive quest for revenge against Obi-Wan, Maul unites various crime syndicates under his leadership, orchestrates a takeover of Mandalore, and murders Obi-Wan's lover, Duchess Satine Kryze. Despite being captured by Sidious for becoming a rival, Maul escapes before the rise of the Galactic Empire. He renounces his Sith title of "Darth", rebuilds his criminal organization, and manipulates Ezra Bridger into helping him find Obi-Wan on Tatooine, where the two old rivals have a final confrontation that ends in Maul's death.
The character was portrayed by Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz for his initial appearance in The Phantom Menace. Park reprised the role in Solo, where he was dubbed by Sam Witwer, who provided Maul's voice for his animated appearances. Maul has also appeared in various forms of media in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including novels, comic books, and video games. Despite his limited screen time in The Phantom Menace as well as the film's mixed reception, Maul has become a fan favorite in the franchise and a widely recognised villain in popular culture for his intimidating appearance and double-bladed lightsaber. His resurgence and expanded characterization in The Clone Wars further heightened his popularity within the Star Wars fandom and earned him a cult following.
Characteristics
Concept and creation
Maul was characterized by The Phantom Menace director George Lucas as a thing of nightmares. An early concept had Maul a masked figure, something that could rival Darth Vader. Later, concept artist Iain McCaig started masking an illustration of production designer Gavin Bocquet in tape. Both McCaig and Lucas liked the result, described as "a kind of Rorschach pattern". The final drawing had McCaig's own face, with the skin removed, and some Rorschach experimentation. McCaig stated the tattoo design was inspired by facial musculature stating "If you were to strip the flesh off your face right now...the muscles would form a Darth Maulish pattern."Maul's head originally had feathers, based on prayer totems, but the Creature Effects crew led by Nick Dudman interpreted those feathers as horns, modifying his features into those common in popular depictions of the devil.
His clothing was also modified, from a tight body suit with a muscle pattern to the Sith robe based on samurai pleats, because the lightsaber battles involved much jumping, spinning, running, and rolling.
George Lucas decided to resurrect Darth Maul for The Clone Wars after developing the character of Savage Opress. Series co-creator Dave Filoni initially responded to Lucas's idea as unrealistic, because, "It's over. He's cut in half. How does that work?" According to Filoni, Lucas replied, "I don't know. Figure it out."
Portrayal
Darth Maul was portrayed by actor and martial artist Ray Park in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Peter Serafinowicz provided the character's voice in The Phantom Menace. Sam Witwer replaced Serafinowicz when the character returned in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and reprised the role in numerous subsequent projects, most notably in Star Wars Rebels and Solo. Gregg Berger, Clint Bajakian, Jess Harnell, Stephen Stanton, and Lee Tockar have also voiced him in other appearances in less prominent capacities.Lightsaber
Darth Maul is known for his use of a red double-bladed lightsaber, which he wields similar to a Bō, or staff. In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the prop for his lightsaber was made of resin, cast over a metal rod to which the two blades were attached.Vehicles
Darth Maul pilots a modified FC-20 speeder bike called Bloodfin and his personal starship, a heavily modified Star Courier called Scimitar. After his defeat during the Battle of Naboo, his former master reclaims the ship.Appearances
Films
''The Phantom Menace''
In his first appearance, Darth Maul is sent by his master Darth Sidious to capture Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo to force her to sign a treaty that would legitimize the Trade Federation's invasion of the planet. Maul manages to track her starship to Tatooine, where he briefly engages Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, who has been assigned to protect the Queen. After escaping Tatooine, Qui-Gon concludes that Maul is a Sith Lord and informs the Jedi Council on Coruscant of the Sith's return. In the film's climax, Maul duels Qui-Gon and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. He is able to kill Qui-Gon and knock Obi-Wan down a shaft, but Kenobi propels himself out of the pit and uses Qui-Gon's lightsaber to bisect Maul, sending the two parts of his body falling down the shaft.''Solo: A Star Wars Story''
At the end of Solo, Maul is revealed as the mastermind behind the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. After killing Dryden Vos, whom Maul had appointed as his figurehead, smuggler Qi'ra tells Maul that Vos was betrayed and murdered by Tobias Beckett and his accomplices, neglecting to mention Han Solo and Chewbacca's involvement. Seeming to believe her, Maul commands Qi'ra to meet with him on Dathomir and ignites his lightsaber, telling her that they will work more closely from that point forward.Scrapped sequel trilogy appearance
In George Lucas's unused outlines for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Maul was intended to serve as the main antagonist. The cybernetic Maul would have become "the godfather of crime in the universe" and the master of Darth Talon.Animated series
''The Clone Wars''
Prior to Maul's proper return in The Clone Wars animated series, Lucas considered revealing that Revenge of the Sith villain General Grievous was actually Maul in disguise.In season three of the series, Maul is revealed to have once been a member of the Nightbrothers clan from the planet Dathomir. Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsister witches and Maul's biological mother, sends her other son Savage Opress to find Maul, who has been living in the outer rim since he was bisected and presumably killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi over a decade prior.
In season four, Maul is found by Savage on the junkyard planet of Lotho Minor. Having been stranded there and driven insane, Maul uses the Force to construct a spider-like apparatus to replace his severed legs. Savage brings Maul back to Dathomir, where Talzin uses Nightsister magick to restore his mind and outfit him with a pair of cybernetic legs. Seeking revenge against Obi-Wan, Maul goes on a killing spree to bait and capture the Jedi with Savage's help, but Asajj Ventress comes to Obi-Wan's aid and helps him escape.
In season five, Maul takes Savage as his apprentice and begins building his own criminal empire. The two travel to Florrum in a bid to seize the territory of Weequay pirates led by Hondo Ohnaka. The Jedi track them down and Maul duels Obi-Wan while Savage fights and kills Adi Gallia. Obi-Wan and Hondo's crew work together to force the brothers to flee in an escape pod. Days later, Maul and Savage are found floating in dead space by the Mandalorian terrorist group Death Watch. Maul joins forces with their leader, Pre Vizsla, to take control of Mandalore and exact revenge against their common enemy, Obi-Wan. They recruit the Black Sun, Pyke Syndicate and Hutt Clan to form a criminal syndicate called the Shadow Collective. Maul engineers Vizsla's rise to power by ordering the crime families to attack Mandalore, allowing the Death Watch to capture them and gain the public's support. However, Vizsla betrays and imprisons Maul and Savage, though they easily break free, and the former challenges Vizsla to a fight for leadership of Mandalore. Maul overpowers Vizsla, beheading him with his own darksaber, and effectively takes over Mandalore, putting disgraced former Prime Minister Almec, whom Satine had imprisoned for corruption, in power as a puppet leader. However, a faction of Death Watch, led by Bo-Katan Kryze, refuse to accept an outsider as their leader, and escape to plan a coup. Maul later masterminds a trap for Obi-Wan, knowing that Satine will contact the Jedi Master for help because of their romantic past. When Obi-Wan arrives on Mandalore, he is quickly captured and forced to watch as Maul executes Satine. Obi-Wan is later freed by Bo-Katan's Death Watch faction.
Meanwhile, Darth Sidious learns of Maul's survival and the power he has accumulated, and, fearing that his former apprentice may challenge him, travels to Mandalore to address the matter. After a lightsaber duel against Maul and Savage, Sidious easily kills the latter, enraging Maul, who briefly holds his own against Sidious, but is ultimately defeated. Sidious proceeds to torture Maul with Force lightning, but spares his life because he has other uses for him.
In the seventh and final season, following the events of the comic book Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, Maul still leads the Shadow Collective, now consisting of the Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, and Crimson Dawn, and rules over Mandalore, until Bo-Katan enlists the Galactic Republic's help in deposing him. During the Siege of Mandalore story arc, Bo-Katan's Death Watch faction and a branch of the 501st Clone Legion, led by Ahsoka Tano and Commander Rex, lead an assault on Maul's Mandalorian forces to draw him out of hiding. Unbeknownst to them, Maul has foreseen the events that are about to unfold, and orders his Shadow Collective lieutenants to go into hiding, warning them of the Galactic Empire that is about to be created. While confronting Ahsoka, Maul shares his visions with her, revealing that Darth Sidious will destroy both the Republic and the Jedi Order, and invites her to join him so that they may stand a chance to stop him. However, when Maul reveals that Ahsoka's former master, Anakin Skywalker, will be turned to the dark side by Sidious, and that he had hoped to kill Anakin to prevent this from happening, Ahsoka engages Maul in a lightsaber duel, which ends with the latter's capture.
Maul is subsequently imprisoned in a Mandalorian device that renders his Force powers useless, and is set to be taken to Coruscant to stand trial. However, at this point Sidious executes Order 66, which causes clone troopers from all across the galaxy to betray and attempt to execute their Jedi generals. Maul is almost killed himself, but Ahsoka, who survived her clones' attempt on her life, rescues him, so that he may serve as a distraction while she and Rex try to escape. However, during his rampage, Maul destroys the ship's hyperdrive, causing it to crash on a nearby moon. He then betrays Ahsoka and steals her shuttle to escape, though Ahsoka and Rex manage to find another way off the ship before it crashes.