Malekith
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Characteristics and Powers: I think it goes without saying that all these characters have superhuman strength, durability, and agility (i.e., STR/DEX/CON). At this point, it’d be more exceptional to mention when someone doesn’t have that.
Malekith doesn’t have much that makes him unique from others in the Asgardian realm until he obtains the Aether. His goal is to turn all matter into “dark matter” with it, but he can also project energy blasts and regenerate limbs, plus a stat buff. And I guess you can count that Aether cyclone he turns into at the end.
Other weapons include a Dark Matter Dagger, which I think is just a dagger–I don’t see it do anything special during the movie. But then there are the Black Hole Grenades that suck you into yourself, which is a pretty cool way to die.
Finally, Malekith has developed the magical version of a super-soldier serum. Unfortunately, it’s a suppository. And even more unfortunately, it doesn’t go in the butt. You have to cut yourself open, then put an egg in the wound. When the time is right, you crack the egg and become a minotaur. I think this effect is permanent, so be sure of what you’re getting into.
Relationship to the Hero(es): None. Malekith dealt with Thor’s grandfather, Bor, similar to how the Frost Giants’ beef was with Odin in Thor 1. Mal takes another hit for not having an antagonist with much relation to the hero. They don’t even meet until midway through the movie, when he kills Thor’s mother. And yes, I guess that creates a bond of vengeance, but I don’t see much of Thor’s “shard of glass” from that. Instead, you get banter with Loki.
Side note: Bor tried to hide the Aether on Earth. Odin tried to hide the Tesseract. Guys, stop trying to hide your stuff on Earth. We’re nosy.
Goals/Motivation: Malekith wants to revert the world to primordial darkness, the same as he was born from. That’s all we get. Christopher Eccleston says that Malekith’s backstory and motivations were cut from the film. The wiki says he had a wife and son who died. I presume he wants to make the universe more homey for himself and his race. He’s a black goldfish and he wants to put ink in the fishbowl. Also, it would probably be easier to conquer if no one could see anything.
Relatability: A smidgen. Malekith is basically another ambitious Dark Lord seeking power and to end the world without knowing why. Or what it particularly means–you can’t end the world; that’s where all your stuff is. I mean, the guy’s made his whole thing “darkness”. Dark elves, dark matter. I bet his bedroom has black curtains.
Fun Factor: Unless you like noir movies, I wouldn’t want to hang out with him. Not only is he bad at interior design, the guy dropped his entire fleet on the enemy to cover his getaway. His sun is a black hole. His landscape is all rocks and black plants. I don’t know where they developed any technology for spaceships or where their cities are, but they’re never shown. Unless you’re undyingly loyal, Malekith won’t give two figs about you. I don’t see any benefit to being him or being near him.
Fatal Flaw: Malekith is not a good boss. Despite the undying loyalty of his minions, he sees nothing wrong with wiping out all but a handful of them to make a getaway. Then he takes a 5,000-year sabbatical. Then attempts a stealth infiltration to get Thor’s girlfriend. All this does is make Thor madder. Then when he does get the Aether, he dicks around for a while (maybe he’s waiting for the convergence to happen; it’s not clear), opening himself up to attack. If Malekith couldn’t win against Bor, I don’t know why he thought he’d be able to defeat his grandson.
Method of Defeat: In what might be one of the longest third acts in MCU history, Thor and Malekith get into a shifting situation duel where everyone is throwing each other through portals into different worlds. Fed up, Malekith does his impression of a tornado. This goes on until Thor impales him with a teleportation device, pinning him to his spaceship. Jane Foster activates the device, zapping him back to Svartalfheim, where his spaceship falls forward and squishes him.
Final Rating: ★
