History Literature / MalusDarkblade

* AwesomeMcCoolname: Subverted. "Darkblade" may sound cool, but for the druchii it's [[AtrociousAlias a derogatory alias]], meaning 'a flawed thing', and Malus hates it.

* AwesomeMcCoolname : Subverted. "Darkblade" may sound cool, but for the druchii it's [[AtrociousAlias a derogatory alias]], meaning 'a flawed thing', and Malus hates it.

* GreaterScopeVillain: T'zarkan is the overall driving villain of the series, possessing Malus and forcing him to recover the keys needed to [[SealedEvilInACan unseal his Can]]. [[spoiler: He becomes the end-all BigBad in ''Lord of Ruin''.]]

* PetTheDog: Despite being a truly awful person, Malus has quite a bit of affection for his [[HorseOfADifferentColor giant lizard mount]], Spite. His treatment of [[VillainousFriendship Hauclir]] also counts, [[spoiler: to the point where Malus chooses to save his life at the cost of his own freedom]].

* YouHaveFailedMe: For her failure to defeat the armies of Naggaroth in the name of the Chaos Gods, [[spoiler:Nagaira's sorcerous powers turn against her, destroying her completely]].

** [[TheDarkSide Chaos magic]] is all that, and [[UpToEleven worse]].

** Lhunara is such a {{Determinator}} that she manages to [[spoiler:come [[UpToEleven back from the]] ''[[BackFromTheDead dead]]''. She even gives an IronicEcho of Malus' aforementioned CatchPhrase when they finally meet again.]]

* AFatherToHisMen: Surprisingly enough, Malus [[CharacterDevelopment develops]] certain qualities of this kind near the end of his journey; taking genuine concern for the needs of his subordinates, giving awesome motivational speeches and even risking his own agendas to avoid excessive casualties.

* BiggerBad: T'zarkan is the overall driving villain of the series, possessing Malus and forcing him to recover the keys needed to [[SealedEvilInACan unseal his Can]]. [[spoiler: He becomes the end-all BigBad in ''Lord of Ruin''.]]

** To get some information out of a wounded Khaine worshipper, Malus threatens to... leave him alive and treat his wounds. The Khainite is horrified that a fellow druchii would sink that low. Malus only wounded him in the first place because the Khainite attacked Malus after he saved him from being killed, [[MartyrdomCulture which he considered a grave insult]].

A series of TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} books written by Creator/DanAbnett and Creator/MikeLee and following the [[ProtagonistTitle character of the same name]]. It was initially a comic strip released by Black Library which follows the same general plot but differs in a few areas. The books are mostly set in the distant land of [[{{Mordor}} Naggaroth]], where the [[OurElvesAreDifferent dark elves]] rule city-states under the fearsome [[EvilOverlord Witch-King]].

* InTheBlood: Malus's family is chalk full of bastards, heretics, and murderers... which practically makes them model citizens of dark elf society.

* BlackBlood:
** Malus's blood turns black when he uses T'zarkan's power.
** [[spoiler:Nagaira]]'s blood is also black, revealing [[spoiler:her]] nature as a daemonhost.

* DeadlyDecadentCourt: All druchii cities are ruled by one of these. They even have rules for how close you're allowed to stand to someone else, measured in swordlengths, because the highborn nobles are so prone to killing each other.

A series of TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}} books written by Creator/DanAbnett and Creator/MikeLee and following the [[ProtagonistTitle character of the same name]]. It was initially a comic strip released by Black Library which follows the same general plot but differs in a few areas. The books are mostly set in the distant land of [[{{Mordor}} Naggaroth]], where the [[OurElvesAreBetter dark elves]] rule city-states under the fearsome [[EvilOverlord Witch-King]].

It's clear early on, however, that their relationship isn't that simple, and Malus is no standard fantasy hero. For one, he's not actually a hero at all, but a ruthless VillainProtagonist: Throughout the series, nearly everyone Darkblade meets [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder will eventually be betrayed by him]]. Though, admittedly, among the dark elves known as [[AlwaysChaoticEvil druchii]], often it's a race to see who betrays whom first. Even his own family. ''[[BigScrewedUpFamily Especially]]'' [[BigScrewedUpFamily his own family]].

* {{Expy}}: A wandering edgy elf AntiHero who carries a sentient sword of demonic origins. Are we sure Malus is not related to [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric?]]

* {{Expy}}: A wandering edgy elf AntiHero who carries a sentient sword of demonic origins. Are we sure Malus is not related to [[TheElricSaga Elric?]]