Thread by @mustangsart

Darth Maul & Disabled Villains

A thread:

I get asked a lot about #ttrpg #dnd villains and disability. In popular media, you often find villains who are disabled because disfigurement and "body horror" are staples that usually connote 'bad' or 'evil'. 1/23

The horror genre is built on fear of the 'other'. We are expected to fear things that are different from ourselves - therefore able bodied people have fear of the disabled. Villains in stories and media are made to be feared. We as an audience are expected to fear them as- 2/

much as the heroes of the story, if not more so. With media being dominated by white, cisgender, able bodied folks, it's unsurprising then that disability is an aspect frequently shown through villainy. The problem lies in disability being used as a driving force for the- 3/

villain; that "I'm suffering so everyone else must suffer" mindset. Abled people believe that disabled people are dissatisfied and angry with their own lives and, if given the chance, would make others 'suffer' as they have.
I'm sure you're wondering 'why make this a thread- 4/

about Darth Maul exactly? Well, let me tell you!

Darth Maul is a great example of a disabled villain.

I'm sure you're also wondering what would make me say that after talking about how bad it is that media conflates villainy with disability (and mental illness). The thing- 5/

is that yes, whilst Maul is in fact disabled, it isn't what drives him. He wants revenge for "What Obi-Wan did" to him and, at first, I believed that meant he wanted revenge because Obi-Wan cut him in half, caused him to become disabled and therefore made him 'weaker'- 6/

I felt I'd certainly seen enough of that garbage in media to know where this was headed; another 'I'm evil because I'm disabled and hate being disabled because disability can only be seen and portrayed negatively' spiel - same old, same old.
But then I was caught off-guard. 7/

Maul expressed that he wanted revenge on Kenobi not because Obi-Wan had physically injured him, but because Obi-Wan defeating him made Sidious lose interest in Maul as an apprentice. He thought that by killing Obi-Wan, he would gain some notoriety back as a- 8/

warrior and possibly have Sidious take notice of him again.
His 'I will make you suffer as I have suffered' was about his shame at being defeated in battle by a Padawan and how those events ruined his chances of learning to become more powerful in the Force under Sidious'- 9/

teachings.
I was stunned.
Here was a villain who wasn't evil *because* he was disabled, but instead was evil *and* also happened to be disabled.
Maul didn't even fall under the terrible 'disability used as a superpower' trope (the 'Daredevil Problem') because he was shown- 10/

to be a powerful Force user, but still disabled. There were parts of episodes where he had to adjust to new leg prosthetics, scenes where he or someone else was visibly tweaking them, and he would incorporate them into his fighting style and high impact tasks (i.e. running- 11/

on walls, etc.). We as an audience were reminded that he was disabled *and* powerful in the Force.
Darth Maul is exceptional, not just because of @SamWitwer's, frankly, phenomenal voice acting, but because he was a disabled villain and later antagonist who was done WELL. 12/

I get asked a lot if making villains with disabilities is ableist. The answer is yes, it's ableist to make a villain disabled, but you can do it sensitively and then use that sensitivity to break through and challenge the- 13/

perceived 'norms'.
Darth Maul is reflective of this. He is a disabled villain and there *are* ableist roots in that, there always will be, but his character and motivations *challenge* these ableist roots.
Maul is a character that asks an audience 'why must disability- 14/

define someone as being evil?', 'why do we see disability as being a motivation for a villain?'. Maul is a villain and he is disabled, but he isn't evil *because* he's disabled. He is evil because he's out for revenge against a Jedi who took away his Master's interest- 15/

in him. He is angry because he worked hard for something only to have it snatched away by a Padawan learner, which he perceived to be an insult to his skills - it was a shameful defeat. He hates Obi-Wan Kenobi not because Kenobi gravely injured him, but because Obi-Wan- 16/

took away his one chance for true power as a Sith Apprentice. Not to mention, Maul goes through an incredible amount of character growth and learns to deal with his obsession for revenge. It is beyond amazing and compelling. 17/

If a villain in your game is or becomes disabled, Darth Maul in Clone Wars is a good example of how to do it well; to take preconceived and ableist notions about disability and use them to make a character that causes an audience to question these ideals.
Stop making- 18/

the driving force of a disabled villain be their disability.
Disabled villains will always be formed on ableist rhetoric and ideas, but the ones created with sensitivity and consideration of the disabled experience in mind can create characters that flip their roots on- 19/

their heads. Maul is a good example of that. Yes, he's a villain. Yes, he's disabled. No, his disability doesn't *make* him evil.

That's the difference.

When you make your villains more than 2D cutouts, you can create characters that challenge the ableist foundations- 20/

that helped to make them.

There is a world of difference between 'Evil BECAUSE of disability' and 'Evil AND disabled'.

Darth Maul is a good example of that difference.

This doesn't mean Darth Maul doesn't have roots in ableism in his design and story, because he does. 21/

What I'm trying to express/make clear is that there should be less disabled villains in media whose only function is to be evil because of their disability. When disabled villains appear, they should be like Darth Maul - fleshed out, humanised, and shown to have motivations- 22/

beyond 'I must be evil because I'm disabled'. It's lazy writing and harmful ableism.

Write better villains and stop relying on disability as being a motivator for their evil actions. Hire disabled writers/sensitivity readers to check your villains.

Disability =/= Evil.

23/end.

Can you tell I've wanted to talk about Maul for a long time? I love that boy