Malekith

All hail the Eternity King

Malekith (pronounced either as "Mah-leh-kith" or "May-leh-kith") is the supreme ruler of the Druchii (or Dark Elves) of Naggaroth. He is also Known as 'The Witch King of Naggaroth', or just simply The Witch King. He used to live and lie with his mom, until the End times.

Biography

He was the son of the first Phoenix King Aenarion (Who at the time, by all accounts, had become an incredibly violent and vengeful hothead) and the Sorceress Morathi (who, pre-retcon, was secretly a worshipper of Slaanesh). When Aenarion died after defeating the Forces of Chaos who had invaded Ulthuan, The Princes of Ulthuan met to decide who would be the new Phoenix King. Though Malekith was the likely choice, some thought that he wouldn't be a good king due to the harsh upbringing/customs in Nagarythe. Malekith's half-sister Yvrainne had already been appointed as the next Everqueen and the idea of an incestuous monarchy grossed them out. Displaying a talent for diplomacy, Malekith suggest a vote. While some nobles were swayed by his words, most instead chose a Prince named Bel Shanaar. Malekith appeared to take this easily.

He then opted to seek fame and glory outside of Ulthuan, and made an expedition to the Old World. His first spark of fame came when he defended a High Elf colony from Orcs. He also made friendships with the Dwarves, becoming best buds with their High King Snorri. When the High Elves established a trading agreement with them, Bel Shannar appointed Malekith as the ambassador to the Dwarves. Over the course of a few years, he became very popular with the Old World colonies through the new elf-dwarf alliance and many battlefield victories. Though of course, this was just not enough. So he decided to explore further north where he found a magic circlet from ancient ruins (which boosted his power). 8th Edition fluff mentions he also married a Priestess of Lileath called Allisara, but she had a vision where he turned evil and left him one night. He tried to find her, but then got caught back up in his obsessive research into the Circlet of Iron.

When he heard that the Cult of Pleasure was resurfacing in Ulthuan, he found this as a chance to increase his influence. Upon his return he was then given command of Ulthuans armies and decimated many of the Cultists. Though in one of his assaults, he discovered that (surprise surprise) his own mother was the leader of the Cult. Conflicted and enraged, he practically disowned her and took the fight to the cultist with redoubled effort. When he took his mother into custody, the Princes demanded her death. Malekith (who struck a secret bargain with Morathi) convinced the Princes to keep her imprisoned instead (which was a huge mistake).

When the time was right, he poisoned Bel Shanaar and massacred the majority of the princes gathered in the Shrine of Asuryan. Wanting to prove himself as the rightful ruler of Ulthuan, he stepped into the Flames of Asuryan. Malekith realised too late that stepping into the flames wasn't such a good idea when it horrifically burned his flesh. He barely managed to jump out of the flames, leaving himself as a mess of flesh and steel. His followers quickly escaped with his charred body and brought him to his mother, who saved him from death. Morathi commissioned a renegade priest of Vaul named Hotek to make his iconic armor, The Armor of Midnight, which was fused into his flesh.

Civil war then erupted between Malekith and the newly crowned Phoenix King Caledor. The battle raged back and forth, with Nagarythe, Tiranoc and Ellyrion being decimated. When Malekith was losing, he ordered his Sorcerers to undo the vortex that Caledor Dragontamer conjured years ago and unleash daemons on the elves who wouldn't serve him. It backfired. Instead, it nearly sank the province of Nagarythe. Malekith and some of his followers raised the city sized ships known as the Black Arks and fled to the New World with his followers (the newly named Dark Elves). He then founded a new kingdom, which he called Naggaroth, where he rules with an Iron Fist.

Recent History

He is constantly invading Ulthuan in hopes of reclaiming what he thinks is his Birthright as Phoenix king. Though he has not succeeded yet. He forbade males to become sorcerers out of fear of a prophecy which stated that he will be killed by a male sorcerer. Any who defy this rule are killed or cursed to be consumed by Slaanesh. His Mother is secretly plotting to overthrow him - he, in turn, wants to kill her when he thinks he can get away with it. It was implied that their relationship was incestuous, but 8th edition lore has omitted that.

His most recent invasion of Ulthuan prior to the End Times (see below) saw Malekith almost claim victory. He struck a bargain with the Keeper of Secrets N'kari (this would come back to bite him in the ass later as N'kari had a vendetta against Aenarion's descendants, due to being defeated by him, and Malekith was Aenarion's son) to try and kill the Everqueen. When this failed Malekith had a case of Genre Savvy and realized that this invasion could fail, so he moved his best troops back to Naggaroth and led the charge with those left. His champion Urian Poisonblade killed several High Elf heroes before coming down with a case of sword-through-the-heart from Tyrion. Malekith ordered his forces to charge. During a sorcerous fight with Teclis, Teclis nearly killed Malekith, who fled to the Chaos Wastes (aka the Warp) in despeation but he was able to walk out of it after some time. His time there changed his personality into a calmer and more sinister one.

The End Times A.K.A. Present

A large number of things happened in The End Times, but the most notable is that he left Naggaroth to die for Ulthuan in a last-effort ditch to take the throne... and he did it. All hail Phoenix Eternity King Malekith I. This effectively means that he no longer lives with his mom, who was taken by Slaanesh.

Of note, according to Teclis, apparently Asuryan always intended for him to be Phoenix King in the first place. Had he stayed in the fire for just a second longer, he would have made it. This also had the added effect of Asuryan slowly driving the successive line of Phoenix Kings (who were protected from the flames by other mages) insane in due time. All the crap that happened as a result (the Sundering, Naggaroth and everything else) was just an overly elaborate test on the part of the gods to determine if he was worthy. They're assholes fucking insane like that.

During the final battle between Malekith and Tyrion (who had drawn the Sword of Khaine, and became his avatar), Teclis destroyed the vortex that kept Ulthuan from sinking, and was to give his allies each the power of one of the Winds of Magic, making them "Incarnates". Malekith was meant to be given Fire but was accidentally given the Wind of Ulgu (Shadow). Malekith emerges victorious, leaving Tyrion killed, and throws the now-inert Sword to the bottom of the ocean. Afterwards, The Druchii and Asur migrate to Athel Loren and Malekith becomes king of all Elf kind. He also marries Alarielle, Everqueen of the High Elves, or Wood Elves. How they will consummate the marriage with his armour though is tbd. This is also doubly ironic considering his past history with her and the fact that both she and Tyrion were lovers.

Malekith wins and now goes about saying "LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL I WIN SUCKERS !" but that is just in consolation. It's a somewhat pyrrhic victory as Naggaroth and Ulthuan have been destroyed (though in Naggaroth's case, its not much of a loss), the threat of Alith Anar killing him if he goes back to being a tyrant hangs over him like the Sword of Damocles (implying "Shadow King" is not his bitch now) and there's the knowledge he's getting Tyrion's sloppy seconds with Alarielle, so it didn't all go his way.

TL;DR He finally emerged from his mom's basement and got shit (somewhat) done. Pyrrhic victory is still better than getting his ass whopped and fleeing back to Naggaroth like the last few millenia.

In the end, however, it makes no difference- Teclis tries to do a ritual super-spell to stop a new Chaos vortex from eating the world, but one of the other Incarnates gets murdered by a whiny vampire basically causing Teclis's ritual to epic fail and disintegrate him. The ritual chamber starts to collapse, and Malekith saves Alarielle from a falling rock, getting his own legs crushed in the process. She then thanks him by making fun of him and holding hands with Tyrion while they watch the world get engulfed by the new vortex, ending everything. Interestingly, Malekith's last thoughts are about how shitty his life was while mysterious laughter surrounds him, and then all of his memories and the laughter vanish as the world goes poof.

Trivia

• His title is apparently a rip-off of the Witch King from the Lord of the Rings.
• Sports the same name as Thor villain Malekith the Accursed, who too is a Dark Elf king. There's contention regarding who came first, as Marvel's Malekith first came to light in 1984, one year after Warhammer Fantasy was relased and on the same year first Dark Elf miniatures were released, but GW's Malekith was (debatably) introduced/mentioned in the 4th edition High Elf armybook released in 1992, and he wasn't playable until the 4th Edition Dark Elf book in 1994. (the questions like "who stole from whom?" and "whether they are the same person and the universes are connected?" are better left unasked)
• Yet another charred villain who needs an armoured suit to survive, what's next? Darth Malekith?
• He is an equal prick like Asdrubael Vect. The War of the Beard? He started it. He also tricked a group of rebel Druchii Lords into drinking poison and poured the last bottle of antidote on his dick. Go figure the rest yourself.
• He dismisses that he actually appeared on the horrible Warhammer Online game.

On The Tabletop

With The End Times: Khaine now out, Malekith has three sets of rules for 8e; his original self from the Dark Elves army book, his incarnation as the Phoenix King, and his ultimate incarnation as the Eternity King.

Malekith the Witch King

This is the original Malekith, for which you pay 510 points.

His statline is quite impressive; Movement 5, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 7, Strength 5, Toughness 4, Wounds 3, Initiative 8, Attacks 4 and Leadership 10. He's also a level 4 caster who uses the Lore of Dark Magic.

He sports the rules Always Strikes First, Eternal Hatred, Fear, Hekarti's Blessing, Immune to Psychology, Murderous Prowess, and a unique rule of his own: Absolute Power means he must be the army's general and his Inspiring Presence is 18" (24" if he's riding Seraphon).

He wields:

• The Destroyer - Magic Weapon that forces enemy models to reveal what magical stuff they are carrying, and forces a D6 to be rolled each time a model with magic takes a hit; on a 4+, they lose a random magic item or a random spell (if a Wizard).
• The Armor of Midnight - Magic Armor that gives a 5+ armor save, a 2+ ward save against any non-magical attacks, and which negates the Killing Blow and Multiple Wound effects.
• Supreme Spellshield - Magic Shield that grants Magic Resistance 2 and inflicts D6 Strength 6 hits on the caster (and their unit, if any) of any spell that is dispelled by Malekith's Magic Resistance.
• Circlet of Iron - Arcane Item that lets Malekith add a single bonus dice to any of his failed casting or dispel attempts once per Magic phase.

Malekith can also be mounted on a Cold One for +25 points, a Cold One Chariot (replacing both crew) for +110 points, or on Seraphon (Black Dragon with +1 WS and +1 Attack) for +300 points.

Malekith the Phoenix King

This version of Malekith rides Seraphon and has a combined profile; Movement 6, Weapon Skill 8, Ballistic Skill 7, Strength 6, Toughness 6, Wounds 9, Initiative 8, Attacks 10 and Leadership 10. He's also a level 4 caster who uses the Lores of Fire and Dark Magic.

He trades Murderous Prowess for Martial Prowess and acquires a new special rule, The Phoenix King, which lets all friendly units within 12" make supporting attacks with one extra rank than normal (stacks with any other special rules that let them do the same). So your average 5 wide unit of non-spear-wielding Elves will attack in 4 ranks if they're near him.

He also trades the Destroyer and the Supreme Spellshield for Asuryath (Multiple Wounds D3 and Flaming Attacks).

This version of Malekith costs 825 points.

A word of warning: against Tyrion Avatar of Khaine, Malekith's sword Asuryath (which has Flaming Attacks) will give Tyrion a 2+ ward save (due to Fireborn). This turns what would otherwise be a balanced fight which Malekith should win, into Malekith being unlikely to survive more than 2-3 rounds before dying pitifully- and that's only because he's immune to the Multiple Wounds rule. Each time Tyrion hits (with his 6 attacks needing 3s but no rerolls), it'll wound (auto-wound, ignore armor, and Malekith gets no ward save), so it'll take at least 2 rounds for Malekith to die, 3 if he's really lucky (Word of Pain could potentially help, but not much unless you can cast it multiple times). But in all honesty, just do what you can to keep Malekith out of that situation.

Malekith the Eternity King

For a whopping 1000 points, this ultimate version of Malekith makes the following changes to the Phoenix King version:

• +1 Wound.
• Has both Murderous Prowess and Martial Prowess.
• Is a level 5 Wizard who knows every spell in the Lore of Shadow.
• Trades The Phoenix King for The Eternity King (as Phoenix King, but Murderous Prowess units within 12", and Malekith himself, reroll all failed To Wound rolls in close combat).
• Gains the Shadow Sorcerer (may re-roll the result of miscasts but second result stands) rule.
• Gains the Incarnate of Shadow special rule (Malekith or a friendly unit within 12" can, at the start of the Remaining Moves subphase, gain Ethereal until the end of that sub-phase and can immediately move up to 20").
• Upgrades Asuryath to Asuryath Reforged (Multiple Wounds D3+1).

Malekith Eternity King is definitely one of the most powerful single model in the game, combining an exceptionally brutal combat monster stat line with magic gear that provides both combat punch as well as survivability, as well as being a level 5 lore master of one of the best lores, with slightly built in miscast protection (you still suffer the effects) and boosts to casting and dispelling. On top of that he is an excellent army support, providing a large Leadership bubble as well as boosts to Martial and Murderous Prowess. Oh, did I mention the free Walk Between Worlds? This guy excels at pretty much every phase of the game. The only issue is that unlike the other 1000 point character, Nagash, you will find it harder to make back his point cost. The best way to do that would be having him murder characters, monsters and monstrous units; he is one of the best things for dealing with the other monster special characters such as Nagash, Glottkin, Karl Franz Ascendent etc.

He's not without weaknesses though, he stands no chance in combat whatsoever against enhanced Glottkin, aka the version with curse of the Leper on them and a 3+ ward (so use spells to get rid of them), he's vulnerable to debuffs, and keep in mind if you are putting him against Nagash, try to debuff Nagash as much as possible so you don't have to deal with Nagash's healing/debuff Shenanigans.