Malal
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Malal is the renegade fifth Chaos god in early editions of the fictional universes of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000
In the storyline, both for Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, Malal was exiled from the rest of the Chaos gods, but whether this was a self-imposed exile is not clear. Regardless of the reason, Malal seem to exist only to destroy the other gods and their followers. Also known as "The Outcast God", "The Lost God" and "The Renegade God", Malal represents Chaos' indiscriminate tendency toward destruction, even of itself. The nature of Malal's powers are parasitic, as the Renegade God grows in power when the others do.
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[edit] Appearance
Malal is described as being both wolf-like and crocodile in appearance, yet still holding a humanoid form. Depicted to have six fingers on each hand, five horns and three eyes on his head, Malal is also shown to have sets of teeth that resemble a mix of lions', shark, horse and rat. Malal's symbol is a skull bisected down the middle, one half white, the other half black.
The term "Doomed Ones" also goes along with Malal, in the comics and WFRP they were the chosen human champions/followers of Malal. Dedicated to seeking out and destroying the followers of the other chaos gods, they would eventually become undead apparitions serving Malal when all their physical energy was spent.
[edit] Origins and Prescence
The concept of the fifth Chaos god "Malal" was created by comics writers John Wagner and Alan Grant along with Malal's champion, Kaleb Daark, for the Warhammer Fantasy world in the Citadel Miniatures Compendium and Journals. In the comic strip adventure Kaleb Daarks mission allied him temporarily with the forces of good. He fights at the siege of Praag and is attacked by followers of the Chaos god Khorne, and also finds himself at odds with the Skaven. Less mutated than other followers of Chaos, he is equipped with his soul-drinking daemon axe "Dreadaxe" with its pterodactyl-like head on a shaft of bone. His armour was all-black and his steed was a mutant horse. His battle cry was "Dreadaxe thirsts for you!". Allegedly the comic was cancelled because of "creative differences" between the creators and GW.
There were three installments completed of "The Quest of Kaleb Daark" comic:
- Part 1 : "The Quest of Kaleb Daark" in The Third Citadel Compendium 1985
- Part 2 : "The God-Slayer!" in The Citadel Journal Spring 86
- Part 3 : "Evil of the Warpstone!" in The Citadel Journal Spring 87
- Part 4 : "God Amok!" Unfortunately never saw print...
In the first editions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Malal is mentioned as a renegade chaos god dedicated to the destruction of the other Chaos Gods. In the gaming supplement The Dying of the Light by Hogshead Publishing in 1995 there is a sorcerer of Malal named Heinrich Bors who has struck a deal with Malal to escape from the chaos god Tzeentch.
The renegade ogre Skrag the Slaughterer was also introduced as a follower of Malal. A short background story told his story as being cast out from his tribe for stealing a "starmetal" axe, with Malal subsequently guiding Skrag to a chaos dwarf hold, forcing them to forge him an armour and then slaughtering them all in the name of Malal. Skrag has since been recast as a devout follower of the Ogre god known as "The Great Maw".
In the short story "The Laughter of Dark Gods" in the Warhammer anthology "Ignorant Armies", there is also a reference to an unnamed albino Malal Champion and his warband roaming the chaos wastes. This champion is slain by the novel's main character.
Use of Malal in further Games Workshop productions was halted, as there was uncertainties of who actually did own the intellectual property to the concept of Malal - the comic's authors or Games Workshop.
[edit] Continued Existence
The memory of Malal did not die with the ability for Games Workshop to use it. The idea of Malal is continued on by veterans of the Warhammer scene primarily through the internet via BBS (bulletin board system) and stories (such as "Divine Judgment") so Malal continues to survive, occasionally becoming the choice deity of veteran players playing Chaos.
In Games Workshop's Codex: Chaos Space Marines, a couple of indirect references to Malal were made. The first is the appearance of a daemon weapon called a "Dreadaxe", which is described as preferring to kill other daemonic entities. The other reference was in a picture showing other possible painting schemes for the models. One of the examples was a renegade marine of a chapter entitled the "Sons of Malice". The colors used for this chapter were the bisecting black/white design of Malal's symbol, and the word "Malice" is not too dissimilar from "Malal". More on the Sons of Malice was in Games Workshop monthly publication White Dwarf issue 303 (issue 302 in the U.S.). In it, the Sons of Malice were said to be prone to fighting in complete silence, and were exiled from the Imperium for a set of disgusting rituals that were reported close to cannibalism. At the very end of a passage it was also mentioned that the Sons of Malice fight with ferocity against other followers of Chaos, and who the patron of the ritual was was never revealed.
[edit] References
- Halliwell, Richard, and Priestley, Rick et al. (1986). Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-869893-02-6.
- Pringle, David (Ed.) (1989). Ignorant Armies, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-85515-002-6.
- (1985) The Third Citadel Compendium, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop.
- (1986) The Citadel Journal, spring 86, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop.
- (1987) The Citadel Journal, spring 87, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop.
- n/a (July 1986). "Ogres". White Dwarf: UK Edition (79). ISSN 0265-8712.
- Davis, Graeme (November 1986). "The Crude, the Mad and the Rusty". White Dwarf: UK Edition (83). ISSN 0265-8712.
- Lea Crowe, Chris Pramas et al. (1995). The Dying of the Light, 1st Edition, London: Hogshead Publishing. ISBN 1-899749-04-7.
- Games Workshop Design Staff (2002). Warhammer 40,000 Codex: Chaos Space Marines, 1st Edition, Nottingham: Games Workshop. ISBN 1-84154-322-5.
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