Darth Maul has a very peculiar look, but what many viewers might have not noticed is that he wears an earring on his left ear, but it has nothing to do with some unknown Sith ritual. Star Wars has become one of the most successful franchises in the entertainment business, and it all began in 1977 with the film now known as Star Wars: A New Hope. Through it, George Lucas introduced viewers around the world to a galaxy far, far away, ruled by a corrupt political system, and with various alien species that could either be on the light or the dark side of the Force.
A New Hope was followed by Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, forming what’s collectively known as the “original trilogy”. The Star Wars universe continued its expansion between 1999 and 2005 with the release of the prequel films Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, and Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. These explored the early years of Darth Vader, from his days as a young slave to his rise as powerful Sith Lord.
The prequel trilogy also introduced a bunch of new characters, of which some went on to appear in other Star Wars media, especially television. Such is the case of Darth Maul, introduced in The Phantom Menace, where he also seemed to die at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Maul has a very specific physical appearance, including an extra detail that wasn’t planned.
Star Wars: Why Darth Maul Has A Piercing In The Phantom Menace
Darth Maul was a Dathomirian Zabrak warrior who served as Darth Sidious’ apprentice after being taken by him at a young age. Maul’s face tattoos were given to him when he was very young, and are described in The Clone Wars as the markings of a warrior. Another defining physical characteristic of Maul are his horns, which along with the tattoos and the red eyes definitely make a very intimidating character. In The Phantom Menace, he was ordered by Darth Sidious to capture Queen Padmé Amidala, and after some obstacles and changes to the plan, he ended up facing Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he mortally wounded, with his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, using his master’s lightsaber to bisect Maul. The Clone Wars revealed that he managed to survive, and came back as a cyborg.
Maul’s brief appearance in the Star Wars saga and his surprising return in the Clone Wars series (and later his cameo appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story) aren’t exactly what people remember about him. Maul’s physical appearance had a big impact, but what many probably didn’t notice is that he wears a small earring on his left ear, specifically a helix piercing. This detail wasn’t planned by Lucas and his team, nor it has some meaning connected to the Sith, and was more of a “happy accident”. Ray Park, who played Maul in The Phantom Menace, has that piercing and forgot to take it off before sitting down to be transformed into Maul. This wasn’t that big of a problem, as Lucas liked it and decided it could stay, and so Darth Maul ended up with a helix piercing.
Though the Expanded Universe usually had a story for almost every detail in a character’s costume and appearance, Maul’s earring never got one (and even if he had, it wouldn’t be canon), further proving its inclusion was completely unplanned. The earring Darth Maul wears in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace will forever be something of Park’s, not the character, and it's also a fun piece of trivia.