Malefor (Skylanders Academy)


 * This article is about the Skylanders Academy villain - you may be looking for information on the original version of Malefor or his Skylanders comic counterpart.

Malefor is the evil Dragon King of the Cadaverous Crypts in the Skylanders Academy spinoff television series. He is the father of Cynder, who doesn't want to follow in his Malefor's footsteps in becoming an evil overlord like him.

Personality
Malefor is known as one of the most fearsome and powerful villains in Skylands. Despite his evil disposition, he does hold a soft side for his daughter Cynder, letting her have fun before she turned against him to join the Skylanders.

History
Malefor is the evil dragon ruler of the Cadaverous Crypts. In the past, he became sworn enemies with Spyro's dragon kind until they disappeared during his reign. He also has high expectations of his daughter Cynder becoming an evil dragon overlord just like him, and expects her to fulfill her birthright.

In the episode, Return to Cynder, Cynder had ran from home to become a Skylander behind her father's back by claiming she was going to the mall. When Cynder returned to the underworld, Malefor had been looking for her and eventually found Cynder, but in the company of a group of Skylanders lead by Spyro. The evil dragon king engaged the Skylanders in battle for entering his realm. During the confrontation, Spyro declared that they would leave without their friend and soon-to-be Skylander, Cynder. Malefor intially laughed, believing Cynder won't abandon her birthright and was briefly angered when his daughter didn't respond back supporting his belief. As he noticed Cynder's confusion on whether she was good or evil, Malefor reassured her that her destiny was to rule the Cadaverous Crypts by his side.

Spyro however responds with a firebreath to Malefor's face, enraging him. The dragon king strands the rest of the Skylanders to a lower island, leaving Spyro to continue his attack on Malefor alone, but was quickly subdued. As Malefor beat Spyro down mercilessly, the dragon king discovered that Spyro is the last of his dragon kind, who were Malefor's sworn enemies. He then responded that he helped wipe out Spyro's family and prepares to kill Spyro right on the spot to finish the job of fully eradicting his enemies. Malefor's firebreath meant for Spyro was suddenly pushed back by Cynder's Spectral Lightning breath, resulting a big explosion. To Malefor's surprise, Cynder revealed that she doesn't want to be evil and wants to be a Skylander, battler for good. Betrayed, Malefor disowned Cynder as she left with the Skylanders, proclaiming that she not be his daughter, but would be his enemy the next time they meet. In addition to his threat, Malefor declared that he won't save any tacos for Cynder for taco night.

In the episode, Touch of Evil, Malefor was approached by Spyro, who came to the evil dragon king at the request of sending the young dragon to the realm Spyro's ancestors were sent to by Master Eon. However, Malefor was still angry over Spyro's hand in convincing his daughter Cynder to join the Skylanders and instead attacked Spyro, eventually capturing him. With Spyro subdued, Malefor sent a worldwide broadcast across Skylands that he had captured Spyro to be his slave at the Cadaverous Crypts. But the evil dragon would return Spyro safely to Skylander Academy if the Skylanders return the heir to his throne, Cynder, with her pledging herself to evil. If the demands weren't met by sundown, the Skylanders will never see Spyro again.

While waiting for the Skylanders, Malefor revealed to a weakened Spyro that when Cynder comes for him, the dragon king will  take both Cynder and Spyro to the Cadaverous Crypts forever. The evil wizard Kaos came to Malefor's realm after witnessing the dragon king's broadcast and wanted to take Spyro under Strykore's orders. This surprised Malefor, who knew who Strykore was and asked Kaos what he would get in return. Kaos answered that in return for handing Spyro over, Malefor would not face Kaos and Strykore's wrath. After cogitating his decision, Malefor handed Spyro over to Kaos off-screen.

Malefor hid this exchange from Cynder when she came for her friend Spyro after hearing her father's ransom. The dragon king proclaimed to Cynder that the Skylanders are not her friends and that she would understand that in due time. To his anger, Cynder expressed to him that the Skylanders showed her true friendship than Malefor ever could. Suddenly, she attacked her father with her lightning breath, gave out the signal to Team Spyro and Master Eon to launch a full-scale attack on Malefor. Malefor collapsed in pain afterwards, and Master Eon demands Malefor to give them back Spyro. Malefor, seeing Cynder nearby, faked repentance for his wrongdoings, easily tricking his daughter into thinking he was seriously injured.

Master Eon warns Cynder to be careful and reminds her that brilliant acting runs in her family, but Cynder persists in protecting her father from further interrogation and attacks. Malefor used this opportunity to recover and successfully take Cynder away, leaving no trace behind.