History Characters / StarWarsDathomir

* HeroicSecondWind: "Heroic" definitely doesn't apply, but after Sidious killed Savage, and mocked him about being replaced as the Sith apprentice, Maul went toe-to-toe with his former Master in the remainder of their ligthsaber duel, to the point that Sidious visibly gets a bit more serious, [[SubvertedTrope but was ultimately defeated]].

** Despite manipulating Ezra to an almost successful extent, it appears he's delusional to think that Ezra [[spoiler: who actually be behind unlocking the destructive weapon of Malachor.]]

* {{Pride}}: Subtly so, but this is his FatalFlaw in ''The Phantom Menace''. Once Obi-Wan is left dangling over the pit, Maul arrogantly looms over him, and takes his time waiting for Obi-Wan to fall. Obi-Wan himself uses this time to compose himself, and subsequently leaps right over Maul, who is so shocked by this sudden turn of events that he doesn't rally in time to prevent Obi-Wan from cutting him in half. He's humbler in ''The Clone Wars'', sticking mostly to justified confidence. This is still a weakness though, as in the Rebels season 2 finale he underestimates [[spoiler: Kanaan, allowing the Jedi to easily slip into the former Sith's defenses, and dispatch him.]]

** [[Invoked]] in ''The Clone Wars''. After being defeated by Obi-Wan, he becomes a psychotic wreck that scavenges to survive as opposed to the proud warrior he once was. He rebounds ''quickly'' once Savage Opress and Mother Talzin restore his sanity.
** In ''Rebels'', he presents himself to Ezra as a weak old man at first – and WordofGod confirms that this isn't completely an act. While still a viable threat to three Inquisitors, Maul can never realize his full potential and has lost much of his former power. His weakened state could be justified by the fact that his crushing defeats at the hands of both the Jedi and Sith have taken their toll.

* BadassDecay: [[InUniverse In Rebels]], he presents himself to Ezra as a weak old man at first--and WordofGod confirms that this isn't completely an act; he's still a viable threat to three Inquisitors, but he never truly realized his full potential in the first place and a lot of his power has waned over the years.

* VillainDecay[=/=]BadassDecay:[[invoked]] After being defeated by Obi-Wan, he becomes a psychotic wreck that scavenges to survive as opposed to the proud warrior he once was. He rebounds ''quickly'' once Savage Opress and Mother Talzin restore his sanity.

* TookALevelInKindness: Sam Witwer says that by the time of Rebels, Maul has gained a touch of sincerity--and it's not altogether hard to see why; after everything he's been through (being cut in half, discarded by his master, going insane and back, loosing his brother, his mother, most of his power, and spending an undisclosed amount of time on Malachor being hunted by an Inquisitor) he does seem to genuinely enjoy Ezra's company. Now, all that being said, Maul is still perfectly willing and able to manipulate Ezra to further his own ends, and is ultimately out for himself alone.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While he's definitely a bad guy in ''Son Of Dathomir'', he's presented sympathetically in spite of the atrocities he has done - similarly to Asajj Ventress before her HeelFaceTurn. This portrayal continues in ''Rebels'' when he does genuinely want to defeat Sidious - but for his own personal reasons.

** In the season two finale of ''Rebels'', the last we see of Maul is him [[spoiler: leaving Malachor in Darth Vader's stolen TIE-Advanced since his plans for the Sith Holocron and the Temple/battle station it powers are beyond salvaging at that point.]]

* BadassDecay: In Rebels, he presents himself to Ezra as a weak old man at first--and WordofGod confirms that this isn't completely an act; he's still a viable threat to three Inquisitors, but he never truly realized his full potential in the first place and a lot of his power has waned over the years.

* {{Pride}}: Subtly so, but this is his FatalFlaw in ''The Phantom Menace''. Once Obi-Wan is left dangling over the pit, Maul arrogantly looms over him, and takes his time waiting for Obi-Wan to fall. Obi-Wan himself uses this time to compose himself, and subsequently leaps right over Maul, who is so shocked by this sudden turn of events that he doesn't rally in time to prevent Obi-Wan from cutting him in half. He's humbler in ''The Clone Wars'', sticking mostly to justified confidence.

* TheLastDance: By the time of ''Rebels'' he knows that all of his potential has gone to waste and he doesn't register on the galaxy's radar anymore. It's implied he is planning to challenge Sidious to employ this trope.

** And finally, in "The Lawless", he murders Satine just to torment Obi-Wan.

* BloodKnight: He was extremely eager to reveal the survival of the Sith to the Jedi, and if his CombatAestheticist body language is any indication, he ''really'' enjoyed his duel with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. By the time ''The Clone Wars'' rolls around, however, Maul is much more pragmatic, although his bloodthirsty nature still lends itself to an enjoyment of battle.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: While he's definitely a bad guy in ''Son Of Dathomir'', he's presented sympathetically in spite of the atrocities he has done - similarly to Asajj Ventress before her HeelFaceTurn.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: Maul generally keeps Savage at arm's length, treating him as an apprentice. However, when Savage is maimed in "Revival", Maul's first response is to take him and fall back, and in "The Lawless", Maul is devastated and utterly enraged by Savage's death at Sidious' hands.

* BigBadWannabe: He tries really hard to build himself a substantial army and base and become a menace to the Galaxy, but doing so would have caused problems for [[BigBad Sidious]], who obviously doesn't waste time to put Maul on his place.

* CombatAestheticist: In ''The Phantom Menace'', Maul's fighting style features a lot of flashy acrobatics and spinning. Averted in ''The Clone Wars'', where he's more straightforward and brutal.

* DeadpanSnarker: He gets a good one in while interrogating Oruba the Hutt, which serves to make him more menacing.

* GenericDoomsdayVillain: In Episode I, all he really does is serving as a physical threat to the heroes without any deeper look into his character and motivations. ''The Clone Wars'' fleshes him out more.

* HeroicSecondWind: "Heroic" definitely doesn't apply, but after Sidious killed Savage, and mocked him about being replaced as the Sith apprentice, Maul went toe-to-toe with his former Master in the remainder of their ligthsaber duel, [[SubvertedTrope but was ultimately defeated]].

* HeroKiller: He kills Qui-Gon in ''The Phantom Menace'', who was the series protagonist [[DecoyProtagonist up until then]]. Maul also fulfills the other side of this trope; he's an extremely dangerous KnightOfCerebus feared by those who know what he is truly capable of.

** Despite his previous treatment of Savage as a student and a minion, Maul is devastated and enraged over his brother's death in "The Lawless".
** Also in "Revival" he screams his brother's name after Obi-Wan cuts off Savage's arm.

* LightningBruiser: In all of his duels, Maul hits fast, hits hard, and proves to be quite graceful besides, which allows him to triumph over Qui-Gon, nearly kill Obi-Wan in all three of their duels, and hold his own against Darth Sidious.

* PetTheDog: For what it's worth, he does look out for Ezra. [[spoiler:Even if his interests for the young learner are still completely evil.]]

** In the Season 2 finale of ''Rebels'', [[spoiler: he realizes he cannot claim the Sith Holocron on his own, so he spends most of the episode manipulating Ezra and the others into getting it for him]].

* AwesomeMcCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this, and "Darth Maul" is no exception. Made even more badass with ''The Clone Wars'', which suggest that he was '''named''' "Maul" before becoming Palpatine's apprentice.

* OffWithHisHead: Does this to several people at once in one swing in "Revenge". Obi-Wan remarks in the same episode that he should have tried this on Maul instead of cutting him in half.

* PragmaticVillainy: In Season 5 of ''The Clone Wars'', he realizes that he and Savage can't just run around killing and looting to survive because it would draw the Jedi to them. In "Eminence", he decides against killing the fleeing Sugi, Embo, Latts, and Dengar, as they are merely bounty hunters, who have no loyalty to the Hutts (whom Maul and his allies were attacking at the time). [[WordOfSaintPaul Sam Witwer]] also speculated that Maul might have foreseen some possible use for them in the future, adding to Maul's pragmatism.

* EvilerThanThou: Towards Vizsla, whom he outplayed, overpowered, and brutally killed. Later, Sidious turned it on him, effortlessly defeating Maul in combat.

** In ''Rebels'', he takes an interest in Ezra. Uh-oh.

* ManipulativeBastard: He plays Pre Vizsla, and later, the population of Mandalore, like well-tuned fiddles.

* BadassBoast: Gives a terrifying one in his message to Obi-Wan in "Revenge".

* BreakoutVillain: Easily the most popular and recognizable character to debut in the entire Prequel Trilogy, and years later was brought back to become a major antagonist in ''The Clone Wars''.

* ContinuityNod: His design (elongated horns, shirtless, circlet around the neck, cybernetic lower body) seems to be a homage to his appearance in the non-canon comic "Old Wounds". Once he switches to his second pair of cybernetic legs, he actually becomes nearly ''identical'' to that design: only his horns were returned to their normal length.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: In his first attempt at revenge in ''The Clone Wars'', Maul takes an entire village hostage and demands that Obi-Wan come to face him alone or he would kill the villagers, using Obi-Wan's Jedi sensibilities to ensure that he would agree to Maul's terms. Not only are the villagers all dead by the time Obi-Wan arrives (preventing Obi-Wan from rescuing anyone), but Maul brings back-up, having Savage ambush Obi-Wan, taking him down before he had a chance to properly defend himself. They then take him off-planet, preventing any possibility of Obi-Wan escaping. If [[SpannerInTheWorks Ventress]] hadn't intervened, Maul would have had his vengeance right then and there.

* EnemyMine: Come ''Rebels''. [[spoiler:Even though Maul is in the presence of team of Jedi, he allies with them as a way of undermining Sidious by means of taking on the Inquisitors.]]

* EvilMentor: For Savage, whom he officially takes as his Sith apprentice in "Revival".

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: To [[spoiler:Ezra]] in ''Rebels'', at least, he's not "Darth Maul" but "Old Master".

* PragmaticVillainy: In Season 5 of ''The Clone Wars'', he realizes that he and Savage can't just run around killing and looting to survive because it would draw the Jedi to them.
** In "Eminence", he decides against killing the fleeing Sugi, Embo, Latts, and Dengar, as they are merely bounty hunters, who have no loyalty to the Hutts (whom Maul and his allies were attacking at the time). [[WordOfSaintPaul Sam Witwer]] also speculated that Maul might have foreseen some possible use for them in the future, adding to Maul's pragmatism.

!!Darth Maul

* BastardUnderstudy: All Sith apprentices are this by definition. Given his loyalty to Sidious, it's fair to say that Maul has more the "understudy" than the "bastard" in him.

* PsychopathicManchild: Shows some signs of this before being healed, hiding behind boxes and being lured out when he follows a light conjured by Mother Talzin in an almost childlike state of fascination. [[spoiler: With the revelation that Talzin is Maul's mother, this could also be interpreted as mom calling him out.]]

* {{Revenge}}: Seeks revenge on Obi-Wan for defeating him on Naboo.

** By the time of ''Son of Dathomir'', he's also out for payback against Darth Sidious.

** By the time of ''Rebels'', he actually errs toward the "woobie" side; he's a pitiful shadow of his former self, full of anger toward the Sith for taking everything away from him. He no longer has any real aspirations for power so much as he wants the opportunity to get revenge in any small capacity.

* DoubleWeapon: His WeaponOfChoice in ''The Phantom Menace'' is a double-bladed lightsaber. After resurfacing, he uses only the remaining half of his weapon.

* EnemyMine: Come ''Rebels''. [[spoiler:Even though the ''Ghost'' crew have a team of Jedi on their side, he allies with them as a way of undermining Sidious by means of taking on the Inquisitors.]]

* FauxAffablyEvil: In contrast to Savage, who's more of a brutish thug, Maul has more sophistication and charisma. However, none of it is real and serves to make alliances. When he does drop the act, he's a snarling monster.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: During his first attempt to take vengeance on Obi-Wan he slaughtered [[BusFullOfInnocents an entire village]] just to draw the Jedi out.
** This gets [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] during his quest to build his own army. First, when's he recruiting criminal factions, he does so either by promising them wealth or threatening to kill them (whereas the Mandalorians follow him [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority due to how classic Mandalorian succession works and their shared hatred for Jedi]] and the Nightbrothers due to Mother Talzin's connections). Hondo Ohnaka, who Maul temporarily bought some of his men's loyalty from, knew from the get-go that working with him was an ultimately unprofitable venture because not only is Maul clearly insane, he's really only interested in revenge on Obi-Wan, and buys his own men back from Maul by telling them this. In ''Son of Dathomir'', the Hutt Clans immediately desert from the Shadow Collective after Maul gets captured by Darth Sidious. When Maul gets into a revenge game with Sidious, he ends up going to war with the Separatist Alliance. [[spoiler: The Black Sun and Pyke leaders, who are really just mercenaries as opposed to the [[ProudWarriorRace Mandalorians and Nightbrothers]], become wary of Maul's grudge after they almost face death at the hands of a droid firing squad during the Battle of Ord Mantell. After Maul captures Dooku, the Separatists attack the Shadow Collective on three different fronts, and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Black Sun and the Pykes decide to bail out after getting no help from Maul]]. After that and the death of Mother Talzin, Maul has very few allies left.]]

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: For all his [[EnsembleDarkhorse popularity]], Maul does precisely one thing in the whole film saga: kill Qui-Gon Jinn. Except that by doing so, he ensures Anakin is taught by a newly-knighted Jedi instead of a wise Master with decades of teaching experience, which plays a huge role in his frustration in the Jedi Order and inability to deal with his phenomenal powers, which in turn plays a huge role in his FaceHeelTurn.

* WouldHitAGirl: Proven when he almost kills Sugi in "Eminence".
** Also, in the same episode earlier, he Force Chokes and nearly kills Bo-Katan to make a point to Pre Vizla about doubt leading to failure when she expresses doubts about allying with Sith Lords.

** He is genuinely crushed by his brother's death in "The Lawless".

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Emphasis on "destroyer of worlds". While Maul was always a villain, it was his defeat at Obi-Wan's hand and the subsequent twelve years of near-total insanity that turned him into a vengeance-obsessed, AxCrazy psychopath, willing to brutally murder dozens, maybe hundreds of innocent people to get a chance at killing Obi-Wan. [[spoiler:Sidious also forcefully took him away from his mother, Talzin.]]

** Taken even further in ''Rebels'', to the point where he actually asks to be referred to as "Old Master".