Malocchio, the Earl of the Evil Eye in the original Japanese, is a demonic Vampire Lord who serves as a major villain in the RPG video game Trials of Mana. He is the third-in-command of his Dark Majesty, who oversees his domain in his name, and is a foe to Hawkeye and Riesz (Lise), two of the main heroes.
Characteristics[]
Malocchio hails from the Demon World of Mavolia. While never stated to be a vampire, his deathly pallor, red eyes, fangs, collared black cape linen with red, preying on blood, and undead status establish him as such. He worships his Dark Majesty as a god and leads his armies of monsters.
He is cruel, devious, haughty and falsely polite, yet refined and regal, never losing composure. The remake gives him a grandiose, theatrical flair, being quick to gloat at apparent successes and seemingly enjoying to fight and drink blood. He resents the monsters' confinement in Mavolia and regards mortals as having stolen the world of Fa'Diel. He also hints to covet control of the surface, under his liege's rule or in his name.
Malocchio is immensely powerful, fast and strong. He is immune to sunlight, masters Shadow Magic, seems everywhere and controls monsters or evil forces. He can teleport, flicker, fly or glide, perform telekinesis, summon and revive bats or monsters, and drain life-force.
He follows the orders of Belladonna, with whom he seems to get along quite well, but he acts separately to maintain her cover. He mostly watches over the Dark Castle and his Dark Majesty’s remains, needed for his resurrection.
In the Game[]
Malocchio is the mysterious stranger speaking to Belladonna when Hawkeye discovered her treachery. He later buys Prince Elliot, Riesz's abducted little brother who was sold as a slave by the ninjas from Nevarl, to cover Belladonna's tracks. He imprisons the child in the Dark Castle, wanting him to be his Dark Majesty's next vessel.
Malocchio seeks to release the Benevodons before the other two Great Evils of Fa'Diel (the Dragon Lord and the Masked Mage). He traps the party on a volcanic island to kill them in the imminent eruption, but the turtle Vuscav, Ruler of the Seas, saves them.
He later brings back his lord, and assists him and Belladonna to destroy the other villains. If his Dark Majesty is not the final boss, he gets terminated instead, and Belladonna loses the will to live, killing Malocchio before committing suicide, while he wants to accomplish his Dark Majesty's goal on his behalf despite his demise.
Belladonna and Malocchio later take the heroes' Faerie guide as a hostage to get the legendary Sword of Mana, given to the heroes by the Mana Goddess. Malocchio uses the sword to unleash the Benevodons. He gets harmed by the Sword's Holy Power but succeeds in bending it to his will, and depart to unleash their armies of monsters.
After slaying the Benevodons, the heroes head to the Night Cavern, where the Vampire Lord is waiting for them. He explains his liege's goal to fuse Mavolia with Fa'Diel for the demons to rule before attacking the heroes aided by a werewolf and a female vampire. He is eventually killed, leading to the deaths of Belladonna and his Dark Majesty.
Boss Battle[]
This battle is long and difficult. Malocchio’s bodyguards must be killed first to deal with him, but the three are at the same level. The Gris Wolf unleashes powerful techniques of the beast-man Kevin (one of the six heroes), and the Queen Succube decreases maximum life points with her Beguiling Bait move. Malocchio is at level 44 with 15947 life-points. He flickers away from attacks, and can hit or bite repeatedly one hero, but mainly uses Shadow Magic. He mostly casts the level 2 spell Dark Force, the powerful Ghost Leader and his special attack Psychic Blast, often adding the dangerous Dark Rain.
Malocchio's spells strikes all heroes save from Annihilate, a fearsome one-hit-kill for lower-levelled targets. He is weak to Fire, so weapons infused with Fire magic and Fire-based attacks are the best bet. The heroes must pummel him with weapons and special techniques and heal often. Caution though, he reacts to powerful techniques with a very dangerous counter-attack.
Annihilate is harmless if the heroes are at level 44 or higher. If Charlotte is in the party and masters the priest spell Undead Away, it deals 999 damage and must be spammed. Shadow magic must be avoided for it heals him.
In the remake, Malocchio is at level 60 and his bodyguards are at level 64. Their attacks are telegraphed by red zones and can be dodged. He is vulnerable to Fire and Earth. He teleports, creates a shielding sphere that must be taken down and fights more with claw swipes, big, double or combos. He also uses new techniques like Batmo Drain: a supersonic dash surrounded with bats to catch and drain foes (hitting him releases them), Resurrection to revive his bodyguards, albeit weaker, and Ghoster to summon ghosts that must be destroyed. Doing so knocks him out and makes him vulnerable, but if not, he drains their essence to regain whatever health they have left.
Circle of Mana[]
Malocchio is playable in the role-playing game Circle of Mana, in which the characters are played as cards to save the Mana Tree from monsters. Several cards featuring him are available, each evolving following a distinct path.
Trivia[]
- In the original Japanese version, the Vampire Lord is only known as his title. His English name is Italian for "Evil Eye".
- For many years, he was known as Jagan ("Evil Eye" in Japanese) in the unofficial fan-translation.
- Malocchio's nobility title and haircut are possible references to Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 film.
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Final Fantasy Adventure / Sword of Mana Secret of Mana Trials of Mana Legend of Mana Dawn of Mana Heroes of Mana Echoes of Mana Visions of Mana |