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Maldis
Maldis
You never know what Maldis will do next
First appearance (1.08 "That Old Black Magic")
Last appearance (2.06 "Picture If You Will")
Details
Gender Male
Affiliation Independent
Weapon of Choice Magical abilities
Portrayed by Chris Haywood
"Fear and the terror of helplessness. These are a few of my favorite things."
-Maldis

Bio[]

Maldis was a malevolent, powerful supernatural being who had reached a non-corporeal form and possessed considerable spiritual powers. Maldis gained strength from the life forces of others' pain and death and as a result used his abilities to encourage negative emotions such as fear, anger, hate, and pain in his victims.

His formidable abilities allowed him to enslave entire planets, such as Liko's. After dominating them for some time, the spirits of the downtrodden were less filling to him and Maldis would seek out "fresh meat". One such time entailed his encounter with the crew of Moya, who were visiting the commerce planet where Maldis ruled. He tricked Moya's human crew member John Crichton into following him to his complex and then trapped the spirit from John's body. In order to generate the negative emotions he fed upon, Maldis used his powers to kidnap another spirit he knew could fulfill the role: Captain Crais. Face to face at last, Crais tried to kill Crichton multiple times in spite of John's attempts to talk to the man who had been chasing him for months. John's efforts were sabotaged multiple times by Maldis, until Crais was in an unreachable frenzy. Even so, Crichton got the upper hand in their fight and just as he was ready to kill him, Maldis sent Crais back to his ship. He explained to Crichton that Crais would come looking for John and when that happened he would take over the command carrier and create death on a much larger scale. He then proceeded to try and kill Crichton. Zhaan intervened, making Maldis corporeal and giving Crichton the chance to attack him. Maldis was forced to retreat, freeing Crichton's spirit, though the experience left Zhaan deeply shaken and Crais even more determined to find Crichton.[1]

Following his defeat, Maldis did not contain enough power to reform in return to this realm. Wanting revenge on Zhaan, though, Maldis was able to create an extension of himself in the form of the merchant Kyvan and her space station. Through Kyvan, Maldis gave a painting to new Moya crewmember Chiana about a cycle after his initial defeat. The painting was really a portal between the two realms that allowed him to influence this one and bring Moya's crew into his own one by one. One after another Moya's crew "died" under mysterious circumstances. There they learned the truth of the situation. Fortunately, Zhaan had a plan of her own. Feigning her weakness and fear (though not by much), Zhaan was pulled into the painting with the others where she came face to face with Maldis. She had left instructions that Aeryn Sun was to kill Kyvan. When this was accomplished, Maldis was weakened enough for Zhaan to attack him, occupying him long enough to allow her friends to escape back to Moya. Once outside the painting, Maldis continued to come after Moya's crew. Combined fire from a DRD and Aeryn's Prowler destroyed the portal and possibly Maldis himself. Zhaan doubted that Maldis was dead and wouldn't have been surprised if Moya had run into him again. [2]

The man clearly had an effect on Crichton as well, who speculated that several strange experiences he had later might have been Maldis' doing.[3][4]

Quotes[]

  • I admit, I feed on death. But don't we all? Some eat plants. Some meat. I consume the life essence itself. Preferably medium rare.
  • Death is the main course. All this is the appetizer. Crais is coming. Will you run or fight? I'm getting hungry again.
  • What's the matter with you, Crichton? Are all the species on your planet this dim? It's kill or be killed.
  • I'm planning for the long term. Bigger stakes, remember? It's not you or Crais that I'm interested in - it's that glorious death machine of his. Just think what I could do with a Peacekeeper Command Carrier. Carnage on a truly massive scale!
  • (About Zhaan): No. She kicked my ass and saved yours. As you say, this magical mystery crap's not your thing. Why do you think that I took you and your two friends first?
  • What a wreck! She begged me to put her out of her misery. Unfortunately, I want to enjoy her misery a little longer. But there's no reason she should suffer on her own.
  • (To John) I don't have a moustache, John!
  • Little girl, I'll show you action. And this is it: I leave. You don't. This realm dissolves and you with it. Except for your essence. Your life force. Your spirit. Whatever you like to call it. I call it lunch!

Trivia[]

With the exception of Scorpius, and if one were to get technical, Harvey, Maldis is the only other being Crichton ever encounters that has such a high level of understanding of Earth and its culture without experiencing it for himself, going so far as to reference and use many common Earth phrases.

Appearances[]

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