Maw was once a male Boltrunian Jedi, but he embraced the power of the dark side of the Force and threw his lot in with Inquisitor Jerec's group of Dark Jedi, also known as his cadre. His goal was to assist Jerec in locating the legendary Valley of the Jedi, a place Jerec intended to exploit to resurrect the Galactic Empire. In 5 ABY, Jerec sought to capture the Jedi Master Qu Rahn on the planet Dorlo to extract information about the Valley's whereabouts. Maw, along with fellow Dark Jedi Sariss and Yun, was tasked with seizing Rahn on the planet's surface, but they were unsuccessful. Although Rahn managed to escape the planet aboard a CR90 corvette, Jerec's personal Super Star Destroyer, the Vengeance, ensnared the ship in its tractor beam. On the Vengeance, Jerec used his abilities to rip the knowledge he needed from Rahn's mind. However, immediately after this, the Jedi seized Yun's lightsaber and launched an attack on Jerec's darksiders. Before Jerec killed Rahn, the Jedi Master used his lightsaber to sever Maw's legs from his body.
Despite his injuries, Maw lived on, replacing his lost limbs with a repulsorlift carriage. He eventually mastered the art of Force flight and adopted the Trispzest fighting style of lightsaber combat. Due to his injuries, he became known as the Half-Man. Jerec eventually found the Valley of the Jedi on Ruusan and occupied the planet with his forces. However, a Jedi hopeful named Kyle Katarn tracked Jerec down and sought to stop him. Maw confronted Katarn on a landing platform near the cargo freighter Sulon Star and was defeated in combat. Unable to move and defenseless, he attempted to provoke Katarn by taunting him about his father's death, hoping to lure him to the dark side. Katarn succumbed to his anger and murdered Maw, but he ultimately resisted the dark side and remained aligned with the light.
Born more than seventy years before the Battle of Yavin, Maw was a male Boltrunian Jedi Knight. He served the Galactic Republic as it approached its final years. A notably selfish individual, Maw chose not to train a Padawan, instead focusing on eradicating any trace of the dark side as a member of the Jedi Shadows, the Jedi Order's investigative arm, also known as their investigator corps.
Following the conclusion of the Clone Wars and the formation of the Galactic Empire, Maw became one of the many Jedi who were on the run from Imperial forces. During the initial period of the Great Jedi Purge, the HoloNet News listed him as "Maw the Boltrunian," indicating he was still at large.
Eventually, Inquisitor Jerec managed to locate Maw's group of Shadows. Capitalizing on the Boltrunian's self-centered nature, Jerec successfully converted Maw to the dark side. Together, they slaughtered the remaining Jedi Shadows. Jerec taught Maw to smell the fear of his prey, and Maw became a servant of the Galactic Emperor Palpatine, becoming one of the first members of Jerec's group of seven Dark Jedi. During his time serving the Emperor, Maw journeyed to Dromund Kaas, a forgotten world that once served as a prominent Sith colony. There, Maw encountered a group of starving and impoverished Tusken Raiders led by a warrior named KkH'Oar'Rrhr. This group revered a former Jedi Master who had become a Tusken tribal leader named A'Sharad Hett. Hett had been ostracized by the majority of Tusken Raiders on their homeworld of Tatooine for being defeated in battle and having his mask removed, a significant disgrace in Tusken culture.
After Hett departed Tatooine, KkH'Oar'Rrhr and his followers attempted to track him across the galaxy, but their efforts were unsuccessful, leading them to Dromund Kaas. Maw reorganized this group into a swoop gang loyal to the Empire and transported them to Tython, the ancient homeworld of the Jedi. There, they were tasked with robbing graves to acquire valuable Force artifacts. The Boltrunian named his newly formed squad of enforcers, who honored Hett by exposing their flesh, the "Grave Tuskens."
In 1 BBY, Jerec launched an assault on the moon Sulon to capture Morgan Katarn, a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. After failing to extract information about other Rebels from Katarn, Jerec decapitated him. Maw and Boc Aseca then displayed the heads of the slain Rebels on the city walls of Barons Hed, with Maw personally impaling Morgan's head on a spike.
Following Palpatine's death in 4 ABY, Maw continued to serve Jerec as one of his seven Dark Jedi, alongside Sariss, Boc Aseca, Gorc, Picaroon C. Boodle, and Yun. Maw and the other darksiders assisted the Inquisitor in his quest to find the Valley of the Jedi, a powerful Force nexus containing countless Jedi and Sith souls. Jerec intended to harness the Valley's power for his own purposes.
In 5 ABY, Jerec learned that a Jedi Master named Qu Rahn possessed information about the Valley's location and tracked him to the planet Dorlo, where Rahn was undertaking a mission for the New Republic. Jerec blockaded the planet with his Super Star Destroyer, the Vengeance, and sent Maw, Sariss, and Yun to the surface to capture Rahn. The assault team consisted of two skimmers, one carrying the Dark Jedis and a helmsman, and the other carrying Imperial troops. Using his ability to sense the fear of his prey, Maw guided the skimmers, following Rahn's trail. One of Rahn's allies destroyed the skimmer carrying the troops, giving the rest of Rahn's team time to reach their CR90 corvette.
As Rahn's team attempted to escape the planet, Duno Dree tried to attack the dark-siders' skimmer. Maw spotted it, roared, and activated his lightsaber to defend himself, but the vessel was caught in the corvette's slipstream. The helmsman lost control, and the skimmer crashed into a stonewall. Maw jumped to safety, and everyone aboard survived the impact. However, angered by the mission's failure, Maw beheaded the helmsman.
Rahn's team was unable to escape the planet, as the Vengeance's tractor beam captured their corvette. Rahn and his companions were taken to the ship's bridge, where Jerec, accompanied by his Dark Jedi, expressed his disappointment to the trio who had failed to capture them on the planet. He then began interrogating Rahn. The Jedi Master refused to answer, even after the rest of his team were executed one by one. He was released by the guards only to be tortured by Maw. After Maw had beaten the old Jedi severely, Jerec stopped him and approached the Jedi. With a touch, Jerec ripped information from Rahn's mind. Maw then witnessed the Jedi Master use the Force to Force-pull Yun's lightsaber from his belt and attack the seven Dark Jedi. Boc and Sariss failed to stop him, and Maw lunged at Rahn. However, the Jedi Master performed a Sai tok maneuver and severed Maw's legs from his torso. By that time, medics had arrived on the bridge and pulled him clear, leaving his legs behind. Moments later, Jerec killed Rahn.
Fueled by his hatred, Maw survived his injuries. He replaced his lower body with a repulsorlift carriage to maintain mobility. He soon learned to rely on the dark side by mastering the art of Force flight. Flying became second nature to Maw, allowing him to master the Trispzest style of lightsaber combat originally developed by the airborne S'kytri Majestrix Kharys. This method involved a devastating spinning lightsaber attack. From that point on, Maw was also known as "the Half-Man." In the meantime, after reading Rahn's thoughts, Jerec learned that Morgan Katarn, whom he had executed years ago, had known the coordinates of the Valley and had hidden the information leading to it somewhere on his farm on Sulon. Jerec eventually located the Valley on the planet Ruusan and moved his forces there, establishing an excavation operation on the planet's surface.
Soon, Kyle Katarn, the son of Morgan Katarn, infiltrated Ruusan to stop Jerec. Sensing Katarn's presence in the Force, Maw waited for him at the docking platform of the Valley Tower, which was occupied by Jerec's personal cargo freighter, the Sulon Star. As soon as Katarn emerged from the turbolift that took him to the platform, Maw attacked him from behind, knocking him onto the walkway and provoking him into a duel. Katarn taunted Maw about how Rahn had cut him in half, enraging Maw. Maw charged at Katarn with great speed, but the Jedi evaded the attack and severely injured Maw with a counterattack. Maw fell onto the walkway and taunted Katarn with lies about his father's cowardly death, attempting to force Katarn to kill an unarmed opponent and succumb to the dark side. He partially succeeded, as Katarn gave in to his anger and killed the injured, immobilized, and unarmed Maw, cutting his remaining torso in half diagonally. Maw's last sensation was the delicious smell of Katarn's loathing, indicating that he was drawing closer to the dark side.
However, when Jerec arrived immediately afterward and offered Katarn the chance to join his cadre by executing Jan Ors, Katarn's partner, the young Jedi refused and remained true to the light side. Ultimately, Katarn defeated the remaining Dark Jedi and killed Jerec, preventing him from possessing the power of the Valley.
Maw was a highly selfish, animalistic, and brutish individual. These traits, combined with his unwillingness to take a Padawan, prevented him from ever becoming a Jedi Master. During his time as a Jedi, he was determined to eradicate any trace of the dark side. Already a skilled tracker, his abilities were enhanced by Jerec, and he reveled in sensing the fear of his prey, leading Yun to compare him to a Nek battle dog. Even in his final moments, Maw enjoyed the intense feeling of loathing that Katarn emanated. Maw thrived on anger and hatred to the extent that they allowed him to survive his dismemberment. He took the loss of his legs in stride, quickly adapting to using the Force to fly. Maw was also quick-tempered and could not tolerate Katarn's taunts, responding with an angry attack.
The Boltrunian had brown eyes. Maw had invested heavily in intense grav-workouts to hone his body, channeling his anger and allowing the Dark Side to flow through his bodily fluids. In his later years, Maw was a massive figure of sturdy muscle. He managed to feed off the hate of others to prevent the Dark Side from corrupting his body, which resulted in him looking several decades younger than his actual age.
Maw's most developed ability was a variation of Force sense that allowed him to smell the fear and panic of his enemies like a trained bloodsniffer. Jerec himself greatly valued this ability, although he considered it lacking in subtlety. Maw used his skill on Dorlo to follow Rahn's trail. When he saw Rahn's corvette taking off from the planet, his senses told him that his enemies were terrified and would try to escape. On Ruusan, he also sensed Kyle Katarn in the Force, finding his taste to be "putrid." Maw also mastered Force flight, which he initially used to maintain his mobility. It soon became second nature to him. The Boltrunian found many advantages in it and performed it with ease. When he used Force flight, his usage of the Force extended to small objects in the vicinity, and various bolts, pebbles, and wires orbited his body like planets orbiting a star. To complement his flying skills, he also learned the art of Trispzest, a flying combat style that combined the ferocity of the seventh lightsaber form Juyo with traditional S'kytri flying combat techniques. He utilized an aerial "Whirlwind Attack."
Although Maw's talent laid in battle, his fighting skills were lacking. He was easily defeated by Rahn and performed a sluggish attack that was easily evaded and counteracted by the inexperienced Katarn. He possessed some skill in Force healing, Drain Energy, and telekinesis. In addition to these powers, Maw was proficient in the use of some simple weapons and blaster pistols. He could write and speak Basic.
Maw's character debuted in the 1997 LucasArts video game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, where he served as one of the antagonists. Actor Morgan Hunter portrayed Maw in the game's full-motion video cutscenes. The character also appeared in the two novelizations of the game, Dark Forces: Rebel Agent and Dark Forces: Jedi Knight, both written by William C. Dietz. Additionally, Maw was featured in the audio dramatizations of both Rebel Agent and Jedi Knight, with Martin Ruben providing his voice. The article Building a Better Jedi from Star Wars Insider 31 was the first source to explore Maw's background. It described him as a tortured soul who grew up on the streets and started his own speeder gang before becoming a Dark Jedi and joining Jerec. Maw's backstory was rewritten in the fourth installment of The Dark Forces Saga, a series of web scenarios written by Abel G. Peña and Jason Fry and published on Wizards.com. This version contained completely different and contradictory information about Maw's early life, claiming he was a former Jedi.
Maw is mistakenly depicted without legs in Dark Forces: Rebel Agent in scenes that take place before his encounter with Rahn aboard the Vengeance. Furthermore, in the audio dramatization of Rebel Agent, Sariss, rather than Maw, executes the skimmer's pilot. The audio dramatization also omits the scene of Rahn attacking the Dark Jedi aboard the Vengeance. Instead, Rahn accepts his fate and is killed immediately after having his memories stolen. As a result, Maw never loses his legs in the audio drama.
In a Twitter post by Lucasfilm Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee on October 13 of 2011, Chee cited Maw as an example of someone who survived being cut in half. This was a hint at the potential return of the Sith Lord Darth Maul in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. Maul had been sliced in half by Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in a similar manner to Maw in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace and had been presumed dead ever since.