Star Wars: Fit for a Queen

The Phantom Menace: Darth Maul immediately commands attention with his striking and menacing apperance. A Zabrak from the planet Iridonia, Darth Maul originally had solid red skin, in addition to his vestigal horns. But later, as a sign of his dedication to the Dark Side, Maul endured the painful process of having Sith tattoos applied over his whole body. As a Sith apprentice, Maul wears black robes that are cut for ease of motion. Heavy-action boots, gauntlets, and a black hooded cloak complete his pratical, but ominious, ensemble.

Design: Darth Maul was originally intended to look very different from the final product. Concept artist Iain McCaig drew many variations on helmeted designs, attempting to find a new Vader-esque villian. In the end, he modified a design - tattooed faces - he had intended for senators. To create this look, makeup artists used alcohol-based pigments for the tattoos and rubber for the horns.

To complement Maul's striking make-up, a suitable costume had to be designed. The black underrobes were based on kimono styles, and featured layers of skirts split and hanging at varying lengths. This gave the actor a large range of motion for his acrobatic fight scenes. Maul's hooded cloak was inspired by a 1940's photo of a Tibetan lama and was made from hand-dyed, coarsely woven silk-and-linen fabric. Its shoulder-to-ankle length circular pieces were sunray pleated; they would hang straight during normal motion, but in battle, they would swirl out. This circular shape was meant to resemble a 'Shuriken,' a Ninja throwing blade, piercing the air.