Malekith

In the fictional world of Warhammer Fantasy, Malekith is the King of the Dark Elves or Druchii as they refer to themselves. He is also known as the Witch King of Naggaroth.

Background
Malekith was the son of Aenarion, the first of the High Elf Phoenix Kings, and the mysterious and beautiful seeress Morathi. She became Aenarion's second wife after he rescued her from a Chaos warband. Unknown to Aenarion, Morathi was already a secret worshipper of Slaanesh.

He grew up to be a fine soldier and general like his father. Under his mother's tutelage, he became an accomplished mage. Malekith was brought up in a life of political intrigue in court, but he had little interest in High Elf political society. He preferred to lead armies and win battles in his father's name.

The Age of Strife
After the death of his father, Malekith was the obvious heir to the throne. Unfortunately, the political intrigue which had for so long been ignored by Malekith became his undoing. Amongst the court of Lothern there were those who felt that Malekith was unsuitable to rule. He was headstrong like his father, and preferred to sort out disputes with violence. The High Elves were in a time of rare peace and many nobles thought that Malekith did not fit in with this new order.

Assuming that the legacy of his father would guarantee his ascension to the throne, Malekith agreed to let the council vote on whether he should rule. The council voted against him and placed Bel Shanaar in his place. His mother, Morathi furiously protested against the council's decision but was calmed down by Malekith. On the surface Malekith appeared to accept this well. Indeed he was among the first to pay homage to Bel Shanaar during his ascension as the second Phoenix King. In reality he was hiding his resentment and frustration, Malekith vowed to wait until he could make the throne his own

Malekith instead was appointed Commander of the High Elf forces. He proved to be a brilliant young general, gaining power and allies with his glorious victories. At one period of time he was appointed as the ambassador of the High Elves in Karak-a-Karaz. In the colonies he continue to lead successful armies against the Orcs and the forces of Chaos. His expeditions took him ever onward to the cold colonies of the northern New World. Here in the rubble of an abandoned pre-human city he found the Circlet of Iron, a talisman of awesome sorcerous power. Finally, after many decades, he worked himself into a position of power second only to the Phoenix King's, and then he acted.

In the dark winter of -2751 IC he accused Bel Shanaar of being a Slaaneshi devotee during Feast of Purity, a religious festival celebrating the power and glory of the great phoenix. Shortly after his accusation, Bel Shanaar died of poison. Some say Bel Shanaar took his own life in order to avoid the shame of being interrogated while some say Malekith have him poisoned and later claimed Bel Shanaar took his life in guilt. At any rate, Malekith took Bel Shanaar's alleged suicide as proof that he was a devotee of Slaanesh. Any who defied Malekith’s claims were led outside and killed by his own elite guard.

Believing all he now had to do was crown himself as the new Phoenix King for he had the blood of Aenarion running in his veins, Malekith confidently marched into the sacred flame of the god Asuryan, the final test that each Phoenix King has to pass to prove their worthiness for the crown. The sacred flames would not suffer his polluted body and refused to let him pass, and the holy flames cast him out. Horribly scarred and burned, he fled north to his stronghold on Nagarythe with his mother on her dark pegasus. However, it is said that the High Elf nobles who opposed Malekith cast spells upon the Flames of Asuryan, mutilating his body.

There, Morathi nursed her son back to health. With the aid of the sorcerers he had trained in the arts of Dark Magic. Hotek, a renegade Priest of Vaul, forged a great suit of black armour which would lend strength to Malekith's withered and fire-blasted body. The suit was fused onto his body while still white hot from the furnace. After his torment on the flames of Asuryan, he felt little pain. When the suit was complete, few could look at him without feeling dread. From that day onwards, the fell elf lord was known as the Witch King.

Meanwhile the council had elected Imrik as the Third Phoenix King, who assumed the title Caledor I. Caledor and Malekith gathered their supporters and battled each other for the throne of Ulthuan. For more than a decade they fought a great civil war. Time proved to be Caledor's ally for as time passed, Malekith's treachery became more evident and more elves flocked to Caledor's banner. In a climactic showdown, Malekith was defeated by Caledor in single combat in the Field of Maledor. The Witch King's supporters retreated back to their fortresses.

Malekith decided to try one final gamble for the Phoenix throne. He instructed his sorcerers to undo the spells that bound the Realm of Chaos in a bid to secure aid from the Dark Gods of Chaos. For hours they struggled to undo the barrier. In the end, the task proved to be too great even for the combined might of Malekith and his coven. Their efforts were thwarted by a group of mighty elven mages trapped in the Isle of the Dead. A surge of raw arcane power struck back at Malekith's fortresses. Many of his sorcerers died from the magical flashback. The land itself buckled under the magical strain and a great tidal wave came crashing down on northern Ulthuan. Mighty earthquakes devastated the land and fine cities of Ulthuan. The lands of Nagarythe and Tiranoc were submerged under water. Thousands of elves were killed in the cataclysm known as The Sundering.

Exile and Founding of Naggaroth
The fortresses of the Witch King survived the catastrophe, being protected by powerful spells. The fortresses broke off from the land and floated out into the sea, thus the dreaded Black Arks was born. Large as icebergs, they floated to the northern part of the new world where they grounded. Naming the desolate chilled land Naggaroth or "Land of Chill", the Witch King claimed it as his own new domain and proceed to exterminate the native greenskin and human barbarian populace. The kingdom of the Dark Elves was born. Over the ages the Witch King continued to plot and wage a war against the Phoenix Kings of Ulthuan from Naggaroth till today.

Current Status
During the 2004 summer campaign known as Storm of Chaos, Malekith is mentioned to have landed on the Shadow Lands (former Nagarythe) with his army. He crushed the High Elven army led by Eltharion, Warden of Yvresse, and casually defeated him in single combat with his sorcery. He had his skilled torturers torture Eltharion and send him back to Lothern crippled and blinded as a warning to all who would oppose him. Background detail and an official piece of short fiction, located in the 6th Edition Dark Elves Army Book, imply that Malekith and his mother share an incestuous relationship. Given Morathi's strong ties to the worship of the Chaos God of Perversion, Slaanesh, such a relationship would be possible. Recently he was wounded by Eltharion in single combat, during an attack on the everqueens gardens. Whilst only a flesh wound Malekith is wary of Eltharion's new found hatred.

Army Rules
In Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Malekith the Witch King is a Lord and three Hero unit choices in a Dark Elves army. He rides a Black Dragon, Seraphon, and is a powerful sorcerer, fighter, and general. He wears the Armor of Midnight, which makes him all but invulnerable to non-magical attacks, and is armed with a sword called the Destroyer (which destroys magic items, a potent combination with his armor) and a gauntlet called the Hand of Khaine which inflicts terrific damage in close combat. He is however vulnerable to magic, and it is prophesied that this will cause his eventual downfall.

Quotes
"We shall strike down our foe with sharp steel and cold hearts. The weak die so that the strong prevail and none shall be spared. Then and only then will our enemies know the true meaning of fear."

Related appearance
It should also be noted that Malekith is a villain of the Norse God Thor in the Marvel Comic books. He appeared in Thor #344-348, and was slain in #367, while trying to take the crown of Asgard, disguised as Balder.