Malekith the Accursed
Malekith the Accursed is a comic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Malekith was a male member of the race of Dark Elves who inhabited the Nine Realms. (Thor v1 #344) He was born to the realm of Svartalfheim to Lady Mazerot of the Black Bile Clan where he was one of thirteen children with him being the youngest son. At the time, much of his family were drafted into the war as the Dark Elf ruler Kraw the Uncontrollable waged a number of petty conflicts. This saw the death of all his siblings, his father and his twelve uncles leaving Malekith the only living child who remained at his mother's home. Lady Mazerot assured her son that he would not die in conflict and leave her alone if he perished in service as a soldier. However, during the Forty-Third Troll War, she came to sell him to the undertaker elves of the Southern Swamps for food for the family's dogs as she preferred not losing a son without gaining something from the exchange. She did assure him though that this service would mean that he would not serve as a soldier but instead was a corpse burner in the war. (Thor: God of Thunder v1 #25)
It was known that All-Father Odin had once banished Malekith to the limbo of endless night many ages ago. (Thor v1 #344)
War of the Realms
In the aftermath, he was imprisoned in the Pit of Woe located at the Hall of Nastrond in Niffleheim. He remained trapped there until a group of Dark Elves under Scumtongue broke into the prison to free him. Once freed, he slayed the creatures that guarded the site and then escaped into the world of the living as he headed back to Svartalfeim. At first, Malekith believed his return would be hailed as a hero and celebrations were to be made at his return. However, he came to grow disgusted at his fellow Dark Elves who had sued for peace and looked to appease the Asgardians. This led to Malekith deciding to gather an army as he murdered Dark Elf villages as he sought to sought to eliminate all those that did not fall under his rule. (Thor: God of Thunder v1 #13)
Whilst in his kingdom, he was approached by a seeming ring that was a highly advanced item belonging to the Mandarin. It sought a wielder against Tony Stark with Malekith using his power to easily overpower the device and learnt of the other Mandarin rings. This led to him deciding to claim all of them as treasures for himself. (Iron Man v5 #23) He appeared on Earth at Mandarin City in order to claim two of the rings present there. This saw him murder Lord Remaker to claim his ring and he severed the hands of Abigail Burn to take the Incandescence ring. With three rings in his possession, Malekith was determined to acquire all of them for himself. (Iron Man v5 #22) He then sought out the lightning ring leading to him murdering the Lightning Conductor with Iron Man learning that the Mandarin ring murderer was Malekith the Accursed. (Iron Man v5 #23) Iron Man eventually journeyed into Svartalfheim where he battled the Dark Elves to reclaim most of the rings forcing Malekith to flee and acquire the last remaining one in his possession which was the spectral ring. It was then that he was attacked by the other Mandarin ring wielders who had united together to oppose him as the Dark Elf had been hunting their compatriots to claim their relics for himself. (Iron Man v5 #25)
He then dispatched Dark Elf assassins to kill key Asgardian figures such as Odin, Freyja and Loki. Malekith then took the form of Loki in order to trick Thor into arriving at Jotunheim for him to be ambushed by Frost Giants. He then led the Dark Council as their armies began the invasion of Midgard. (War of the Realms v1 #1)
With Odin and Freyja hostage, he bade Thor to challenge him otherwise he would slay his parents. Thus, the Dark Elf was prepared as he had turned the Venom Symbiote into a weapon and spread its power to his guards as they waited for the Asgardian. However, Thor was not alone as he had come with the past and future version of himself along with Jane Foster who had become Thor herself after wielding the War Thor hammer. Thus, the battled with Malekith managing to overpower the Odinson until he called the power of the thunder. This saw the Mother Storm trapped in the Sun become active which sent Mjolnir to him allowing Thor to defeat Malekith. The Dark Elf in desperation intended to continue fighting as war was all he knew and commanded the hunting animals of his Wild Hunt to slay his enemies. However, the beasts sensed the desperation in their master and turned on him thus tearing him to pieces which led to the death of Malekith the Accursed. (War of the Realms v1 #6) The Elf's poisonous body killed the beasts whereupon Malekith's soul journeyed into the afterlife where he was in Niffelheim and vowed to continue his war against the realms. He was then met by Hela and Karnilla where they decided that he would not be imprisoned in the Hall of Nastrond again but rather face a new punishment for eternity. This saw the young boy version of him being allowed a life of happiness with small animals whilst Malekith was forced to watch it for the rest of time with the experience being a torture for the Dark Elf. (Thor v5 #15)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He once took on a mortal guise of Malcolm Keith where he was a feared and respected businessman who was despoiler of the economy. (Heroes for Hire #14)
He was the child of Lady Mazerot of the Black Bile Clan where he had twelve uncles and twelve brothers all of whom perished in war. (Thor: God of Thunder v1 #25)
Powers and abilities
As the Master of the Hounds, Malekith could summon the Wild Hunt by blowing the hunting horn of faerie. Once dome, this summoned the spectral canine hunting hounds of the faerie that ere able to travel through the skies in search of quarry. During such moments, their master wore special armour and rode one of the beasts during the hunt. If killed, the bodies of the hounds melt away with the rising of the sun during the dawn and their corpses were reclaimed by the realm of faerie. (Thor v1 #346)
Notes
- Malekith the Accursed was created by Walt Simonson where he made his first appearance in Thor v1 #344 (June, 1984).
In other media
Television
- In Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the character made an appearance in the episode "The Casket of Ancient Winters" where he was voiced by actor Quinton Flynn. It was shown that he along with the Dark Elves were all killed long ago by the Frost Giants. He was resurrected by Loki with the goal of recovering the Casket of Ancient Winters where he travelled to recover it within Norway. When the Enchantress and Executioner arrived to collect it, he would betray the pair by using the Casket to freeze them as he intended to transform Earth into his new home whilst bringing back the undead spirits of the Dark Elves to lay claim to it by separating it from the Nine Realms. Whilst trying to freeze Earth, he attracted the attention of the Avengers whereby he was confronted by Iron Man and Black Panther whilst Thor used his lightning to destroy Malekith which sealed the Casket of Ancient Winters.
- In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Malekith appeared as an antagonist in the animated television series episode "For Asgard" where he was voiced by actor James C. Mathis III
Films
- In Thor: The Dark World, Malekith made an appearance as the primary villain where he was played by actor Christopher Eccleston. He was shown as being the cruel leader of the Dark Elves that were said to be beings older than the universe itself and among the Nine Realms inhabitants. Malekith led his people in their war against the Asgardians and sought to use the Aether Infinity Stone to bring about the end of existence. However, Bor who was the King of Asgard laid siege to the Dark Elf homeworld and managed to take the relic away from the Dark Elves whose population was decimated. Only a small fraction of Dark Elves and their leader Malekith managed to escape in a single ship where they went into deep space to hide for centuries whilst they slumbered. Malekith would awaken from hibernation when Jane Foster in the modern day accidently found the Aether with the Dark Elves emerging to continue their goal. The Dark Elf King would transform his faithful lieutenant Algrim into one of the Kursed and launch a surprise attack against Asgard itself to acquire the Aether that was within Jane Foster. During the attack, queen Frigga was slain and in anger Thor struck Malekith with lightning which burnt half his face but he managed to escape. At the ruined Dark Elf homeworld of Svartalfheim, Malekith had a meeting with the Asgardians where it seemed Jane Foster was betrayed to Dark Elves by Loki but this turned out to be a trick where Thor tried to destroy the Aether. However, the Infinity Stone could not be destroyed and Malekith used this chance to absorb the Aether into himself where he departed to Earth to use the convergence of the Nine Realms to spread the power of the stone to destroy the universe. Thor would battle the Aether-empowered Maliketh were they fell through numerous dimensional portals but the Asgardian would manage to use teleporter rods made by Erik Selvig to remove the Dark Elf King's arms to Svartalfheim. Maliketh would comment that the Aether could no be destroyed but Thor replied by saying the Dark Elf could whereupon he stabbed him in he chest with the last device. This sent him smashing against the wall of his ship and teleporting it on top of Maliketh crushing him against it and ending his plan to destroy all of creation.
Video games
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Malekith the Accursed appeared as an antagonist in the video game. He was stared as being the ruler of the Dark Elves of Svartalfheim whose goal was bringing darkness to all the Nine Realms.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, Malekith was introduced as a playable character in the mobile game with him resemaking his Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart.
Appearances
- Thor v1: (1984)
- Heroes for Hire v1:
- Thor: God of Thunder v1:
- Iron Man v5:
- Mighty Thor v1:
- Mighty Thor v2:
- War of the Realms v1:
External Links
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