Malphas

In Demonology**, Malphas** is a greater demonic creature who serves as one of the presidents of Hell. In the FAITH series, Malphas takes upon the role of a major antagonist. He is first mentioned in Chapter II and later appears in Chapter III. Although he makes a cameo during a possession sequence and referenced frequently, he only makes a physical appearance in Ending II "A New Journey".

Malphas is the "Unholy Spirit" part of the Unholy Trinity, who was summoned somewhere in Connecticut to aid the arrival of the Antichrist onto Earth via a cursed ritual called the Second Death. He's also a benefactor of the Eternal Order of the Second Death and have devout followers who serve him, called Malphas Acolytes.

## Appearance

FAITH depicts Malphas as some kind of demonic avian creature with frail, blood-stained wings. The upper half of his beak is missing while the lower half has a row of sharp teeth. There's also a vertical row of teeth inside his mouth, acting as some kind of second mouth. He boasts big white eyes with no pupils. He has a muscular build, with well-defined muscles on his chest and arms, which are further accentuated by his hairless pale brown skin.

## Personality

Like nearly all of the demons in the FAITH series, Malphas doesn't have much of a personality besides being evil, despite being based off of Malphas' depiction in Demonology. In this series, he never speaks besides emitting high-pitched roaring, and his behavior is more animalistic judging the brutality during John's initial possession sequence.

## Biography

The summoning date of Malphas is intentionally a mystery, including his time before he was summoned onto Earth, so we're going to start where he's referenced or mentioned by somebody.

### May of 1987

A cult primarily located in Sterling, Connecticut called the Eternal Order of the Second Death has been active for, at the very least, over a couple decades, and their main base of operation seem to be an underground tunnel system underneath a daycare center. However, around May of 87', the secondary cult leader named Miriam Bell instructs a select few of thralls (low-ranking cult members) and cultists alike to summon a demonic spirit (although nameless in-game, it's called Peekaboo Demon in the game files, so we're going to call it as such) within a dense sewage system nicknamed the Candy Tunnels.

This sewage system has bad reputation by the Sterling community for being littered with drug addicts, gang members, prostitutes, and the homeless, but the local Police Department are too biased towards the demographic living within to do anything. The spirit's main task is to (somehow) aid the summoning of an evil deity worshipped by the cult named the UNSPEAKABLE by using the squatters who live there as sacrifices.

While this demon brutalizes its victims and their corpses are laid around a drainage ditch, cult members construct a sanctum deep within the sewers that honor Malphas. Although this sanctum is simply file named as "Inner Sanctum", we, the player, are shown a title card when we enter this place in Chapter II.

The alphabet here originates from an occult-constructed language called Enochian. By translating it to Latin, we get, "DOMUS MALPHAS". Translating it again to English, the title card says, "MALPHAS' HOUSE". The series never explicitly expands on why this sanctum was crafted or named after Malphas, but borrowing key details of Malphas' origins in Demonology (check the Trivia section for a bigger analysis), this sanctum might serve its purpose of indoctrinating new cult members and providing them the tools necessary to conduct rituals. For now, we're left in the dark as to its true meaning, but it's important to at least understand that Miriam and other cult members essentially raided the sewer system for the UNSPEAKABLE and Malphas' cause.

### Between September 22nd to 27th, 1987

These two dates here breach into a lot of theories from few resources that indirectly relate to Malphas.

Heavily speculated between the 22nd and 27th of September, the Sterling Police Department finally caved from local concerns after two bodies were discovered nearby a drainage ditch and plan to raid the sewers. Initially, they believed a well-known Rhode Island & Connecticut serial killer named Joe Baumann was responsible for the murders and lurking within the tunnel system. The next day after the raid, a newspaper article was released stating that multiple officers were wounded, one was killed, and the whereabouts & condition of the serial killer is unknown. At least one unnamed police officer a part of the force knows that what they encountered down there wasn't human and "understood" that all the squatters living in the sewage can be killed to satiate the beast's thirst to kill.

In reality, the Peekaboo Demon attacked and warded off against the invading police officers. Breaching into speculation here, although the demon fended them off, the cult won't be so lucky and will get overwhelmed when the police come back with larger numbers. They plan to abandon the area entirely and relocate elsewhere. Before doing so, and heavily speculated here, Miriam decides to perform the Second Death ritual on herself in Malphas' House.

To thoroughly explain this, we need to keep in mind as to what the Second Death is. It's a ritual where cult members draw an inverted cross on the ground and carve a hole into a vessel's face. This gaping hole acts as a portal to Hell, where demons and other objects can enter to-and-fro. We can confirm Miriam truly did this in Malphas' House because we see the inverted cross in Chapter II and Miriam lays immobile within "A New Journey" Ending of Chapter III.

Miriam already performed the ritual on herself back in the 1930s, and since we randomly come across an unresponsive Miriam in Chapter III, the inverted cross appearing in Malphas' House canonizes that she truly did perform the ritual on herself twice. One of the prerequistites in order for the ritual to work is that the vessel must be able-bodied. Miriam is well into her 70s or 80s at this point, she was too frail to withstand the effects, and became unresponsive. Cult members relocate her to a secluded area called the Crucible in hopes that she may recover. The main cult leader, Gary Miller, has no one else to rely on and scrambling to prepare everything for the Profane Sabbath, October 31st, the one day where demonic activity is at its peak and assumingly the suitable day to summon the Antichrist.

Once everything is set in stone, the Candy Tunnels and Malphas' House lay empty. We're assuming this because these two locations do not get referenced again beyond Chapter II.

### September 28th, 1987 (Chapter II)

A week after our protagonist John Ward failed his second exorcism of Amy Martin, he falls asleep and experiences his worst nightmare yet. In this nightmare, he explores recent demonic events surrounding Gallup Cemetery, Snake Meadow Hill Church, and the Candy Tunnels. Chasing after a thrall's trail, John is seemingly transported to the Inner Sanctum/Malphas' House. We're shown the title card described previously.

#### "Go Forth With Faith" Ending

Awakening from the nightmare after witnessing the UNSPEAKABLE emerge from Miriam's body, John checks his front door. There's a letter addressed by a stranger named Father Garcia, telling John that they must save Amy's twin brothers, Nate and Jason Martin, before the cult uses them to summon the great demon Malphas. Garcia ends his letter that he'll update him on the twin's whereabouts.

John hops into his car and speeds away, probably to clear his mind. He monologues that his nightmares are progressively getting worse and has been haunted by visions of demons ever since he left the Martin House. He tries to form closure about failing Amy and remarks that the Martin Twins are in danger. John makes himself stern and states that Malphas must be stopped. Shortly before he speeds off, he worryingly remarks that the workers of darkness will grow stronger as the Profane Sabbath draws near. He pleads for God's mercy, knowing that whatever he'll face next will be worse than his nightmares. John speeds away.

So far, we're left in the dark as to how Father Garcia suddenly knows who Nate, Jason, and Amy are, let alone Malphas. The best theory to come up with his sudden knowledge is that he experienced the same nightmare John had, which would explain his word choice in a letter found in the "Road to Redemption" Ending. Regardless, John has no choice but to wait around for an update.

### October 28th, 1987 (Chapter III)

A month later, John finally receives the long-awaited response from Father Garcia. John was tasked to explore a clinic Amy used to work at since Malphas may be summoned there. Although there was no evidence of Malphas nor the Martin Twins, he at least defeated a demon hiding underneath the clinic.

### October 29th, 1987

Next day, John is tasked again by Garcia to explore an apartment complex in New Haven, Connecticut since he suspects that Malphas may be summoned there. Additionally, John finds two other letters signed by his childhood friend, Lisa Pearson. She needs his help to rescue her from her creepy neighbors, they're preventing her from leaving her apartment room at all. John speeds off to his destination and enters inside.

#### among the damned

Flashing forward a bit, John explores the apartment complex in order to unlock a door in Lisa's apartment room. As he walks around, he stumbles across a lone camera on the ground nearby a decimated Thrall. As soon as he picks it up, the power cuts out. John has to use the flash of his camera to see his surroundings. As he does so, he occasionally catches a glimpse of Malphas turning around and facing him.

This is the first time we see Malphas at all. His appearance here indicates that he was summoned in some undisclosed area at some point. For now, we're going to assume that he was summoned on this date, the 29th of October, at some unknown location until we get concrete evidence in the future proving otherwise. We can speculate that he was summoned in the Inner Sanctum detailed from earlier considering that it was built specifically under his name, but otherwise we have nothing substantial.

Flashing forward once again, John retrieves his crucifix in the basement, the power comes back on its own, and banishes the Peekaboo Demon, who was shuffling within the darkness and chasing him around the complex. Once John reaches the top of the ascending staircase to leave the basement, he's suddenly ambushed by a goat-like demon named Alu. John violently thrashes and screams as the demon takes over his body.

John, now color-schemed as a purple-ish color, widens his eyes and emotionlessly stares at Malphas, who's standing before him.

After we're shown another image of Malphas, the screen cuts to John's face horrifically mangled and missing his left chin. Some of his teeth was torn off, and his eyes were gouged out.

The screen then cuts to Malphas, who replaced his eyes with John's and has blood protruding from his inner mouth.

Apparently, Malphas left its "mark" on John by biting his face off. Uncontrollable for a couple of seconds, John shakes off his possession and returns back to normal. Malphas' appearance here once again indicates that it was summoned on Earth elsewhere off-screen. We're never given direct answers on why he appeared specifically during the possession sequence. As John attempts to banish Alu, who's possessing Lisa in her apartment room, he can get possessed by the demon. Malphas' "mark" is still on his face as John loses control. Otherwise, John defeats Alu, rescues Lisa, and banishes another woman named Tiffany in a secluded, warped version of the Tenth Floor named the Unseen World.

### October 30th, 1987

John receives another letter from Father Garcia the following day. Garcia informs him that, apparently, he's getting strange reports of children exhibiting abnormal behavior at a Daycare Center (the same one mentioned back in the "May of 1987" Sub-Heading). This time, he's stern that if they find the Martin Twins there, Malphas' summoning site will be there as well. John hops into his car and speeds away. Sneaking past police officers stationed at the front, John enters inside via an unlocked backdoor.

#### the tunnels await

Inside the building, there's a strange, beheaded-like statue of a creature in one of the rooms. Attempting to interact or exorcise it is impossible because it will always be in the opposite room no matter what. Looking at the game files, the filename for this statue is called "Malphas Idol". The Daycare Center isn't at all what it seems and function as a coverup than anything, but the idol proves that the children are influenced by the cult and serve for Malphas.

At first glance this object doesn't look anything like Malphas, or even an avian creature for that matter. The problem here is that this idol only has two colors, purple and black. If we were to outline it, you'll notice that it's supposed to be some avian creature holding a severed head with a beak (shoutout goes to Abortion Steve from the FAITH Fan Community Discord for figuring this out).

There's one remarkable note here that relates to Malphas and foreshadows Gary's ultimate goal of leading his own Unholy Trinity. Nearby a gruesome site of dead bodies lies a poem written in purple text:

Mother Moon watcheth her little ones behind a door of sleep
Daughter Chalice is filled, an offering to the Master in the Unseen World
Spirit Bird arriveth from afar and cometh back to roost.
These vessels are the Unholy Trinity.
The Fallen Star shall guide them.
What colors can you see?
Look to the children if you are lost.

This poem somewhat attempts to explain what the Unholy Trinity truly is, but it's overall cryptic. This loosely relates to Malphas in a way, so here's a rough interpretation of this poem (until we get anything official stating otherwise):

* Mother Moon = Mother/Miriam. "Watcheth her little ones behind a door of sleep" can be interpreted as the Mother Demon (the secret boss in the Birthing Clinic) staying behind a locked door in the basement of the clinic while her legion of babies can seemingly roam wherever they please. Although, her babies only attack John in the basement, so this quote could signify that Jeffrey, an enemy roaming about in the rest of the clinic, is some kind of baby abomination. It's hard to say. Additionally, this quote also connects to Miriam considering that she's currently held up immobilized in the Crucible, and the entrance is blocked off by a demonic seal. She reappears in John's nightmares so that would explain how she would "watcheth her little ones".
* Daughter Chalice = Tiffany/Amy/Any Second Death Vessel. "Filled, an offering to the Master in the Unseen World" can mean many things and is the most confusing quote. First and foremost, this refers to Tiffany because she hid herself in the Unseen World and her being "filled" is a nod to her behemoth demon situating on her head. Tiffany refers to herself as the Daughter of the UNSPEAKABLE so that's probably who the "Master" is, her makeshift Second Death ritual was an attempt to both please Gary and the UNSPEAKABLE. Secondly, Daughter Chalice overall is a role assigned to any Second Death vessel (this is more explained in the "These Vessels..." interpretation below), which would be Amy in this case. Her being "filled" could be referencing how Note #18 in Chapter II heavily suggests that the demon possessing her is a manifestation of the UNSPEAKABLE, or the "Master" if you will. If that's the case, then this poem establishes that the UNSPEAKABLE is situated in the Unseen World, which is interesting considering that every demonic entity in the series originates from Hell.
* Spirit Bird = Malphas/Unclean Spirit. "Arriveth from afar and cometh back to roost" is rather self-explanatory. In Demonology, Malphas has a higher role in Hell and can go to & fro whenever he wishes, which would explain why he appears when John gets possessed by Alu for the first time. This note also refers to the Unclean Spirit, an enemy that John will eventually come across, since it can teleport and float around wherever it wants.
* "These vessels are the Unholy Trinity" heavily suggests that the Moon, Chalice, and Spirit Bird are entities or people rather than something figurative, likewise with the Holy Trinity consisting of God (Father), Jesus (Son), and the Holy Spirit. With this in mind, and referencing Gary's quote before and after Super Miriam's defeat, all of this means that the Mother, Tiffany, and the Unclean Spirit are possessed by the Moon (Mother), Chalice (Daughter), and Spirit Bird (Unclean Spirit) respectively, hence why whenever they're defeated the seal covering the Crucible steadily gets removed. Since Gary did not use the Mother, Tiffany, and Unclean Spirit to form his own Unholy Trinity, this implies that what he's aiming for is somebody taking upon the title; Mother = Miriam, Daughter = Second Death vessel (Amy), and Unclean Spirit = Malphas.
* Fallen Star = Gary/Astaroth. In Demonology, Astaroth is one of the many angels who were casted off to Hell after Satan attempted to go against God in the Bible. In this series, Gary is the human form of Astaroth (Check Gary's wiki page) and his ultimate goal is to create his own Unholy Trinity by using Miriam, Malphas, and the vessel of the Second Death (Amy), guiding them in the process.

John solves a puzzle and walks down a descending staircase to some kind of secret tunnel system, titled "Garyland" in the files.

#### partake of the dark

Flashing forward a bit, John traverses down dark corridors and finds a lone lantern to ward off the incoming darkness enclosing him. As he attempts to find an exit, an abnormal dove with red eyes crashes into a gated fence. It does this a second time. As it flies away, a feminine creature walking backwards with a broken neck screeches and makes a beeline towards John. These creatures are nameless in-game, but relooking at the files again, this enemy is called "Malphas Acolyte" Judging by their name, they're supposed to be devout followers of Malphas and contorted their bodies for his sake. It's unlikely they're human anymore considering how their body looks. The acolytes have buldging white eyes on the side of their head, similar to how Malphas looks.

More and more of these creatures hound John in the enclosing darkness. John attempts to flee and is seemingly transported into a barren darkworld littered with white trees. Relooking at the game files again, this area is supposed to be called Nowhere Forest. Acolytes attempt to surround him as John neutralizes targets throughout the forest. Removing a seal on a door and entering inside, John comes face-to-face with Gary after walking towards what he thought were the Martin Twins.

### October 31st, 1987 (Ending II "A New Purpose")

After a brief flashback of John's first exorcism, the time is 12:00AM, it's the Profane Sabbath. Feeling as if John has endured through so much, Gary grants him three questions that he can ask about anything. One of the questions John could ask is Malphas. Gary contorts his body and states that he is another spirit who can help him prepare for the Antichrist's arrival on the Profane Sabbath. Gary mocks John that he really thought he could prevent his summoning.

This reveals that John's journey was ultimately pointless; he and Father Garcia couldn't prevent Malphas being summoned. If John questioned about the Martin Twins, Gary reveals that they were nothing but illusions. The remaining mystery we have relating to Malphas is when and where he was summoned. Once again, we don't have any leads, and this is one of the few lingering questions in the series. The best explanation we can surmise is Inner Sanctum/Malphas' House back in Chapter II considering it was specifically built by the cult under his name. The word choice by Gary here alludes that Malphas was summoned long ago, which means that Father Garcia was intentionally misdirected. The way this was done is unknown, and we probably won't get concrete answers either.

### the crucible

Flashing forward once again. John battles a contorted Gary within the Crucible, where Miriam's immobile body is suspended in the air.

After some time, Malphas' spirit slowly drifts into scene and screeches as he becomes flesh. He hurls trowels and tries to crush John.

Despite of everything, John prevails. Thoroughly weakened by the cross, Malphas and Gary transform into spirits and possesses Miriam's body as a last-ditch effort to kill off John. Miriam screams in agony as her body contorts into an abomination of the two demons (this abomination is filenamed as Super Miriam). John regains his withering faith and withstands Super Miriam's might.

Eventually, John briefly separates the two from her body.

As Miriam lies motionlessly, John remembers the note he read back within Garyland and lights himself on fire from a nearby torch. He transfers the flame to Miriam. As she burns to death, Gary reverts back to his human form and kneels since his demonic form relied on her. Since all demons originate from Miriam (signified that she's the only person who had the Second Death performed on her and the quote "MOTHER OF DEMONS" scribbled on a floor back in Chapter II), any remaining evil spirits or demons left in Connecticut (like the Spindly Lady in Chapter II for example since John never truly goes inside Snake Meadow Hill Church) are heavily weakened and eventually disintegrate into nothingness. Malphas shrieks as his ghostly form disintegrates since he was more than likely summoned from her as well.

As soon as Malphas disappears, Miriam explodes into a gory mess and her blood trickles down like rain. Covered in blood, John stares in stunned silence as he watches Amy slowly drift from the darkness.

## Trivia

* Malphas in the FAITH series is more or less the same as he's usually depicted in Demonology. Malphas is depicted as a bird-like demon that can turn into a male human. He's either a great prince or a president in Hell's hierarchy, but overall, he's second only to Satan. His main job is to build towers using his trowel, create weapons for soldiers, and give info about what an enemy is doing.
	+ Some connections could be the number of thralls in Malphas' House, bird-like, his arrow-like projectiles are trowels, and being one of the crucial entities for the Unholy Trinity due to being a mighty demon.
	+ (Shoutout to Abortion Steve from the FAITH Discord for pointing this out)
* Based off a Twitter Q&A from Airdorf, Malphas was supposed to make more appearances and act as a "Phantom Menace" where he's behind the scenes. But, in the final, most players would've only seen him during a possession sequence.
* Even though Malphas is supposed to be some kind of avian creature, his wings are absent in rotoscope cutscenes. Or it could be that they're so small that they don't appear, but that's unlikely.
* The way blood is protruding from Malphas' mouth heavily implies that he took a bite out of John's face and gouged his eyes during the possession process.
	+ This would make sense because when Lisa gets possessed by Alu her sprite doesn't appear mutilated like John's.
	+ We only know when John gets possessed from his color turning purple, eyes widening, and spouting blood. The face mutilation is an effect by Malphas.
	+ This gives further background by how ruthless and animalistic Malphas is because we don't really see how he acts until near endgame.
* This is completely irrelevant from everything else but look at this tweet about Malphas' "pecks". Question courtesy of Swirls from the FAITH Discord.

## Gallery

### In-Game

Malphas in the flesh.Malphas as a spirit.Malphas disintegrating when Miriam burns.
### In Animation

Malphas when coming face-to-face with John.Malphas, but with John's eyeballs and blood.Malphas as seen when using the Camera.
### Other

One of the many depictions of Malphas. This one originates from Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal.The title card that appears when entering Malphas' House. It's Enochian for "Malphas House".A design doc sketch of Malphas as he appears in the Ending II fight.Malphas tore John's nose, left chin, and gouged his eyes.The Malphas Idol.The outline of that strange "Malphas Idol" object. Big shoutout to Abortion Steve for outlining it.A depiction of Malphas' demonological appearance found in the Crucible.Malphas assists Gary during the final battle.Gary and Malphas temporarily get separated from Miriam's body.
## Reference List

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ref. - Note #41 Ch III
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Ref. - Note #20 Ch II
3. ↑ Ref. - Note #21 Ch II
4. ↑ Ref. - Gameplay Screenshot of Peekaboo Demon's lair in Chapter II/Candy Tunnels
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ref. - Note #22 Ch II
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ref. - Note #24 Ch III
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ref. - Note #18 Ch II
8. ↑ Ref. - Note #18 greatly suggests that every location within Chapter II had demonic activity occurring in-between the events of Chapter I and II. Check John's wiki page for exact reasoning.
9. ↑ Ref. - Note #19 Ch II
10. ↑ Ref. - Gameplay Screenshot of Second Death Marking in Martin House (confirming that Amy had the ritual performed the ritual here after she escaped a mental institution, implied in "The Murderer" Note of Chapter I)
11. ↑ Ref. - Gameplay Screenshot of Second Death Marking in New Haven Apartment Complex (Tiffany performed the ritual on herself in here)
12. ↑ Ref. - "About the Second Death" Dialogue
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ref. - "Pre-Final Boss" Dialogue
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ref. - Gameplay Screenshot of Miriam within Crucible
15. ↑ Ref. - Note #25/Road to Redemption Ending Ch II
16. ↑ Ref. - Note #4 Ch III
17. ↑ Ref. - Note #9 Ch III
18. ↑ Ref. - Note #10 Ch III
19. ↑ Ref. - Note #11 Ch III
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Ref. - Note #22 Ch III
21. ↑ Ref. - Note #29 Ch III
22. ↑ Ref. - Note #31 Ch III
23. ↑ Ref. - Gameplay Screenshot of Seal over Crucible
24. ↑ Ref. - Miriam makes her grand appearance in Chapter II Prologue and Chapter II.
25. ↑ Ref. - Gif of Tiffany's Demon
26. ↑ Ref. - Tiffany Pre-Boss Dialogue
27. ↑ Ref. - Pre-Final Boss Dialogue
28. ↑ Ref. - Super Miriam Defeat Dialogue
29. ↑ Ref. - "Finding the Crucible (Ending II Variant)" Dialogue
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Misc. - lol