Malefor

The Dark Master, Malefor

**Malefor**, also known as The **Dark Master**, is both a fictional character and antagonist of the *MLS's* *Kao Spyro* series created by Eric Rogers and Charles Zembillas. He is a corrupted, and unfathomably powerful dragon.

He is the first in the rare line of the gifted magical purple dragons like Spyro. Malefor have self-crowned and proclaimed himself the king of evil who believes that the world should be destroyed for a recreation of to his own designs.

After his evil acts in the Great War, he was imprisoned inside his realm's mountain, though he is still responsible for setting in motion and orchestrating most of the events of that take place throughout the series just to gain freedom.

Prior to his freedom, he was the one who corrupted Cynder into doing his evil bidding after Gaul and his ape minions stole her as an egg, and later attempted to capture Hex to learn the secrets of her powers for his future planning.

"*At long last, my guests have arrived. Please come in, Skylanders. Such determination to get here. It seems we share other qualities besides that of our color.*"

—Malefor, meeting Team Spyro and Mane 6.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Mark Hamill (English), Bin Shimada (Japanese), Not Known (African), Not Known (Albanian), Not Known (Arabic), Not Known (Basque), Not Known (Brazilian), Not Known (Cantonese), Not Known (Catalan), Not Known (Chinese), Not Known (Dutch), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (French), Not Known (Galician), Not Known (German), Not Known (Greek), Not Known (Hebrew), Not Known (Hong Kong), Not Known (Hungarian), Not Known (Indonesian), Not Known (Isralian), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (Mandarin), Not Known (Norwegian), Not Known (Polish), Not Known (Portuguese), Not Known (Romanian), Not Known (Russian), Not Known (Serbian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (Swedish), Not Known (Tagalog), Not Known (Thai), Not Known (Turkish), Not Known (Valencian), Not Known (Brazilian Portuguese), Not Known (European Spanish), Not Known (European Portuguese), Not Known (Latin American Spanish), Not Known (Latin Spanish)

### Appearance

Malefor is a purple-scaled dragon with the horns on his head resembling a crown and his two main horns growing from behind them, with the center horn on Malefor's head more longer. The crown-shaped horn formation on his head has extra horns growing on each of his cheeks with two pairs protruding around his center horn. Sickled spikes grow from around the top of his shoulders, one growing on the back of each of his legs. Two row of spikes even protrude from the back of his head to the center of his tail.

Three spikes extends down from his chin resembling a goatee, and his tail ends with a double-ended spade. While his colors (aside from being purple) were shrouded in mystery previously, Malefor is depicted having wine purple scales with crimson red shades evident on his nose and on the tips of his horns. A darker shade of purple scales run from the back of his head to his tail tip and his scaley underbelly is light brown. A fleshy white line is prominent from the center of his red-tipped snout to the crest of his central horn.

His wings are in a dark coloration of red with lighter color membranes, and the spurs on his wings are light yellow. Malefor is portrayed having yellow eyes with black reptilian pupils. A single of ridge of horns ran down his back to the tip of his tail, similar to Spyro's.

* Hair Color: N/A
* Skin Color: Not Known
* Eye Color: Black
* Age: Not Known
* Birthday: Not Known
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

It was said he was the first purple dragon ever born. Unlike most villains in the *My Little Skylanders* series, as his name dictates and represents, he is completely considered the most malevolent; the unbalanced embodiment of evil after having gained full command over the dark side of Aether, a powerful element of the Purple Dragon that draws in the essence of the very universe itself.

Despite being calm and courteous, Malefor is also cunning, highly intelligent and manipulative, being able to devise twisted plans. Malefor is, in many ways, the exact opposite of Spyro. While Spyro does good and wishes to protect the world he lives in, Malefor seeks its destruction, and will use all he can to finish what he started. Even after his corruption, Malefor retains his arrogance that contributed to his fall to darkness, mocking others in their attempts to stop him.

Scrapped voice dialogue during his final battle with Spyro and Cynder shows Malefor's bloodthirsty nature as he threatens to give the two dragons quick deaths while mentioning their friends won't be given the luxury. Judging from his pure ruthless sadism, he is, no doubt, a murderer as he killed millions of creatures in his "quest to fulfill the destiny of the purple dragon." Malefor is willing to exploit anything for the sake of his goals and destroy everything that stands in his way. He is also a skilled orator, able to strike doubt in the resolute and courageous minds and use it to his advantage. With this skill, he is very experienced at using his enemy's faults against them; an example being his use of Cynder's past deeds make her doubt herself long enough for him to take control of her.

Malefor seems to personify Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, as his intense desire for power is what lead him to his corruption. Because of his deeply tainted state, he possesses a fatalistic philosophy; believing that it is his fate and destiny as a destroyer; a Purple Dragon fated to purify the world by destroying it so a new world would be created for him to rule. Therefore, he most likely does not perceive himself as evil, more so as an anti-hero; using questionable and lethally draconic means to accomplish a "noble" goal. But like many villains, Malefor undervalues the power of friendship and ultimately love when he tries to use Cynder to kill Spyro for his nonacceptance of the alleged truth and nature of the purple dragon race, only for her to break his bind over her when Spyro tells her that she has left him with nothing left to fight for, somewhat revealing a trace of his love for her.

Despite his current malevolent nature, it was implied that during his youth Malefor was a rather caring and courageous individual. Chief Prowlus mentioned that when Malefor was young, his personality was rather similar to Spyro's, displaying great kindness and an eagerness to develop his abilities. He was viewed by the ancestors as the shining hope for Dragonkind, a benevolent and heroic figure beloved by all, 'the great protector' of an age that fell to tragedy. Based on the ruins below Warfang, the ancestors had built the whole area as a training ground for Malefor, as well as a golden statue of him that was placed at the Dragon Temple.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Dragons
	+ Bash
* Skylanders
	+ Team Spyro
		- Spyro
		- Sparx
		- Kao
		- Stealth Elf
		- Eruptor
		- Gill Grunt
		- Trigger Happy
		- Jet-Vac
		- Pop Fizz

### Enemies

* Gnorcs
	+ Gnasty Gnorc
	+ Dr. Shemp

## Powers and Abilities

Malefor is unfathomably powerful. Being a rare purple dragon like Spyro, he can control many abilities others cannot, but to a greater extent, such as the element of Fire, Ice, Electricity, Earth, Wind, Aether, and perhaps even Time itself. It is hinted that he can also control other dark elements, as he was shown using the Fear ability during his final battle against Spyro and Cynder. Since he is over a thousand years old, Malefor's elemental abilities are far more developed than Spyro's, as shown by his use of Aether abilities in place of Spyro's fire attacks, and on a much larger and more powerful scale that Spyro has displayed thus far. He has also demonstrated the ability to project forcefields that protects him from all attacks except for Aether Breath (which is similar to the heat forcefields Ignitus used), which appears to be an incredibly useful ability.

Living up to his self-proclaimed title after choosing evil, Malefor has full mastery over the darkness that corrupted him. After embracing the sinister influence of Dark Aether, he possessed enough willpower to not let the aetherial darkness consume his mind so far. His evil alone was so great that it split the foundation of his mountain fortress and created a pit where lost souls could reside. With Dark Aether at his disposal, Malefor wields powerful dark magic that enables him to corrupt anything or anyone as he pleases. This is demonstrated when his dark powers transformed Cynder into a monstrous version of her former self, which greatly increased her power and compels her complete servitude to Malefor. In addition to wielding Dark Aether, his powers let him turn the Apes into undead ghouls, create artificial minions like the Grublins, and uproot and suspend a portion of Warfang above the land. His notable power is absolute dominion over every evil and malevolent being, reawakening any bit of his darkness left in those he previously corrupted and putting them back under his thrall. An example of this is when he corrupted Cynder again during his final confrontation with her and Spyro.

Like all dragons, Malefor possesses the ability to fly and has extreme physical strength. He also reveals that he is eternal, thus he is undefeatable and immortal.

Malefor is unfathomably powerful. Being a rare purple dragon like Spyro, he can control many abilities others cannot, but to a greater extent, such as the element of Earth, Ice, Wind, Plant, Fire, Water, Lightning, Magic, Tech, Life, Undead, Light, Aether, and perhaps even Time itself. It is hinted that he can also control other elements, as he was shown using the Undead ability during his final battle against Spyro and Cynder, and most likely wields Shadow and Poison as well, the powers that Cynder was granted with when she was exposed to Malefor's darkness. Since he is over 100 years old, Malefor's elemental abilities are far more developed than Spyro's, as shown by his use of Convexity abilities in place of Spyro's fire abilities, and on a much larger and more powerful scale that Spyro has displayed thus far. He has also demonstrated the ability to project forcefields that protects him from all attacks except for Convexity Breath (which is similar to the heat forcefields Ignitus used), which appears to be an incredibly useful ability.

Living up to his title after choosing evil, Malefor wields powerful dark magic, which enables him to corrupt anything or anyone as he pleases. This is demonstrated when he transforms the Temple Dojo of the Dragons into a Fortress of his likeness and makes it levitate, turns the Apes into undead ghouls, creating artificial creatures like the Grublins, and crafted an energy chain that his minions shackle Spyro and Cynder together. His notable power is having absolute control over everything evil and every malevolent being, also transforming others into a dark version of their former self that greatly increases their power and corrupting them into being in complete servitude to Malefor. Examples of this are the two times he corrupted Cynder, the first after she was born (giving her enough power to defeat all of the Guardians in single combat) and the second (though this form's power is unknown as Spyro refused to fight back).

Like all dragons, Malefor possesses the ability to fly, and holds extreme physical strength. He also claims that he is eternal, thus somewhat possible that he is undefeatable and immortal. As said of his reputation as Dark Master, Malefor can be a powerful opponent, possessing the strength to hold his own against a vast large odds of military forces of the Arkyeans, Monsters, other Dragons, and the Skylanders, including Imaginators, Senseis, SuperChargers, Trap Team, Swap Force, and the powerful Giants, and defeat them all with relative ease.

### Move Skills

* Fire
	+ Pyrokinesis
	+ Fire Breath
	+ Super-Fire Breath
	+ Fire Shield
	+ Fire Fury
	+ Fire Bomb
	+ Fire Wall
	+ Fire Stream
	+ Fire Shot
	+ Triple Flameballs
	+ Fire Bomb
	+ Fire Flail
	+ Fire Pound
	+ Fire Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Ice
	+ Cyrokinesis
	+ Ice Breath
	+ Ice Fury
	+ Ice Bomb
	+ Ice Wall
	+ Ice Stream
	+ Ice Shot
	+ Ice Flail
	+ Ice Pound
	+ Ice Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Earth
	+ Geokinesis (a.k.a Terrakinesis)
	+ Earth Breath
	+ Earth Fury
	+ Earth Bomb
	+ Earth Wall
	+ Earth Stream
	+ Earth Shot
	+ Earth Bomb
	+ Earth Flail
	+ Earth Pound
	+ Earth Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Water
	+ Hydrokinesis
	+ Water Breath
	+ Bubble Breath
	+ Water Fury
	+ Water Bomb
	+ Water Wall
	+ Water Stream
	+ Water Shot
	+ Water Bomb
	+ Water Flail
	+ Water Pound
	+ Water Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Electricity
	+ Electrokinesis
	+ Electric Breath
	+ Electric Fury
	+ Electric Bomb
	+ Electric Wall
	+ Electric Stream
	+ Electric Shot
	+ Electric Bomb
	+ Electric Flail
	+ Electric Pound
	+ Electric Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Wind
	+ Aerokinesis
	+ Air breath
	+ Whirlwind Breath
	+ Air Fury
	+ Air Bomb
	+ Air Wall
	+ Air Stream
	+ Air Shot
	+ Air Bomb
	+ Air Flail
	+ Air Pound
	+ Air Style: Dragon Cannonball
* Plant
* Aether
* Magic
* Tech
* Life
* Fear
* Light
* Dark
	+ Dark Breath
	+ Dark Fury
	+ Dark Bomb
	+ Dark Wall
	+ Dark Stream
	+ Dark Shot
	+ Dark Bomb
	+ Dark Flail
	+ Dark Pound
	+ Dark Style: Dragon Cannonball
	+ Dark Fire
	+ Black Lightning
	+ Shadow Dash
	+ Shadow Reach
* Elemental Fury
* Melee Combat
* Aerial Combat
* Charge
* Horn Ram
* Super-Charge
* Glide
* Fly
* Hover
* Climb
* Dive
* Horn Dive
* Wing Shield
* Headbash
* Barrier
* Regeneration
* Cursing and/or Exposing Other Dragons To Darkness
* Cursing other Races e.g. Apes

### Miscellaneous Skills

Since dragons, are also reptiles, he has a natural ability to regrow his parts. Because of his heritage, Malefor's scales are nigh impenetrable, though he can still feel pain.

## History

### Past

#### Early life

Born in ancient times, Malefor was the first purple dragon, and a talented one at that. He first mastered Fire, despite not being a fire dragon, and harnessed the powers of Ice, Wind, Earth, Electricity, and many other elements none thought existed. Thus, Malefor was the first dragon to be able to use more than one element, which other Dragons were restricted to only one. Believing him to be the dragon to usher them into a new age, the Dragon Masters willingly taught him how to master these elements.

When Strykore began to wreck havoc across the world. The Ancients summoned the world's greatest fighters, warriors, and heroes, and Malefor was among them. Armed with magical weapons, machinery and elemental-based super powers, they battled against Strykore. The fight ended when Malefor managed to topple the evil Portal Master and was holding him down long enough for the Elders and Portal Masters to combine the powers and magic to sealing him away into the Book of Dark Magic.

#### Descending to Evil

However little did anyone knew, during the fight, Strykore was secretly corrupting Malefor, by imbedding his powers into him through the certain hit spots and scratches that were on him, knowing that he would fail at his goal. The heroes returned victorious, and the Elders had founded them to be world's greatest band of heroes, the Skylanders. However, as time went by, Strykore's corruption on Malefor made him became arrogant and over-confident as his power and knowledge grew far beyond what was expected, as did his lust for power, and he consumed everything.

Fearing his lack of restraint, the Elders banished him to exile. Filled with hatred for his own kind and need for revenge, Malefor abandoned his true calling and embraced the darkness of the Aether element, the signature raw ability of the Purple Dragon. The dark influential powers of the Dark Dragon King began corrupting his physical appearance and altered his voice, but Malefor was able to gain full command over Dark Aether and not let it consume his consciousness.

He took on the title as "the Dark Master" and recruited an army of Apes, teaching them how to artificially harness the power of the gems, which are the lifeforce of all things in the world.

#### The Great War

It wasn't long before the corruption ultimately turned him to evil, seeking more and greater power and waging a war against the entire world, mostly the Skylanders. His actions sent the world spiraling into chaos, ruining the peaceful reputation of the Dragons in the process. With his army established and growing by the day, Malefor built a great fortress upon a mountain, and there he resided, staring out upon the lands with his sheer malice so great, that it split the earth and created a pit of despair, called the Mountain of Malefor, also known as the Well of Souls, by the evil-hearted.

The surviving Skylanders and Portal Masters battled against their former comrade in a magical battle and harnessed the combined powers of all the elements of the world. Eventually, Malefor was defeated by them and the Ancestors confined within the Well of Souls. However, they knew such powerful forces like him could never be destroyed, and while his spirit was imprisoned in the Mountain of Malefor, his essence was trapped in Convexity.

They have kept watch over to this very day, for if they were to be reunited then Dark Master would escape. To help them prevent Malefor's return, the Dragons in different elements founded and declared themselves the Dragon Sages and taught their secret arts in the ancient ways to pure, worthy, young, dragons. He sought to escape the mountain, and while Malefor manipulated a plan to do so, his army was still able to carry out his orders.

## Theme songs

The video games have featured several theme songs for the character. Shadow's themes consisted primarily of the techno and industrial genres often with synched vocals that are barely audible but, have shown an increasing preference towards the hard rock genre in more recent games.

## Etymology

* Malefor may be a variation of the name "Valefar", a Christian demon and Duke of Hell.
* His name might be composed from the Latin noun *malum* (-*i*,*neutrum*) - evil; and Greek *foreo* - i carry; meaning ˝*The carrier of evil*˝, or maybe ˝*The source of evil*˝.
* The Dark Master (or DM) is usually a name given to the main villain in an RPG.
* His Japanese name is translated in Korean as in: **마레후루**. (Malehulu).
* In the Finnish version of the series, Malefor's name is known as: **Ärhämä**.
* Malefor's name translates to Russian as: **"Мальфор"**

## External links

* Malefor *Pure Evil Wiki*
* Malefor *Skylanders Wiki*
* Malefor *Spyro Wiki*
* Malefor *The Legend of Spyro Wiki*
* Malefor *Villains Wiki*

## Notes & Trivia

* Malefor's fearsome appearance is given three long, curved horns which gives him a resemblance to the Sorcerer's dragon form.
* As shown in the Exclusive talent trailer, Mark Hamill's voiceover for Malefor was originally much clearer than the heavily filtered version of his voice in the final version of *Dawn of the Dragon*.
* Malefor claims that Spyro was the one who freed him at the Well of Souls. It is unknown how exactly Spyro unintentionally freed Malefor.
* Malefor may be cleverer than he appears. As parts of his plans turned out to be part of a ruse to trick Spyro in releasing the evil dragon, it may be that the rest from the start all were. It may be that Malefor pretended to send his Apes to kill Spyro, but since the young purple dragon would be the key to free Malefor, this action of assassination was probably itself a ruse to scare his enemies, and that maybe along with Cynder, who would be used to bring Malefor back with all his powers, Spyro's egg would also be stolen as well so he could be corrupted and used to free Malefor after Cynder completed her stage. And despite King Warfang's interference in saving Spyro, the eggs and most of the other Dragon younglings from that fate, the young dragon's part would still be played, as he would be lured to the Mountain of Malefor to save Cynder, and unwittingly free Malefor.
	+ Additionally like many villains, he underestimated his enemies which was his fatal mistake that caused his demise. He tried to make Cynder betray the people she loves, and it seems Malefor was aiming to confuse Spyro and Cynder before their final battle. Both of these plans failed, which then led to having to fight the the two dragons by himself and losing.
* In the movie *Dragons: Destiny of Fire*, there is a dragon called Vildrok that is very similar to Malefor: both want to destroy the world, both are evil dragons and the main antagonists. However, Malefor is despised and far times more evil, bloodthirsty, malevolent, cruel and ruthless than Vildrok.
* The massive statue in the Dragon Temple Dojo training room and the dragon statues within the Well of Souls are both of Malefor. Two more massive statues of Malefor also appear outside the temple of each of the elemental dreamscapes Spyro was taken to regain his elemental breaths in *The Eternal Night*.
* Malefor is one of the dragons in *My Little Skylanders* series who has reptilian pupils. His eyes are also yellow unlike all other known dragons, who have white eyes. This is the result of his corruption under Dark Aether, but he retained full control over his actions and didn't let the dark power consume him yet.
* Worth noting is that Team Spyro, Mane 6, and Cynder didn't actually defeat Malefor themselves since he recovered from their combined Aether attack unscathed. It was only the intervention of the spirits from the days of old that allowed Malefor to be beaten in time to save the world.
* Malefor is presumably the most evil and darkest villain in the *My Little Skylanders* franchise.
* His personalities and actions are similar to Lucifer from *Dante's Inferno*; both have been imprisoned, sought to kill the main protagonist and mention that the hero had freed them.