Darth Maul, later known as Maul, is a fictional character and a major antagonist in the Star Wars franchise. He was originally introduced in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Menace (performed by Ray Park and voiced by Peter Serafinowicz) as a powerful Zabrak warrior and the first apprentice of Darth Sidious. Although he was apparently killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of the film, he returned in the 2008 animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and has since also appeared in the 2014 series Star Wars Rebels and the film of 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story, voiced by Sam Witwer, with Park physically reprising the role in the latter film. Throughout his appearances, Maul has been portrayed as a disgraced Sith Lord who relinquished his title of "Darth" after realizing that Sidious never cared for him; a powerful crime lord; and Obi-Wan's ruthless archenemy.
The Clone Wars further explores the character's backstory, revealing that he was once a member of a group of Zabrak warriors on Dathomir, and was kidnapped by Sidious as a child. After his defeat in The Phantom Menace, Maul replaces the lower half of his body, which had been severed by Obi-Wan, with cybernetics, and spends over a decade in isolation, being driven insane. After his brother, Savage Opress, finally finds him during the Clone Wars, Maul executes his plan for revenge against Obi-Wan, culminating in his alliance with various crime syndicates, taking over the planet Mandalore and killing Obi's love interest. -Wan, Duchess Satine. Kryze. Although he is captured by his former master, Sidious, who came to see him as a rival, he manages to escape and rebuild his criminal empire. Following his overthrow and capture by the Galactic Republic, Maul once again escapes and goes into hiding. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Maul reemerges as a crime lord and leads his syndicate, the Crimson Dawn, from the shadows, but is ultimately stranded on the Sith world of Malachor. He runs away years later after meeting Ezra Bridger, whom he later forces to help locate Obi-Wan. Finding him hiding on Tatooine, Maul fights his old nemesis one last time and dies in Obi-Wan's arms.
Aside from the films and television series, the character appears in various canon and non-canon Star Wars media over the years, such as books, comics, and video games. Since the release of The Phantom Menace, Maul has become a widely recognized figure in popular culture, widely remembered for his intimidating appearance and his double-bladed lightsaber. His popularity within the Star Wars fandom has earned him a cult status.
Features
Concept and creation
After becoming frustrated with a drawing by The Phantom Menace production designer Gavin Bocquet, concept artist Iain McCaig began covering it in tape. Both he and director George Lucas liked the result, described as "a kind of Rorschach pattern". The final drawing had McCaig's own face, skin removed, and some Rorschach experimentation (dropping ink on paper, folding it in half, then opening it). Maul's facial tattoos were inspired by the indigenous people of Brazil. Maul is described as a nightmare when the artwork for him is finished.
Darth Maul's head originally had feathers, based on prayer totems, but the Creature Effects team 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 suit with a muscle pattern to the Sith tunic based on samurai pleats, because lightsaber battles involved a lot of jumping, spinning, running, and rolling. Another concept had Maul as a masked figure, something to rival Darth Vader, while the senatorial characters sported painted and tattooed faces. It was later decided to apply the painted and tattooed faces to Maul instead of the senator.
Representation
Darth Maul was physically portrayed by actor and martial artist Ray Park in The Phantom Menace. The character was portrayed by actor Peter Serafinowicz in The Phantom Menace and the Lego video game adaptation of the prequel trilogy, while Sam Witwer voiced the character in The Clone Wars animated series, Rebels, and the live-action film Solo: A Star Wars Story. Actors Gregg Berger, Jess Harnell, Stephen Stanton, Clint Bajakian, and David W. Collins have voiced him in adaptations of Legends and minor appearances.
Appearances Films
The phantom Menace
Ray Park as Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace
In his first appearance, in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul is ordered by his master Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) to capture Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) of Naboo in order to force her to sign a treaty that would legitimize the invasion of the planet by the Trade Federation, thus making him the central antagonist. Maul manages to track his starship to Tatooine, where he briefly confronts Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), who was assigned to protect the Queen, near the ship's landing zone, but Qui-Gon eventually escapes. aboard the ship. He soon concludes that Maul is a Sith Lord and informs the Jedi Council on Coruscant, thus revealing the return of the Sith, who had been thought to be extinct for over a millennium. Later, Sidious, who is publicly Senator Palpatine of Naboo, sends Maul to the planet to aid the Trade Federation when they face hostile opposition from the Queen and her men, and once again confronts Qui-Gon. , along with his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Ultimately, Maul is able to mortally wound Qui-Gon and knock Obi-Wan into a shaft, but the latter uses the Force to propel himself out of the pit and equips himself with Qui-Gon's lightsaber to split Maul apart, sending to the two parts of his body falling down the shaft. [7]
Star Wars Story
Ray Park reprized his role as Maul in Solo: A Star Wars Story, with Sam Witwer providing the voice, the latter reprising the role from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Maul has become the master of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate, to which crime lord Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany) answers. Smuggler Qi'ra (Emilia Clarke) tells Maul that Vos and his men were killed by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) and his accomplices, but does not mention Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo). . Maul orders her to meet him on Dathomir and tells her that they will work more closely from then on, igniting her lightsaber.
Scrapped sequel trilogy appearance
In George Lucas's unused sketches for the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the cybernetic Maul would have been "the godfather of crime in the universe" and the master of Darth Talon; these two would have functioned as the two main villains of the trilogy.
Animated series
The Clone Wars
Darth Maul's origins are set in the third season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, taking place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Maul is explained to have been a warrior of the Nightbrother clan on the planet Dathomir inhabited by the dominant Nightsister witchcraft society led by Mother Talzin, who was later established as Maul's biological mother. Maul's tattoos are described as the markings of a warrior. The series introduces Maul's brothers Savage and Feral Opress, the former of whom is eventually sent by Talzin to find Maul, and is revealed to still be alive after the events of The Phantom Menace. George Lucas decided to resurrect Maul for the series after developing Savage Opress. Series co-creator Dave Filoni initially responded to Lucas' idea as unrealistic, because, "It's over. It's been cut in half. How does it work?" According to Filoni, Lucas replied, "I don't know. Find out."
In season four, it is revealed that, after his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan, Maul ended up in the Lotho Minor junkyard via a junk ship, where he built himself a six-legged contraption for himself. survive. Nearly twelve years since Maul was presumed dead, Savage arrives on Lotho Minor in search of his brother, whom he finds to be suffering from amnesia and dementia. Savage takes Maul to Dathomir, where Talzin restores his mind and gives him a pair of robotic legs. Maul and Savage then set up a plan to get revenge on Obi-Wan. Maul proceeds to attack a colonial village to lure Obi-Wan there and make an attempt on his life, only to be thwarted by the unexpected appearance of Asajj Ventress to collect a bounty on Savage. Maul and Savage overpower Obi-Wan and Ventress, but Maul lets them go, deciding to wait for another chance.
In the fifth season, Maul takes Savage as his apprentice and begins to build a criminal empire. Needing followers, they travel to Florrum and manage to convince the Weequay pirate Jiro and his crew to join them and betray their leader Hondo Ohnaka. Maul's pirates attack Hondo's loyalist forces, and Maul once again engages Obi-Wan while Savage fights and kills Jedi Master Adi Gallia. Obi-Wan leads the two brothers away from the pirates and manages to cut off Savage's arm. As Maul and Savage are in the process of retreating, Hondo's crew opens fire on them, shooting off one of Maul's robotic legs and destroying his ship as it takes off, though the brothers manage to escape in an escape pod. After several days, the Mandalorian Death Watch warriors, led by Pre Vizsla, find them floating in dead space and near death. They are brought back to the Vizsla settlement, and Maul's damaged cybernetic legs are replaced with a new prosthetic that resembles a more humanoid form, while Savage is equipped with a mechanical arm. Maul offers Vizsla a chance to reclaim Mandalore by recruiting Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate, and the Hutt Cartel to create the criminal syndicate called the Shadow Collective.
From there, Maul engineers Vizsla's rise to power: he orders his minions to attack Mandalore so the Death Watch can stop them and appear as heroes to the inhabitants who have long lived under Duchess Satine Kryze's pacifist rule. However, Vizsla betrays and imprisons Maul and Savage, though they are easily freed, with the former challenging Vizsla to fight for leadership of Mandalore. Maul overpowers Vizsla, decapitates him with his own darksaber, and takes over Mandalore, putting the disgraced former Prime Minister Almec, whom Satine had jailed for corruption, in power as a puppet leader. However, a faction of the Death Watch, led by the Bo-Katan Kryze, refuses to accept an outsider as their leader and escapes to plot a hit. Later, Maul devised a trap for Obi-Wan, knowing that Satine would contact the Jedi Master for help due to her 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 amassed 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 stands his ground against Sidious, but is ultimately defeated. Sidious proceeds to torture Maul with Force lightning, while revealing that he has no intention of killing his former apprentice and has other uses for him.
Maul returns in the seventh season, following the events of the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic. He still leads the Shadow Collective, though the Hutts have abandoned his cause, and rules Mandalore, until Bo-Katan enlists the help of the Galactic Republic to remove him. During the "Siege of Mandalore" story arc (which takes place during Revenge of the Sith), the Bo-Katan Death Watch faction and a branch of the 501st Clone Legion, led by Ahsoka Tano and Commander Rex , they lead an assault against Maul's Mandalorian forces to draw him out of hiding. Unknowingly, Maul has foreseen the events that are about to unfold and orders his Shadow Collective's lieutenants to hide, warning them of the Galactic Empire to be created. While confronting Ahsoka, Maul shares her visions with her, revealing that Darth Sidious will destroy both the Republic and the Jedi Order, and invites her to join him so they have a chance to stop him. However, when Maul also reveals that Ahsoka's former master, Anakin Skywalker, will turn to Sidious's dark side, and that he hoped to kill Anakin to prevent this from happening, Ahsoka engages Maul in a duel, ending with the death of the latter. capture.
Maul is subsequently imprisoned in a Mandalorian device that disables his Force powers, and is set to be taken to Coruscant for trial, but on the way to the planet, Sidious executes Order 66, causing the clone troopers of The entire galaxy will turn on and try to execute their Jedi generals. Maul almost kills himself, but Ahsoka, who survived the clones' attempt on his life, rescues him, so that he can 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 into a nearby moon. He then betrays Ahsoka and steals his shuttle to escape, though Ahsoka and Rex also manage to escape the ship before it crashes.
Rebels
An older Maul appears in the Star Wars Rebels season two finale, which takes place between Solo and A New Hope. Tracked by an Imperial Inquisitor called the Eighth Brother, Maul is stranded on the ancient Sith world of Malachor, where he is discovered among the ruins by series protagonist Ezra Bridger. Posing as an "old master" and seeking revenge against Sidious, Maul gains Ezra's trust by denouncing the Sith. He encourages the boy to turn to the dark side and takes him to an ancient Sith temple, where they discover a holocron that Maul claims can give them the knowledge they need to defeat the Sith. After retrieving it, the two find Ezra's teacher, Kanan Jarrus and Ahsoka Tano, locked in a battle with the Eighth Brother, as well as the Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister. Maul, having cast aside the title of Darth, reveals a new lightsaber disguised as a staff and joins the Jedi in fighting the Inquisitors.
After the Inquisitors retreat, Maul suggests that the Jedi join together, telling them that he cannot defeat Darth Vader on his own. Although Kanan and Ahsoka do not trust him, they only cooperate at Ezra's insistence. Once all three Inquisitors are killed, Maul turns on the Jedi, revealing that he intended to take Ezra as his apprentice and that he tricked him into activating the temple. After blinding Kanan with his lightsaber, Maul briefly confronts Ahsoka and then the now blind Kanan, who knocks him off the edge of the temple. However, he survives the fall and escapes from Malachor in the Eighth Brother's TIE fighter.
In the third season, Maul takes the Phantom's crew hostage and threatens to kill them unless Kanan and Ezra bring both the Sith and Jedi holocrons to him. Maul leads the crew to a remote base in the Outer Rim where he awaits Kanan and Ezra's arrival. He lures Kanan away from Ezra and makes an attempt on his life. Afterwards, Maul and Ezra dangerously link the holocrons together, allowing them to have visions of their wishes: Ezra sees images of a way to destroy the Sith, images that include "twin suns", while Maul sees a vision of his own. Kanan begs Ezra to look away before he sees too much of the dark side, while Maul tells him to ignore Kanan and keep looking. Ezra hears the teacher's words from him and breaks the connection, causing a huge explosion. Maul escapes in the confusion, saying, "He lives."
Maul returns after finding the rebels' secret base. He tells Ezra that because the connection was severed, they got bits of each other's visions. After the holocrons were destroyed, Maul discovered another way to get the information he needed. He travels to Dathomir with Ezra and recreates a Nightsister spell to temporarily merge his and Ezra's minds, leading them to realize that they are both searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, in exchange for the answers provided, the Nightsister spirits demand a sacrifice and possess Kanan and Sabine Wren when they arrive to rescue Ezra. After escaping from them, Maul makes Ezra one final offer to become his apprentice, leaving him behind to try to rescue his friends after he refuses.
Maul eventually tracks Obi-Wan to Tatooine, but gets lost in the desert and decides to use Ezra to lure his old nemesis out of hiding from him. His plan ultimately succeeds as he tracks the movement of Ezra, who came to find and warn Obi-Wan of Maul, until he is rescued by the Jedi Master. As Obi-Wan takes Ezra away, Maul threatens his former enemy and quickly deduces that he's not just hiding, he's protecting someone. Realizing that he cannot allow Maul to escape with this information, Obi-Wan ignites his lightsaber and prepares to engage Maul, who is quickly defeated in a few hits. As he lies dying in Obi-Wan's arms, Maul asks if the person he is protecting is the "Chosen One", and Obi-Wan says yes. Maul declares that this "Chosen One" will avenge them and dies.
Edit & Design: Floux Jaffa