# Malal the renegade 5th Chaos Power



## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Apparently at one point in time, Malal existed as the fifth Chaos Power and let's assume he was kept in before the IP infringement nonsense came about. Here's some copy pasta information from another forum:

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Malal is the renegade 5th Chaos Power in early editions of the fictional universes of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000

In the storyline, both for Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, Malal was exiled from the rest of the Chaos powers, but whether this was a self-imposed exile is not clear. Regardless of the reason, Malal lives only to destroy the other powers and their followers in the name of revenge. Also known as "The Outcast Power", "The Lost Power" and "The Renegade Power", Malal represents Chaos' indiscriminate tendency toward destruction, even of itself. The nature of Malal's powers are parasitic, as the Renegade Power grows in power when the others do. The power's sacred number is 11, while his symbol is a skull bisected down the middle, one half white, one half black. Malal is the power that the lower classes turn to to avenge themselves on the higher classes who attempt to strangle and stop them from their true glory. He is also the power of those who have been wronged, but lack the power to correct this. His followers come from people whose hatred of Chaos becomes so strong, that they willingly bond with Chaos to fight it at its own level.

Malal is described as being both wolf-like and crocodilian in appearance, yet still holding a humanoid form. Said to have 6 fingers on each hand, and 3 eyes on his head, Malal is also said to have sets of teeth that resemble lions, sharks, cows, and rats.

The concept of the 5th Chaos power "Malal" was created by comic artists Wagner and Grant along with the creation of Malal's champion for the Warhammer Fantasy world, Kaleb Daark, in the Citadel Miniatures Journals for Spring 1986 and 1987. In the comics, Kaleb Daark would destroy the followers of the other 4 Chaos powers (Nurgle, Tzeentch, Khorne, and Slaanesh) with his daemon axe "Dreadaxe" that had the axe head of what resembled a shark, and a shaft of bone. The animate axe, a gift from Malal, experienced hunger and would feed on the souls of the victims of its edge. The Battle cry of Kaleb Daark was "Dreadaxe thirsts for you!".

Use of Malal in further Games Workshop productions was halted, as Games Workshop did not own the intellectual property to the concept of Malal - the comic's authors did.

The memory of Malal did not die with the ability for Games Workshop to use it. The idea of Malal is continued on by veterans of the Warhammer scene primarily through the internet via BBS (bulletin board system) and stories (such as "Divine Judgment") so Malal continues to survive, occasionally becoming the choice deity of veteran players playing Chaos. Because of Games Workshops' inability to legally use the power in their Games' storyline, Malal is surrounded by a cloud of unanswerable questions that may very well be the cause of his continued existence.

The term "Doomed Ones" also go along with Malal, although there is uncertainty how exactly. Doomed Ones are often thought to be the chosen human champions of Malal, however in the old Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness rulebook the Doomed Ones were the daemonic entities of Malal and are described as "bipedal lizard daemons that stand almost a head taller than a human" and had "soulblades" which were "forged from the soul of burning hatred taken from a Witchhunter that died fighting a Daemon". It is widely thought, however, that Malal has no daemons of his own.

In Games Workshop's Chaos Space Marine Codex, a number of references were made that many feel to be an attempt by Games Workshop to legally bring back the idea of Malal, or to remind players that perhaps the company has not forgotten about the Outcast Power. The two widely recognized references were the appearance of a daemon weapon you could give to your leaders called a "Dreadaxe", explained further in the caption that it was used to kill other daemonic entities.

The other reference was to a picture towards the back of the codex, showing other possible painting schemes for the models. One of the examples was a group entitled the "Sons of Malice". What caught many people's attention was that the colors used were the bisecting black/white design of Malal's symbol, and how Malice was just a short jump to Malal. More on the Sons of Malice was in Games Workshop monthly publication White Dwarf, specifically White Dwarf 303. In it the Sons of Malice were supposedly prone to fighting in complete silence, and were excommunicated for a set of disgusting rituals that were reported close to cannibalism. This article did nothing to stem the questions about the connection between Malal and the Sons of Malice. At the very end of a passage, it was mentioned that the Sons of Malice also fight against other followers of Chaos frequently; also whoever the ritual was done in the name of in the story was never revealed.

In Warhammer Fantasy some speculate that Be'Lakor, the Dark Master, the Greater Daemon of Chaos Undivided, who was introduced in the Storm of Chaos campaign is Games Workshop's attempt to bring back the idea of Malal to the Fantasy game. Be'Lakor was first introduced in Games Workshop's Mordheim line (set some five hundred years before the more recent events in the Warhammer game) as the enigmatic "Shadowlord", before his history was elaborated upon over the course of the Albion and Storm of Chaos worldwide campaigns.

Malal is not the only version of an additional Chaos power, at least in the fantasy world of Warhammer. In The Enemy Within campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Something Rotten in Kislev, Zuvassin the Great Undoer and Necoho the Doubter were introduced as two renegade Chaos deities - but not specifically as number five and six. Also, the Chaos Dwarf power, Hashut the Farther of Darkness, is said to be a creature that fled from the powers of Chaos. Games Workshop wrote more than once that there are more than four Chaos Powers and that a continuity of power existed from mundane daemons to greater ones up to the Power status. Numbering of Chaos Powers has yet to be agreed upon by scholars.


_http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/63141.page_

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And a theory by another poster in regards to perhaps a Ctan becoming this fifth power:

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Part 1:

Malal hates the other Chaos Powers.

Malal is the embodiment of true Chaos and self-destruction.

Malal would do anything to destroy the 4 great Chaos Powers, even if it mean destroying himself.



Part 2:

The Chaos Powers are pure warp entities.

The warp is the antithesis of the C'tan.

The C'tan plan to seal away the warp as part of their "Great Work".

The C'tan have the ability and desire to destroy the Chaos Powers and/or seal them away from the material universe by completing their "Great Work".



Part 3:

The Void Dragon is the greatest C'tan.

The Void Dragon is *possibly* entombed on Mars.

If released from stasis, the Void Dragon has the greatest chance of completing the "Great Work".



Part 4:

The Cult of the Dragon within the Adeptus Mechanicus worships the Void Dragon as the Machine Power.

The Adeptus Mechanicus rule Mars.

If the Void Dragon is indeed entombed on Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus would be the ones most likely able to free it.



Part 5:

The seal of the Adeptus Mechanicus is a skull bisected. One half black, one half white.

The seal of Malal is a skull bisected. One half black, one half white.

The Adeptus Mechanicus does not worship the Emperor as a Power, but instead bows it's head to the Machine Power.

Malal has a great influence on the Adeptus Mechanicus, possibly as the Machine Power himself.

In a great plan to destroy his rival Chaos Powers, Malal has set himself up as either the Machine Power himself, or as the head of the Adeptus Mechanicus on Mars. His objective is to release the Void Dragon so that it might complete the C'tan's "Great Work" and bring about the fall/banishment of the other Chaos Powers, his most hated rivals. If Malal himself is destroyed in the process, so be it. True Chaos thrives on self-destruction.


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Do you guys agree with the theory of the Void Dragon being Malal, the fifth power?

Do you guys think a fifth power should be introduced more solidly? 

It's very interesting in that Malal focuses on self destruction to Chaos in general, *a much needed aspect* in my opinion seeing as how the way Chaos is set up, they're too powerful and thus that seemingly unlimited power serves as a weak plot device in my opinion. It's not fun when a predator has no predator above it.








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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

I disagree with the hypothesis. This statement in particular seems to be too great a leap of logic:


> Malal has a great influence on the Adeptus Mechanicus, possibly as the Machine God himself.


The Chaos Gods and the C'tan are anathema to each other. There is no plausible way that a C'tan could exist in the Immaterium--remember, during the War in Heaven, the main, most effective weapon that the Old Ones/Eldar Gods had against the C'tan was shooting raw warp-stuff at them (see: the Talismans of Vaul). Just as it would be impossible for a Chaos God to manifest in reality, it would be impossible for a C'tan to exist in the warp--and be able to grant daemon-weapons, to boot.

I doubt that the AdMech symbol--the most compelling piece of solid "evidence" that you possess--is anything more than coincidence. Without it, there is virtually no basis for linking the two whatsoever. It is possible, perhaps, that the deity Malal wishes to free the Void Dragon, but the AdMech show no aspects of worship of Malal, apart from their icon, which is hardly conclusive. Why, then, don't the worshippers of Malal have a contingent of Dark Mechanicus clustered to them, and highly advanced weaponry? Why don't the AdMech show any particular signs of hatred of Chaos? They don't nearly match the Ecclesiarchy for zealous anti-warp god fervor.

As I see it, the AdMech are divided between those who believe the Omnissiah to be the Emperor (a viewpoint which qualifies the Admech as a whole for "membership" in the Imperium), as a separate, omniscient being, or the Void Dragon. Malal only that one most tenuous link to them.

And, additionally, how can the background within _Mechanicum_ reconcile with this theory? The Void Dragon is explored in rather certain terms there, and 

is imprisoned within Mars, if we take the book as canon.


Not to piss on your parade or anything, but your arguments have failed to sway me. It is an interesting concept, though.

ALSO, as a fellow fan of Malal myself, I have to nudge you in the direction of the very recent BL anthology _The Heroes of the Space Marines_. One of the stories contained within is about the Sons of Malice and the worship of their patron, the rogue daemonic power "Malice", and, rather excitingly, a certain ritual...


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## Necrosis (Nov 1, 2008)

Their is another theory about Malal. It is rumored he help create the Ordo Mallues. Their are some striking resemblance between the two. First their is the name Malal and Mallues. Also the Ordo Malllues may task is to fight chaos which it excels at. Their are some other connections which at this moment I cannot recall.


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

What is the source for this rumor? I've never heard of it before...

And "Malleus" is High Gothic/Latin for "Hammer".

Please, expound upon this--I am sure that the Grey Knights would be unhappy with any Malalite Inquisitors...

Oh, and Malus--I rather enjoy the marginalized version of Malal, actually, with it being nothing more than a Lesser God, of sorts. It opens up all sorts of windows of opportunity. Besides, Chaos is already divisive and self-conflicting enough that their "unstoppable invincibility" is...really not all that. Malal as a facet of that aspect is cool; Malal as, officially, one of the Greater Gods, would only detract from Chaos as a whole, in my mind.


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## LordLucan (Dec 9, 2009)

Interesting theory. However, the Sons of malice worship the renegade chaos power known as Malice,a being which they summon into reality in one of the BL short story collections.

Malice is 40K's re-tooling of Malal, to fit into the mythos where Malal once was. I doubt the fifth chaos power is actually a C'tan, and hence not a chaos power at all.

EDIT: mossy already said this. Dang too slow...


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

The theory would be a perfect match except for the bit about ctan not being able to cope with the warp.

I think that of all the ctans this theory could have pertained to, it being about the void dragon is interesting.

I think the void dragon, being trapped on mars and worshiped as a symbol of technology would indicate that it knows of a way to merge itself with the warp or just the potential to do so.

And I disagree with you Mossy about malal detracting from what chaos is about, I think Malal is the most purest form of chaos, for he is all about self destruction which in a way is what anarchy which in turn causes chaos, is all about, imploding from within to create something new or in this case just the end of chaos.


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## LordLucan (Dec 9, 2009)

Well, I believe Malal is also all the chaos gods. Since chaos can be seen as a single entity, it would be an entity based upon the great game: the constant war against one's self.

In that way, Malal is both the greatest, and most minor, of the gods.

As for the Tech priests. Well, most of them worship the machine god. The machine god has various different potential origins. It might be simply a C'tan, it could be the emperor, it could be an actual warp entity itself, it could be the embodiment of all knowledge (which mechanicum claims can be accessed via the warp).

Malal could easily weasel its way into the theology of the Mechanicus... ;D


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

I wish that Malal was still in 40k and Fantasy. He was a great addition to Chaos, shame that his creators are too selfish to share him. This is the only info on Malal in 40k, a chapter that worships him.



Lexicanum/Sons of Malice said:


> Their Chapter Master is Kathal, who is now over 1000 years old. Every century the chapter returns to the Labyrinth, an old and scarred ship that has become the Chapter's holy ground and meeting place since the loss of their homeworld. Every warband attends at the correct time, regardless of their current status or who they are fighting. Slaves from every race encountered are then brought to the Labyrinth; each battle brother then retreats to a cell, where they eat the slave assigned to them alive. Every century, some Sons of Malice set off into the halls of the Labyrinth to compete for a place amongst the legendary Doomed Ones. Only one can make it to the end and escape; the rest will either die, or be transformed into the beasts that inhabit the ship as the Warp corrupts it. This challenge took place eleven times, eleven being Malal's sacred number, with each victor's body being stored in a casket until the final champion arose. The eleventh champion was Brother Invictus who, along with the other ten champions, was sacrificed so that Malal could appear and the Sons of Malice could begin their crusade to retake their homeworld.


The Sons of Malice had it very rough, they were only declared traitors because they defended themselves from destruction by the Sisters of Battle. And that was because some stupid Inquisitor did not know that some Space marines perform cannibalism in their battle and celebration rituals. So she calls in the sisters to destroy the "heretics". The Sons crushed the sisters and sacrificed the Inquisitor which she deserved yet the Imperium called them traitors, they fled and turned to Malal.


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## Cruor99 (Mar 11, 2009)

LordLucan said:


> Well, I believe Malal is also all the chaos gods. Since chaos can be seen as a single entity, it would be an entity based upon the great game: the constant war against one's self.
> 
> In that way, Malal is both the greatest, and most minor, of the gods.


That actually makes a lot of sense.

Chaos that despises and fights Chaos is.. Chaos!


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## darkreever (Apr 3, 2008)

Lord of the Night said:


> And that was because some stupid Inquisitor did not know that some Space marines perform cannibalism in their battle and celebration rituals. So she calls in the sisters to destroy the "heretics". The Sons crushed the sisters and sacrificed the Inquisitor which she deserved yet the Imperium called them traitors, they fled and turned to Malal.


Its not that some inquisitor did not know that some chapters practice cannibalism, its that the act is supposed to be hidden and the codex astartes that the chapters are supposed to abide by forbids such base acts. So to see such an act willingly done out in the open, something that the forces of chaos do without pause or care, yeah its pretty easy to see why someone would get that idea.

Many puritans would have seen that as a form of taint and acted accordingly, the Sons of Malice were idiots for letting an outsider see it.


That they sacrificed an inquisitor over a misunderstanding should be an indication of just how much of a 'misunderstanding' it actually was. They willingly killed an agent of the Emperor, someone who bears His will and whatnot.


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

darkreever said:


> Its not that some inquisitor did not know that some chapters practice cannibalism, its that the act is supposed to be hidden and the codex astartes that the chapters are supposed to abide by forbids such base acts. So to see such an act willingly done out in the open, something that the forces of chaos do without pause or care, yeah its pretty easy to see why someone would get that idea.
> 
> Many puritans would have seen that as a form of taint and acted accordingly, the Sons of Malice were idiots for letting an outsider see it.
> 
> ...


But Cannibalism is a common thing among many Sm chapters. Blood angels, Flesh Tearers, Soul Drinkers before they turned renegade all practice some form of cannibalism or blood drinking in their rituals. It's fairly common and I'm sure it's something the Inquisition would have full knowledge of.
Other than that I love Malal and it's about time he made a return:scare:


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## Cruor99 (Mar 11, 2009)

normtheunsavoury said:


> But Cannibalism is a common thing among many Sm chapters. Blood angels, Flesh Tearers, Soul Drinkers before they turned renegade all practice some form of cannibalism or blood drinking in their rituals. It's fairly common and I'm sure it's something the Inquisition would have full knowledge of.
> Other than that I love Malal and it's about time he made a return:scare:


I think you have something wrong here, mate. The blood angels are by far the most loyal legion. The Flesh Tearers are their successors and, albeit, a little more wily (see the rumours of the new Codex) they are still very much loyal to Big E. Soul Drinkers are renegade, though. So 1\3 isn't bad 


And as far as I remember, only the world eaters openly practiced blood rituals, yes? I am aware of the organ allowing Space Marines to posess the memories of the flesh of their victims, but I was under the impression that the organ in question was one of the multitudes that were getting phased out or failing?


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## LordLucan (Dec 9, 2009)

Evidently, the Sons of Malice's rituals were particularly foul/heretical. We don't know exactly what their rituals entailed. However, it was enough to freak out the Inquisitor (who they subsequently killed).

The Sons are still villains, even if their persecution was a little harsh.


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

Cruor99 said:


> I think you have something wrong here, mate. The blood angels are by far the most loyal legion. The Flesh Tearers are their successors and, albeit, a little more wily (see the rumours of the new Codex) they are still very much loyal to Big E. Soul Drinkers are renegade, though. So 13 isn't bad
> 
> 
> And as far as I remember, only the world eaters openly practiced blood rituals, yes? I am aware of the organ allowing Space Marines to posess the memories of the flesh of their victims, but I was under the impression that the organ in question was one of the multitudes that were getting phased out or failing?


You seem to be the one who is a little confused, I didn't say anything about the Blood Angels loyalty, just that they practice blood drinking among their rituals. Which adds to the point that the Sons Of Malice practicing cannibalism isn't such an outlandish idea as has been put forward.
As for the Flesh Tearers, I'd love to see them try and explain their name away to an Inquisitor.
"So, um, why exactly are you called the Flesh Tearers?"
"Funny you should ask, you see it's all a big misunderstanding really, we, er, well, um...."
"Could you not point th..."
BANG, ba-ba-bang bang bang!
"Why did you do that?"
"Hungry!"


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