Maraz Vax

"The Jedi teachings that the Light was the only thing that could save a life shattered before me as I witnessed their utter failure. I barely escaped with my life – why? Because as I lay broken at Darth Fernus’s feet, I laughed. I laughed because I was going to die, and then I didn’t. I killed Fernus. And now... I want every other Sith to join him."

- Maraz Vax to Sorani Tillin

History
The bigger you are, the harder you fall - this adage illustrates Maraz's life nicely. Once a stalwart pillar among the Jedi, it was shortly after his graduation to Knighthood that he fell to the Dark Side. A massive disturbance in the Force struck him in the form of a vision of massive death, and his homeworld in flames; though the Council warned against it, he stole a Jedi starfighter and took off in the planet's direction. Upon arrival, he was too late: the world was already wreathed in the fire of its own sun, and his power was far insufficient to halt the work of the Sith Lord behind it. Eventually, the flames died down, and Maraz landed to survey the damage and search for survivors. He found none, but was surprised from behind by Darth Fernus. It was then that Maraz first gave in to emotion, charging Fernus in a fit of blind rage with lightsaber drawn, and was downed seconds later by Fernus's fist. Maraz lost all faith in the teachings of the Jedi and began laughing - and crying - hysterically; this act saved his life, as Fernus let him live on a whim.

Fernus did not name Maraz his apprentice, instead treating the recently-fallen Jedi as a servant of sorts and referring to him only as "boy." He did, however, teach Maraz of the Dark Side and how to make proper use of rage, hatred, and fear by way of frequent taunts, threats, and jibes. Maraz learned on his own to channel his other emotions, particularly lust, and replaced his single green lightsaber (which had been destroyed in his six-second fight with Fernus) with a double-bladed orange one. The hatred Fernus deliberately bred in his unofficial apprentice came to a head when Maraz finally attacked him from behind. Maraz won that battle, falsely believing Fernus to be dead, and sought out a Sith academy where he could train properly as an assassin.

The academy Maraz joined treated him with more respect than he ever got under Fernus: his arrival drew great attention from the academy's superiors, who saw in him great potential. His arrival also drew the attention, and jealousy, of a red-skinned female Twi'Lek named Arden Oomos, later called Darth Ductra, the current favorite. The two felt threatened by each other, and they became archrivals. Their feud even brought on a brief "romantic" tryst, in which neither participant believed the other to be willing due to a pair of simultaneous failed attempts at Force-driven mind-control. Arden used this encounter to sow poisonous rumors about Maraz, who became a laughingstock and left the Sith in disgrace before gaining his desired title of Darth Cubus.

Maraz wandered for a while, slaughtering whatever Sith he came across, until he met Sorani Tillin, a Jedi whose ties to the Order had been officially, but not irrevocably, severed. Sorani took Maraz on as a personal project of sorts, but her attempts to bring him back to the Light were in vain. Even an assault on Loctho Peylo, a friend of Sorani's, did not dissuade her efforts, however, and it was only when Maraz attacked Sorani with the attempt to take advantage of her and torture her to death that Sorani finally killed him.

Personality
As a Jedi, Maraz was idealistic, and forced himself to believe that the Light Side would always eventually overpower the Dark. Master Mical of the Jedi Council correctly believed him to be vulnerable to the Dark Side due to his quiet, melancholy behavior, but the other Council members - several of whom had fallen to the Dark Side themselves at various points in their lives - disagreed, since Maraz showed intense loyalty and no unusual amount of ambition. As a Sith and as an ex-Sith, Maraz became violent, moody, hedonistic, and cruel. His realization that hope was foolish led him eventually to begin treating others, particularly women, as his playthings. Maraz no longer takes kindly to not getting what he wants, and will readily back up demands with threats of physical violence or use of the Force. His interactions with Arden Oomos led him to believe all Twi'Lek women are promiscuous and of loose, if any, morals. He is a charismatic individual, able to hold the attention of all but Darth Fernus, but heavily prone to bouts of lust, which are often triggered by acts of violence toward others. It was this tendency that led him to drop his guard, allowing Sorani Tillin to strike the killing blow.

Appearance
Before falling irretreivably to the Dark Side, Maraz was a handsome man with black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin. Once he began his personal blood feud against the Sith, however, his skin and hair paled to gray, his teeth rotted, and the veins in his face and hands became easily visible at a glance, giving him the appearance of a walking corpse. His skin has become delicate, and bruises appear easily. His build and facial structure remained much the same: lithe body, fine-boned features, and high cheekbones, though his cheeks became slightly more hollow. Despite his obviously disturbing appearance, Maraz retains a great deal of vanity, though not to the point of narcissism.

Behind the Scenes
-Maraz Vax began as a darksided KotOR II character, but became far more fleshed out after the game was finished. -The concept for the title "Darth Cubus" began as a joke, but was later applied to Maraz when it was realized that it fit perfectly. "Cubus" is the word "Incubus" with the first two letters removed, following the precedent of Vader and Sidious (an incubus is a variety of demon, the male equivalent of a succubus).