Malekith is a villainous character from Marvel Comics and the main antagonist of Thor: The Dark World. A nihilistic warlord and leader of the Dark Elves, he sought the power of an ancient force known as the Aether which he planned to use to plunge the entire universe into eternal darkness. He was portrayed by Christopher Eccleston.
History[]
Born on Svartalfheim, Malekith was a cruel and warmongering leader of the Dark Elves. Although Malekith's soldiers expressed blind loyalty to their leader and he became worshiped as a god-like figure to the Dark Elves, Malekith's desire to restore the universe to a state of eternal darkness put him in conflict with the forces of Asgard and their king Bor.
Thousands of years ago, Malekith attempted to harness the power of the Aether, an Infinity Stone predating the universe itself, and use its destructive power to destroy all of the Nine Realms. Led by Bor, the Asgardians managed to steal the Aether and stop Malekith's war. In response to the defeat, Malekith sacrificed the majority of his people, including his own wife and son, in an attempt to wipe out the Asgardian invaders, putting himself, his second in command Algrim and a few survivors into hibernation.
Thousands of years later, during which time Bor had died and Asgard was being ruled by his son Odin, the vengeful Malekith and his remaining army awakened when the Aether was absorbed into the body of a human woman named Jane Foster, signalling the beginning of the Convergence. The Aether's reactivity allowed Malekith to sense it's location. Malekith first traveled back to his home world of Svartalfheim, which had been all but destroyed during the great war between the Dark Elves and Asgardian Army, with hundreds of Dark Elf ships littered across the burnt wasteland. As Algrim attempted to comfort his leader by reminding him of all the Dark Elves still alive due to his actions, Malekith swore to avenge his fallen brothers by reclaiming the Aether and using its immense power to destroy Asgard and the rest of the universe.
Malekith and the Dark Elves started searching for the Aether. They soon discovered that Jane Foster had been transported from Earth to Asgard in order to have the Aether removed from her body as it was slowly killing her. Malekith sent his lieutenant Algrim into the city under the guise of a prisoner, and before he left Malekith stored a Kursed Stone inside Algrim's gut to make him indestructible and allow him to destroy Asgard's defences from the inside.
Malekith sent his Dark Elf Harrows to fly into Asgard and invade the city. While Algrim used the Kursed Stone to transform himself into a Kursed and freed the inmates, including Lorelei, he managed to lower Asgard's defences. Malekith's own ship crashed into the city and his soldiers attacked the guards. While the Dark Elves held back the Asgardian Soldiers, Malekith calmly walked through the room, ignoring the battle and destroyed Odin's throne with a Black Hole Grenade.
While his army of Dark Elves continued to battle the Asgardians inside and outside the city walls, Malekith went to the palace where he found Queen Frigga protecting Jane. As Frigga demanded that he leave under the promise that if he did he would survive the battle, Malekith introduced himself to the pair and demanded that they hand over the Aether to him, claiming that it belonged to him and that he had survived worse battles. When Malekith attempted to capture Foster and regain his ultimate weapon, Frigga defended her by attacking Malekith with her sword. The pair engaged in a brief but vicious sword-fight with Frigga putting all her might and skill into defending the young human from the Dark Elf. Taken off guard by Frigga's fighting ability, Malekith was disarmed and defeated in single combat with the Asgardian Queen, with Frigga ending the fight by threatening to cut his throat.
As Frigga held her blade to Malekith's throat, the Dark Elf remained confident as moments later, Kurse arrived and restrained Frigga, disarming her and using his unbeatable strength to hold her back. With his enemies seemingly defeated, Malekith confidently went to grab Foster and reclaim the Aether, only to discover that she was an illusion created by Frigga's magic and the true Foster was hidden safely away in another room of the palace. Malekith demanded to know where the Aether was, but realized that Frigga would not talk, so he allowed Kurse to kill her by stabbing her through the heart. Thor, witnessing the death of his beloved mother, angrily struck Malekith's face with lightning, leaving a permanent burn on the right side of his face. Kurse carried his injured master and together they jumped on board a Dark Elf Harrow and escaped to their flagship before Thor and Odin could destroy them in revenge.
Malekith returned to his ship where his injuries were treated while his forces prepared to attack Asgard again and reclaim their greatest weapon. Kurse checked on his leader's recovery and insisted that they must attack Asgard again while the Asgardian Army were still weak after the last battle and their defences were low, however Malekith sensed that Thor and Loki had chosen to disobey Odin's orders and decided instead to move Jane to Svartalfheim in order to draw Malekith out. Seeing this chance, Malekith ordered his soldiers to return to their home world.
Malekith witnessed the Asgardian's arrival on their home world and was surprised when Loki suddenly betrayed his brother by seemingly stabbing him in the side before kicking him off the side of the cliff and cutting off his hand, surrendering Foster to the Dark Elves. Loki then told Malekith that all he wanted in exchange for his partnership was a seat from where he could watch Asgard burn as he claimed to only want to see Thor and Odin lying dead at his feet. While Malekith considered the offer, Kurse recognized Loki as a fellow prisoner within the Asgardian Dungeons who he had seen during his breakout in the chaos of the Sacking of Asgard, confirming this to his superior. Malekith took Kurse's word and mocked Thor as he lay moaning in pain on the ground, kicking him onto his back. As the Dark Elf extracted the Aether from Foster, it was revealed that Loki cutting off his brother's hand was actually an illusion. Summoning his hammer, Mjølnir, Thor attempted to destroy the Aether while Loki protected Foster, only for the Aether to reconstitute itself almost instantly. Malekith explained that the Aether could not be destroyed and absorbed it, leaving his Dark Elves and Kurse to deal with his two Asgardian opponents. Malekith then made his way to Earth, where he would unleash the Aether into the Convergence and then finally obliterate the Nine Realms.
Arriving on Earth onboard the Dark Elf Flagship, Malekith and his forces marched onto the ground of London where dozens of innocent bystanders ran in fear, including Darcy Lewis and Ian Boothby. Malekith looked up where he witnessed portals in the sky opening up as the Convergence began, signally the beginning of the end of the Nine Realms. Before Malekith could begin unleashing his weapon, they were soon confronted once again by Thor, who had survived his battle with Kurse, although Loki had seemingly been killed along with Kurse. With the Aether enhancing his power and abilities, Malekith battled Thor, absorbing the power of his lightning and throwing him through the air with great force. Their fight quickly led to them being thrown through various portals left by the Convergence.
Eventually, the two were teleported away from each other as Thor was thrown miles across London without Mjølnir to help him get back. Seeing that he had landed just beside the Dark Elf flagship with the Convergence in full effect, Malkeith used the opportunity to begin unleashing the Aether's power upon the Nine Realms, sucking all the light out of the Realms and causing horrific devastation upon his enemies. Malekith made a huge burning cloud with the Aether's power which ripped apart everything near its range.
Death[]
Thor returned and confronted Malekith, who casually asked if he wanted to see the end of the universe. Thor defiantly demanded his surrender as he threw a teleportation device Erik Selvig had created at him, before the device activated and teleported his right arm through a portal. Thor then threw the second device, which then teleported his remaining arm away. The Dark Elf arrogantly dismissed Thor's efforts, declaring that the Aether cannot be destroyed.
However, Thor declared that he could at least destroy him as he summoned Mjølnir into his hand and slammed the last teleportation device into Malekith's chest, sending the Dark Elf crashing into his ship. Subsequently, Jane activated the device, sending him to Svartalfheim. Malekith fell on his back, weakened by the battle. Moments later, Selvig used another device to teleport Malekith's flagship to his location. The ship continued to fall and Malekith was subsequently crushed and killed.