Malina

* Idle
* Glare
* Cellphone
* Vodka

"Like what... video games? Sure, why not."

**~~~Malina, The Sour Demon**

**Malina** is the fourth demon encountered in *Helltaker*, and the crew's "salty nostalgia gamer" with a love for turn based strategy games. She is referred to as "The Sour Demon".

## Appearance

Like the other demons, Malina has fair skin, red, somewhat baggy eyes, and white hair, styled into a messy bob. Moreover, a pair of short black horns emerge from her hair and a forked tail from near her waist, emphasizing her demonic nature. Her mouth is drawn to imply that she has sharper teeth than the other demons, and it is fixed in a perpetual frown.

Malina wears a red working shirt with sleeves folded just below her elbows, with a black, buttoned, sleeveless vest over it. While working in hell, she wears a black tie on her collar, but she removes it (along with loosening her collar) prior to meeting the Helltaker. She also wears long working pants under a short, black pencil skirt, and three string bracelets on each wrist.

## Personality

Malina fulfills her title as The Sour Demon well, being irritable (especially in the presence of her sister Zdrada). She plays turn based strategy games as her preferred genre, and if Zdrada is to be believed, gets turned on by them. She displays a perpetual frown, as she is almost always in a grumpy mood. She dislikes masochists, such as her sister, which is somewhat ironic due to video gamers often displaying such tendencies when facing difficulty.

Her second-biggest passion in life seems to be alcohol; she has usually appeared along with her current drink. Despite her reputation for drunkenness, only two times had she been visibly drunk in canon, both times when upset. She holds some knowledge in mixing drinks, as seen when she mixes herself a Screwdriver.

She appeared to be lonely in Hell, and thinking about this fact made her feel dejected enough to chug an entire bottle of distilled vodka. Despite her initial dismissive nature of him, she forms a bond with the Helltaker, centered on their mutual interest in gaming. When Azazel showed interest in Heroes of Might and Magic III, the two of them start her on the basics of the game, becoming impressed with her skill.

She held a janitorial job in Hell, keeping the infernal paths clean. She appears to defy the stereotype of the slovenly gamer; on the contrary, she seems to genuinely enjoy the act of cleaning up, having several implements on hand and even threatening to harm those who soil her efforts.

## Encounter

Malina is first encountered in Chapter IV. Encounter starts with:

> *Great, more braindead idiots... Never seen your ugly face before. What are you playing at?*
>
>

The player is given two options to respond with:

1. I'd sure love to play with you.
2. This is delicious. Please insult me more.

After choosing the first option, the player receives a "SUCCESS" prompt and Malina will answer the following:

> *Like what... video games? Sure, why not. As long as you're okay with turn based strategies.*
>
>

After choosing the second answer, Malina will answer the following:

> *Fantastic. Just my luck to find another masochist creep.*
>
>

The player is given a "Bad End" screen, which says "She made a sweeping motion and a fountain of blood exploded from your devastated throat."

### Life Advice

Malina will answer to life advice in Chapter V and VI.

Chapter V

> **Malina:** *What? Never played rhythm based dungeon crawlers, have you? If the rhythm of spikes is not to your liking, just kick some rocks around until it does.*
>
>

> **Cerberus*:*** *This place stinks of smoke. Zdrada must be close by.*
> Ollo
>
>

> **Malina:** *Oh no... Please no...*
>
>

Chapter VI

> **Zdrada:** Don't look at me for puzzle hints. I'm not a nerd. Maybe go kill yourself on some spikes. It'll be amusing.
>
>

> **Malina:** My sister's always like that. I can't believe you invited her...
>
>

> **Zdrada:** Yeah. What were you thinking, man? Glad you invited Malinka, though. She spends too much time, all alone, playing most nerdy video games I've ever seen.
>
>

> **Malina:** Can you please shut up?
>
>

> **Zdrada:** Do you know how turned on she gets while playing them? That one time when she...
>
>

> **Malina:** Kill one of us. Me or her. Please. Fast.
>
>

The player is given two options to respond with:

> 1. \*Kill them both\*
>
>

> 2. \*Kill yourself\*
>
>

If the player picks the first option, Pandemonica will urge Helltaker to leave them be.

If the player picks the second option, Helltaker will follow Zdrada's advice and impales himself on spikes while Pandemonica tries to stop him.

## Trivia

* Malina's name is Polish for "Raspberry", and is a common name in Slavic countries.
* In older concepts, Malina possessed tattoos on her arms, but were scrapped due to Vanripper's inability to "make them consistent".
* She was the first demon to be revealed, seen in the Helltaker prequel comic before the game's release.
	+ According to the comic, she's shown to have obtained copies of *UFO: Enemy Unknown*, *Heroes II* and *Heroes III*, *Disciples: Sacred Lands*, *Lords of Magic*, and an unknown number of games in the *Fire Emblem* series.
		- Of these games, *Heroes III* is shown to be her favorite, to the point where even thinking about the game's mechanics causes her to become aroused.
		- On the inverse, the *Fire Emblem* series is one she has specifically shown distaste for, with her considering it to be "trash", and stating it "drives [her] mad".
* In subsequent comics, she has shown interest in board games, organizing a game of *Gloomhaven* with the harem.

## Gallery

Malina's concept art.Malina's map sprite.Malina in one of the ending CGs.Malina in one of the ending CGs.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/vanripperart/status/1258371372373377024
2. ↑ https://twitter.com/vanripperart/status/1448614143204986880/photo/1
3. ↑ https://twitter.com/vanripperart/status/1449049099312025601/photo/1
4. ↑ https://twitter.com/i/events/1257962875831947264
5. ↑ https://twitter.com/vanripperart/status/1297881484272050178