This is one of those times where I feel like you are being a little intentionally obtuse.
Be that as it may, what i mean is that games without story focused mechanics proceed naturally with things happening because of choices and die rolls and things. And therefore the resultant "story" is more...
Another one I have always wanted to do is run a grounded, realistic game and then have a Terminator appear. It goes from a heist or murder mystery to a slasher film.
I think he would be a Battle Master. The fact that he has tons of "tools" at his disposal suggests something that lets him make decisions on the fly, like maneuvers. You give him a criminal background to get access to stealth and thieves tools, and include Investigation as a proficiency.
The argument about Grimdarkness was built around the idea of whether Scars were Grimdark enough to be "better" at it than 5E. But all of that was personal opinion. I don't think it is fair to classify that side discussion as some sort of flame war.
I would normally agree with you, but Clone Wars proved that Maul is MUCH more interesting alive than dead. The fact they wasted that character as they did in The Phantom Menace is just another mark against Lucas as a writer and director.