Malefor (The Legend of Spyro)



''"This is the true nature of our kind. Your destiny is to destroy the world." ''- Malefor (to Spyro)

Malefor, the Dark Master (voiced by Mark Hamill) is Spyro's archenemy and the primary antagonist in the Legend of Spyro trilogy. He is an unfathomably powerful Purple Dragon who was corrupted by Evil because of his lust for power. Malefor then tried to erase the world, but the Dragon Elders imprisoned him in his own realm. Malefor is set free at the end The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night and he attempts to destroy the world again, but he is defeated by Spyro and Cynder and sealed away once and for all into the world's core. Malefor is presented as a demonic counterpart of some sort to Spyro, and he is without a doubt the most evil and the most dangerous villain in all the Spyro universe.

About Malefor
Malefor (the Spyro counterpart of Satan himself) was the first of the Purple Dragon kind. (Though he says that they have been many before him.) Seeing his extraordinary potential, the Dragon Elders taught him how to master the elements, but he was never satisfied and always wanted more, stopping at nothing to become all-powerful. Fearing his malevolence and his ambition, the Dragon Elders banished him, but it was too late, he was already corrupted by Evil and he eventually turned into a demon, before becoming the very embodiment of Evil. Malefor then raised an army of Ape Monsters, with the intent of destroying the world.

Malefor waged war against the Dragon kind for several years, slaughtering countless people to fulfill his "quest." His evil power tore open his own base of operations, the Mountain of Malefor, turning it into the Well of Souls: a chasm to the Underworld where all the souls of the malevolent dead people were sent, submitted to his influence. Malefor stole the gems, which are the source of the dragon's lifeforce and used them against the Dragons, but he was ultimatelly defeated by the Dragon Elders and imprisoned in the Well of Souls. However, his armies survived and went into hiding, waiting for an opportunity to set the Dark Master free again.

Malefor is now the King of Evil of the Legend of Spyro universe, and the ruler of Hell, as every malevolent spirit in the Well of Souls is under his command. He has complete control over Evil, including the smallest bit within someone's soul. His ultimate goal is to destroy the world in a "great cleansing" and to replace it by a new world that he would built following his own ideals and rule with an iron fist.

Personality
Malefor is a villain of pure malevolence, without the slightest comedic element or redeeming quality; he is cruel, ruthless, scornful, sadistic, violent, manipulative and ambitious. Like all Dark Lords, he has a calm, courteous and cold demeanor, with an imposing and menacing presence. He is also is very self-confident and self-righteous, dismissing other beliefs than his owns as irrelevant. Malefor is willing to use anything he can to fulfill his goal, and remorselessly destroys everything in his way or everyone useless to him, except if he can use them again later. He also enjoys to kill other creatures for pleasure and revels in their torment.

Malefor is highly intelligent, cunning and manipulative. He is also a skilled orator, able to instill doubt in the most determined minds and to use it for his own gain, as evidenced with Spyro and Cynder before the final battle. In his dark and twisted point of view, he doesn't consider himself evil but as messiah of some sort, destined to purify the world. He believes that to destroy the world is the duty of the every Purple Dragon and he attempts to convince Spyro of this, by telling him that every Purple Dragon before him pursued the same goal. (Although this might be a lie, as he was stated to be the first Purple Dragon.)

Powers and Abilities
As expected of a Dark Lord of his level, Malefor is incredibly powerful. Being a Purple Dragon, he can control virtually any element through his breath. He is seen using Fire, Electricity, Ice, Earth, Wind and even the Convexity Element, (a sort of quintessence element, which manifests as a purple energy and can influence the dimensions to a certain point) including the elemental furies, which he all masters to the point of perfection. (His best elements being apparently Convexity, Fire and Ice.) It is hinted that he can also control other elements, most likely Shadow, Fear and Poison, which are evil-based elements that Cynder learnt to master when she was under his control, and perhaps even Time itself. He is unsurprisingly able to fly and has extreme physical strenght, being able to fight on air or on the ground, in melee or at any distance.

Malefor also wields extraordinary powers of dark magic, which enables him to create, transform and manipulate things as he pleases. This he demonstrated for example when he makes his fortress levitate, when he turns his Ape monsters into undeads ghouls, and when he creates magic collars that binds Spyro and Cynder together. He has compete control over everything evil, being able to control every malevolent being and to increase the smallest drop of malevolence in someone's soul, to the point of turning them into a dark version of their former self. Using his dark energy, he can corrupt and transform the Monsters under his command, such as Cynder, vastly increasing their power.

A New Beginning
Malefor never appears in person during the first game of the trilogy, being only mentioned several times under his title, the Dark Master. Gaul, Cynder and his other servants are following his orders and he most likely devised Cynder's plan of action himself.

Malefor's army of Apes attacked the Dragon Temple at the beginning of the game, likely following the Dark Master's instructions. They destroyed all the dragon eggs, in order to prevent the birth of the Purple Dragons, (Who are born only once every twelve years and have the power to defeat Malefor.) save from the two who would be the key for his freedom, whom they would raise to be Malefor's servants. They stole Cynder's egg, while Spyro's egg was lost and found by a family of Dragonflies. Gaul the Ape King hatched Cynder and used Malefor's evil energy to transform her into a demonic dragoness, much more powerful than usual, who grew adult at a very fast rate.

In the game, Cynder leads the Ape Army in a war against the Dragon Guardians, sending her minions to distract the Guardians, while she captures them and absorbs their power into magic crystals. She then goes to the Convexity Dimension and uses the Guardian's powers to open the Convexity Portal that restrains Malefor. Spyro manages to defeat Cynder and to revert her back to normal, but Malefor's spirit is set free.

The Eternal Night
Once again, Malefor never appears in person, he is only seen during flashbacks. However, he devised the plan enacted by Gaul the Ape King during the course of the game.

Gaul and Malefor are waiting for the Night of Eternal Darkness: a lunar eclipse which plunges the entire world in shadows, during which all the malevolent souls imprisoned in the Well of Souls are free to roam the world. Gaul lures Spyro to the Mountain of Malefor by holding Cynder hostage, planning to fight him to the death during the eclipse.

During the battle against Gaul, Spyro is trapped in the beam of demonic energy caused by the eclipse, which corrupts him and turns him into a powerful dark dragon. Spyro then kills Gaul with his dark power and returns into the beam of demonic energy, serving as the key to open the Well of Souls and to set Malefor free from his jail. It is now revealed why Malefor wanted Spyro to be at the Well of Souls during the Night of Eternal Darkness; because a Purple Dragon was needed to free the Dark Master, and because the eclipse would corrupt him. By having Spyro and Cynder by his side, Malefor would remove them as a threat and would gain two powerful servants.

Fortunately, Cynder has resisted Malefor's corruption all over the game. She manages to turn Spyro back to normal, and Spyro uses his power over Time to encase himself, Cynder and Sparx in a magic crystal, protecting them all from the mountains destruction. Unfortunatelly Malefor has returned, and he is now free to destroy the world.

Dawn of the Dragon
Malefor did not lost time after being freed. He turned all his Ape servants (who were too greedy and not faithful enough) into living deads and created another army of monsters, known as the Grublins. He then attacked the Dragon Temple, which he turned into a floating fortress where he based himself, forcing the Dragon Guardians to flee to the Dragon City of Warfang. Malefor then covered the entire world in darkness, spreading plague and misery everywhere, and causing the world's denizens to fear the dragon kind.

He later released the legendary monster known as the Destroyer, who began to travel around the world, leaving behind a fiery trail called the Belt of Fire, or the Ring of Anihilation. Once the creature completes its circle, the apocalypse will begin and a new world will raise from the ashes of the old one.

Three years have passed since the end of the previous game, when Spyro, Cynder and Sparx are awoken from their slumber in the crystal by a horde of Grublins who place magical, snake-shaped collars on Spyro and Cynder, which bind them together; before taking them away and forcing them to fight against a huge and powerful Golem. They are unable to defeat the creature but they are rescued by Sparx and the Hunter of Avalar. They later go to Warfang, which is attacked by Malefor's armies and manage to defend the city and to destroy the Golem (who tracked them down) for good.

After that, they attempt to slow down the Destroyer by causing a flood, then to stop it by destroying its heart, but not to avail as Malefor reactivates it.

Spyro and Cynder have no other choice than to go to Malefor's Lair and confront the demonic dragon. The Dark Master manages to break their confidence, using Cynder's doubts to turn her evil again and make her attack Spyro, but Spyro refuses to fight her back and manages to turn her back to normal. The two engage a tremendous battle against Malefor, but they are too late, as the Destroyer has just completed his travel. Nevertheless, they continue to fight, and ultimatelly defeat Malefor, who drags them to the center of the world. He engages a duel of Convexity Breath against both Spyro and Cynder but they manage to beat him. As Malefor is eternal and cannot be destroyed, the spirits of the Dreagon Elders seal him forever into the core of the world. Then Spyro and Cynder manage to stop the destruction of the world, ending the Dark Master's madness once and for all.

Boss Battle against Malefor
"Graah! So be it. You have made your choice, so you shall suffer the same fate. Prepare to die!" - Malefor (to Cynder and Spyro)

First Stage
The first part of the battle takes place in a dark sky filled with stormy red clouds.

Malefor is a formidable enemy who uses highly powerful attacks, but he is slow and you must take advantage of it. Try to stay behind him, watch his movements and keep attacking him at close range, mostly with magic-infused Melee attacks, which deals heavy damage and creates gems that replenish your magic and life-points. Malefor attacks by firing one or many Fire Bombs, (huge fireballs) by firing many Convexity Bombs, (huge balls of purple fire, which tracks you down and that you must dodge several times) by breathing a continuous stream of purple Convexity Fire, by perfoming a Convexity Comet Dash (he surrounds himself with purple electricity and charges at high speed) and by delivering vicious claw swipes and bites, which he can infuse with magic. Dodge as much as you can and use Spyro's power of Earth as a protection. You can switch characters whenever your life runs low.

When Malefor's life is depleted he plunges into a cloud and reappears to deliver a tremendous bite attack. Quickly press the button that appears on screen to finish him off. If you fail, his attack will harm you a lot and you will have to wait until his next bite attack.

Second Stage
At this point of the battle, the Destroyer will reach its destination and the apocalypse will begin. The battle will continue in the ruins of the temple, which is a much shorter arena where flying is way harder. This can be a severe hindrance, as you need to fly continuously.

The battle is very similar to the first stage, but Malefor now regularly moves from one place to another. The Dark Master uses the same attacks, but in a different way: he now breathes short streams of Convexity fire, his Convexity Bombs are harder to dodge, and he strikes with a double claw swipe that stomps the ground. He also uses the dangerous Ice Shard Bomb, (he breathes a huge stream of Ice, which divides itself into a flurry of homing ice balls) if you're hit by the stream of Ice, it's an instant Game Over and the ice balls are hard to dodge. Near the end of the fight, Malefor will surround himself with a spherical Convexity Shield which deals huge damage, stay away from him and wait for the Shield to vanish before attacking him again. Don't hesitate to unleash your Fury attacks whenever you can.

Once again, when hen Malefor's life is depleted you'll have to finish him off when he charges at you and strikes you with his claws, by pressing the button that appears on screen. This time, you must do it twice.

Third Stage
A meteor falls into the volcano and the world starts breaking apart, separating the arena into many platforms.

Malefor surrounds himself with a huge spherical Convexity Shield, which protects him from your attacks. Only your Fury Attacks can harm him, so unleash it and keep attacking Malefor's shield to replenish your fury bar, while dodging his attacks. (He use the same attacks as in the previous stage) This time striking Malefor does'nt release gems to recover life and magic, so be very careful. Striking him with a Fury Attack will raise your life points.

When Malefor's life is depleted, he will breath a huge, continuous stream of Convexity Fire on Cynder. Push quickly and repeatedly the button that appears on screen, until the control switches to Spyro. Then, pushes the button that appears to strike Malefor. You will then dive into the center of the planet and Malefor will crush both dragons against the cliffwall, once again, push repeatedly on the button that appears and land the coup de grace. thumb|left|450px|The Final Battle

Trivia

 * Malefor may be a variation of the name "Valefar", a Christian demon and Duke of Hell.
 * Malefor's name might be composed from the Latin noun malum (-i,neutrum) - evil; and the Greek verb foreo - to carry; meaning ˝The carrier of evil˝, or maybe ˝The source of evil˝.
 * Malefor is voiced by Mark Hamill, the actor who played as the hero of Star Wars. Some might say that Spyro's actor, Elijah Wood, who portrayed The Lord of the Ring's protagonist, plays against Malefor's actor's role as Star War's champion as a little joke of when the two legends of the famed trilogies oppose each other in a battle for glory.
 * In the movie Dragons, Destiny of Fire the main antagonist is a dragon called Vildrok, that is very similar to Malefor because: both are evil dragons who want to destroy the world, and both kills the main protagonist's parents. (Vildrok just kills John John's mother and enslaves his father, but Malefor kills both Spyro's mother and father.) However, Malefor is the most evil of the two.
 * When Malefor is sent to hell, it is similar to the fall of Satan.