When George Lucas began work on the Star Wars prequels, he was faced with the challenge of finding a villain who could take the place of the original trilogy's Darth Vader. Following in the footsteps of one of cinema's most iconic villains is a daunting task, which is probably why Lucas decided early on that the villain of The Phantom Menace would have to be the stuff of nightmares. However, some of the early concept art for the character who became Darth Maul may have taken this idea a little too far, as initial designs were turned down for being too frightening.
Lucas always had an especially close working relationship with the concept artists of the Star Wars films, with concept art often developed from his initial ideas before scripts were written. This afforded artists like Iain McCaig more freedom in their designs and meant that they could experiment not just with different looks but with different core concepts for a character. While the Sith Lord Darth Maul ultimately became the primary antagonist of the first Star Wars prequel, this wasn't set in stone straight away. McCaig championed the idea of a female antagonist, dubbing his initial creation a "Sith Witch."
According to The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Lucas had told McCaig "to draw his worst nightmare." McCaig set out to do exactly that. His initial design was based on the nightmare image of a half-dead face pressed to a window, watching him through the rain. He combined pale features, glistening eyes and blackened teeth with long red ribbons, hanging down the face like pouring blood. When McCaig presented the image to Lucas, the director was taken aback and asked him to tone it down, telling McCaig to instead draw his "second worst nightmare."
This instruction eventually led McCaig to create the horned, red and black Darth Maul fans now know. Along the way to this design, however, he experimented more with his Sith Witch concept. One design McCaig produced showed a figure in strange red robes with a haunting, almost clown-like, black and white face. This image went on to inspire Mother Talzin, leader of the Nightsisters -- witches from the planet Dathomir. Talzin featured in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where it was revealed her Nightsisters ruled over the Nightbrothers, from whose ranks Darth Maul hailed. The comic Darth Maul - Son of Dathomir further revealed that Talzin was Maul's biological mother, in a nod to her origins as Maul's spiritual precursor.
Talzin wasn't the only Nightsister to have originated as a concept for one of the prequel trilogy's Sith antagonists. Asajj Ventress, apprentice to Count Dooku in The Clone Wars, was originally designed to fulfil Dooku's role as the main villain of Attack of the Clones. While Lucas decided these characters weren't right for the prequels, it is testament to the power of their designs that they later entered the wider Star Wars canon. McCaig's terrifying original Sith Witch may not yet have shared that privilege, but if Star Wars is to continue appealing to fans of all ages, perhaps it is better off drawing its villains from concept artists' second worst nightmares.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is available to stream now on Disney+.