10 Things You'd Never Know About Darth Maul If You Just Watched Star Wars Movies & Shows

Darth Maul left a lasting impression on viewers in his Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace debut and his shocking return in later materials like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. As with many popular Star Wars characters, there is far more to Darth Maul than what is shown in the Star Wars movies and TV shows. Darth Maul has a rich history in the franchise’s two continuities – canon and Legends – with the latter exploring his background and past adventures mostly through published media.

Darth Maul has few lines of dialogue and is a relatively static character in the context of The Phantom Menace (which belongs to both the canon and Legends timelines), leaving his characterization and background to materials exclusive to each of the two continuities. The modern Star Wars canon fleshes out Maul’s character after the Invasion of Naboo, while the original Legends timeline focuses on his sinister Sith escapades set before his cinematic debut. If one only explores Darth Maul’s TV and film appearances, they may be unaware of the following ten fascinating facts about the Sith Lord.

10 Darth Maul’s Original Homeworld & Species

Maul Was A Zabrak From Iridonia

The Clone Wars contradicted much of the established prequel-era Star Wars lore back when Legends was still the official Star Wars continuity. For this reason, The Clone Wars should be considered exclusive to the modern Star Wars canon instead of a property of both timelines, like The Phantom Menace. One of The Clone Wars’s many changes was a new backstory for Darth Maul, reimagining him as a Nightbrother from Dathomir.

The Dathomirian species and Nightbrother organization are not part of the Legends continuity, and Darth Maul’s original incarnation had no ties to the planet Dathomir. Numerous Legends-era books and comics, such as the short comic Marked by Rob Williams and Cully Hamner, establish Maul as a Zabrak from the Zabrak world of Iridonia. Like his newer counterpart, however, the original Legends incarnation of Darth Maul was taken from his family at a young age by Palpatine.

9 What Inspired Darth Maul To Create His Signature Lightsaber

Ancient Sith, Zabrak Culture, & An Isolated Jedi Master

Darth Maul’s signature weapon is a double-bladed lightsaber, which has a rich history in the Star Wars franchise that, fascinatingly, precedes The Phantom Menace. The double-bladed lightsaber debuted in the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi comics as the signature weapon of the dreaded Sith Lord Exar Kun, who constructed the weapon based on an ancient Sith design. The original six Star Wars saga movies were, for the most part, synchronized with the Expanded Universe, with many elements of Legends-exclusive properties being integrated into the live-action movies.

In-universe, there are several factors that inspired Darth Maul’s adoption of the double-bladed lightsaber as his signature weapon. Maul was inspired by not only the weapons of ancient Sith like Exar Kun but also Zabrak warriors of Iridonia, who used double-bladed swords known as Zhabokas. More than anything, however, Darth Maul modified his original Sith lightsaber into a double-bladed weapon to gain an edge over a rival, the retired Jedi Master Siolo Ur Manka, who lived in solitude in the Jentares system, as shown in the short comic Nameless by Christian Read and Chris Slane.

8 Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator Was Inspired By Darth Bane’s Ship

The Valcyn Inspired The Scimitar

Darth Maul’s starship, the custom-built Sith Infiltrator known as the Scimitar, only appears briefly in The Phantom Menace. The ship is saturated in dark side energy, which notably tempted the Jedi Master (and renowned pilot) Saesee Tiin following the Invasion of Naboo. Fittingly, the mysterious vessel’s design is inspired by that of an ancient Sith starship: The Valcyn.

The Valcyn was the personal vessel of Darth Bane, the last Sith Lord of the Brotherhood of Darkness and the creator of the Rule of Two, which he used to revitalize the Sith Order and create a dynasty that lasted a millennium and included Darth Maul. The Scimitar has a similar design to the Valcyn, having been designed by Darth Tenebrous and passed down to Darth Plagueis, Darth Sidious, and finally Darth Maul. The Valcyn would also serve as inspiration for Darth Vader’s TIE Advanced X1 and Imperial TIE Bombers.

7 Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator Almost Appeared In The Clone Wars

An Unmade Story Arc Became A Comic Instead

In both the canon and Legends continuities, the Scimitar falls back into Palpatine’s hands after the events of The Phantom Menace. While the ship does not appear again in Legends, it continues to play roles in the modern canon timeline. One such appearance indicates that the ship nearly appeared in The Clone Wars.

The Star Wars: Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir comics by Jeremy Barlow and Juan Frigeri are based on scripts for The Clone Wars story arcs that were ultimately not animated and aired. The stories were canonized in the modern timeline, however, thanks to properties like Son of Dathomir. In the series’ fourth issue, Palpatine (as Darth Sidious) and General Grievous fly the Scimitar to Dathomir to battle Maul and Mother Talzin, using Maul’s former vessel against him. The Scimitar would return again in the Star Wars: Lando comic series by Charles Soule and Alex Maleev.

6 Darth Maul Was A Trained Sith While Palpatine Still Served Darth Plagueis

Did They Break The Rule Of Two?

While much of Darth Plagueis’ life in the modern Star Wars canon is shrouded in mystery, the Muun Sith Lord’s history is explored in great detail in James Luceno’s novel Darth Plagueis, set in the Legends continuity. Fascinatingly, Darth Plagueis is alive for most of the events of The Phantom Menace, with Palpatine murdering his master after becoming the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic – making Plagueis’ death roughly simultaneous to Queen Amidala’s victory on Naboo. What this also means is that Darth Maul’s Sith Lordship broke the Rule of Two.

As revealed in Darth Plagueis, both Palpatine and Plagueis were aware that Maul’s training and Lordship broke Darth Bane’s sacred doctrine, but the two Dark Lords were in the process of phasing out the Rule of Two anyway, seeing it as having served its purpose with the Sith so close to destroying the Jedi and Republic. Moreover, Darth Maul was functionally more of a Sith Assassin than a true Dark Lord of the Sith (despite having earned his Darth title), with Plagueis and Palpatine seeing him as an expendable – albeit elite – pawn.

Source

Star Wars: Darth Maul’s 15 Most Intimidating Quotes, Ranked

Darth Maul debuted as a terrifying villain with few speaking lines, but subsequent stories gave him several memorable and highly intimidating quotes.

5 Darth Maul Nearly Destroyed The Black Sun Crime Syndicate

All In A Day’s Work For A Sith Lord

Darth Maul’s allyship with the Black Sun crime syndicate is shown in The Clone Wars, but in the Star Wars Legends continuity, the Sith Lords dealt a devastating blow to the organization before the events of The Phantom Menace. As shown in Dark Horse’s 2000 comic miniseries Star Wars: Darth Maul, by Ron Marz and Jan Duursema, Palpatine tasked Darth Maul with destabilizing Black Sun to prevent them from interfering with his long-term plans. Despite the vast influence of Black Sun, they were no match for Darth Maul.

Darth Maul murdered nine of the Black Sun’s Vigos and their leader, Alexi Garyn, neutralizing them for over a decade. Notably, Garyn’s bodyguard was a powerful Nightsister from Dathomir: Mighella. The Legends continuity’s Darth Maul – despite having no ties to Dathomir or the Nightsisters – crossed paths with one of their warriors by battling Mighella. While Mighella was a powerful dark side user, Darth Maul bested the Nightsister, bisecting her with his lightsaber.

4 Maul’s Tattoos Are Sith Symbols

At Least In Star Wars Legends

Darth Maul’s distinctive black markings are not a natural part of his pigmentation, they are tattoos with a different meaning in each of the two Star Wars continuities. Their original meaning was established in “Marked,” which reveals that they are traditional Sith tattoos, applied by Palpatine himself. The process is, unsurprisingly, excruciating, with both the pain and the symbols themselves symbolizing Maul’s devotion to the Sith Order.

With Darth Maul’s new background in the modern canon as a Dathomirian Nightbrother came a new origin for his tattoos. Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters and Maul’s mother, applied them when Maul was only an infant. These tattoos were found on all Nightbrothers, including Maul’s siblings Savage Opress and Feral. Even upon becoming a Sith Lord, Palpatine let Maul keep the tattoos – and thus a reminder of his homeworld.

3 Darth Vader Almost Killed Darth Maul In Rebels

Obi-Wan Ultimately Reclaimed His Victory

With Darth Maul resurfacing during the Clone Wars and becoming a major player in the galactic underworld in the modern canon came a need for a new demise for the former Sith Lord. Following his return, Maul became consumed by an obsessive need to enact revenge on both Obi-Wan Kenobi and his former master, yet it was one of his successors who nearly killed him. According to Dave Filoni, Maul was once set to die in the Rebels season 2 finale, with Darth Vader killing the former Sith Lord before he could leave Malachor.

Filoni and the rest of the Rebels showrunners ultimately decided against this, which was for the best. Not only did Maul’s survival allow him to continue to serve as a compelling villain in Rebels season 3, but it also gave him a far more fitting demise. Traveling to Tatooine to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi, the two old enemies face off one final time, with Obi-Wan cutting down Maul and reclaiming his Phantom Menace victory.

2 Darth Maul Actually Died In Phantom Menace In Star Wars Legends

Was This The Right Choice?

Since The Clone Wars never fit in the original Legends timeline – and was never intended to be part of it – it should be handwaved as exclusive to the modern canon. This means that Maul’s return during the Clone Wars and continued clashes with Obi-Wan Kenobi should also be ignored. In the Legends continuity, Darth Maul dies when Obi-Wan bisects him on Naboo. Maul staying dead in The Phantom Menace is arguably for the best, depending on the viewer.

Letting Darth Maul stay dead makes Obi-Wan’s initial victory (and catastrophic lightsaber wounds) more meaningful, and it does not require Maul to be retconned any further. Darth Maul is Palpatine’s assassin, not a master manipulator like he is in The Clone Wars and Rebels, and to survive bisection would necessitate that he be far more powerful than the movie portrays him. On the other hand, Maul’s survival allowed him to be a far more complex character and a more personal rival to Kenobi.

1 Star Wars Legends Brought Back Facsimiles Of Darth Maul

Allowing Darth Vader & Even Luke Skywalker To Fight Him

In the Legends continuity, Darth Maul died at the end of The Phantom Menace, but later works would allow facsimiles of the deceased Sith Lord to return without contradicting the movie. The short comic “Resurrection” by Ron Marz and Rick Leonardi had the Prophets of the Dark Side create a life-like apparition of Darth Maul via Sith Alchemy. This pit the phantom Sith Lord against Darth Vader, who proved victorious against his undead opponent.

In the short comic “Phantom Menaces” by Joe Casey and Francisco Paronzini, the Zabrak scientist Drell Kahmf created another facsimile of Darth Maul, combining a recreation of the dead Sith Lord’s nervous system with an advanced solid-state hologram and using the monstrosity to terrorize the people of Iridonia sometime after the establishment of the New Republic. Luke Skywalker, after a brief encounter with the recreation of Darth Maul, destroyed the approximation of his nervous system, putting an end to his story in the Star Wars Legends continuity.

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Darth Maul

Died

Star Wars Rebels

Alliance

Sith/Shadow Collective, Crimson Dawn

Race

Zabrak