The title Maleficent was a high position of authority within the Sorcerers of Tund, a splinter group of the Sith. Individuals who achieved this rank were typically referred to by their first name, appended with the epithet "the Maleficent." The sole known bearer of this title was the leader of the group, Karnak Tetsu.
The title Maleficent initially appeared in the third installment of the blog series The Imperial Warlords: Despoilers of an Empire, specifically within Cronal's segment concerning Karnak Tetsu. Abel G. Pena stated that he created the rank due to his fondness for the term as a descriptor for evil, and also as an allusion to Johnny Carson's comedic psychic character, Carnac the Magnificent.