Star Wars 5 Reasons Maul Is The Best Television Villain (& 5 Of His Contenders)

Star Wars: 5 Reasons Maul Is The Best Television Villain (& 5 Of His Contenders)

After returning from the ‘dead,’ Darth Maul has proven himself to be a worthy TV villain. But would Star Wars fans agree with this?

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As soon as he made his Star Wars debut in The Phantom Menace way back in 1999, Darth Maul was instantly a phenomenon; he was one of the most badass characters ever to grace the franchise. Nobody thought he could pop up again after that movie. But, when, in its brilliance, The Clone Wars brought the character back, his legacy became far more special.

Through The Clone Wars and Rebels, Maul has made himself one of the franchise’s best characters, with an arc that is incredible and moments that are as iconic as the Duel of the Fates. He has perhaps more of an argument than anyone to being Star Wars TV’s best antagonist. However, some give him a run for his money.

10 Maul – Was A Standout Character Across Both Animated Shows

One of the most significant things that separate Maul from other television villains in Star Wars is that he manages to hold his consistency and brilliance across two shows.

Most animated villains are only a part of one show, and The Mandalorian has not run long enough for the villains to have moved across shows (except for Boba Fett, who is less of a villain in Disney+’s live-action smash-hit). Sidious, Vader, and Tarkin all appear in Clone Wars and Rebels, but none have as much of a huge role in both shows, nor Maul’s consistently high quality.

9 Contender – M0ff Gideon

Speaking of The Mandalorian, its central villain is Moff Gideon, a character who has been a fantastic foil to Din Djarin and Grogu in the show’s first two seasons and whose story seems to be far from over in the series.

Giancarlo Esposito brings so much to the role of a character, who is proving to be one of the best on-screen imperial villains in the franchise. What holds him back from coming anywhere close to Maul is how little we have seen of him thus far, but there is still plenty of time for him to climb up the rankings towards the Dathomirian.

8 Maul – He Aids Other Character’s Arcs

So often, villains can only be around for a short time or have only an impact on one character or a group. What Maul does across two shows, though, is have a significant influence on many character’s stories.

He blinded Kanan, changing his path for the remainder of Rebels; he also led Ezra to answers he needed from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then there is Ahsoka Tano, whom he led to Mandalore so she could discover Rex’s heartbreaking survival of Order 66. Bo-Katan Kryze, Asajj Ventress, Mother Talzin, Mandalore as a whole, and even Han Solo (inadvertently) were all affected by Maul. Not only is it the number of characters whose stories were, at some point, touched by Maul, but it is also the quality in which he brings to their arcs.

7 Contender – Cad Bane

When it comes to bounty hunters in animated TV, there are none finer than Cad Bane, a character who was ruthless, cool, talented, and one of the best original characters to come out of The Clone Wars.

It is arguable that Din Djarin, and with his inclusion in The Mandalorian, Boba Fett, are better characters than Bane to this point. But as a villain whose story could possibly continue in The Bad Batch, Cad Bane is the best on TV with a fitting voice, an iconic hat, and some phenomenal Clone Wars episodes.

6 Maul – The Battles

Maul’s lightsaber duel career did not end with the Duel of the Fates. Through the two animated shows, Maul had many battles with a handful of opponents, and there is not one bad one.

Maul has underrated duels, such as his battle with Savage against Asajj and Obi-Wan. He has also had some short, meaningful fights against Kanan/Ahsoka, (one of Star Wars’ finest piece of storytelling in “Twin Suns,”) and, who could forget one of the greatest lightsaber duels in the entire franchise as a whole against Ahsoka in “The Phantom Apprentice.”

5 Contender – Sidious (& The Chain Of Apprentices)

The Skywalker saga’s big bad is undoubtedly Darth Sidious, even if Vader is a better, more iconic character. In the animated TV side of things, though, Sidious also plays a key role.

As Chancellor Palpatine, he is phenomenal, with the brief glimpses of Sidious always being fantastic, like his duel with Savage and Maul, his hunt of Yoda, or his manipulation of Fives in the conspiracy arc. In Rebels, too, Sidious has one episode and is fantastic. He is a mastermind like no other, and The Clone Wars builds on this excellently.

However, there is just as much of an argument for his apprentice Count Dooku and his apprentice, Asajj Ventress, as being the better TV villain, with Ventress being a total badass with an exceptional, redemptive story and Dooku improving massively from his movie counterpart.

4 Maul – Never A Bad Episode Involving Maul

Cad Bane has his episode of kidnapping Threepio and Artoo, Thrawn is involved in a couple of weaker Rebels episodes, and a lot of the smaller Clone Wars villains are the cause of their episodes being so weak.

Maul has never had an outright bad episode in either Clone Wars or Rebels, and that is not down to being involved in only a couple of episodes like Pong Krell, having 14 in the flesh episodes across both shows. Some of those, like “Twin Suns,” “Twilight of the Apprentice,” the entire Siege of Mandalore, and the whole takeover of Mandalore arc, are some of Star Wars’ best ever stories.

3 Contender – Grand Admiral Thrawn

Maul is a fantastic presence in Rebels’ third season, but the main villain of the show at that time, and through to season 4, is beloved Legends character Mitth’raw’nuruodo, a.k.a Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Voiced by Lars Mikkelsen, Thrawn is incredible. A tactical and strategic genius who is as calm, sophisticated, and ruthless as they come. If anyone on this list could possibly overtake Maul as the best on TV, it is Thrawn, who looks to be the main antagonist of the Ahsoka show and could appear in others over time to improve his canon legacy.

2 Maul – Journey With Obi-Wan Kenobi

There can be no conversation about Maul without at least mentioning his greatest enemy, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The two have one of Star Wars’ best rivalries, and it is absolute gold whenever they share a screen.

Starting, of course, with the Duel of the Fates and ending with “Twin Suns,” there is such immense chemistry, history, and brilliance shared between the two. They elevate each other. Maul makes Obi-Wan a better hero, Obi-Wan makes Maul a better villain, and the two’s poetic story gives fans some emotional, iconic, awe-inspiring moments.

1 Contender – Darth Vader

Darth Vader had one scene in The Clone Wars, and only properly in three Rebels episodes (with two additional cameos). Still, in that time, he managed to make such a colossal impact.

In all fairness, in the realm of TV, Thrawn and a couple of others have more of an argument than Vader as being the best. But there is something about Vader that is just incredible. Closing out The Clone Wars, facing-off against Kanan and Ezra, taking out Phoenix squadron, and, of course, that reunion and duel with Ahsoka are some of the best stuff in all of Star Wars animation.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-darth-maul-best-villain-debated-other-characters/

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