By George & Josh Bate
Fresh off the critically acclaimed first season of Maul – Shadow Lord, Star Wars legend Sam Witwer stopped by the Toon’d Podcast with Jim Cummings to talk about his decades-long career spanning spanning film, television, animation, and video games.
During the podcast, Witwer discussed an amazing theory of how Sith Lords get their names. Witwer, who has voiced a number of Sith Lords over the years, believes “that the Sith names were mockeries of who they once were.”
“For example, Count Dooku is this refined man,” Witwer continued. “He’s a political leader and he says that he wants everything to work out for his people and all this stuff. And Palpatine goes, ‘No, you’re Darth Tyrannus. You’re a tyrant actually. Screw you.”
Witwer went on to apply this theory to how Darth Maul got his name. “Darth Maul wishes to be this sophisticated, ‘I’m well read, I’m very smart, I’m educated,'” Witwer described. “And [Palpatine] is like, ‘You’re a maul. You’re a weapon. Go and go be a weapon.’”
Witwer left the best for last in his explanation, explaining that the origins behind Darth Vader’s name is “the saddest one.” “[Palpatine] goes, ‘You’re the dark father and you have no children, because your wife died…You’re the childless father and you live with that,” Witwer said. “That’s going to give you the sadness, the anger that you need to do my bidding.’”
While not canon currently, Witwer’s theory is a fascinating take on the origins behind the names of some of Star Wars‘ most iconic antagonists. One can apply Witwer’s theory more broadly than just Sith Lords who trained under Palpatine. For instance, perhaps Darth Bane received the moniker Bane as he was the bane of the Jedi, the sole survivor of the ancient Sith Order and the creator of the Rule of Two.