Welcome back citizens for the second part of this heretical series. Previously we spoke on the ruinous powers, and the major Gods of Chaos. What a lot of newcomers don’t know about this hobby, is that although the lore seems to focus on the four major Gods, there was actually once a fifth God. This fifth member of the pantheon of Chaos was originally known as Malice, the Renegade God.
History
Source: warhammer40k.wikia.com
Malice was first introduced in early editions of Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. The earliest appearance of Malal was in Warhammer Fantasy where he was represented by his champion Kaleb Daark. Malal would later also be represented in the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40k, in the Space Marines Codex where there is mention of a weapon known as “Dreadaxe”, the same weapon used by Mala’s champion Kaleb Daark in Warhammer Fantasy.
Despite being a Warhammer 40k character, Malal was actually created by John Wagner and Alan Grant, the very same writers of the Judge Dredd comics. The issue is that the characters they created, despite being made for the Warhammer Universe,were not under the ownership of Games Workshop. In fact, as Grant and Wagner were only working for Games Workshop as freelancers. Under their agreement, Grant and Wagner retained ownership of all characters they had created for Games Workshop. The only way that Games Workshop would be able to continue to use Malal and Kaleb Daark in their work was if they were to pay royalties for the privilege, this never happened. The renegade god was eventually replaced in some of the Warhammer Fantasy stories with the characters Zuvassin and Necoho.
Source: warhammer40k.wikia.com
Although Grant and Wagner created Malal and Kaleb for Games Workshop, there was technically no model for the characters to be used in game. For the purpose of designing Malal’s army, the company hired another freelancer by the name of Tony Ackland. Ackland designed several demons, going with skeletal, insectoid, and mutant designs. In fact there was already some consensus as to the general design and theme of the army, but with the Grant/Wagner issues Ackland was never informed on the design decisions. Seeing as Ackland was also a freelancer, he too continues to have ownership over his own designs, and has actually had them brought to life in the game Pantheon of Chaos.
Source: warhammer40k.wikia.com
Malal/Malice – The Outcast God
Source: warhammer40k.wikia.com
Malal, also known as the Outcast God, the Lost God, and the renegade God. Malice represents chaos in its purest form, as his wrath is unleash indiscriminately against the forces of chaos, as well as the forces of the material world. The forces of this chaos being work towards the destruction of chaos, with even his followers working to destroy the worshipers of the other Gods.
In Warhammer 40k lore it is believed that Malal was either ousted from the immaterium by the other four chaos God’s or left on his own. It is never really made clear, and since he was essentially sidelined due to the legal issues with Grant and Wagner, we will never find out. However there are some fan theories which suggest that while in real space, Malal was captured by the Grey Knights chapter of Space Marines which now hold him in captivity where he slumbers. The fan theories suggest that Grey Knight recruits are placed in the presence of the Renegade God as he slumbers, in order to expose them to the whispers and temptations of this chaotic being. If the recruit is able to survive the temptations and remain pure then he is inducted as a full fledged battle-brother. In fact theories such as this point out that Malice’s absence in no way means that he is no longer canon, but simply that his story is not being told as of now.
Source: warhammer40k.wikia.com
The forces of Malice have abilities in line with his anti-Chaotic sentiment. It is said that Malicious Daemons can negate the chaotic auras and influences of enemy chaotic beings. One such story talks about a Malicious Daemon known as a hooked horror being able to capture a Slaaneshi Daemonette, trapping it in a cage of Malicious origin which would negate it’s ability to feel any form of sensation. As mentioned in the previous article, Slaaneshi daemons thrive off of all forms of sensation, from pain to pleasure, depriving them of any sensation at all would essentially be equivalent to starving them to death. Malice has even claimed a chapter of Space Marines known as The Sons of Malice.
The Sons of Malice are a chapter of Chaos Space Marines that is loyal to Malice. They work to unleash Malice, and help him in his mission to destroy the Chaos Gods as well as the God Emperor. They were declared traitors after their flesh eating rituals were witnessed by an Imperial Inquisitor which then called a group of Sisters of Battle to destroy the chapter. The result was the cannibalization of the Sisters of Battle. The High Lords of Terra offered the Sons a chance to repent by doing penitence crusade into the Eye of Terror. The Sons refused, as in their eyes they had done nothing wrong. In truth, his even had them labeled as traitors, but they had been in the service of Malice for some time prior to these events.
Other forces of Malice include
- Hooked Horrors
- Daemon Lord of Malice
- And other Daemons.
