Concept artist Iain McCaig explains what led to the inspiration for Darth Maul’s iconic look. The iconic menacing villain was first introduced in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menacethe first installment of the prequel trilogy. Over the years, Darth Maul has remained one of the most popular characters in the Star Wars universe, with one of the reasons being the character’s menacing appearance. This includes his bright golden eyes and his red skin with black circuit tattoos, next to one of the few Star Wars characters with a double-bladed lightsaber.
When speaking with StarWars. withMcCaig shared that the only description he received from George Lucas was that Darth Maul was”our new Sith Lord.“ Although initially stressed about the lack of direction, he realized that Lucas chose him because the director wanted to see what the artist could dream up for Darth Maul on his own. Read their comments below:
“Jorge [Lucas] I just came in and said, ‘Darth Maul, he’s our new Sith Lord,’ and walked away. I didn’t know if Maul was a man or a woman, an alien, anything. At first it scared me that I didn’t receive much guidance. Then I realized that maybe he chose me because he liked my work and wanted me to show him what I thought Darth Maul would be like.”
Since Darth Vader was the only Sith Lord appearing on screen at that time, McCaig thought Maul should be similar. At first, he planned to give the character a similar appearance, but later decided to focus on the appearance of Maul’s face. Originally, he I thought about giving him an implanted circuit that would connect Maul’s flesh to a mask.
“Darth Vader was the only Sith Lord we knew of at that time, so I assumed he would be wearing some kind of helmet. Months of trying to outdo Darth Vader’s helmet led nowhere.”
McCaig then tried to put a circuit board in Maul’s face, but the circuit later evolved into tattoos. He said that the design of the tattoos on Darth Maul’s face was inspired by the character Rorschach from the DC Comics series Watchers.
“To [previs supervisor] David Dozoretz, I literally put a circuit board in his face. By the time we reached our production designer, Gavin Bocquet, I had already simplified the circuit for tattoos – probably channeling the Rorschach of [Watchmen] – and suddenly the design started to work.”
Lucas later shared his first draft of the The phantom menacescript, which described the character as “a vision of your worst nightmare.“ He then thought about when he worked late in his studio and the feeling of being watched. Visually, he thought of a white face staring back at him, with glowing eyes and sharp metal teeth. He then shared an image of what he imagined with Lucas, who told McCaig to give him his “second worst nightmare.“McCaig’s design description can be found below:
“Working late at night in my studio, I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. My imagination conjured up a dead, white face pressed against the studio window, glowing eyes staring back at me. It smiled with sharp metal teeth as it peered out , distorted through streams of rain. So I drew that face for George, put it in a folder and slipped it to him at the next meeting. , he said.”
He then thought about How the expressions painted on clowns scare you because they don’t show what the clown is really thinking. The artist also said that he was afraid of the clown Bozo as a child. He then decided to use the markings on Darth Maul’s face to show the characters having emotions that contradicted each other.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love clowns. But something about those painted expressions scares me, because who knows what they’re really thinking? So I used the markings on Maul’s face to evoke contradictory emotions: malice but delight; frowning but smiling like a skull.”
An example used by McCaig was the scene where Maul is about to fight Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although the two Jedi are physically larger than him, Maul’s expression shows how excited he is to fight them. McCaig’s description of the scene can be found below:
“You can see this in the iconic scene where he confronts Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. Two Jedi, both bigger than him, and Maul look like he just won the lottery. He doesn’t give a shit about the Trade Federation. He just wants to kick some Jedi ass.”
What Darth Maul’s iconic designs mean for Star Wars
The Sith Lord left a memorable impression on viewers
Although Darth Maul has a minor role in The phantom menace compared to other characters, his iconic appearance has helped him become one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. He is also one of the scariest characters in the Star Wars universe, which adds more to how much of a threat the character is to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in the film.
Darth Maul the look also added variety to a Sith Lord’s appearanceso not everyone looks like Darth Vader. By not wearing a mask like Darth Vader, or later Kylo Ren, it also allowed Darth Maul to show the expressions McCaig talked about, which he wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. The fact that his real face is so scary, and he’s not just wearing a mask, also adds to how scary the character is.
Our Take on Darth Maul’s Iconic Design
One of the cutest Star Wars villains
THE Star Wars the franchise has had many great character designs, including Darth Vader and Boba Fett. Darth Maul’s design is one of the best looks in the franchise. Giving him such an iconic look has made Darth Maul stand out as one of the most memorable characters in Star War: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He became so iconic that even though he appeared to die at the end of the film, he was brought back multiple times.
Source: StarWars. with