Darth Maul

Darth Maul was a Zabrak born on Iridonia, the home planet of his species. Much of his early life is unknown, including his real name, but it is known that his master, Darth Sidious, took him from his family at a very early age.

Maul began training with Sidious at an early age. Indoctrinated in the ways of the dark side of the Force from youth, Maul grew to have no emotions aside from bloodlust and rage. Maul killed living beings mercilessly. During his training, any show of fear was severely punished by Sidious, and any hint of mercy rewarded with cruelty.

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

By the time Maul was an adolescent, his master had already forged him into a weapon of pure hatred. Marked by Sith tattoos that covered his entire muscular body, the young Zabrak was now the ultimate tool of the dark side. Despite this rather traumatic childhood (if it could be called that), Maul had filial feelings toward his master, and never once contemplated killing him—until his final test.

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. 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's 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. Sidious's 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's wretched life. Darth Sidious then revealed to Maul that the ordeal had only been a test.

The ultimate test came when Maul was abandoned by his master on an isolated Outer Rim Territories world, forced to survive alone while being hunted by hordes of assassin droids. After a month's time, Sidious returned and challenged his apprentice to a lightsaber duel, one which 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 of the Sith, 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. Sidious then laughed. 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 Lord of the Sith and took him to a new home on Coruscant.

Maul originally went on countless missions of terror for his master, killing politicians, crime bosses, merchants, and warlords. Maul's very appearance had been carefully conceived to inject fear into the heart of the Sith's enemies and even their unwitting allies. Despite his untold successes, Maul longed for victory over Jedi. Victims of his included Lorn Pavan, Jedi Master Anoon Bondara, the Black Sun leader Alexi Garyn and his Nightsister guard Mighella, and all of the Black Sun vigos of 33 BBY, including Darnada and Morn. In addition, he killed the assassin Sinya.

One of Maul's more notable missions was to unite Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore, two companies operating on Dorvalla, a planet in the Outer Rim, in order for the Trade Federation to move in and control all shipping of the ore. Lommite ore 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. 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 and the Trade Federation received its prize.

Another notable mission was to kill Hath Monchar, the Neimoidian Vice-Viceroy of the Trade Federation, and anyone he may have talked to about the trade embargo of Naboo. Maul learned that Monchar intended to sell a holocron that contained details of the embargo to Lorn Pavan, an information broker on Coruscant. Maul had to face both Jedi Padawan Darsha Assant and her Master Anoon Bondara. Maul 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. Darsha and Pavan escaped into the sewer system where they encountered and killed subterranean lifeforms. They make it to a cavern where they fight and escape a T'zan (a force resistant monster). Later Darsha Assant blew up the warehouse that they 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 and woke up. 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 decapitated him.

Prior to the Invasion of Naboo, Maul was dispatched to eliminate the Jedi who had been sent by the Republic to settle the conflict. After tracking them to the planet of Tatooine using the Force—and killing Aneesa Dym, a Pa'lowick smuggler who got in the way—Maul engaged the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Following a brief but intense duel Qui-Gon escaped, but with the fear of what would become the eventual revenge of the Sith. Maul, having failed in his task to prevent Queen Amidala and the Chosen One from reaching Coruscant, was eager to exact revenge on the Jedi Knights.

In a second, vicious duel on Naboo—this time against both the Master and the apprentice—Maul showed his true mastery of the lightsaber arts.

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 Obi-Wan Kenobi off the platform onto one of the lower catwalks, he turned to Qui-Gon, only to be kicked down himself. As Qui-Gon leapt down to deliver the killing blow, Maul kicked him in the gut and quickly righted himself.

However, Jinn 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 Qui-Gon and Maul, but also Obi-Wan from Qui-Gon. With the battle momentarily halted, the three took a moment to recover, with Maul pacing like a caged animal.

When the wall deactivated, Qui-Gon 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 quickly finished him, smacking the Jedi in the face with his hilt, and impaling him on one of his blades.

Turning to Kenobi, Maul again awaited the laser-walls deactivation. As soon as it did, Kenobi 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 Kenobi into the shaft. As Kenobi grasped hold of a (mercifully inactive) input nozzle, Maul kicked the Padawan's lightsaber into the pit.

As Darth Maul taunted Obi-Wan with lightsaber strikes on the edge of the pit, the Jedi managed to calm himself. Although Maul disposed of his lightsaber, Obi-Wan remembered his fallen master's weapon still lay at Qui-Gon's side. Using the Force, Kenobi leaped out of the melting pit and summoned the lightsaber to his hand. The 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 melting pit with a vague and muted yell, his two halves separating. It was an unfortunate setback for Darth Sidious, but for a calculating man with foreknowledge of the future, it was not a disaster. Perhaps it was even deliberate. Within a year Maul would be replaced with the late Qui-Gon's former Master, Darth Tyranus, who was not only a fully capable warrior and duelist, but also a charismatic idealist, exactly the traits Palpatine needed to instigate the Clone Wars.