12-08-2007, 08:01 AM
12-08-2007, 08:35 AM
Malal's the Chaos God of Anti-Chaos
He's worshipped by people who hate chaos so much they use it against itself and gains power from people turning against a vastly more powerful authority.
GW stopped supporting him (officially) after a lawsuite involving the authors of a comic he was in; it was this that made GW so obsessive about their IP.
you can find more info here: http://www.freewebs.com/malal-lives/index.htm
He's worshipped by people who hate chaos so much they use it against itself and gains power from people turning against a vastly more powerful authority.
GW stopped supporting him (officially) after a lawsuite involving the authors of a comic he was in; it was this that made GW so obsessive about their IP.
you can find more info here: http://www.freewebs.com/malal-lives/index.htm
12-08-2007, 08:46 AM
Quote:
Skrag the Slaughterer:
I have yet to acquire copies of the two White Dwarf magazines mentioned below, once I have a more substantial piece of writing will appear here, in the meantime here's something nicked from good old Wikipedia...
The renegade ogre Skrag the Slaughterer was also introduced as a follower of Malal. A short background story told his story as being cast out from his tribe for stealing a "starmetal" axe, with Malal subsequently guiding Skrag to a chaos dwarf hold, forcing them to forge him an armour and then slaughtering them all in the name of Malal. White Dwarf: UK Edition (83) featured a WFB mini-scenario "The Crude, the Mad and the Rusty", pitting the lone Chaos Dwarf survivor of this massacre, aided by two goblin fanatics and a mechanical warrior, against Skrag. Skrag has since been recast as a devout follower of the Ogre god known as "The Great Maw".
I have yet to acquire copies of the two White Dwarf magazines mentioned below, once I have a more substantial piece of writing will appear here, in the meantime here's something nicked from good old Wikipedia...
The renegade ogre Skrag the Slaughterer was also introduced as a follower of Malal. A short background story told his story as being cast out from his tribe for stealing a "starmetal" axe, with Malal subsequently guiding Skrag to a chaos dwarf hold, forcing them to forge him an armour and then slaughtering them all in the name of Malal. White Dwarf: UK Edition (83) featured a WFB mini-scenario "The Crude, the Mad and the Rusty", pitting the lone Chaos Dwarf survivor of this massacre, aided by two goblin fanatics and a mechanical warrior, against Skrag. Skrag has since been recast as a devout follower of the Ogre god known as "The Great Maw".
How cool is that!
12-08-2007, 04:58 PM
The uber conspiracy theory for WFB, apart from the one that all the mega campaigns are fixed
12-08-2007, 06:26 PM
Surely a god of anti chaos, would be a chaos god of Order? Which in itself doesn't make sense.
Order is the opposite to chaos.
Order is the opposite to chaos.
12-09-2007, 12:30 AM
Malal was more the god that represented the tendency of chaos to destroy itself. In many ways he was more chaotic, having no temples or ceremonies. His followers tended to kill each other, because they killed anyone who followed a chaos god, of which malal was one...
12-09-2007, 05:39 AM
Aye, which is the reason why there are no armies dedicated to Malal out there...
His colours were black and white, I think the symbol was actually a skull split vertically into black and white halves.
In the last edition Chaos Marines codex, there was a colour scheme for the "Sons of Malice" who had exactly these colours. Many think that this might be a pun for those who have not given up Malal yet although he's gone for good from the official fluff. ^^
His colours were black and white, I think the symbol was actually a skull split vertically into black and white halves.
In the last edition Chaos Marines codex, there was a colour scheme for the "Sons of Malice" who had exactly these colours. Many think that this might be a pun for those who have not given up Malal yet although he's gone for good from the official fluff. ^^
12-09-2007, 08:38 AM
Malal just strikes me as a rather lame and cheesy way for someone to have nifty Chaos powers without being a 'bad guy'. It is fully for those 'I want to be a demon, but I'm really a hero!' crowd.
Quite lame, I am glad they got rid of it.
It would be one thing if it was simply a spirit of rebellion, afterall Chaos is not chaotic or anarchist in the very least. It has a rigid power structure and demands complete and total allegience and obedience as much as the "empire" does.
But, there's actually information saying that Malal followers just help Inquisitors and such hunt down and destroy other Chaos warriors so... yeah, its just for someone who wanted to play a Chaos Warrior in a RPG where they were hunting down Chaos.
Quite lame, I am glad they got rid of it.
It would be one thing if it was simply a spirit of rebellion, afterall Chaos is not chaotic or anarchist in the very least. It has a rigid power structure and demands complete and total allegience and obedience as much as the "empire" does.
But, there's actually information saying that Malal followers just help Inquisitors and such hunt down and destroy other Chaos warriors so... yeah, its just for someone who wanted to play a Chaos Warrior in a RPG where they were hunting down Chaos.
12-09-2007, 02:58 PM
Malal was always a kind of weird God.
He seemed to be a combination of the human tendency towards self destruction and self loathing, which he then applied both to himself and to Chaos more broadly.
He seemed to be a combination of the human tendency towards self destruction and self loathing, which he then applied both to himself and to Chaos more broadly.
12-09-2007, 03:26 PM
Grimstonefire Wrote:
Surely a god of anti chaos, would be a chaos god of Order? Which in itself doesn't make sense.
Order is the opposite to chaos.
Order is the opposite to chaos.
Anti Chaos is just the simplest (and catchiest) way to say it. Longhand he is the Chaos God that represents the Self-Destructive side of Chaos that destroyes and consumes itself
Ravel Wrote:
Anti-chaos isn't order, it is simply nothing. Much like anti-order isn't chaos; it is also simply nothing. Very few things in this world are dualistic.
If I recall correctly, Malaal isn't even anti-chaos. He's anti-feeling. Since the chaos gods embody primal emotion, He was simply the ruination of every feeling we have.
If I recall correctly, Malaal isn't even anti-chaos. He's anti-feeling. Since the chaos gods embody primal emotion, He was simply the ruination of every feeling we have.
Nah that was the Gods of Law, the Opposites of Chaos, but whose plans were just as (if not more) horiffic. (Constant Statis instead of constant Change)
Quote:
That and he had a kicking dig. What I wouldn't do to have daemonettes chained spread eagle to my walls.
Twas the Bloodthirster Chained Spread Eagled; the punishment for Slaanesh followers was worse, stuck immersed in a liquid with all their feelings removed. Then there was a plucked Lord of Change in a Bird Cage, that was cool.
Ishkur Cinderhat Wrote:
Aye, which is the reason why there are no armies dedicated to Malal out there...
His colours were black and white, I think the symbol was actually a skull split vertically into black and white halves.
In the last edition Chaos Marines codex, there was a colour scheme for the "Sons of Malice" who had exactly these colours. Many think that this might be a pun for those who have not given up Malal yet although he's gone for good from the official fluff. ^^
His colours were black and white, I think the symbol was actually a skull split vertically into black and white halves.
In the last edition Chaos Marines codex, there was a colour scheme for the "Sons of Malice" who had exactly these colours. Many think that this might be a pun for those who have not given up Malal yet although he's gone for good from the official fluff. ^^
Exactaly! (to all parts) There was also the 'Dreadaxe' which was named after (and had a simmilar purpose) to Kaleb Dark's axe; and the Chaos Furies; and the GD model a while back (the chaos champion with the toothy axe) there's been quite a few throwbacks.
Hobgoblyn Wrote:
Malal just strikes me as a rather lame and cheesy way for someone to have nifty Chaos powers without being a 'bad guy'. It is fully for those 'I want to be a demon, but I'm really a hero!' crowd.
Quite lame, I am glad they got rid of it.
It would be one thing if it was simply a spirit of rebellion, afterall Chaos is not chaotic or anarchist in the very least. It has a rigid power structure and demands complete and total allegience and obedience as much as the "empire" does.
But, there's actually information saying that Malal followers just help Inquisitors and such hunt down and destroy other Chaos warriors so... yeah, its just for someone who wanted to play a Chaos Warrior in a RPG where they were hunting down Chaos.
Quite lame, I am glad they got rid of it.
It would be one thing if it was simply a spirit of rebellion, afterall Chaos is not chaotic or anarchist in the very least. It has a rigid power structure and demands complete and total allegience and obedience as much as the "empire" does.
But, there's actually information saying that Malal followers just help Inquisitors and such hunt down and destroy other Chaos warriors so... yeah, its just for someone who wanted to play a Chaos Warrior in a RPG where they were hunting down Chaos.
Chaos is fairly anarchic, and it hardly has a 'rigid power stucture' as it's all about defeating your rivals to further yourself, even warriors of other gods (who may even have the same or simmilar goals as you) or those of the same god who you can defeat to increase your own power. It's the same on all levels, Beast, Mortal, Daemon, and even on the scale of the Gods themselves. Malal is just an extension and an embodyment of this, taking it a step further and (in true chaos fashion) twisting it into something new and extreme, to the extent where it is the defeat of your Chaotic Rivals to the point where all else is less importent.
Malificant Wrote:
i thought malal's symbol was a skull with a small dot or circle above it?
Na it is the Bisected Skull as said before.
Also for those that think the idea of a Chaos god of Anti-Chaos is a bit wierd; there was a Chaos God of Atheism
12-10-2007, 12:15 AM
grim at the time of malal there was some 30 chaos gods, and he as made before tzeench and slannesh they made them to after the court case, only khorne and nurgle were around when malal was
12-10-2007, 02:54 PM
What about that "atheist" chaos god, the one who is oposed to the very same concept of god (Necoho??) Isnt he another one of the chaos gods who disapeared from fluff?
12-10-2007, 08:47 PM
Truely an Elric ala Michael Moorcock.
12-11-2007, 03:50 PM
Didn't GW do some Elric and Corum models many moons ago
12-11-2007, 04:49 PM
Malal and things like Trickster gods seem to represent the early phase of Warhammer where it seemed to soak up a large amount of Runequest influence (to me the Runequest world is the best realised fantasy roleplaying/wargaming world). Early White Dwarfs ran heaps of Runequest articles.
Malal seems to be a more truly chaotic god than the current 4 big ones, who are very organised and structured in the way they are chaotic. Malal seems to be a more anarchic entropic manifestation of chaos.
The current fluff for chaos dwarfs has us at the other end of the scale - structured, hieratical, and very organised, as befits our dwarven origins.
Malal seems to be a more truly chaotic god than the current 4 big ones, who are very organised and structured in the way they are chaotic. Malal seems to be a more anarchic entropic manifestation of chaos.
The current fluff for chaos dwarfs has us at the other end of the scale - structured, hieratical, and very organised, as befits our dwarven origins.
12-12-2007, 03:10 PM
It's so confusing because GW use chaos and evil as virtually synonymous terms.
Malal was (from the point of view of the other Chaos Gods) kind of like a cancer tumour - his champions hunted down and destroyed Chaos followers, even other Malal worshippers.
He wasn't just an anti-Chaos God though. He was just as mean and nasty as any of the other Chaos Gods and had no more problem with slaughtering empire soldiers or Elves than the other Chaos Gods did.
He doesn't really represent an end to the fighting - he represents continuous fighting until everything that is is destroyed. Much like a cancer tumour continues to eat away even though it is in effect destroying itself in the process.
imo
Malal was (from the point of view of the other Chaos Gods) kind of like a cancer tumour - his champions hunted down and destroyed Chaos followers, even other Malal worshippers.
He wasn't just an anti-Chaos God though. He was just as mean and nasty as any of the other Chaos Gods and had no more problem with slaughtering empire soldiers or Elves than the other Chaos Gods did.
He doesn't really represent an end to the fighting - he represents continuous fighting until everything that is is destroyed. Much like a cancer tumour continues to eat away even though it is in effect destroying itself in the process.
imo
12-12-2007, 03:13 PM
He represented the self destruccion. The fact that Chaos as a whole, leaving gods and deamons aside, dont have any goal in itself except what mortal emotions give him.
12-13-2007, 06:08 AM
GW changed a lot in its transition from yet nother wargames and role-playing firm into a global brand giant. Quite a lot of cool things got lost along the way in the hunt for the "mainstream" though
12-13-2007, 07:04 AM
I agree. A true eye opener just happened to me this week when I read the intro to Privateer Press' WARMACHINE rulebook ('play like you've got a pair'). The difference in energy and enthusiasm is so big, it hurts.
12-16-2007, 03:01 PM
Willmark Wrote:
"The good old days weren't always good and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems".
Never in my entire life have I seen or heard anyone quote Billy Joel.
I'm really not sure what to say....
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