darkSpyro

Since Skylanders Malefor will be making his debut soon (in the upcoming Skylanders comic), do you have high hopes to see him? Do you think his personality will be played out well, his appearance being not too overdone, and his motives being more sense than his LoS incarnation?

From his backstory, Skylanders Malefor is the Undead Dragon King of the underworld and had stayed in the darkest corners of the underworld for centuries, only sending his minions to the world above to do his dirty work for him. His minions stole Cynder's egg and Malefor himself raised her as his own evil daughter and taught her to strike fear into the hearts of his subjects. Cynder was then defeated by Spyro and freed from Malefor's control. After losing Cynder, Malefor heard of Hex's powers and sent his minions to kidnap her to learn her secrets. However Hex got tired of hiding from Malefor's minions and took on the Undead Dragon King herself in the underworld, emerging victorious. Malefor became badly wounded after the battle and hasn't been mentioned or seen since.

In the 2013 Annual, it's said that Hex banished Malefor after she defeated him.

Well considering that he is the "undead dragon king" I'm pretty sure his goal would be to rule the surface with the undead, like most vampires and undead rulers. Which may be cliche and all, but you know at least it's a better goal than his LoS counterpart had (which we are still confused on why, and only have theories to it).

Appearance overdone? I am not sure by that bit at all. You mean like how they redesigned him? I mean they can go pretty dark with it. Though if you meant like throwing a pair of boobs on a reptilian creature, than I hope not. I personally don't think reptilians need boobs if the only purpose for them is nothing. Birds have them for attraction, Mammals have them to feed their young. Idk I guess it's me saying that boobs or breasts on a reptilian is unfitting.

I do have high hopes of seeing this villain in a new series, where kids can get reintroduced to a villain of meant to be old. I'm hoping that this Malefor is played out better than the LoS one, by giving us a good antagonist for our Skylanders. And considering that the comics are giving almost every character a personality, like Blades being a show off, Trigger Happy being a fun nut case, and Spyro being a kind hero. I'm sure they can do a good personality on Malefor.

Quote: Trix Master 100

Appearance overdone? I am not sure by that bit at all. You mean like how they redesigned him? I mean they can go pretty dark with it.

I mean, like how they redesigned him in DotD compared to what he looked like in the first two LoS titles. Too many horns and overly sinister. Hope they don't try to make Malefor look too evil, like his DotD counterpart.

Quote: Aura24

Quote: Trix Master 100

Appearance overdone? I am not sure by that bit at all. You mean like how they redesigned him? I mean they can go pretty dark with it.

I mean, like how they redesigned him in DotD compared to what he looked like in the first two LoS titles. Too many horns and overly sinister. Hope they don't try to make Malefor look too evil, like his DotD counterpart.

Oh okay.

And the comic summary mentioned him being one of Spyro's "most malevolent and powerful enemies". We can expect a dark storyline in the comic story, especially with Cynder and Hex being in it too as they both have had experiences with Malefor.

Given that he had no personality in LoS and was ultimately pretty poorly designed, this can be nothing but an improvement. I'm personally more excited that Cynder and Hex are teaming up (not that I read this comic regardless; don't have the money and I prefer my comics in trade book form). I'd be more excited if it was, well, pretty much any other not-Spyro, not-Cynder classic Spyro character showing up.

TEN Malefor actually has plenty of horns, but definately not weird flappy spike things and the outright gross color scheme. For reference:

This is all under a sepia filter so hard to tell if he'd still have white horns and the like, but judging from other models in Mountain Fortress he'd probably be purple and green instead since it's his army's color scheme.

Design wise, my hope is that he is a nice balance between the TEN design's key features(scar(look closely at his right eye),crown formation for the horns, thick polygonal scales, tail with the shape of pincers)and the undead dragon design for Skylanders (Vathek and... Bone Dragon even has pictures in Stump Smash Crosses the Bone Dragon?), being a reference and at the same time its own thing. But being realistic,as long as they stick with the Vathek part it'll be good enough.

As for motives... Looking at the extended bios for Cynder,Hex and the Book of Elements entry, he seems to be Kaos but creepier, power hungry and with a knack for creating warbringers. I'd be really great if they played with that since they both seem to be looking for power, except it wouldn't since it's the one good idea for a fancomic I have(jk). Otherwise, just give us a good hammy unnerving villain that might be cliche as heck but as entertaning as your usual Evil Overlords. Anything better than edgy lord of evilness of prophecy who thinks a overgrown temple lacking basic furniture is a creative evil lair.

And one thing that some might've thought of already... "Return of"a fan favorite villain, in a IDW comic.... Sounds pretty darn familiar to me. Considering that arc was a delicious mix of comedy and straight up nightmare fuel(let's crush kittens into paste just barely offscreen!), really hope this one is of similar quality.

Yeah, the Bone Dragon has pictures.

Oh yeah,and let's not forget the important wording of his current title - he's a Dragon King who's undead according to the Book of Elements(and not the king of undead dragons or something). One has to wonder how he kept the title despite being in the Underworld.

Well, his first portrayal was Generic Doomsday Villain: The Character, so I daresay it would take a lot of effort to do a worse job of characterization. But I don't own these comics. I didn't even know they existed. <.<;

Quote: Bifrost

Oh yeah,and let's not forget the important wording of his current title - he's a Dragon King who's undead according to the Book of Elements(and not the king of undead dragons or something). One has to wonder how he kept the title despite being in the Underworld.

Undead Dragon King, yep. Perhaps we'll find out in the 3-part story comics.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how they portray Malefor. It'll be really interesting to see their design (since I was never particularly fond of DotD Malefor's appearance anyway).

Here is an image of Skylanders Malefor for Issue 8 comic cover!

Quote: Aura24

Here is an image of Skylanders Malefor for Issue 8 comic cover!

Reveal Spoiler

SWEET!!!!cool

NSFW because of wording.

In a good way.I mean, as I said in the Book thread, it's good enough of overdone that it's not White Reshiram or some other messy fruit salad of acessories.But in the other way, if DOTD was all about fighting Satan(because Malefor's symbolism was anything but subtle),the Skylanders are fighting MEGA SATAN. Fico Ossio is going to break his wrist trying to draw this every frame he appears with every connection of the armor and scale that the cover has.

Maybe it's just because my depression is overtaking things today or the drawing itself is janky but I expected the design to look more unsettling

I'm impressed by the size and it has the right parts of his Dawn design, but it feels like something is missing

I hoped he would look more mess-with-head creepy than just huge and mean-looking. There are some creepy aspects to his design but I think they're overshadowed by the spikey armor

I get the feeling that when I see more of him, I'll like him better.

So, uh, why can't they put him in the games exactly? As a fan of Invader Zim, I like Kaos, but he's quickly grown stale, especially since he's reached Dr. Wily levels of "Doesn't matter what other baddies show up, you know I'm going to hijack the plot and be the final boss!" in only a few short years. If anything, the recent game showed it can be great to throw other baddies into the mix. But I get the feeling that won't happen. <.<;

I'm having similar issues with this design as I did with the DotD design: it's not as cool as it at first seems and is really impractical overall. I honestly can't figure out half of what I'm supposed to be seeing there. I picked out his feet and his face and neck, but that's about it. The rest is just kind of garbled and junk. Then again, I've not made it a secret that I overall find the art of the Skylanders comics painful to look at. It's been getting better over time, but there's a reason I haven't spent a dime on this comic series so far and it has nothing to do with the story.

Quote: Bifrost

NSFW because of wording.

In a good way.I mean, as I said in the Book thread, it's good enough of overdone that it's not White Reshiram or some other messy fruit salad of acessories.But in the other way, if DOTD was all about fighting Satan(because Malefor's symbolism was anything but subtle),the Skylanders are fighting MEGA SATAN. Fico Ossio is going to break his wrist trying to draw this every frame he appears with every connection of the armor and scale that the cover has.

Ossio mentioned that he's currently finishing the lineart for the last Malefor story arc issue.

They've made him look like a badass. I like the design.

Quote: Razz

It's very little about the design and more about Fico's really weird idea of perspective. I took a good 5 minutes trying to tell where his arms are - the one holding Spyro is easy to see since it's at the front but then there's the one holding Cynder that looks more like a leg because it's pulled waaaaay behind his chest, and that's without taking his feet into account which feel like they're coming out of his belly. I know I ain't trying making fanart of it until the comic is out and there's at least a view from the side that actually makes sense.

Oh, you're right, Bifrost! I didn't even realize that was an arm holding Spyro. XD I thought Spyro was biting Malefor's shoulder or something. I still can't find Malefor's left wing, even though the right one is clearly visible. Like I said, Fico's art is getting better, but it still needs a lot of improvement on some really basic things like perspective.

Quote: Razz

I'm having similar issues with this design as I did with the DotD design: it's not as cool as it at first seems and is really impractical overall. I honestly can't figure out half of what I'm supposed to be seeing there. I picked out his feet and his face and neck, but that's about it. The rest is just kind of garbled and junk. Then again, I've not made it a secret that I overall find the art of the Skylanders comics painful to look at. It's been getting better over time, but there's a reason I haven't spent a dime on this comic series so far and it has nothing to do with the story.

I agree with you on this. The problem with this cover is that it's just too much of a mess. It took me a while to figure out where the heck Malefor's body even was. The armor and its design is really confusing at first glance. Even when I did figure out his body, the leg placement is still just odd... I appreciate all the work that goes into these comics (I even got a free one from GameStop and enjoyed it) but sometimes it's just a little too much

Quote: Razz

Oh, you're right, Bifrost! I didn't even realize that was an arm holding Spyro. I thought Spyro was biting Malefor's shoulder or something. I still can't find Malefor's left wing, even though the right one is clearly visible. Like I said, Fico's art is getting better, but it still needs a lot of improvement on some really basic things like perspective.

Wow, that makes things a lot more clear. I had no idea that was an arm, I couldn't even see it... see what I mean? These things should be easier to see, but instead it just looks like a huge mess.

I suspect the artist for these comics has a background in more traditional superhero type stories, which explains why he's having such trouble with the highly stylized and cartoonish Skylanders character designs. There is a lot of work going into these pages, but the artist's style doesn't mesh well with that of the source material so far.

Judging from all that armor and metal I think Malefor can barely sustain his form without augmentations.

Malefor has gone full on Meta-Ridley.

And it looks like he had lost his wings too and replaced them with cybernetic parts.

On Amazon's preorder page for Return of the Dragon they say Malefor was the first purple dragon. Maybe Amazon are confusing him for Legend Malefor or maybe this will be part of the plot?

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1631402...e_1422145040277

Well, he's old enough. But even then,one's gonna take into consideration that Spyro isn't even from this dimension - Avalar might've had its first purple dragon species and Skylands, being separated by space and time from the rest of the universe, just happened to have the notorious one. The description does seem to be a mix of Part 1 and 2's descriptions,however, so I'd take it with a grain of salt as well.

Quote: spyrocrash

On Amazon's preorder page for Return of the Dragon they say Malefor was the first purple dragon. Maybe Amazon are confusing him for Legend Malefor or maybe this will be part of the plot?

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1631402...e_1422145040277

A Diamondbookdistributors.com PDF file also posted the same exact summary for the Return of the Dragon King story bundle. If Malefor is once again the first purple dragon, in the Skylanders universe, I would be a little disappointed since I'm thinking it's going to be like DotD all over again. But it's too early to judge.

It's early,but still there isn't much to fear until previews come out. They could be always using his story from TEN, where he creates the Well of Souls to house the undead after being exiled by other dragons, which is much more fitting for his current incarnation instead of the DOTD generic doomsday person one.

Quote: Bifrost

It's early,but still there isn't much to fear until previews come out. They could be always using his story from TEN, where he creates the Well of Souls to house the undead after being exiled by other dragons, which is much more fitting for his current incarnation instead of the DOTD generic doomsday person one.

They shouldn't reuse anything LoS story wise. Please no.

They're already reusing the purple dragon thing, I'm just pointing out the things actually worth salvaging from LOS. TEN is still a pretty unfairily frustrating game but the story really attempted to get good after the clichefest of ANB, and Mountain Fortress makes for a really great undead location.

Quote: HIR

So, uh, why can't they put him in the games exactly? As a fan of Invader Zim, I like Kaos, but he's quickly grown stale, especially since he's reached Dr. Wily levels of "Doesn't matter what other baddies show up, you know I'm going to hijack the plot and be the final boss!" in only a few short years. If anything, the recent game showed it can be great to throw other baddies into the mix. But I get the feeling that won't happen. <.<;

I suspect he's going to be too dark of a character to add in the games.

Quote: Bifrost

They're already reusing the purple dragon thing, I'm just pointing out the things actually worth salvaging from LOS. TEN is still a pretty unfairily frustrating game but the story really attempted to get good after the clichefest of ANB, and Mountain Fortress makes for a really great undead location.

They brought in Munitions Forge into the Skylanders universe. That's not a bad idea.

Malefor being the first purple dragon brings up the issue that by default he would be the genetic ancestor of every other purple dragon including Spyro.

Of course we don't know how they'll execute the history of Malefor.

Quote: Jackson117

Malefor being the first purple dragon brings up the issue that by default he would be the genetic ancestor of every other purple dragon including Spyro.

Wasn't an issue for pretty much every game in the series that included purple dragon lore.Pretty sure that it's some sort of rare chance that a normal dragon's offspring will end up being purple - Malefor himself kinda came out of nowhere of importance, getting elemental abilities left and right in his other incarnation.
But hey, as far as we know, maybe it's a requirement to be the Dragon King and purple dragons are a royal bloodline. Except that it's prefered you give up the crown someday and don't keep it even after going to the Underworld.

Quote: Bifrost

Quote: Jackson117

Malefor being the first purple dragon brings up the issue that by default he would be the genetic ancestor of every other purple dragon including Spyro.

Wasn't an issue for pretty much every game in the series that included purple dragon lore.Pretty sure that it's some sort of rare chance that a normal dragon's offspring will end up being purple - Malefor himself kinda came out of nowhere of importance, getting elemental abilities left and right in his other incarnation.
But hey, as far as we know, maybe it's a requirement to be the Dragon King and purple dragons are a royal bloodline. Except that it's prefered you give up the crown someday and don't keep it even after going to the Underworld.

IN LoS being a Purple Dragon is like being the Avatar minus the reincarnation part. While in Skylanders being are Purple Dragon is just being a rare breed of dragon.

Full body concept of Malefor posted by Fico Ossio -

"The concept from IDW and Activision was to bring him back with armor and a steam punk vibe."

Oh man, this makes so much more sense than the cover. The steam thing as well reminds me of some lines on Book of Elements: Life and Undead, where it's said that the Air element "spreads the stench of the undead", which pretty much no undead thing was said to have. Maybe it's used to incapacitate people being undead smoke if it's not just to be intimidating and/or distracting.
It's also much easier to see now that he's really not all there as he was in LOS - his face is all wrinkly and his upper lips really seems to have seen better days.

Better than LoS, but I just don't like Malefor's design in general and I don't think I ever will. The whip tail is cool, though.

And now fans keep getting the assumption that he's going to be the main villain in the next game since he's appearing in the comics.

Sudden comic book villains appearing right before an unannounced game? That's not how it usually goes. I'm certain the fans will be disappointed if Malefor isn't added in the next game.

If his character is too dark for the young target audience, I can see why they wouldn't add him in.

Quote: Aura24

Sudden comic book villains appearing right before an unannounced game? That's not how it usually goes. I'm certain the fans will be disappointed if Malefor isn't added in the next game.

If his character is too dark for the young target audience, I can see why they wouldn't add him in.

Honestly it'd be a brilliant move and make sense, since Kaos is trapped now. Why not make a new primary villain who it's darker than Kaos? It's about time and the Skylanders games has many dark undertones.

VV is doing the fifth game, it's asking too much if they follow the current canon let alone the spinoffs. They'll probably find some bullcrap way of freeing Kaos' mom because she's obviously the only villain worth giving attention to or get someone who has the exact same role or personality.

Fico mentioned that Malefor is all patched up, so he is using his steampunk armor to keep himself together.

Quote: Aura24

Fico mentioned that Malefor is all patched up, so he is using his steampunk armor to keep himself together.

OMG, imagine Spyro defeating Malefor by blasting the armor off. That'd be pretty damn scary to see.....

Scariness in Skylanders(even if a discretion shot)? Can't get enough of it.
But yeah, the wings really look like Hex beat him up way too well, or he's old enough that no amount of undeath keeps him together on its own.The mechanical tail probably also means he doesn't have a real one anymore.

Update on the Malefor comic issue.

From the public versions of Issues #4-6 (not the mini-comics), each has a mini-story near the end that leads up to the events of the Dragon King arc.