('' by
Martial Arts specialist
Ray Park , and voiced by
British actor
Peter Serafinowicz .
Born 54 BBY, Darth Maul was the first known apprentice of
Darth Sidious . A
Zabrak originally from
Iridonia , Maul had no memories of his homeworld or family, having been
Kidnap ped as an infant by Sidious.
Indoctrinated in the ways of the
Dark Side from youth, Maul had no emotion aside from bloodlust and rage. During his training, any show of fear was severely punished by Sidious and any hint of mercy rewarded with cruelty. By the time Maul was an adolescent, his master had already forged him into a weapon of pure hatred. Marked by
Sith Tattoo s that covered his entire muscular body, the young Zabrak was now the ultimate tool of the dark side. Despite this rather
Trauma tic childhood (if it could be called that), Maul adored his Master, and never once contemplated killing him — until his final test.
Sidious abandoned Maul on an isolated
Outer Rim world, forcing him to survive alone while being hunted by hordes of assassin
Droids . After a month's time, his master returned and challenged his apprentice to a duel, one which Maul quickly lost. Sidious then told Maul that he had failed and he had been secretly training a replacement for him. Rage and hatred overwhelmed Maul and in one final act of defiance, he nearly defeated his master. When Maul's emotions were finally spent, he prepared himself for death, yet his master laughed instead. By ''wanting'' to kill his own master, Maul had in fact passed the final test. His master proclaimed him Darth Maul,
Dark Lord Of The Sith and took him to a new home on
Coruscant . Unlike Sidious' later apprentices,
Tyranus and
Vader , Maul had no ambition to strike down his master. Also, unlike Tyranus and Vader, Sidious used him more as a tool than as an apprentice; he had no cunning, merely an unfailing devotion to his master. However, he did realize that Sith tradition required the death of his master before he could acquire an apprentice of his own.
Maul was skilled with the , which draws on emotions and the dark side. Unlike the traditional dueling techniques of most
Jedi , Maul combined his swordsmanship with incredible
Acrobatic and
Martial Arts and
Hand-to-hand Combat skills, making him a nearly unstoppable
Dervish of destruction. Maul was a master of the fighting style
Teräs Käsi as well as an adept in the Jar'Kai style of wielding a lightsaber in each hand. When fighting multiple opponents, Maul extended the second blade of his double-bladed lightsaber to form a saberstaff, doubling his lethality. Maul often used this to catch opponents by surprise as few were prepared for the extra blade. Maul had constructed this weapon himself, using ancient plans stored within one of the
Sith Holocrons the Sith still possessed. He had based his lightsaber design upon
Exar Kun 's.
Maul was skilled with combining Force talents with
Mechanics . His master gave Maul the funds and schematics he needed and provided him with a secret facility on Coruscant in which to work. There, Maul constructed his signature
Speeder Bike ''Bloodfin'' and his ''Dark Eye'' probe droids. Maul had a powerful transport—a
Sith Infiltrator called ''Scimitar'', which hosted a cloaking shield generator. This vehicle was developed by Raith Sienar, the man whose company would later develop the
TIE Fighter for the
Galactic Empire .
Maul originally went on countless missions of
Terror for his master, killing
Politician s, crime bosses,
Merchant s and
Warlord s. Maul's very appearance had been carefully conceived to put fear into the heart of the Sith's enemies and unwitting allies. His victims included Neimoidian
Hath Monchar , the
Black Sun leader
Alexi Garyn , the Nightsister
Mighella and all of the Black Sun vigos and their bodyguards. Yet despite his untold successes, Maul loved victory over the Jedi. Which he succeeded at on several occasions, against Barco Trellius, Roro Fergus and Ji-Dis Flar.
During the events of ''Episode I: the Phantom Menace'', Maul was sent to capture Queen
Amidala and eliminate the two Jedi,
Qui-Gon Jinn and
Obi-Wan Kenobi , who had been dispatched by the
Galactic Republic to settle the conflict and protect the queen. Maul just barely failed in this task on
Tatooine and he thirsted for
Revenge . Fighting
Tusken Raiders and Togorian
Pirate s put a drain on him by the time he left Tatooine.
