Darth Maul
“That bastard Maul got what he deserved. Now he's not just one, but two pieces of Sith.”
Darth Maul (54 BBY – 2 BBY), real name Khameir Sarin, is an initially-underused villain in the Star Wars franchise who later became overused. Khameir was an infamous agent of Dathomir's DRU and later became the Sith Lord Darth Maul, being the first guy Darth Sidious trained. Due to fan demand, Maul somehow survived getting cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi and falling down a shaft, and got robotic spider-legs, only to be killed by Old Ben again several years later.
Early life[edit]
Khameir was born in 54 BBY, a year which will live in infamy, on the planet Dathomir in the city of Obninsk. He was the son of Boris and Natasha Sarin; Khameir's father was a soldier in the Army of the Dead, while his mother was a common housewife. He was destined for the Dark side at an early age, as all of his elementary school report cards said that he "Did not play well with others", not to mention his strange fascination with hate and lollipops. As a teenager, he listened to Insane Clown Posse and started to wear makeup occasionally.
DRU and Sith career[edit]
Karxist Revolution (37 BBY)[edit]
In his teen years Khameir had been determined to become a doctor, but the Karxist Revolution attempt of 37 BBY caused a great change in the young man. Following the Revolution, he officially joined the Nightbrother Party. His loyalty to the party, Mother Talzin's ideals, and Talzin herself soon caught the Mother's attention, and Khameir became very popular within the Party. Khameir joined the DRU (Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Dathomirian Union) as soon as it was established by Mother Talzin, where he was given the codename "Maul". The early days of his career involved suppressing the proponents of Galactic Republic control over Dathomir and removing any enemies the Mother had within the Nightbrother Party.
During this time, Maul's most impressive lightsaber skills caught the attention of Sith Lord Darth Sidious (alias Senator Sheev Palpatine). Maul was approached by Sheev and offered a job as a Sith Lord; he refused at first, but after the Dathomirian government realized they may be able to use the Sith to spread the Zabrak sphere of influence into outer space, Maul was ordered to accept the job offer, and so he did. Thus, he changed his codename from "Maul" to "Darth Maul", becoming Sheev's top bodyguard and assassin. He fully adopted the infamous red-and-black facepaint and black robes, the attire that would later cause his infamy to reach new heights.
The Great Yinchorri Uprising (36 BBY)[edit]
During the Great Yinchorri Uprising, the newly-christened Darth Maul played a central role in the Battle of Yinchorr, mammothly aiding in the Yinchorri efforts to drive Jedi forces out of their capital city. He was given several medals and awards for the operations he carried out over the course of the war.
Black Sun's coup of Dathomir (35 BBY)[edit]
During the brief period where the Black Sun crime syndicate were in power on Dathomir, Maul and several other DRU agents covertly passed information onto the Trade Federation (who were not-so-secretly playing both sides, the Republic as well as Sidious's) in order for them to make Kyle Katarn Sr.'s reinfiltration of the planet run smoothly.
Operation: Bantha-Eater (34 BBY)[edit]
Maul was on vacation training on the planet Scarif during this time, and did not get to meet the Trade Federation's Big Boss Nute Gunray. He also hated Volgin for stealing his Snack Pak one day while he wasn't looking.
Sabotage on Dorvalla (33 BBY)[edit]
Maul was one of the many DRU agents deployed to the planet Dorvalla for the purposes of intelligence-gathering, as well as direct combat duties. Over the course of the war, he became very good friends with fellow DRU and Spetsnaz operative Henry Gilroy.
Naboo Crisis and "death" (32 BBY)[edit]
Maul was sent by Sidious and Nute Gunray to capture Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo, and eliminate the two Jedi who had been dispatched by the Republic to settle the conflict and protect the Queen. Maul just barely failed in this task on Tatooine, and thus, he thirsted for revenge (and a glass of water, due to the planet's binary suns).
Maul fought Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui-Gon Jinn during the Battle of Naboo. Upon arriving at Theed Palace, Maul went straight at the two Jedi, ignoring the geisha Queen and allowing her to escape. In their vicious duel, Maul fended off both of his Jedi opponents with the help of his oversized double-bladed lightsaber, which together with his muteness and spiky hair practically made him the main character of a JRPG. After separating the Jedi Master from his Padawan, Maul proceeded to separate Qui-Gon's chest cavity from itself, then taunted and challenged Kenobi from behind a ray-shielded wall.
The young Padawan, enraged at his master's death, waited for the ray shield to deactivate before striking out at Maul with a furious assault. Obi-Wan had learned, in just one film, what it took Luke three to learn: that explosive anger, not calm self-sacrifice, wins battles. Maul eventually Force-pushed Kenobi into a pit. He taunted the Padawan, who dangled helplessly by a ledge, realizing it might not be a bad idea to buy a grappling hook as he watched his lightsaber fall down into the abyss. However, Kenobi calmed himself and connected with the Force, before making a spectacular leap out of the shaft Force-grabbing Jinn's lightsaber from afar. Obi-Wan wasted no time in striking as he landed from his jump; an astounded Maul barely had time to grimace/smile, as his bifurcated body tumbled down the shaft in two pieces.
Survival and Clone Wars (32–19 BBY)[edit]
As he fell down to his alleged death, Maul suddenly became more architecturally-attuned of the daily hurdles faced by the galaxy's handicapped community: wondering how come reactors never had any safety railings, or why the Queen's palace had no ramps for hover wheelchairs. Needless to say his fashion career was over; he would never again model as much as a two-piece. However, Maul managed to survive through his intense rage, and fell down onto a conveniently-placed pair of spider-robot legs. He then relaxed in the shaft for ten years, then climbed out of it in time for the Clone Wars.
Despite learning that Sheev had taken a new, older, more seasoned apprentice, Darth Tyranus (real name Count Dooku), Maul still believed that he was the bestest of the best. Taking his brother Savage Opress (yes, that's his real name) as an apprentice, Maul and Macho Man Savage held that they were the true Sith rather than posers like Sidious and Tyranus. Maul then became a mob boss, taking over the planet Mandalore and establishing his own criminal enterprise, the Shadow Collective. However, as his power went to his head and inflated his ego, Maul became a genuine threat to Sheev's plans, resulting in a confrontation that concluded with Opress's demise and Maul's capture by Sidious. After escaping with the help of his Mandalorian supercommandos, Maul resumed his reign on Mandalore until he was overthrown by clone troopers.
Imperial era and second death (19–2 BBY)[edit]
During the Great Jedi Purge and rise of the Empire, after realizing that this joke was going nowhere, Maul discarded his spider-legs and tracked his old rival Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi down to Tatooine. Their final lightsaber duel ended when the Jedi Master struck down his old nemesis; contrary to popular belief, this did not result in Maul becoming more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Believing that Kenobi had consigned himself to a life of protecting Luke at the expense of his sun-scorched body, Maul died in Ben's arms tonight, content knowing he would always have better skin and hair than old Uncle Ben.
Maul's body was then recovered by Palpatine and taken to his shuttle. On Coruscant, Sheev placed the body in the care of the Manarai restaurant at Monument Plaza. Needless to say, the Manarai's customers noticed a strange taste and color of their fried chicken that day...
Personality and traits[edit]
Maul was, in spite of his scary horns, kind of a jobber (akin to Boba Fett). After hearing all the hype about him, you'd think he would've been murdering children and spiking midgets off of the ground anytime he showed up. Didn't really expect him to get chopped in half by a Padawan. Hell, Obi-Wan even had a hard time beating Hayden Christensen, and I think we can all agree that's pretty lame. But I digress.
The horns were pretty sweet, though. I mean seriously, those horns had that woot-woot. They had that bling-blang. They were all nimbly-bimbly. Sadly, he, and his cool horns, temporarily disappeared after Episode I, but were brought back by popular demand in The Clone Wars.
