Darth Maul Costumes - Become The Sith Apprentice

Few characters from the Star Wars saga are as recognizable as Darth Maul. It's a little strange: you have the heavyweights like Boba Fett, Chewbacca and the like but Maul is a character whose role pretty much consisted of three short lines, two fight scenes and one swift death. He has starred in numerous books, games and comics since then but in terms of screen time Darth Maul's part was minimal. Yet if you go to a Star Wars convention you're likely to see almost as many Darth Maul costumes as you will Darth Vader helmets.

So why is Darth Maul's costume as popular as it is? It basically boils down to this: if you're dressing up as a villain you want a bad guy who actually looks like one. Star Wars baddies usually have an appearance that is indisputably evil, a la the Emperor's later years, Vader and Jabba the Hutt. Really, this may be one reason why fans didn't love the prequel trilogy as much as the original trilogy. It's not so clear-cut; half of it is concerned with finding out who the villains actually are.

Count Dooku, for example, looks less menacing than a kindly grandfather. Don't even get me started on those Trade Federation guys and their droids. With his red skin, horns and especially those foul-looking eyes, Darth Maul looks like evil incarnate. From the very first glance we know that this is a fellow who's going to do some killing before the credits roll. So naturally, with such a limited list, Darth Maul is going to be near the top for anyone looking to dress as a Sith Lord.

A Star Wars Darth Maul costume does have its difficulties. The garments are the easy part. It's the whole "wierd alien race with horns" part that needs attention. Those black marks on his face are actually Sith tattoos and while in theory you could take that route to the most authentic Darth Maul costume, it's probably not a good idea for after the costume party. The simplest method for the casual costumer is an easily acquired Darth Maul mask. Other options include a bald cap with plastic horns, a good makeup artist and perhaps even a set of custom contact lenses.

Of course, one great benefit of a Darth Maul's costume is the Darth Maul lightsaber. It's one of the coolest ones in the galaxy, in fact. Double bladed? Twice the violence? Star Wars fans didn't even know such a thing existed until Maul pulled that bad boy out. With the ability to chop down two Jedi at once, this is a Sith Lord to be reckoned with.