10 Things You Didn't Know About Darth Maul

Star Wars' best-worst villain is a fascinating creation.

By Jack Pooley /

Lucasfilm

Darth Maul is one of the most controversial figures in the Star Wars universe, a fascinating, even iconic villain best known for his terrifying look, silky smooth voice and incredible fighting skills.

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It's hard to deny that his rather piecemeal treatment in The Phantom Menace ultimately made him an antagonist as frustrating as he is intriguing, though this has only heightened fan curiosity about the character and what could have been.

Fans haven't stopped talking about Darth Maul in the near-two decades since his introduction, but thankfully through a trove of behind-the-scenes material and tales from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, they can learn more about the red-and-black Jedi-slayer than The Phantom Menace even dared to hint at.

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10. He's Only In The Phantom Menace For 8.5 Minutes

Lucasfilm

Though he's essentially the main antagonist of The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul appears for just 8.5 minutes throughout the movie (not six minutes as erroneously reported by numerous websites).

He doesn't show up until almost the half-hour mark, and the majority of his screen time is spent standing around while listening to someone else, until the epic final showdown against Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, of course.

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Considering how much Maul was built up to be a terrifying bada** in the movie's marketing, many fans were understandably disappointed with him ending up a glorified lackey who had even less screen time than Darth Vader's 12 minutes in A New Hope.