Darth Maul


 * "Fear. Fear attracts the fearful… the strong… the weak… the innocent… the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally."
 * ―Darth Maul — Listen (file info) [src]

Darth Maul was a male Dathomirian Zabrak Dark Lord of the Sith who lived during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. Originally a Dathomiri Nightbrother born on Iridonia and known only as Maul, the infant Maul was given by his Nightsister mother to the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who trained him in the ways of the dark side of the Force as his secret apprentice on a secret Mustafar training facility, along with the help of a split personality droid. Maul became a master of Juyo, Ataru, Jar'Kai, and Teräs Käsi, with training in Niman, and chose to wield a red-bladed saberstaff in combat. Though well trained in the ways of the Sith and a Sith assassin rather than a full apprentice, Maul was technically a violation of the Rule of Two because his own Master was at the time apprenticed to another, the Muun Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.Plagueis however, was fully aware of Maul's existence, and supportedSidious's decision to train him. The primary reason for Plagueis's support, despite the violation of the Rule of Two, was that Maul was trained to be expendable. As an assassin, he could perform high priority, boots-on-the-ground missions for the Sith without running the risk of exposing either Plagueis or Sidious should he fail.

In 33 BBY, Sidious gave Maul his first mission: to put the criminal organization Black Sun in disarray. Maul carried out this task perfectly, dealing the group a grievous blow. Maul played an instrumental role in the invasion of the planet Naboo in 32 BBY. The crisis was engineered by Darth Sidious, who lived a double life as Senator Palpatine of Naboo, to have Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum removed from office, allowing Sidious to take his place and set the stages for a government ruled by the Sith. After Padmé Amidala, queen of the Naboo, escaped the blockade, Maul was dispatched to follow her. He found her on Tatooine, where he had a short but intense duel with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, revealing the existence of the Order of the Sith Lords to the Jedi, who had thought the Sith extinct. Later, Maul was sent to Naboo, where he fought Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though he killed the Jedi Master, Maul underestimated Kenobi’s skill and was severed in half at the waist by the Padawan. Sidious would quickly replace Maul with another powerful apprentice: the late Jinn's former Master, Dooku, who had fallen to the dark side, and whom Sidious dubbed Darth Tyranus.

Through his intense rage, Maul was able to survive and escape to the junk fields Lotho Minor, where he spent the next twelve years of his life with little to no memory of his former self. Maul kept himself mobile by manifesting a spider-like lower half, feeding off of rodents while his mental equilibrium slowly became undone. Although Darth Sidious and the Jedi Order were unaware of Maul's continued existence, the Nightsister Mother Talzin continued to keep an eye on Maul. In 20 BBY, three years into the Clone Wars, Talzin sent Maul's brother, Savage Opress, the ousted apprentice of Maul's Sith successor, on a quest to find the fractured man who dwelled in the depths of Lotho Minor. Savage successfully brought his brother back to Dathomir to undergo physical and mental reconstitution by Talzin's dark magic. Rehabilitated mentally and physically through prosthetic legs, Maul swore to reestablish his place in galactic history, starting with taking vengeance on Kenobi. Maul and Opress caught the attention of the Jedi Order by slaughtering innocents on the planet Raydonia in a successful attempt to lure Kenobi out. Maul tortured Kenobi, though the arrival of an unexpected ally, the Nightsister Asajj Ventress, gave Kenobi the time he needed to escape.

Maul and Opress soon cut a bloody swath across the Outer Rim, catching the attention of the Republic and the Jedi. On one occasion, Maul rallied the Moorjhoni clans against the Rim Mining Company. Maul and his brother then unsuccessfully tried to recruit a group of Weequay pirates from the Ohnaka Gang to their cause, a plan which was thwarted and nearly ended in the Nightbrothers' deaths following the arrival of Kenobi. Maul and his brother were found by the Mandalorian Death Watch leader Pre Vizsla and his lieutenant Bo-Katan. The two conspired to conquer Mandalore and establish a criminal empire, enlisting the aid of the Hutt Cartel, Black Sun and the Pyke Syndicate. When the New Mandalorian state on Mandalore was conquered by the new Shadow Collective, Vizsla imprisoned Maul and Opress, no longer having any use for them. Maul retaliated by dueling and finally decapitated Vizsla, declaring himself ruler of the Death Watch. Maul finished his revenge on Kenobi by killing his former lover, ousted Mandalorian Duchess Satine Kryze. However, his actions drew the attention of his former master, Darth Sidious, who killed Opress and kidnapped Maul for his own purposes.

Friends

 * Palpatine (formerly)
 * Cad Bane
 * Nute Gunray (formerly)
 * Pre Vizsla (formerly)
 * Bo-Katan Kryze (formerly)
 * Jabba the Hutt (briefly)
 * Mandalorians (formerly)
 * Battle Droids (formerly)
 * Savage Opress
 * Ziton Moj
 * Dryden Vos
 * Qi'ra
 * Gar Saxon
 * Rook Kast
 * Almec (formerly)
 * Ezra Bridger (briefly)
 * Kanan Jarrus (briefly)
 * Ahsoka Tano (briefly)

Enemies

 * Qui-Gon Jinn
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi
 * Padmé Amidala
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Darth Sidious
 * Count Dooku
 * Hondo Ohnaka
 * Pre Vizsla
 * Bo-Katan Kryze
 * General Grievous
 * Ursa Wren
 * Seventh Sister
 * Fifth Brother
 * Eighth Brother
 * Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
 * Tobias Beckett
 * Ezra Bridger
 * Ahsoka Tano
 * Kanan Jarrus
 * Hera Syndulla
 * Garazeb Orrelios
 * Sabine Wren
 * C1-10P