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Malekith

2018-02-23T13:01:37Z

2003:E5:53E0:6DC9:6832:1AE9:D130:D2FB: /* Gallery */

[[File:Malekith concept.jpg|right|300px|thumb|True heir of Aenarion!]]

''"Ulthuan belongs to me. If it takes a thousand years, ten thousand years, I will claim my rightful place as king. I am the son of Aenarion. It is my destiny."''

Malekith the Witch King of Naggaroth

''"Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them."''

Voltaire

'''Malekith''' (pronounced either as "Mah-leh-kith" or "May-leh-kith") is the supreme ruler of the Druchii (or Dark Elves) of Naggaroth and one of the resident [[Big Bad Evil Guy|BBEG'S]] of Warhammer Fantasy (alongside Archaon and Nagash). He is also Known as 'The Witch King of Naggaroth', or just simply '''The Witch King'''. All the way up through the End times he still [[Meme|lived with his mom]], not to mention slept with her. Malekith is a rather divisive character among the fanbase (though to be fair the same could be said of many Warhammer villains), depending on who you ask he's either a [[Awesome|badass villain with a cool design, an interesting backstory and a surprisingly complex personality]] or a [[FAIL|whiny entitled momma's boy who couldn't handle not getting his own way]]. Whatever you think of him it's hard to deny that he at least has more character depth than Nagash (whose entire personality can essentially be summed up as "sociopathic asshole" and who committed many of the same acts of dickery Malekith did, come to think of it, for arguably far pettier reasons no less) and lacks the obnoxious [[Mary Sue]] tendencies of Archaon, so he has that going for him.

==Early History==
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 in 7e, was "secretly" a worshiper 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 (not that it would later stop them from electing Caledor II, who porked his own half sister upon ascending to the throne). Displaying a talent for diplomacy, Malekith suggested a vote. While some nobles were swayed by his words, others were not. The majority vote went to a Prince named Bel Shanaar. Malekith appeared to take this with good grace and was the first to bend the knee, but inside he seethed at being passed over.

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. The first glimpse of his dark side is seen here in his 'Time of Legends' novel as he covertly has two ambassadors of Bel Shannar who'd already made first contact with the Dwarves murdered by one of his lieutenants. Despite this he manages to become best buds with their High King Snorri, bonding over troll-hunting and becoming friends after double-teaming a Shaggoth and being unable to decide who got the kill. 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. [[Matt Ward|Around this time in 8th Edition fluff he married a Priestess of Lileath called Allisara. They were happy together for awhile but one night she had a vision about his future and left him waking up to an empty bed next morning. He tried to find her, but then got caught back up in his obsessive research into magic]]. Though of course, this was just not enough. So he decided to explore further north where he found ancient ruins full of undead (this was before necromancy was invented, so not the [[Vampire Counts|vampiric]] or [[Tomb Kings|mummified]] kind). After fighting his way through them he found an artifact called the Circlet of Iron (which boosted his magical power) and got a glimpse of the Realm of Chaos.

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 Ulthuan's armies and decimated many of the Cultists. Despite his homeland Nagarythe being the most afflicted and the source he did not relent. 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 cultists with redoubled effort. At the battle for Anlec he finally cornered Morathi and the two dueled. Later on, he emerged with Morathi in custody. When he brought his mother before Bel Shannar, the Princes, including Imrik (who would later become Caledor the Conqueror), demanded her death. Malekith (who struck a secret bargain with Morathi after the duel) convinced the Princes and Bel Shannar to keep her imprisoned instead (which was a huge mistake).

When the time was right, he poisoned Bel Shanaar and tried to frame him as a Chaos worshipper. When the latter didn't work he 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 they 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 sank nearly all of the province of Nagarythe. Malekith and some of his followers use magic to rip the castles and the surrounding rock from the landmass and make them float on the surface of the ocean (these would go on to become the city-sized ships known as the Black Arks) and fled to the New World with his followers (the newly named Dark Elves).

==History as the Witch King==

He then founded a new kingdom, called Naggaroth in memory of Nagarythe. Founding a nation was hard work, but Malekith had done similar with the cities in what later became Bretonnia. After the cities were formed some of the nobles saw the wealth they controlled and started to rebel. Malekith planned to deal with them by force, but his mother suggested more subtle (and dangerous) methods. He played the noble houses against each other and also tricked a group of rebel Druchii Lords into drinking poison and poured the last bottle of antidote on his dick (jokes aside, he refused to give them the antidote until they swore unfailing loyalty to him).

During this time Naggaroth suffered from repeated attacks by Chaos warbands. Malekith ordered a series of watch towers constructed along Naggaroth's northern border to keep them out, a mostly successful idea.

The War of the Beard? He started it to prevent the High Elves and Dwarves from allying against him. This was unwittingly aided and abetted by the Phoenix King at the time, Caledor the Second, being a spoiled man-child and Dwarves putting such emphasis on beards.

At one point he got a clutch of dragon eggs; found in the Blackspine Mountains of Naggaroth by a group of Shades. They were tended to until they hatched. Once the first dragon hatched she destroyed most of the other eggs before the attendants could stop her. Impressed by her ruthless instincts, Malekith took the dragon as his own, named her Seraphon and she was the most recent of his dragon mounts.

He regularly invaded 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 (though the prophecy said sorcery, which can be used by a man or a woman). 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 no longer needs her.

As the game progressed, much of his lore has been changed or retconned. It was implied that their relationship was incestuous, but 8th edition lore has omitted that. Another bit of 8th edition lore says that his ex-wife Allisara regretted leaving him; she'd gone to live with her sister, the Wood Elf queen Ariel. She still cared for Malekith and thought she could guide him down a gentler path, so sent a message to him seeking reconciliation. He agreed. Unfortunately Morathi found out and covertly arranged Allisara's death. She told her son and her plan bore fruit as the last spark of warmth/compassion in his heart died. However, he found out Morathi's involvement a year later and nearly had her killed. He relented and settled for imprisoning her for over a year and warning her never to do something like that again. He also left her to hang when Orion and Ariel came with an army of Wood Elves to avenge Allisara.

Malekith's most recent invasion of Ulthuan prior to the End Times (see below) saw Malekith almost claim victory. He and Morathi allied with some of the followers of Chaos while he struck a bargain with the Keeper of Secrets [[N'kari]] 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 (secretly helped by Morathi). 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 desperation 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.

During a festival for the elven version of Slaanesh Athari, Malekith had to contend with a daemonic invasion of Naggarond led by N'kari; he forgot N'kari had a vendetta against Aenarion's descendants, due to being defeated by him, and that Malekith himself was Aenarion's son. He also had several Dark Elf armies ally with greenskins to attack Bretonnia, softening them up so they couldn't help the High Elves.

==[[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 <strike>Phoenix</strike> 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 <strike>assholes</strike> fucking insane like that. No seriously, think about this. [[Fail| Centuries of civil wars that crippled elven society was a test for Malekith]]. even [[Abaddon|Failbaddon]] looks at this and says "Stop! Stop what you're doing, and rethink your life!"

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 evacuate from the sinking Ulthuan 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, it's not much of a loss to him), he has a Sword of Damocles equivalent to make sure he stays good in the form of Alith Anar (meaning "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.

He leads the united elven race in Athel Loren, and decides to get shit done. They purge the forces of Chaos from Athel Loren (temporarily, as it's just Beastmen who are known for being the redshirts of Chaos) and he outlaws the Cult of Khaine, since the Khainites had nearly ruined his plan and Khaine was technically dead. That comes back to haunt him as the elves have to contend with an invasion led by Bea'lakor consisting of Khainite elves led by a disillusioned Hellebron and Dryads led by the corrupted Coeddil and Drycha. During the battle Drycha realizes she was misled by Bea'lakor but is killed by Malekith regardless. He also survives an assassination attempt from Shadowblade (who is revealed to have always been on Hellebron's payroll) and kills him. At the Council of Incarnates, Malekith takes none of Mannfred's shit and opposes the notion of allying with Nagash and the undead, saying that bone daddy should be destroyed. This shows he has some standards; then again this is NAGASH we're talking about.

In the end, however, it makes no difference - Teclis and the Incarnates try 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 the ritual to epic fail and strip the Incarnates of their power (rapidly disintegrating Teclis and slowly disintegrating Nagash). 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. After Tyrion and Alarielle get engulfed the vortex claims Malekith too. 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.

==Age of Sigmar==
[[File:Malekiths OC Fursona.png|thumb|right|400px|Malekith's Age of Sigmar [[Furry|fursona]] self.]]
Malekith returns, and it was originally believed by many that based on his canon appearance as seen to the right it appeared as if he had fused with Seraphon (no, not those [[Lizardmen|Seraphon]]); it turns out he just sort of looks like a dragonman, because reasons (that reason almost certainly being because it justifies a new $100+ plastic kit to replace his metal one). He is now a being of shadows named Malerion, and is established as the leader of the Aelf faction known as the Exiles (pretty much the Dark Elves, but now Chaotic Neutral instead of the entire Evil spectrum). Its important to note that his older half-brother, the line from which Tyrion and Teclis sire from, was named Morelion in the previous universe possibly meaning there's meant to be [[Meme|pottery]] regarding him being on the side of Order.

He finds his mother Morathi, also a shadow being who is served by partying Daemons now, and joins Sigmar during the creation of the Mortal Realms. During the Chaos Incursion, he and the brothers [[Tyrion]] and [[Teclis]] helped create a veil that keeps Azyrheim invisible to Tzeentch, then fucked off and imprisoned Slaanesh when he/she/it/hermaphrodite was over-gorged with the souls that died during the End Times. They somehow forced Slaanesh to vomit the souls he's eaten, with the Elves becoming Aelfs and either dashing to join Sigmar (High Elves), staying behind to help out with the torture of the torture-god (Dark Elves), or...just kind of wandering off (Wood Elves).

==Trivia==
* His title is apparently a rip-off of the [[Nazgûl|Witch King]] from [[the Lord of the Rings]].
* Sports the same name as Thor villain [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malekith_the_Accursed 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. Controversial questions like "who stole from whom?" and "are they are the same person and the universes are connected?" are better left unasked. Whatever the case it looks like, for the first time, Games Workshop have decided NOT to be bullies (likely because Marvel comics had more than enough money to take GW to court, even before they became part of Disney) and backed down, renaming Malekith as Malerion.
* Yet another charred villain who needs an armoured suit to survive, what's next? Darth Malekith?
* He dismisses that he actually appeared on the horrible [[Warhammer Online]] game.
* The only thing he hates more than the High Elves is [[Meme|snow]].

==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 and stop Nagash from bringing in back-up by dispelling his summoning spells.
==Total War:Warhammer==
With the announcement of Total War:Warhammer 2, Malekith (sporting a rather badass update to his design) has been confirmed (predictably) as one of the legendary lords for the Dark Elves. He appears in the Dark Elves trailer, re-enacting the airlock scene from [[Star Wars|Rogue One]] on some unfortunate High Elves and speaking in an awesome voice.

He is arguably the strongest character in the game right now with good combat stats, enhanced lore of dark magic, and Seraphon with a strong breath attack.

Now to summarize the amount rape he can inflict on the enemy in detail. He can literally solo an entire army with just him on Seraphon and his magic. While flying, he can use Seraphon's breath attack to snipe out any unwanted targets (anti-large spearmen, enemy lords, the shitty artillery that's killing your army from hundred yards away(especially the fucking hellcannons when fighting [[Warriors of Chaos|WoC]]) ). He can also accomplish this using the Lore of Dark Magic, which contains such spels as bladewind, a vortex which will absolutely shred most infantry, chill wind, a cheap and effective wind spell, doombolt, a homing bombardment spell, and power of darkness, which grants more winds of magic in exchange for health; allowing Malekith to keep casting essentially throughout the entire battle. The most important spell of the entire lore would be Soul Stealer, which not only deals a fuck ton of damage to anyone within range, but also replenishes the health of the caster. So yeah, after landing on top of whatever poor fucks get in his way, every enemy units will want to pile on Malekith ([[Dawn of War II|thanks to CA for AI's tactical brilliance]]). Luckily, he is able to use the aforementioned life-steal to stay alive and damage enemies. Combine all this magic with some truly insane stats, particularly when leveled up and given all his items, and you've got an army killer on your hands

TL;DR Malekith is a [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX|DISTRACTION LORD MONSTER CASTER]] armed with magic nukes and life steal. FUCK THE ASUR, FUCK YOU.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Malekith's throne.jpg|Say what you will about him, he has a pimping pad.
Image:Malekith.jpg
Image:The Dark Elf Witch King.jpg
Image:Elf king Malekith.jpg|Hail to the Witch/Phoenix/Eternity King
Image:Malekith Persian.jpg
Image:Morathi Malekith Comic.jpg|Morathi and Malekith from the [[Warhammer Online]] comic.
File:The Sundering Malekith and Morathi.jpg|Malekith and Morathi on the cover of "The Sundering" omnibus.
File:Malekith 8th edition artwork.jpg|Artwork from the 8th edition army book.
File:Malekith Warhammer Invasion.jpg
File:Tyrion vs Malekith.jpg|Malekith vs Tyrion.
File:Malekith Pre-Sundering.jpg|A pre Sundering Malekith as depicted on the cover of the first Sundering novel. No one knows why he has grey skin and spooky glowing eyes, he certainly wasn't described as such in the book...
Image:Malekith (Earth-616) from Iron Man Vol 5 23 NOW 001.jpg|Dark Elf King Maleki... whoops, [[Skub|right character, wrong franchise]].
Witch King.png|Beware the Witch Ki...[[The Lord of the Rings|damnit, wrong one again]]!
Image:Malekith Total War.jpg|Malekith contemplating the pros and cons of wincest
Image:Malekith Total War 2.png|No armour shall be pointier than mine!
File:Malekith Mini.jpeg|His model, which unfortunately looks somewhat dated by modern standards. Seriously GW, over the course of the 7th and 8th editions you update pretty much the entire Dark Elf range but never get around to the most important character in the faction? That's some bullshit right there.
File:Malekith BattleMarch.png|Malekith in the game [[Warhammer: Mark of Chaos|Warhammer:Battle March]]. [[FAIL|He shows up for a few seconds in a cutscene and isn't playable]].
File:Malekith Total War Poster.jpg|I'll get you this time Teclis! You and that brother of yours!
File:I dont like snow.jpg|"I don't like snow."

</gallery>

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dark Elves]]

Morathi

2018-02-23T12:58:19Z

2003:E5:53E0:6DC9:6832:1AE9:D130:D2FB: /* Age of Sigmar */

[[File:Morathi.jpg|500px|thumb|right|"Don't you wish your mother was hot like me?"]]
{{Topquote|A scratch from an envenomed dagger, a sip from a poisoned chalice, a slight to a proud warrior's honour... In time these things may do far more grievous harm than the broadsword or the axe, my love...|Morathi}}
{{Topquote|Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him.|Groucho Marx}}

'''Morathi''' is the Queen of the [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Druchii]] from [[Warhammer Fantasy]], the supreme leader of their religious faction and mother to the racial leader [[Malekith]].

She is also perverted, incestuous, so-sexy-you'll-die-for-real-lolz, and pretty much a complete bitch as she was responsible for a lot of the actions that screwed over Elfkind. Don't believe us? Read and weep oh dear reader.

Her character suffered greatly from a 7th edition retcon, further worsened in 8e until in [[End Times]] her role in history was reduced to mostly "had a baby who is really important" and scheming on the side that kills a lot of people but contributes nothing to the story. Many fans were angered by her apparent and very disappointing death in the event, although it was later revealed she survived and may in fact still regain her glory as an important character.

She is usually seen mostly naked, although sometimes she covers her breasts or uses pasties, and always rides her Dark Pegasus named Sulephet into battle. Her model is one of the raciest in the Warhammer range as she wears a metal thong and little else, her perfect tits on display for everyone to see (something she uses with magic in a Black Library novel she gets a starring role in to render an entire mixed-gender garrison of soldiers into standing mutely while riding up and down in front of their fortress on Suluphet as they get shot to pieces with her crossbow forces). The model of her even has them helpfully pushed upwards for the best possible angle. It could be she does this because her son is so lacking in sex appeal she must make up for both of them....oh the harsh duties she must do!

==The Legend==
She was originally a mere maiden, rescued by the first Phoenix King [[Aenarion]] from a [[Chaos]] slave caravan and he was so taken with her that he took her to be his new wife, having recently lost his first wife the [[Everqueen]] to a [[Daemons|Daemonic]] attack. Considering her actions later, the rumors of her being a [[Slaanesh|Slaaneshi]] Sorceress and using her magicks to charm Aenarion were most likely true. Aenarion moved his court to [[Ulthuan|Nagarythe]] and fell into a hedonistic lifestyle while his armies battled the Daemon apocalypse raging all around. Morathi eventually gave birth to his third child, Malekith, and encouraged Aenarion to sit back and relax as everything would turn out ''juuuuuuust fine''. [[Caledor the Dragontamer]], Aenarion's old friend, hated Morathi bitterly and knew she was wreaking havoc on his already damaged mind. In a last act of desperation, Caledor gathered his Wizards and began channeling magic to create a Vortex that would suck excess magic out of the Warhammer World so Daemons would have difficulty manifesting forevermore. Morathi encouraged Aenarion to slay Caledor for his betrayal, although upon reaching the site of the ritual he instead defended his friend against the might of Chaos itself.

After the disappearance of Aenarion and the trapping of Caledor within the Vortex, Morathi planned and groomed her son to take the throne. When the actual election came however, Malekith assured the Princes of the land he was willing to accept a vote for him rather than simply claim the throne by birthright. In a retcon in [[End Times]] this turned out to be a gambit to ensure the loyalty of the Elf people and the manipulations of Chaos robbed him of his birthright; however, in original canon this was simply the only moral choice he ever made. His friend Bel Shanaar was chosen instead, and Morathi raved and ranted like a wild woman over their "treachery". Only Malekith could calm her, and assure her they had made the right choice. He then took to the sea to explore the world like his father had, being gone for many years. During his travels he encountered [[Warriors of Chaos|human Chaos worshipers]] and random undead, fighting them for control of a magical crown. Curious, he placed it on his head and saw a future where Chaos would conquer his people. He immediately rushed home.

Prior to the 7e retcon, Malekith began searching his homeland for Chaos worship and discovered the Cult of Pleasure revering Slaanesh, with his own mother Morathi as the High Priestess to Slaanesh himself having corrupted a very large chunk of the Elf race to her way of thinking. She fled to the city of Anlec where a large number of cultists resided. Malekith led an army consisting of both his own army and the supporting armies led by the princes of Ellyrion, Yvresse, Chrace and Saphery. Malekith was successful in breaching the cities defences and confronted his mother in the cities palace. Though Morathi had the upper hand with her great sorcerous powers, she was defeated. Morathi was spared from certain death by convincing her son that she would give him her full support of the cults and help him gain the Phoenix throne. She was brought before the court of the Phoenix king in the city of Tor Anroc. Though she would have been executed for her Crimes, Malekith convinced Bel Shanaar to imprison her instead (Despite Imrik of Caledor's insistence that she must die, even offering to strike the deathblow himself).

He called a meeting of the Princes of Ulthuan to reveal a discovery about the Cult. Rather than point the finger at his mother, he accused Bel Shanaar of the heresy as Bel lay dying from poison Malekith had slipped him. He then declared that he himself was the fit ruler of the Elf race, and stepped through the [[Asuryan|Flames of Asuryan]] which select who is fit to be Phoenix King. Due to his treachery and the fact the Flames are designed to root out the unworthy, his full-retard plan resulted in him burning to bacon. His followers quickly slaughtered the unarmed Princes while Morathi rushed him out and kept him alive with her magic until a priest of [[Vaul]] loyal to his family sealed him in a suit of frozen armor that would reduce the misery of his blackened body.

In the retcon, Morathi was not involved in the story at all; he returned knowing that he was the true Phoenix King as desired by Asuryan while Bel Shanaar had been shielded by magic which disqualified him from judgement, and Malekith himself was only rejected because he was immature and filled with fear. His followers killing the Princes was apparently justified somehow, and everything that happened was all the fault of the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Asur]] because reasons and grimderpness. She still helped him survive however, and if anything was cast in a more motherly role than the manipulative one.

Either way, Malekith and Morathi gathered their supporters and their culture took a turn for the dark; pre-retcon Morathi summoned Daemons which feed on Elf souls to ravage the countryside while the formerly banned worship of the war god [[Khaine]] replaced all other faiths. Eventually the bitter civil war turned against the new Dark Elf faction, and as one final "fuck you" Morathi messed with the Vortex. When that backfired she, Malekith and the other Dark Elf sorcerers/sorceresses launched huge chunks of Nagarythe away from the land like boats, causing massive death and destruction across Ulthuan. They then settled in a new land to the west, a series of landmasses split by bodies of water that are vaguely in the shape of our real world North America, populated by vicious and nasty monsters as well as Chaos humans. These lands were called Naggaroth, and after destroying the High Elf colonies and humans who dwelled here the Dark Elves settled them (let's calmly bypass the unfortunate implications of the Native American/colonization parallels).

During this time, in early editions it was implied Morathi and Malekith were lovers who also constantly vied for control of their race while planning to kill each other. Dark Elves set up many batshit insane celebrations such as a night where the Cult of Pleasure and/or Cult of Khaine are allowed to take anyone they want who can't buy their own lives in huge amount of slaves and slaughter them in any way they wish ([[Gav Thorpe]] went on record in regards to Elf storytelling that numbers don't matter, High Elves can lose millions as a statistic or ten as a tragedy and either way they will be dying out, and although Dark Elves always lose massive population due to stupid reasons will always be only in jeopardy in regards to the future but not currently on the verge of extinction). Later lore did away with the incest, Slaanesh worship, and plotting; Morathi went from the ultimate hedonistic schemer and rival to her son like a cougar version of Caligula to his dear sad mother sadly stricken with a mild case of dementia as she continued to believe that she was living in the court of Nagarythe and sometimes mistook Malekith for Aenarion whom she genuinely loved rather than manipulated, all while continuing her duties as high priestess of the Elf god of pleasure [[Atharti]] (as Gav Thorpe thought Elves worshiping Slaanesh makes no sense, since he thinks of them as [[Eldar]] in rat-infested shitholes). Either way, Morathi went to great pains to keep herself youthful. She bathed constantly in blood made from screaming Elf babies, a technique learned either from Slaanesh or Khaine directly depending on pre or post retcon.

As Naggaroth grew in power, Malekith saw the Chaos worshiping Elves as a possible threat to his power. He established Khaine as the official god of the Dark Elves, although loyalty was ultimately only to himself. The Witches were nonetheless loyal only to Morathi and their gods, Khaine and (in older canon) Slaanesh with the two factions politicking against each other while hiding their true allegiance from the rest of the race (as an open secret lacking only proof of course).

Morathi found another rival in [[Hellebron]], a priestess of Khaine who was becoming dangerously powerful within Morathi's Witch Elf forces. Morathi cursed her with a hag-like appearance Elves rarely ever naturally attain, causing Hellebron to hate her more than anyone else. Ironically, after the retcon Hellebron features in history more importantly than Morathi herself.

During the Battle of Finuval Plains, one of the many battles between the High and Dark Elves, Morathi faced off in magical duel with [[Teclis]] while Malekith dueled [[Tyrion]] below. With the Dark Elves having overrun much of Ulthuan, the battle was the deciding point between the two forces; Morathi's own Daemon force lead by a powerful [[Keeper of Secrets]] named [[N'kari]] (later retconned to be just more of Malekith's assassins) had badly injured Tyrion and hunted the Everqueen Alarielle, and the burning of her forest had weakened her powers so she could not help. Morathi and Teclis were evenly matched, although after suffering great injury Malekith managed to escape into the [[Warp]] to avoid being killed, and sensing her son flee the battle Morathi herself immediately retreated leaving her army to be cut down. After the retcon, Morathi is absent from the battle and Malekith fought Teclis in a battle of magic while Tyrion fought his forces.

In the [[Defenders of Ulthuan/Sons of Ellyrion]] novels, Morathi engineers the main plot as a repeat of the invasion which involved the Finuval Plain battle, although this time using a captured Ellyrion Reaver as a Manchurian Candidate who would assassinate Teclis and Alarielle prior to the attack. She used her rank as Slaanesh's High Priestess to call upon the loyalty of Slaanesh's current champion, a Warrior of Chaos who was kept entertained with Elf slaves for him and his men to torture and defile (use your imagination) until Ulthuan was entirely destroyed, whereupon he would be allowed to do as he would with her (que both chuckling that the other Slaaneshi would not survive it). During the ongoing war, the Witch Elves and Slaaneshi spent their time raiding each other's camps and torture-killing their allies when supplies of still-living High Elves were low. Morathi's plan was partially successful, with the cursed dagger the unwitting pawn carrying consuming the body and soul of an Elf maiden he'd fallen in love with to incinerate Teclis like Malekith, then pierce Alarielle's heart. Malekith (who she feared greatly in the novel despite planning to kill him) lead his forces to assault Ulthuan from the south with their navy and slay the greatest heroes of Ulthuan while the Slaaneshi Dark Elves and Warriors attacked from west to east and meet him in the middle at Finuval Plain II. The Champion used Slaanesh's magic of pride to force High Elf commanders and champions into terrible decisions while her beguile and mind control wreaked havoc on the lesser Elf defenders. The plan began to fall apart however when their pawn sought redemption for his actions, reuniting with his brother and fiance before joining the defending army. Alarielle herself was saved by Isha, and the Everqueen entity (made up of Isha and EVERY Everqueen who ever lived) took control of her body and healed the wound before joining the battle herself. The Everqueen's magic purified the Slaaneshi Champion, burning away his blessings to reveal an ugly old man who regretted sacrificing his only love on an altar in exchange for eternal youth, and in a battle of wills between Isha and Slaanesh the Champion was turned into a [[Chaos Spawn]] that was hacked away by the Asur forces. With the loss of their commander and the [[Daemonettes]] turning to ash all around them, the Dark Elves and Warriors looked to their Queen to find her flying inland from the battle. The forces routed, and were destroyed by the triumphant heroes. Meanwhile, Morathi's true plan had been revealed; in her madness she was only using her entire race, her son, and all the humans as a distraction for her to undo the Vortex and summon Slaanesh directly into the world to prove herself as his greatest servant. The Vortex was on an island lost in time and half in and out of the Warp like magical interdimensional amber. She stabbed a Mage to death, and cackled out her monologue to Caledor the Dragontamer when he appeared before her as an emaciated long-dead skeleton of an Elf. After calmly replying that he never liked her and had always seen her as the selfish insane little girl she was, he revealed his true form within the amber as being stronger than he had ever been and as youthful as in his prime. He lashed out at her using only his knowledge of reality, searing her mind and driving her into hysteric wailing as she fled from the island with her very soul bleeding. She somehow flew Sulephet home to Naggaroth in this state, eyes wild and screaming all the way. Her son fled from his battle similarly, his dragon mortally wounded and bereft of a large chunk of his armor and gear. This story's canonicity is doubtful as ALL of the concepts the story hinges on were retconned out. Although considering Morathi's damaged mental state in End Times, it may have simply happened in a very different way and remained canon...

In [[Storm of Chaos]], Morathi brought the Cult of Slaanesh back and allied them with Warriors of Chaos before flaunting themselves openly in Naggaroth. This was implied to put Naggaroth in a civil/religious war between the Temple of Khaine and the Cult of Slaanesh, but Games Workshop retconned Storm of Chaos out of existence so now this never happened.

===The End Times===
In an effort to reboot Warhammer Fantasy, as it had been neglected for so long in favor of yet another Space Marine Chapter update, Games Workshop thrust the End Times upon the Warhammer world, where the slow slide into destruction becomes a non-stop express train. In the canon Naggaroth had become overrun with the legions of Khorne, with Karond Kar and Clar Karond destroyed. Ghrond was surrounded by an impenetrable thicket of magic thorns when Malekith and his army arrived fresh from liberating Naggarond. No longer able to coddle his spiteful but addled mother, Malekith left her alone in a tower there after destroying the entire Chaos invasion force and destroying everything of value from fortresses to slaves to silk handkerchiefs and anything else the enemy could claim, then gathered the entire Dark Elf race barring her guards to go claim his "rightful place as Phoenix King".

She left the tower however, disguising herself as one of her own followers who had been enlisted in Malekith's army, and tried to make Tyrion into Aenarion 2.0. Once Alarielle confirmed Malekith's legitimacy by marrying him (you know, her great great great great great great great great uncle) Tyrion and Morathi were wed, him drawing the [[Widowmaker]] like his ancestor and becoming Khaine's avatar (as well as her greatest lover). She was revealed to actually be the mortal incarnation of the goddess Hekarti.

After Tyrion was killed on the Isle of the Dead, Teclis undid the Vortex in order to bind the [[Warhammer Magic|Winds of Magic]] to mortals in an attempt to combat Chaos. She rushed to stop the whole thing, and broke down sobbing and shrieking when she saw Tyrion and Malekith die (though the latter was alive, but only just). In a fit, she killed all the mages in magic amber except Caledor the Dragontamer. Her actions created a breach that temporarily enabled Slaanesh himself/herself to partially manifest in the material world, forcing one of his/her arms through the rift to grab as many elves as he/she could. Realizing she'd fucked up worse than ever before in every sense of the term, Morathi tried to flee but Caledor held her down and both were taken by Slaanesh into the Warp.

Fans of Morathi, already unhappy with her increasing retcons rendering her useless, '''[[RAGE]]D'''. Her hatedom and High Elf fans cheered that Morathi was getting her just desserts (given Slaanesh's hunger for elf souls it could be literal). A small few continually insisted that it was just how she was going to be returned to Slaanesh's side, reincarnated as a Daemon Princess while others quickly bought her models thinking she would be removed from canon.

===Age of Sigmar===
In [[Age of Sigmar]], Morathi really did make a return. During the Age of Myth, Malekith awoke alone within the Realm of Shadow without any memories. He took on the name Malerion and attempted to find others of his kind. Eventually he found Morathi who had somehow escaped from Slaanesh's claws and had mysteriously "changed", and was served by Daemons made of pure shadow who celebrated around her.

[[Sigmar]] eventually found them, and they joined his pantheon made from an assembly of gods and other powers of the Mortal Realms. Malerion later joined Teclis and Tyrion in abandoning Sigmar's pantheon to hunt down and capture Slaanesh in order to release his/her glut of Aelven souls. Morathi's participation is not mentioned. She possibly stayed with Sigmar and fought at his side (and trying to feel his "Stormhammer" during the battle if her End Times characterization is anything to go by). The new Exile Aelf faction, the re-named Dark Elves, only pay lip service in loyalty to Sigmar and are only loyal to Malerion, so where Morathi fits into the new chain of command is unsure. However, as of January 2018 a new teaser[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlQqri1FuRQ] was released which hints at Morathi's comeback. Her war against the forces of Chaos and her bringing civilisation to the Mortal Realms is mentioned, suggesting that she heavily influenced the Mortal Realms before the Age of Chaos.

The teaser itself features a Daughters of Khaine army with a narration that fits Morathi's fluff. How Morathi has changed is hinted at: the teaser's narration mentions how she was "twisted into the form of her tormentor" and "slithered from the throat of the Dark Prince", whilst the video itself gave focus to Bloodwrack Medusae and featured a coiling, serpentine Grecian meandros. It is later revealed that she has two forms: The first is her normal aelf form, whilst the mentioned coiling, serpentine Grecian meandros is her true form (which she transforms into by her own will or whenever she loses her cool). She leeches off the prayer-power from the Daughters of Khaine's worship of the titular God in hopes of becoming a Goddess (Her leeching of their worship also prevents Khaine from being reborn)

==On The Tabletop==

==Total War: Warhammer==
To the surprise of very few Morathi, alongside her son, is set to appear in [[Total War: Warhammer II]] as one of the starting legendary lords for the Dark Elves. She even got to narrate the Dark Elf faction trailer, with her voice actress sounding fittingly manipulative and conniving. Interestingly Morathi as presented in game seems to mix traits of both older and newer lore, she and her faction spread Chaos corruption, and a number of her skills indicate worship, or at least the willingness to deal with, the Chaos gods. However she can also be heard referring to, or beseeching various Cytharai gods like Khaine and Atharti. Of course even in recent lore Morathi was presented as someone willing to treat with, if not outright worship, the Chaos gods and their various daemons.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Morathi Model.jpg|The offical [['Eavy Metal]] paintjob.
Image:Morathi Mini.JPG|Morathi's miniature. Despite being older, and GW's well-known issues with female sculpts, its one of the better ones they've made.
Image:Morathi Original.jpg|Morathi's original model. It was noticeably more conservative in dress.
Image:Old Morathi.jpg|Morathi's earlier look in artwork.
Image:Morathi MMO.jpg|Rita Repulsa wishes she was this awesome.
Image:Morathi And Teclis.jpg|Morathi and Teclis duel at Finuval Plains. In the narrative it was on opposite sides of a valley, but whatever.
Image:Morathi Regal Fanart.png
Image:Morathi Kung Fu.jpg
Image:Morathi Doesn't Like It When You Look Over Her Shoulder.jpg
Image:Morathi Color.jpg
File:The Sundering Malekith and Morathi.jpg
File:Morathi 8th Edition.png
Image:Morathi And Alarielle Diplomacy.jpg|Its her pleasure...
Image:Morathi Fanart.jpg
Image:Morathi Malekith Comic.jpg|Morathi and Malekith from the [[Warhammer Online]] comic.
File:Morathi Total War.jpg|If you don't conquer Ulthuan this time Malekith, you're grounded!
File:Morathi AOS Elf Form.jpg|Morathi's new look.
File:Morathi Snek.jpg|Morathi's other new look.

</gallery>

[[Category:Warhammer Fantasy]][[Category:Dark Elves]][[Category:Age of Sigmar]]