Malum

"Malum was the most dangerous kind of warrior – one who did not fear death, for it would seem a comfort compared to the life he lived now."

- Tuma's thoughts, Empire of the Skrall

Malum was an extremely powerful, hot-tempered Glatorian. Originally serving as the Fire Tribe's Secondary Glatorian, he was later exiled to the Wastelands as punishment for committing crimes in the arena.

Core War
Nothing is known of Malum's history prior to the Ice Tribe's discovery of a spring of Energized Protodermis, which sparked the word-wide conflict known as the Core War.

During the war, Malum served faithfully under the Element Lord of Fire, and was granted command of a small military unit of his own. Near the end of the war, this unit managed to capture the Energized Protodermis spring, although they were later forced to retreat.

Mere hours before The Shattering, Malum was approached by two Agori, Raanu and Kyry, who attempted to warn him of the impending danger. Malum refused to believe the warning, insisting that the Fire Tribe was in the process of winning the war. The Shattering did occur, however, and Malum was stranded on the largest fragment of the planet, Bara Magna.

Bara Magna
Malum later obtained a position as the Fire Tribe's Secondary Glatorian after Perditus relinquished the role. Malum quickly gained a reputation in the arena as a harsh and brutal warrior; but as he never directly broke any rules, his ways were tolerated.

During an arena match with Vastus, Malum overwhelmed the Jungle Tribe Glatorian by force of strength, and was about to continue assaulting him when Strakk intervened. Ackar later warned Malum about his attitude, though Malum rebuffed his lecture and threatened the Prime Glatorian. The two then spotted several Vorox, and Malum expressed his disdain for the creatures.

Malum continued his violent arena ways, despite a warning from Raanu that other villages would refuse his tribe's challenges if Malum was made Prime Glatorian.

Exile
Several months later, Malum fought Strakk in the arena. Strakk's dirty tactics, along with pushing Malum further than any other of his opponents, infuriated the Fire Glatorian. Malum knocked Strakk down, and prepared to kill the Ice Glatorian, when he was knocked over by Gresh. Due to his violations of the arena code of conduct, Malum was banished from Vulcanus to the wastelands. He began wandering the deserts, challenging any Glatorian he chanced upon for his own gain.

Surviving against expectations, Malum eventually encountered a pack of Vorox, and challenged the alpha male for dominance. The pack leader knocked him down, but Malum faked defeat, and attacked the Vorox when it turned its back, beating it and gaining dominance over the pack. The next day, Malum sought out the exiled pack leader, and killed it.

During his time as an exile, Malum encountered Bone Hunters many times. The raiders stole and wounded from him when they could, and Malum nursed a grudge toward them as well.

He and the Vorox later attacked Berix and three other Glatorian. Then his pack of Vorox later attacked a Skrall patrol. Afterward, he was captured by the Skrall, and it would seem that the Vorox miss him. He later escaped from Roxtus with other Vorox from his own pack that were captured. While Gresh was practicing the night before the Great Tournament, Malum (with some Vorox) warned Gresh that The Skrall were going to invade the arena, but didn't talk further, and walked away. After this, Ackar and Gelu learned that Bone Hunters planned to raid Vulcanus and tried to persuade Malum to defend his former home. Malum refused, until Ackar mentioned that the Hunters could wipe out Malum and his Vorox if they could wipe out Vulcanus. The three Glatorian used the Vorox to attack the Hunters' camp, which was somewhat successful. Malum has not been seen since, but he is living somewhere on the reformed Spherus Magna.

Personality and Traits
Malum's most obvious personality aspect was his violent, easily-aroused temper, as well as a manifest lack of honor. He did, however, have a certain amount of respect for Ackar, his trainer, and was known to be extremely protective of his Vorox pack members. This suggests that he was, perhaps, not quite as unfeeling and brutal as legend implied, although he undoubtedly possessed little empathy for his former tribesmen.

After gaining the dominant position in his Vorox pack, Malum eventually learned to understand and speak the language of the Sand Tribe, which consisted predominately of whistles and hand gestures.

Malum is known to have possessed great physical strength, rivaling that of the Skrall.

Powers and Equipment
Like most Glatorian, Malum possessed no special powers, elemental or otherwise.

During his time as a Secondary Glatoran, he is known to have favored a sword for use in arena battles. After his exile, he began utilizing a pair of Flame Claws as his primary choice of weapon, along with a shoulder-mounted Thornax Launcher.

Quotes
"The desert is a place of extremes. Blazing heat, chilling cold, fierce loyalty... and deep hatred. The Skrall won’t forget this day... and to their bitter regret, neither will I."

- Malum's thoughts, Empire of the Skrall

"You are the trash of the desert, and I am the one who will celebrate at your grave."

- Malum to Tuma, Empire of the Skrall

"Civilized society has no place for me. I will let you leave with your life... if you leave now."

- Malum, BIONICLE.com

"Once you fall into my claws, it's all over."

- Malum

"What brings you to my... empire? If you are seeking hospitality, I have none to offer. Food? Water? Whatever I have goes to my people."

- Malum, Raid on Vulcanus

"I care nothing about Vulcanus. Let it burn. But I would see the Bone Hunters burn first."

- Malum, Raid on Vulcanus

Set Information
Malum, set number 8979, was released in early 2009 as one of six Glatorian canister sets. The set consisted of a total of 59 pieces, including a rotating "life counter" piece on his back which is meant to indicate Malum's health in the BIONICLE Action Figure Game.

Instructions for the Sand Stalker, a combiner model of the Fero & Skirmix and Malum sets, were released in the March-April 2009 issue of LEGO Brickmaster magazine.

Trivia

 * Although Malum does not appear in BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn, the form that the Scarabax swarm took on greatly resembled him. This may, however, be purely coincidental.
 * Malum is Greg Farshtey's favorite 2009 character, to date.

Appearances

 * Agori Defender (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * BIONICLE: Raid on Vulcanus
 * Comic 1: Sands of Bara Magna
 * Comic 2: The Fall of Atero
 * Decadence
 * Empire of the Skrall
 * Glatorian Arena (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Glatorian Arena 3 (Non-canonical Appearance)
 * Mata Nui's Guide to Bara Magna