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| “ | I'm coming to collect what is owed, and I'm bringing your worst nightmares with me. You and the mortal are both going to pay... with interest. | ” |
– Malak | ||
Malak, also known as Lord Malak, is a malevolent and powerful demon and the main antagonist of Dark Deception. He is the owner of the Riddle of Heaven, the ruler of each of the game's nightmares, and a recurring threat in levels from Chapter 2 onward.
Appearance[]
Humanoid[]
In his humanoid form, Malak very closely resembles a human of a slim, tall build. He is always seen dressed in formal attire, wearing a black business tuxedo with a red tie, slim black undershirt, long striped trousers, and polished shoes. His hands both have three sharp claws for fingers, with black skin. His head resembles that of a typical demon, with red skin, hollowed-out eyes, jagged teeth, pointed ears, and curved horns.
Phantom[]
In his phantom form, Malak dons a large black cloak with torn edges and long sleeves. His lower body is also absent, ending at his overcoat. He now possesses more dark and jagged skin, glowing orange eyes and mouth, and slim, cone-shaped horns. His hands also now have four fingers instead of three.
Biography[]
Meeting Bierce[]
For an unknown quantity of time, Malak has made bargains with individuals who contacted him, offering them any gift they sought in exchange for their soul. A human sacrifice was also required, as well as an incantation.
In the early twentieth century, a woman named Helen Bierce was told stories of Malak's exchanges by a man named Victor. While initially disbelieved by his stories, Bierce was eventually convinced over the course of a few months. Desperate for fame and recognition in the film industry, she began a summoning ritual, first by kidnapping a young girl and slitting her throat as a sacrifice. After successfully uttering the incantation, Bierce called out to Malak, to which he replied back. Malak listened to her plea and offered her the wish she desired in exchange for her soul.
Riddle of Heaven[]
Malak's powers stem from an enchanted ring known as the Riddle of Heaven, which could bestow dark magic to its users. As a method of safeguarding it, Malak fragmented the ring into nine pieces, each piece being guarded in separate realms by his servants.
Throughout a period of time, hundreds, if not thousands of individuals sought to obtain the ring pieces, most appointed by Bierce after her soul was forfeited, but none have prevailed. The appearances of each realm, as well as the servants guarding them, were inspired by the nightmares and phobias of each victim.
Malak would forge soul shards out of the remnants of each victim, trapping their spirits in his realms. These shards would then serve as keys to the barrier guarding each ring piece. Some granted its users temporary abilities, such as stunning and enemy revealing abilities.
Meeting Doug Houser[]
Doug Houser, an individual seeking redemption for his sinful past, became the first participant to have successfully obtained Malak's ring pieces under Bierce's command, allowing him to obtain a new power each time. As the power of the ring pieces were responsible for sustaining each nightmare, each time Doug would escape, the entire realm would collapse before him, further enraging Malak.
Malak would confront Doug physically within his nightmares, transforming into a phantom in an attempt to kill him after obtaining each realm's soul shards. To prevent him from escaping, he resorted to unleashing more powerful servants to hunt him down, including his loyal pet. Despite this, Doug manages to strategically defeat or escape them, much to his chagrin.
Behavior[]
Starting from "Elementary Evil", Malak will appear in every nightmare Doug explores, typically engaging him later on in the level alongside its respective enemies.
After collecting all of the soul shards or obtaining the ring piece, Malak will immediately appear and chase Doug, indicated by cackling and jeering dialogue. During his chase, Malak will constantly levitate towards Doug, never stopping or halting by any means. He is always aware of his exact location, meaning Doug must constantly move in order to evade him. When Malak is close by, he will make a distinct breathing noise.
Unlike other enemies, Malak is completely immune to stun shards, reveal shards, and Primal Fear. Telepathy, however, is still effective against him(although this may be an oversight yet to be fixed), as well as Speed Boost and Teleportation. While Malak can synergize with most other enemies throughout the levels, he demonstrates no unique abilities of his own, making him more of a trivial threat.
Ballroom[]
After completing "Monkey Business", Malak will spy on Doug and Bierce between each level through an eye embedded in the doorway. Approaching the eye will result in cocky dialogue from Malak. As the player progresses through the game, Malak will attempt to block the level entrances through various means, which can only be bypassed with the use of his acquired powers.
After most levels, Malak and Bierce will engage in dialogue, with Doug being the unseen third party of the conversations. Malak will repeatedly that claim Bierce is deceiving Doug and expresses his growing vexation in their successes.
Monkey Business[]
While physically absent in the level itself, Malak's voice can be heard after collecting the ring piece. After becoming aware of Doug's presence, Malak taunts him as he escapes.
Elementary Evil[]
Malak makes his first physical encounter with Doug in the second level of the game, where he is referred to as "daddy" by Agatha.
As Doug is traveling to the southern region of the school, Malak can be seen strolling across a balcony, peering down at him and laughing before vanishing. After the ring piece is obtained, Malak appears beyond a doorway and confronts Doug, threatening to kill him. He then transforms into his phantom form and gives chase, bargaining with him for the ring piece under the promise of a swift death.
Malak will chase Doug through the first region of the school until he reaches the auditorium, phasing through any closed doorways in his way. Agatha will also join him if one of her fake portals are activated.
Deadly Decadence[]
Malak is first seen watching over the player on a balcony upon entering the manor. Similar to the previous level, Malak will then laugh and disappear.
After collecting all of the soul shards, Malak will spawn in the manor's lobby and pursue Doug through the corridors. After collecting the ring piece, all enemies in the manor will disappear, including Malak.
Upon returning to the main courtyard, Malak will appear alongside a horde of Gold Watchers, chasing Doug alongside them as he races back to the portal. Upon returning to the entrance, Malak will appear once again, alongside a blockade of Gold Watchers in front of the portal.
Upon returning to Bierce's Ballroom, Malak offers another warning to Doug, insisting that he will suffer consequences if they were to bring Bierce all of the ring pieces. Bierce sarcastically objects to this by reminding him of his ruthless and vindictive persona, and how his reputation made him untrustworthy.
Stranger Sewers[]
After collecting the last soul shard, Malak will appear nearby and chase Doug until they obtain the ring piece from the ring altar.
Once the ring piece is collected, a cutscene will play where Malak commends Doug's resilience and tenacity. He then states that he also has a loyal pet, and opens a giant gate behind him, revealing Doom Ducky. He then taunts Bierce, who is watching through Doug's eyes, and leaves Doug to contend with the creature.
After Doug escapes the chamber and starts making his way back to the portal, Malak calls out to him in a baleful manner, shortly before Doom Ducky crashes through the wall and pursues him through the corridors.
Once Doug returns to Bierce's ballroom, Malak continues to express his frustration towards Doug, and responds to Bierce's criticism by mentioning the last person who trusted her, referring to the last owner of Doug's tablet. Displeased, Bierce merely turns around and sighs.
Crazy Carnevil[]
After collecting the last soul shard, Malak appears and chases Doug through the funhouse, disappearing as soon as he reaches the ring altar tent.
When Doug attempts to leave the carousel region, Malak confronts him once again, promising a burdensome experience. Malak then summons the four Goliath Clowns, and mockingly asks him to keep them laughing while he dies.
After Doug defeats the Goliath Clowns, a distraught Malak declares he will makes his suffering eternal. Malak pursues him once again until Doug reaches the portal.
After returning to Bierce's ballroom, Malak gives another tirade towards Bierce and Doug, promising to bring upon Doug's worst nightmares and invade Bierce's pocket dimension to reclaim his ring pieces.
Torment Therapy[]
TBA
Mascot Mayhem[]
TBA
Bearly Buried[]
TBA
Abilities[]
Shape-shift[]
First seen in Elementary Evil, Malak is able to transform into a humanoid figure and later a ghastly phantom while in pursuit of Doug, this displays his power to morph into other beings by will.
Levitation[]
It is unknown whether Malak has the ability to fly, but when he spawns in most levels, Malak chases Doug in his Phantom form while floating in midair instead of on foot, showing his power to levitate.
Intangibility[]
In Malak's Phantom form, it seems his physical body does not obey the laws of physics, allowing him to phase through doors with ease. This is currently limited to these elements. However, he can't phase through speed barriers.
Teleportation[]
Malak displays this ability at every level, allowing him to vanish and presumably travel to certain points of interest in an instant.
(As of now, this is only used during story purposes, as he never utilizes this ability while in active pursuit.)
Divinity (possibly)[]
Unlike other monsters in the nightmares, Malak seems to be a superior being compared to them, with some of them even addressing his superiority over them (for instance, Agatha calling him "Daddy", the Reaper Nurses calling him "Lord Malak", and the Doom Ducky killing the player for him).
Perhaps because of his demonic attributes, Malak is also completely immune to the reveal and stun effects of special shards within the nightmares, which are on the other hand significantly effective against normal enemies. He is also immune to the stun effects of Primal Fear, but can still be revealed by Telepathy
Trivia[]
- When Malak kills the player, the words "Come here!" can be heard.
- The voice actor of Malak, Christopher Corey Smith, also voices over the Gold Watchers, Clown Gremlins, and Goliath Clowns.
- Originally, Malak was meant to have a slit eye when on the door. This can be seen in the 2015 Alpha demo of the game, though his eye doesn't move to look at the player.
- In Glowstick Entertainment's first Devlog, Malak can be seen chasing the protagonist through a burning Ballroom, leading some to speculate, that he might be the final boss after beating all the levels.
- As Malak is implied to be a demon, it suggests the realm which houses Bierce's Ballroom is in some form of purgatory, and Malak's power cannot harm the ones within as Bierce explains after "Monkey Business". However, since Malak can move freely, shape-shift, and perform various abilities like teleportation while in the nightmares, one may assume those nightmares are indeed a part of hell, in which Malak can fully unleash his demonic capabilities.
- Malak may represent Daemonophobia (fear of demons). One may assume that he may even represent Satan.
- However, as Malak is not a subject of the player's nightmares, this is probably false.
- His name means "angel" in Arabic (ملاك), perhaps hinting that he´s not the true villain of the game.
- It could also allude to him being a fallen angel, thus explaining his demonic persona.
- Malak is also somewhat of a different spelling for Moloch, the Canaanite god for child-sacrifice, which may also allude to some details from the story of Dark Deception as a whole.
- It may have been changed to include "mal", which is Latin, meaning "bad" or "evil."
- In the second level of the alpha version of the game, there is a poster that reads "Lord Ereshkigal sees all", and a picture of a demon. This likely indicates that Malak's original name was Ereshkigal.
- In the 7th Q&A video, Vince confirmed that Malak's original name was Ereshkigal.
- Ereshkigal was the Goddess of the Underworld in Sumerian mythology.
- In the 7th Q&A video, Vince confirmed that Malak's original name was Ereshkigal.
- Malak is currently the only enemy in the game whose speed is unaffected by difficulty modes.
- The only other enemy to not have their speed change is the Clown Car (but their behavior changes).
- It is confirmed that Malak will be in the Dark Deception crossover games.
- Currently, Malak, the Murder Monkeys, and Agatha are the only enemies to have a dark background when killing the player. Vince Livings explained in the "Meet the Dark Deception Team" video that the reason for that was to prevent bugs from happening.
- Malak's eye decoration in Crazy Carnevil is of his Door Form from the alpha, not the current version.
- Judging by the upcoming voicelines of Bierce and Malak, it's speculated that he will make his presence in Bierce's Ballroom at some point during Chapter 4.
- Based on the test that was shown with Malak chasing the player in the ballroom, makes this theory more likely to happen.
- As confirmed by Vince Livings in the fourth Q&A video, his biggest inspiration for creating Malak was G-Man from the Half-Life franchise.
- Glowstick Entertainment posted a new teaser of Malak standing with fire in the background, complete with the quote: "Some men just want to watch the world burn."
- The quote itself is a reference to The Dark Knight film, from the scene where Alfred Pennyworth describes what kind of person the Joker is.
 "Are you not aware that she offers only lies?" This article contains information on a subject that isn't considered canon in Dark Deception franchise.
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Malak returns as both a playable monster and portal box hazard in the Monsters & Mortals multiplayer game. His character class is Power, and his ultimate ability is "Eye of Suffering". His light attack deals 40 damage, his heavy attack deals 80 damage, and his beam deals 40 damage approximately every 0.1 seconds. His HP is 360.
Trivia[]
- His Eye of Suffering ability may be a reference to the Brimstone item from The Binding of Isaac.
- Currently, Malak is the only character in Monsters & Mortals to be a both a playable monster (in his formal form) and a hostile NPC (in his phantom form) who is summoned through the Portal Boxes.
Phantom Malak (referred to as Malak Phantom in-game) is a hostile non-playable character in Monsters & Mortals. Unlike in Dark Deception, Phantom Malak exists independently of Malak's humanoid form.
Gameplay[]
In any mode, Phantom Malak can be summoned if a player receives his respective item from a portal box. Once summoned, Phantom Malak will quickly pursue and attack any nearby player for 45 seconds, regardless if they summoned him or not. Like all bosses, Phantom Malak is immune to all damage, and is unaffected by most portal box items. He deals 50 damage per hit.
In Soul Collection mode, Malak will be summoned at the end of each wave, quickly pursuing the player with the least amount of soul shards. Upon reaching them, Phantom Malak will instantly kill them, transforming them into a Murder Monkey before disappearing. If the targeted player tries to escape him, they will die regardless.
Trivia[]
- Currently, Malak is the only character in Monsters & Mortals to be a both a playable monster (in his formal form) and a hostile NPC (in his phantom form) who is summoned through the Portal Boxes.
