Darth Maul
"Fear. Fear attracts the fearful… the strong… the weak… the innocent… the corrupt. Fear. Fear is my ally."
―Darth Maul
Personality and traits
Darth Maul was little more than a being of pure hatred and evil, thanks to his harsh, severe training under Sidious. However, he was not totally heartless, granting those he felt worthy of his respect quick and painless deaths. He was even capable of some level of emotional connection with others, feeling respect, admiration, perhaps even a level of attachment towards his master, despite his torturous years under Sidious, likely because he knew nothing else.
In battle, Maul was a ruthless and implacable enemy, possessed of an arrogant urge for self improvement, to be the best. His skill level left him overconfident, and he would lower his guard when he felt an opponent was no longer a threat. His arrogance ultimately got him killed when he opened himself up for a vicious killing blow from Obi-Wan Kenobi, an opponent he believed defeated.
Powers and abilities
Lightsaber training
Darth Maul was a fierce warrior, able to easily engage a Jedi Master and Padawan in battle.Darth Maul was a highly skilled lightsaber duelist, trained by Darth Sidious in Juyo, which drew heavily on volatile emotions and the dark side. However, Maul only devoted himself to Form VII's physical focus, desiring pure physical victory, rather than the "higher" Sith tradition of Dun Möch; dominating the opponents spirit and exposing his inner doubts through taunts and psychological warfare. In addition to this, Maul had training in Niman lightsaber combat and the Jar'Kai dual-saber technique as well as mastery of the fighting style of Teräs Käsi.
Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber.When fighting multiple opponents, Maul extended the second blade of his lightsaber to form a saberstaff, doubling his lethality as Jedi rarely faced such a weapon, or a skilled practitioner in its use. Maul often used this to catch opponents by surprise. Maul had constructed the weapon himself, using ancient plans stored within one of the holocrons the Sith still possessed. He had based his lightsaber design upon that of Darth Zannah's weapon, which in turn had been a development on Exar Kun's original design. It is likely that this choice also came from his species' penchant for the zhaboka, a similar weapon.
Unlike the traditional dueling techniques of most Jedi, Maul combined his swordsmanship with martial arts and hand-to-hand combat skills—a combination which made him a nearly unstoppable dervish of destruction. And whenever Maul encountered a foe he could not best through his martial prowess, he would fall back on his tactical know-how, outmaneuvering such enemies.
Force abilities
Maul displayed a reasonable amount of competence in telekinesis, utilizing Force Grip and Force Choke while interrogating Hath Monchar, and being able to activate a set of door controls behind him with a flung piece of wreckage.While dueling Obi-Wan Kenobi, Maul used both Force push and red Force lightning against the Jedi.
Maul also demonstrated a resistance to Force lightning, shrugging off a barrage unleashed by the Night Sister Mighella while hunting for Alexi Garyn.
Darth Maul was skilled in combining Force talents with mechanics. Sidious gave Maul the funds and schematics he needed, and provided his apprentice with a secret facility on Coruscant in which to work. There Maul constructed his signature speeder bike Bloodfin and the Dark Eye seeker droids. Using the Force mechanical skill mechu-deru, Maul modified the protocol droid C-3PX into an assassin droid to guard his ship.
Other talents
Due to his Zabrak heritage and his intense training at the hands of Darth Sidious, Maul was able to withstand immense amounts of physical pain.
When crippling the Black Sun Syndicate Maul came across an Iktotchi Guard who in turn attempted to read his mind in order to find who sent him and who he was hunting. Maul let him but the Iktotchi was soon incapacitated because of the darkness of his mind. Maul then neutralized the guard.
Maul had also mastered the use of the Sith lanvarok.
Sidious also gave Maul a powerful Sith Infiltrator called Scimitar which contained a cloaking shield generator. This vehicle was developed by Raith Sienar, the man whose company would later develop the TIE/ln starfighter for the Empire.
Darth Bane
"I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. I will survive. At any cost."
―Bane
Personality and traits
Darth Bane was a firm believer that the weak should serve the strong, and that the Republic was weak and ineffectual because it insisted on helping the masses. Whereas the Jedi believed that it was the duty of the strong to help the weak, Bane thought that the strong were intended to rule the weak. In his opinion, equality was a lie perpetuated by the Jedi. One of the reasons he hated the Brotherhood was that it supported equality amongst the Sith.
Bane also sensed that Kaan and the other Sith were fools, and that the Brotherhood was doomed to fail. Because the Brotherhood spread the dark side among many Sith, he felt that the power was diluted, and that as long as the Brotherhood of Darkness existed, the Sith would be unable to triumph over the Jedi. Kaan, Bane believed, was a coward unworthy of the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. He defied the Brotherhood's leader by refusing the order to report to Ruusan, instead stealing Qordis's starship and heading to Lehon, where he hoped to learn from Darth Revan, who he considered a true master of the dark side.
To symbolize that his new Sith Order was different from the Brotherhood, Bane revived the title of Darth. Kaan had discouraged the use of the Darth title, claiming that it was antiquated and encouraged unnecessary competition among the Sith. In his Brotherhood of Darkness, all were equal. Bane despised this, and thus created his Rule of Two.
He had strong faith in his Rule of Two, convinced that the Sith's greatest strength—their ambition—was their greatest weakness. With many Sith, the dark side would be spread thin, and the Sith would constantly be warring with each other, unable to focus on their true foe, the Jedi. With just two Sith Lords, Bane knew that he could keep the Sith strong and safe from the Jedi. Many centuries after his death, his holocron would mock Darth Krayt for abandoning the Rule of Two. The Dark Lord was dedicated to the Sith cause, and was determined to bring about the end of the Jedi, though he knew he might not live to see it.
Darth Bane imparted his beliefs, particularly his theory of rule of the strong, to Zannah. After he dueled Hetton and received no assistance from Zannah, Bane confronted her, asking why she had not helped him. She replied that she knew that Bane would be able to kill the man and his assassins, and if he was unable to do so, then he was weak and unworthy of his title of Dark Lord. Bane was pleased with this explanation, stating that she was correct—only the strongest could survive.
The Dark Lord sought the secrets to immortality not because he feared death, but simply because he believed that Zannah was too weak to claim his title. The Dark Lord suspected that his apprentice was waiting until he was old and weak, at which point she could easily defeat him. However, were she to do this, she would not earn the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, as was necessitated by the Rule of Two. To ensure the Sith's survival, Bane undertook his search for the fabled Darth Andeddu. Ultimately, Zannah proved herself a worthy successor when she killed Bane.
Bane learned hatred and anger at an early age, as he grew up with a father who hated him. Bane, in turn, despised Hurst, who frequently insulted and beat him. After Bane challenged him, only to have Hurst nearly kill him in response, an irate Bane later killed his father through unconscious use of the Force. He took to the dark side with ease, at first, although the Human lost his faith after realizing that he was responsible for his father's death. Afraid of the dark side, he pulled away, only to regain his confidence with the assistance of the ancient Sith in the form of texts. From there, Bane grew strong, quickly surpassing even Lord Kaan. With the dark side as his ally, he founded a new Sith Order, one based on secrecy and rule of the strong.
He bore a hatred for beings like Argel Tenn, who considered themselves masters of the dark side but in fact knew nothing of its power. The Dark Lord desired to reveal his true identity and power to Tenn, but knew that to do so would be foolish.
Bane found no value in wealth or other material possessions, and believed Sith like Qordis were foolish to care so much for such things. He also did not believe in the concept of honorable death, claiming "dead is dead." Power, not honor, was the most important thing in Bane's eyes; honor was merely a fool's prize.
Although he was merciless and could be cruel, Bane did not kill for pleasure. He felt that those who enjoyed killing were barbarous, perverse fools. Because of this philosophy, Bane let Caleb live upon their initial meeting in 1,000 BBY—in fact, Caleb would heal him from near-death years later. Still, Bane was willing to kill without a second thought, and did so on many occasions.
Despite his bond with the dark side of the Force, Bane did have feelings for Githany when the two were pupils on Korriban. She returned these feelings, and Bane sought to make her his apprentice after becoming convinced that
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