Malavus
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| Malavus | |
| Player: @Vangelus | |
| Origin: | Science |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Brute |
| Threat Level: | 35 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Malavus |
| Known Aliases: | Longbow Operative Cheste Goodboye |
| Species: | Sapient Icarus Energy (mutation) Mass |
| Age: | Confidential |
| Height: | Variable |
| Weight: | Variable |
| Eye Color: | Green |
| Hair Color: | Usually Black |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | None |
| Occupation: | Avatar of Humanity's Negatives |
| Place of Birth: | Death Row (current), Unknown ChoGenesic Facility (original) |
| Base of Operations: | Mercy Island |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Known Relatives: | Confidential |
| Known Powers | |
| Close-range Icarus Electricity Manipulation | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Icarus Electricity Body, Psyche Vampire, Overpowering Will | |
| Equipment | |
| None | |
| No additional information available. | |
Malavus was originally a protocol component of Shinsektor's fractured psyche. A distillation of that component was given life as a new entity, in order to play the role of Dr. Hideo Langstrom's eyes and ears in the Rogue Isles. Currently, he affiliates only with Dr. Vera Astracia, and the nature of his physicality and sapience is now unknown.
In terms of the game engine, Malavus is an Electric Melee/Electric Armor brute created by @Vangelus upon the electric powersets's launch in mid-2006. The original City of Villains Malavus was a Spines/Regeneration stalker that was created upon CoV's launch. Malavus's first appearances were as an alternate costume through Shinsektor.
Contents |
Biography
Real Name: Malavus
Known Aliases: Longbow Operative Cheste Goodboye
Identity: Word of mouth
Occupation: Avatar of Humanity's Negatives
Citizenship: None
Place of Birth: Death Row (current), Unknown ChoGenesic Facility (original)
Base of Operations: Mercy Island
Known Relatives: Shinsektor
Affiliations: The Nest
Former Affiliations: Dr. Hideo Langstrom
Physical Attributes
Height: Variable
Weight: Variable
Eyes: Green
Hair: Varies, usually black
Personality
Malavus was originally formed from Shinsektor's own negative emotions and thoughts, magnified several times by a neural programming protocol. He exhibited a manic desire to hurt others, acting towards no discernable goal other than causing emotional damage to his host.
Briefly, Shinsektor's Malavus resurfaced in an ectoplasmic form. This iteration was devoid of the Malavus Protocol itself, acting as a true representation of Shinsektor's negative aspects. He was arrogant, belligerent, egotistic, and argumentative. He also cared greatly (but not outwardly) for Shinsektor's friends. Additionally, the ectoplasmic Malavus showed very noticable father-figure intentions towards Questing Eagle.
The singular Malavus was created as a true evolution of the original Malavus Protocol. Lacking nearly all lingering qualities and virtues from Shinsektor's psyche, he acted with guiltless abandon within the Rogue Isles. Though he was an agent of Dr. Hideo Langstrom, Malavus was secretly driven by his desire to break free from the stigma of simply being "Shin's evil clone". His resentment festered and grew as he was constantly reminded that he was not even that, but merely a copied fragment of a psyche, given life.
His rebirth was heralded by his undying will to live, and thus the transition drastically altered his mindset. No longer stalking through the shadows and hiding his motives, Malavus now embraces all that he is. He seems to view the world not so much as a place to live in, but as a show in which he is both the audience and a regular participant. Though friendly to many, he truly cares for almost nobody. He also does little to hide this, often verbally needling others for his own amusement.
He displays a strange affection towards Dr. Vera Astracia, treating her as a surrogate mother while he casually courts for her favor.
He also feels what he refers to as "a hatred love" toward Ireland Love and Questing Eagle. It appears to be a deranged affection caused by his many clashes with the two. Neither have encountered him since his transformation, and thus are unaware of this.
Powers & Abilities
Close-range Icarus Electricity Manipulation
Malavus can create several offensive and defensive manifestations of the Icarus Electricity energy that makes up his body for the purposes of combat and deception. This most commonly occurs in the form of unstable tendril-like spines of pure energy that extend from his hands and arms (a visual throwback to his previous physical form).
Injuries from these manifestations often include internal burns or scarring and sudden loss of stamina. However, there are rarely any visible external injuries.
Malavus has also displayed an ability to form visual duplicates of various objects (books, clipboards, firearms), though they must remain in physical contact with his body. Functionalities are sometimes mimicked, but are often simply illusions to mask his direct offensive use of Icarus Electricity.
Icarus Electricity Body
The Icarus Electricity is a mutated strain of the Icarus Energy source present in Shinsektor's body. Just as Shinsektor is the only known bearer of wielded Icarus Energy, Malavus is the sole sample of the Electricity mutation. However, in the case of Malavus this energy is the very stuff of his being. Scans of his physicality have shown nothing more than an unstable and unknown energy source.
A likely cause of the mutation was Malavus's own will to live after his near-death at the hands of Questing Eagle and Fiery Hawk. Icarus Energy has shown itself to be reactive to strong emotion, so it would appear that his absolute desire for life caused an unforeseen transformation of the Icarus Energy traces in his former body.
This physical form has allowed Malavus to use the ability of full physical shapeshifting. The limits of the forms he can take appear to grow wider as time goes by. So far, he is mainly seen in 3 distinct forms:
- Base Form: A crimson insectoid form reminicent of both his former body and the first emergence of the Malavus Protocol in Shinsektor's body.
- Bow-tied Man: A man dressed in a black suit and hat, with a red shirt and dark bow-tie. His skin appears somewhat grey. Most often, his face is an exact replica of Hongo Ichimonji, Shinsektor's former human identity.
- Longbow Operative: This form matches with Longbow Personal File Records for an operative named Cheste Goodboye. This is the first body that Malavus admitted to outright absorbing.
- Homeless Child: A rags-clad child of unspecific age or gender. When in this form, Malavus seems less interested in entertaining himself so much as outright discomforting and terrifying other people. Often seems obsessed with having no mother.
Through the Longbow Operative form, it has become apparent that Malavus is now able to wholly absorb another individual into himself. The circumstances that allow for this are unclear, but Malavus has revealed that it had to do with the "dark" side of Cheste Goodboye's personality.
Psyche Vampire
Malavus's main nourishment is no longer a physically palpable source. He now draws energy from the "negative" emotional refuse that nearly all sapient beings produce. Anger, confusion, ego, and murderous intent are only a few of the feelings that Malavus now feeds from. The amount of this energy needed to sustain him is unknown, but it does not appear to be a large amount.
Overpowering Will
The will to live is what rebirthed Malavus from his near-death, and that same will now appears to be the main force that perpetuates his existence.
He has also been able to use this will to coerce other individuals into taking unpleasant courses of action. It seems that, through a combination of his will and shapeshifting ability, Malavus can often cause a weak-willed person to follow the darker path when they are faced with a critical choice, or are wavering between being "good" or going along with a less noble intent. An example would be a situation Malavus has mentioned to others, in which he caused two brothers to murderously quarrel over a joint business venture when both had minor musings of betrayal in the backs of their minds.
