The Meaning Of Darth Maul’s Tattoos And How He Acquired Them

Yes, they are tattoos (depending on who you ask). The franchise introduced one of its most notorious villains in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999). Despite having limited lines and “dying” at the end of the same film he made his first appearance in, Darth Maul’s iconic double-edged red lightsaber, devilish horns, and tribal tattoos cemented the character in geek culture legend, and he has remained a fan favorite ever since. One person that was fond of the character was Dave Filoni, who felt compelled to bring him back to the franchise in the animated TV series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.

The version of the character re-introduced in the animated series was much more fleshed out, with more dialogue and individual motivation, as opposed to his role in The Phantom Menace, where Maul only really functioned as a pawn to Darth Sidious. The re-imagining of the character also led to developments in Star Wars Legends, which exists as non-official lore of the Star Wars expanded universe and includes material like books, comics, and video games. Whether in Legends or in Disney’s official Star Wars canon, Darth Maul always has those distinctive tattoos on his face. They have become an essential part of the character’s iconography, but fans might not know much about them.

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What Does Canon Say About Darth Maul’s Tattoos?

Officially, not very much. In The Phantom Menace only Maul’s face is visible. Fans at the time may have interpreted his face tattoos as a tactic to intimidate Maul’s opponents, possibly with some sort of tie to Sith culture traditions.

However, Star Wars: The Clone Wars suggested that this wasn’t the case. Maul’s upper half makes a return in The Clone Wars season 4, episode 21, “Brothers,” in which his brother Savage Opress goes on a hunt to rescue Maul after the latter was cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi. When Opress finds Maul, he is in a manic state and moving around on robotic spider legs. He is also not clothed from the waist up, revealing that his face marks extend all across his body. This suggests that he could have acquired the marks organically and that they are natural to his species, Dathomrian Zabraks.

This theory is further supported in Clone Wars episode, season 3, episode 12: “Nightsisters,” where Mother Talzin (Darth Maul’s mother) is selecting a new apprentice for Sith Lord Count Dooku. The audience gets a look at a series of male Zabraks (Maul’s species) training on Dathomir (Maul’s home planet). These Zabraks all have very similar black patterns on their bodies and faces. The training Zabraks are not in any way acquainted with the Sith, which would disprove the initial fan theory that Maul’s ‘tattoos’ were related to Sith culture.

What Does Legends Say About The Tattoos?

The nature of Star Wars Legends being an expanded universe means it’s much harder to get a clear answer everyone can agree on (likely why Disney ruled a lot of it as non-canon). Despite this, the most commonly agreed-upon answer is that Maul’s markings are indeed tattoos.

The first Legends explanation actually confirms the initial fan theory that spawned from Phantom Menace: Maul’s tattoos were a part of Sith tradition. However, the actual reason behind the tattoos served a much more sinister purpose than intimidation. In a Star Wars Legends comic titled Marked, Maul’s master, Darth Sidious, can be seen torturing Maul through the process of inking his skin. The needles Sidious used were allegedly dipped in venom from Sith creatures, and were meant to cause excruciating pain with the intention of helping Maul harness his anger and rage to pull him closer to the dark side of the Force. In many ways, the process was more a part of Maul’s training than anything to do with Sith culture itself.

The same comic also features an image of Maul as a child, whose skin is entirely red with no markings. Darth Sidious abducted Maul as a child because he could tell he was Force-sensitive, and didn’t want this potential power to fall into the hands of the Jedi. The fact that child Maul didn’t have any face markings doesn’t necessarily contradict canon, because it’s also theorized that male Zabraks’ tattoos are part of Dathomirian Nightbrother culture, and are given to them by Mother Talzin. This means it is possible that Sidious abducted Maul before this procedure could take place and decided to take matters into his own hands, honoring Dathomirian culture in an evil, twisted way.

It is hard to come to a definitive conclusion about the origin of Maul’s tattoos, due to Disney labeling a lot of pre-existing lore as non-canon. Additionally, the pre-existing Legends lore of Maul’s tattoos was pretty varied and sometimes contradicting. It comes down mostly to fan interpretation. A lot of die-hard long-time fans have refused to accept the new canon established by Disney, due to them removing fan favorites like The Force Unleashed video game series and other beloved projects.

Whether fans interpret Maul’s tattoos as part of his Sith training or part of his Dathomirian Nightbrother heritage, they serve as a symbol of power and pain — their significance stays the same. This is how George Lucas wanted fans to view the character when he was first introduced in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.