Malek

"The pleasures of the flesh are no longer yours. You have but one purpose, damned one; you will serve us for eternity."

- Mortanius

Malek the Paladin is a recurring character who serves as an antagonist in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and returns in a minor capacity in Soul Reaver 2. He was the human Guardian of the Pillar of Conflict, and became the leader of the Sarafan, founded to cull Nosgoth's vampire population. Malek led the warrior inquisitors, including Raziel and Turel, in their fanatical vampire purge, while sponsored by his peers in the Circle of Nine.

After his defeat at the hands of Vorador, during the slaughter of the Circle, Malek was held personally responsible for the catastrophe by the remaining Circle members, and his soul was subsequently fused to a suit of armor by Mortanius. Forced to serve as the unliving Ward of the Circle, Malek's wraith met his demise prior to the collapse of the Pillars; he engaged in combat with Vorador once again at Dark Eden, who permanently laid him to rest.

The Wrath of the Righteous
"Malek – defender of the Nine and last of the Sarafan sorcerer-priests. His vanity led to the slaughter of the Circle at the hands of the vampire Vorador. For his failing, his spirit was fused to a hellish set of magical armor. He has allowed no member of the Circle to fall since."

- Moebius



As the Conflict Guardian, Malek was born and summoned to serve the Pillars of Nosgoth upon the death of his immediate predecessor. Charged with defending his fellow Circle members, he "vowed allegiance to their protection".

In Nosgoth's early history, when the land's vampire population rose sufficiently enough to attract the Circle's attention, the Guardians instated a monastic order of warrior-priests, the Sarafan, to combat their menace, and Malek – having hunted vampires "for hundreds of years" – came to be the brotherhood's leader. The direction of the "righteous paladin" resulted in many victories during the vampire purge.

Malek commanded the elite warrior inquisitors Raziel, Turel, Dumah, Melchiah, Rahab, and Zephon. He himself became "known as a ruthless and cold blooded murderer by enemy generals and, particularly, by the vampires who he and his Sarafan cohorts hunted relentlessly". His devout fanaticism would ironically spell his demise; the vampire Vorador, enraged at the murder of his kindred, stormed the Sarafan Stronghold, and slew six of the Guardians who sponsored the genocide of his people. They screamed for Malek, but to no avail, and when Malek finally arrived, he was handily defeated; Vorador spared the "pathetic little shepherd", leaving him to a worse fate.

Mortanius, the Death Guardian, soon formally punished Malek's "inaction" by fusing his soul to the metal of his armor. Purged of his life and freedom, and condemned to forever serve the Circle as a wraith, Malek grew ever-increasingly obsessed with destroying Vorador: his hate was "entirely focused on exacting revenge upon the vampire that caused him to be damned for eternity".

Having lost the trust of the remaining Guardians, Malek wished only to "find a way to recover his lost humanity". He resided in an isolated fortress perched atop a high peak in northern Nosgoth, which was dubbed Malek's Bastion, and reportedly "allowed no member of the Circle to fall".

An Eternity of Suffering


By the Blood Omen era, five centuries after Vorador's attack, Malek was recognized as the last of the Sarafan. Utilizing mechanisms within his Bastion, he welded the souls of other long-dead soldiers to suits of armor akin to his own. His home, situated in "a land so harsh and utterly devoid of life", was, fittingly, characterized by its inhospitable nature to vampires; it housed only Malek's Warriors and innumerable traps, blanketed by driven snow which burned his adversaries' flesh.

Kain first encountered Malek in Nupraptor's Retreat, when he set out to destroy the Circle members infected by the corruption of the Pillars. Malek blocked his path on his approach to the Mind Guardian, Nupraptor. "The Ward was sworn to defend the members of the Circle, and so if one of the Circle was threatened, Malek would appear to protect them". Nupraptor, however, invited his own death, and rejected Malek's services to fight Kain alone.

Despite this stroke of good fortune, Kain understood the long-term threat that Malek, the Circle's "shepherd", posed to his quest, and – heeding the counsel of his ally, the specter of the Balance Guardian Ariel – prioritized the Conflict Guardian as his next target.

Flying to the Bastion, Kain battled his way through the animated Sarafan wraiths, disregarding Malek's taunts, and he eventually disabled the machines that spawned the minions. Before confronting the Paladin, Kain stumbled upon a frozen skeleton seated on a throne; Malek claimed it was his own, but remarked that he was far more interested in seeing Kain's death.

The two engaged in a fierce skirmish; Kain held his own, but could not afflict any lasting damage on his foe. In the midst of their stalemate, the deranged Ward grew frustrated with the impasse, and attempted to bring the entire Bastion down with a mighty wall of destructive energy, thus compelling Kain's retreat. Realizing he could not defeat Malek through conventional methods, Kain sought out the famed Oracle of Nosgoth – who was, unbeknownst to Kain, the Time Guardian, Moebius the Time Streamer – at Ariel's suggestion.

The Slayer of Vampires
"Never! I'll hack you from crotch to gizzard and feed what's left to your brides..."

- Malek



In response to Kain's demand for advice, Moebius explained Malek's backstory, saying that "his vanity led to the slaughter of the Circle at the hands of the vampire Vorador". He directed Kain to seek out Vorador in the Termogent Forest, and Kain complied, finding Vorador's Mansion. Vorador welcomed his fellow vampire, and "the decadent old fool prattled on about his past; a boorish account of how he defeated Malek of the Sarafan". He gave Kain his Signet Ring, with which Kain could summon him if in need.

Kain promptly traveled to Dark Eden, where the corrupt Guardians Anarcrothe, Bane, and DeJoule reigned. When he cornered them in the Dark Eden Castle, Anarcrothe panicked, and summoned Malek to his aid before teleporting away to safety. In response, Kain summoned Vorador to hold off the Ward, and pursued Bane and DeJoule.

Enraged at the sight of his archenemy, and eager for vengeance, Malek neglected his quarry to confront Vorador. They goaded each another, and engaged in a fight to the death. Though the wraith proved more formidable this time, he was still no match for the vampire. When Kain returned, after slaying Bane and DeJoule, he found only the scattered remnants of Malek's armor – "Vorador had finally laid his old adversary to rest". Kain took Malek's Helmet, his Pillar token, and used it to restore the Pillar of Conflict.

Two final reminders of Malek appeared during Kain's quest. In the Hell realm, Kain chanced upon another incarnation of Malek's corpse – the skeleton left behind when Mortanius fused his soul to his armor. In Avernus Cathedral, he saw "a memory, etched in stained glass" – a mural of Malek's original duel against Vorador.

Shadows of My Skill
"Malek, the great Sarafan warrior. I had met him before. His sword and shield seemed to have gone astray."

- Kain



In the Soul Reaver era, the Pillars of Nosgoth had collapsed, with the majority of the land under the control of Kain and the Council. Raziel, the first of these vampire lieutenants, was executed by Kain, and revived to exact vengeance upon his brethren and master. After killing Melchiah and Zephon, Raziel happened upon the "once impenetrably sealed" Tomb of the Sarafan, exposed by the ecological cataclysms wracking Nosgoth.

Within, Raziel discovered a profound and terrible secret; he and his fellow lieutenants had once been "heroes" of the Sarafan brotherhood, interred here following their deaths in Nosgoth's early history. Sarcophagi existed for Dumah, Melchiah, Rahab, Raziel, and Zephon, whose corpses were raised by Kain "at the dawn of the empire". There was also a seventh alcove, intended for Malek, but, since his corpse ultimately suffered a different fate to the others, no coffin accompanied it. Pronounced claw marks could be observed on the edifice displaying his name. It had presumably been vandalized by Kain when he first stole into the Tomb, as he harbored disdain for the former Conflict Guardian, even after his destruction.

On his journey, Raziel traveled back in time to Nosgoth's early history, and when he confronted Moebius in the Sarafan Stronghold – seeking retribution against the Sarafan for the ancient vampire Janos Audron's murder – he met the human Malek in person.

The Paladin defended his "Lord Moebius", and kept Raziel, "a danger to the Circle", at bay. At the same moment, sudden, distant screams and cries for Malek could be heard above Vorador's unmistakable laughter; this moment coincided with the slaughter of the Circle. Malek wished to rush to the Guardians' aid, but Moebius insisted he "hold fast", thereby delaying him from reaching the Circle's gathering-room. Malek bolted the door against Raziel, but was too late to save the other Guardians. Contrary to what Moebius had told Kain, Malek's zealous trust in the devious Time Streamer was the catalyst for his tragic damnation, not his own vanity.

Kain found a statue of Malek in the Cloister of the Sarafan Stronghold, a few years later. Much to his chagrin, he was forced to restore Malek's "dignity" by returning a Sword and Shield to the tableau before continuing.

Development


Malek was voiced by Neil Ross in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and by an uncredited actor in his brief Soul Reaver 2 appearance.

A scene concerning Malek was excised from Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain during production. The cinematic would play at the conclusion of his encounter with Kain in Malek's Bastion, and involved Kain's escape via a "long tortuous dust slide carved from rock" while "Malek's Keep blows up" in the background. Although the sequence received storyboards, it was not completed. A trace of it is found in deleted dialogue, and in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain: Official Game Secrets, which mentions that Malek "tries to destroy his own Bastion by shooting a huge wall of destructive energy down the room". In the final game, Kain merely uses a teleporter to flee Malek's attack in the Bastion, which remains intact.

The "endless struggle" waged between Malek and Vorador was designed to be "representative of Kain's struggle" – the internal conflict between his diminishing humanity and flourishing vampirism.

Malek's position as the Conflict Guardian was twice brought into question by fans, as the lore of the Legacy of Kain series developed. Silicon Knights asserted in their online FAQ for Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, The Complete Guide To Legacy of Kain, that Malek became a Guardian: "originally "recruited" to protect the Circle, he came to embody the spirit of conflict, and became that pillar's "representative" in Nosgoth". This was supported by Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain: Official Game Secrets. However, Soul Reaver 2 condradicted this explanation, establishing that "the Pillars choose their guardians from birth" – given this principle, Malek could never become a Guardian, and had to have been born into his role. Furthermore, Soul Reaver 2 identified the roles of the six martyred Guardians, with none representing Conflict; thus, Malek could not have succeeded a previous Conflict Guardian upon being transformed into a wraith. Malek's immortality as a human, living for "hundreds of years", and his subordination to Moebius also confused the issue.

Chris Bruno, of Crystal Dynamics, confirmed that the human Malek served as the incumbent Conflict Guardian during the slaughter of the Circle, and was one of that event's three surviving Guardians:

In response to further discussion on the topic, he clarified that, in Crystal Dynamics' continuity, Malek's service as Conflict Guardian persisted throughout his entire existence, even as a wraith:



An alternative line of dialogue in the Microsoft Windows port of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain describes the human Malek as the Conflict Guardian: "trained to be devoutly loyal to the Circle, and the perfect exterminators of the undead scourge, they were led to many victories by the righteous paladin, Malek, protector of the Pillar of Conflict". In 2013, series art director Daniel Cabuco said, "as far as I know, he knew he was the Guardian of Conflict from the beginning. That was his role in BO:LoK".

Manipulation of the debug menus in Soul Reaver 2 can enable Raziel to fight Malek, outside of the cutscene in which he appears. Most cinematic characters, when placed in this situation, remain static; however, Malek is instead interactive and acts as an enemy character, with a working artificial intelligence script. Though Malek has similar combat attributes to his fellow Sarafan warrior inquisitors, he does not share the same unique soul type of the other six – his soul is that of a regular human.

In the Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain boss encounter with Malek, the Malek's Bastion theme is played.

Appearance


The human Malek wore full Sarafan armor in almost all of his appearances, shining and steely gray with ornamental gilding. He equipped an engraved breastplate with accompanying pauldrons, vambraces, greaves, and boots, all metallic with a similar color scheme. His Helmet, the unique Pillar token afforded to him as Conflict Guardian, was "crowned with a plume of braided hair, torn from the scalps of his victims"; the unkempt hair was a sickly, "bloodied" hue. The breastplate, Helmet, boots, and a black lower vestment draped from his waist were all adorned with miscellaneous patterns of ancient runes. Beneath this defensive covering, he donned a lighter, purple full-body garment, affording both agility and protection. His appearance was prototypical for the armaments of other Sarafan warriors; the warrior inquisitors, and other ranks, dressed similarly. The warrior inquisitor, Dumah, was his only immediate subordinate to emulate his purple-toned finery. In battle, Malek was always seen wielding a long-bladed wooden pike as his weapon of choice, a preference shared by Dumah, Melchiah, and Turel.

Powers
As Conflict Guardian, Malek was an excellent warrior, able to hold his own against Vorador in their two duels. Though not visible in his human life, the Paladin might known some magic spells which he could use to defeat his vampire enemies. As Conflict Guardian of the Circle, he was granted by immortality and youth to preserve his abilities. Though seen only with pike, Malek was probably trained in many other types of weaponry because he was also depicted with sword and shield in Defiance. In his BO1's cinematics of fighting Vorador, he was very strong and agile, possesing inhuman speed, able to capably battle a hugely experienced vampire.

Malek was known as a capable leader and credited as the leader of Sarafan Brotherhood (though it seems Moebius also had a hand in the running or the order) and last surviving Sarafan Inquisitor. Under his leadership, the Sarafan crusades brought vampire race to brink of extinction.

After his transformation into wraith, Malek was s tripped of his humanity (and "the pleasures of the flesh") and though he wished to recover his lost humanity he had ultimately lost the trust of the remaining guardians. Neveretheless, Malek was able to use some of the advantages of his status as undead and as Conflict Guardian and use his anger and sheer hatred to overwhelm his enemies. As illustrated in his battle with Kain, Malek didn't need to defend his body ( damage only caused him to disintegrate into pieces for a few seconds and form anew) so he was more focused on offensive attacks (though he did occasionally block). Malek was unmoved by most attacks inflicted on him and during his fight with Kain he disintegrated into pieces three times but he was still able to form himself again and continue the battle. D uring his fight with Kain, Malek was shown to use some magic powers resembling energy bolts and homing bolts that pursued Kain. At the end of their battle, Malek unleashed an even more powerful spell, using his pike to summon a powerful wave of blue energy destroying all in it's way (possibly including the Bastion itself). There was no defence against such assault and so, unable to defeat the wrathful Guardian, Kain was forced to escape.

During his final battle with Vorador, Malek used all powers from his battle with Kain but also shown that he could endure Vorador's spells and counterattack with his own. The Conflict Guardian could also predict the vampire's moves in mist form and defend himself from sudden strike, perhaps suggesting some other magical abilities.


 * Exactly how Vorador managed to kill Malek is unclear; though it is assumed he was able to inflict such damage upon Malek's armor that it could no longer contain his soul, something that the fledgling Kain was not physically strong enough to do.
 * It is also unknown why exactly Malek was subservient to the other guardians. Anarcrothe, Moebius, Mortanius, and Nupraptor all displayed authority over him at different points. Vorador refered to him as the Circle's dog; and he was shown to obey them even before his fall from grace. It is believed by some that, like Kain, Malek remained ignorant of his role as Guardian of Conflict well into adulthood as he was more useful as an obedient servant than a questioning equal. This raises the question as to why someone who's sworn duty was to protect the Circle of Nine didn't notice he was only protecting eight guardians. Any internal heirarchy within the circle is unknown; he obeyed Nupraptor's dismissal over Mortanius' decree to protect the circle, even though Mortanius was the senior and more powerful member of the circle.

Etymology
During Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain's development cycle, Malek was initially named Guillaume, the French equivalent of William. The name William derives from Germanic roots meaning "will" or "desire" and "helmet/protection", highlighting the character's role as the timeless defender of the Circle of Nine. It is possible he underwent a rename to Malek to avert duplication with William the Just, the true identity of the Nemesis.

Malek itself is a derivative of the Arabic Malik, meaning "king" or "chieftain", which may refer to his role as the highest-ranking member of the Sarafan Brotherhood. Gustav Davidson's A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels states that Malik/Malec is a guardian angel of Hell in Islamic mythology, who told the wicked "that they must remain in Hell forever because 'they abhorred the truth when the truth was brought to them'". The names of Malek's six junior inquisitors appear to have been directly derived from Biblical mythology, but it is uncertain whether Silicon Knights drew any inspiration from the mythological angel when naming Malek himself.

Malek's title in Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain was Paladin. The term Paladin is derived from the Italian "paladino" and the Late Latin "palatinus", and was used to refer to the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court. Through its usage in Dungeons & Dragons, it has since been adopted as a general term for archetypal holy knights or warriors.

Appearances

 * Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
 * Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver (mentioned only)
 * Soul Reaver 2
 * Legacy of Kain: Defiance (mentioned and depicted only)