Darth Malak

"I wanted to be Master of the Sith and ruler of the Galaxy. But that destiny was not mine, Revan. It might have been yours, perhaps&hellip; but never mine."

- Darth Malak

Malak was a Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side after being corrupted by Sith teachings during the Mandalorian Wars. At the end of that conflict, he and his friend Revan led their combined military forces into the Unknown Regions where they founded a powerful new Sith Empire to challenge the fragile Galactic Republic. After he became a Sith Lord, Darth Malak served for a time as Darth Revan's apprentice, but he was best known for his brief and brutal tenure as Dark Lord of the Sith during the Jedi Civil War, circa 3,959 – 3,956 BBY.

Early life
"The Jedi Order moved too slowly for Revan and Malak; we were too cautious in their eyes. They always sought to learn far quicker than their Masters felt was prudent."

- Zhar Lestin

Little was known about Malak's childhood and many details of his past, including his planet of origin, would remain a mystery. His first entry in the annals of recorded history placed him on Coruscant as a young student of the Jedi Order. During his time there, he befriended a fellow Padawan named Revan.

Whilst Revan was acknowledged as having the greater potential&mdash;studying beneath a number of different masters in his pursuit of knowledge&mdash;Malak was himself extremely gifted, and like Revan, would often go to Jedi Master Zhar Lestin for training beyond that given to most Padawans.

This diligence did not go unnoticed, with the two earning reputations as the rising stars of the Jedi Order. Though some Masters voiced concern at the speed of their progress, by the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars, the two friends had already been promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight.

Jedi Knight


"Malak was the first to join his closest friend. Others soon followed&hellip;"

- Zhar Lestin

When the Mandalorians began a massive invasion of the Galactic Republic in 3,963 BBY, Revan and Malak grew restless. They wished to aid the ailing Republic in its war effort, but the Jedi Council urged patience. As Mandalorian atrocities began to mount, Revan could restrain himself no longer and Malak was the first to join his rebellious cause. The two powerful, popular, and charismatic Jedi defied their Masters and led a large faction of the Order to war&mdash;bent on defending the Galaxy alongside the Republic.

The two Jedi Knights proved to be extremely capable commanders in the field and they rose swiftly through the ranks. Eventually the pair found themselves with direct control over one-third of the entire Republic fleet. Revan and Malak used their new-found authority to spearhead the Republic war effort and under their inspired leadership, the all-but-defeated Republic Navy began to push the Mandalorians back. The Jedi Masters, however, believed that Malak and Revan were only offering easy solutions to the galaxy's problems and they feared that much woe would result from their recklessness.

As the war dragged on, Revan and Malak began to take certain moral shortcuts – committing several "unsavory" acts, such as leaving "non-strategic" planets completely undefended in order to accomplish the "greater goal" of speedily winning the war. They adapted to their enemies' merciless tactics by simply co-opting them; fighting fire with fire. In time, they developed a cold and calculating disposition uncharacteristic of Jedi. They grew to despise weakness and indecisiveness in all its forms. Though Revan's tactics were flawless and Malak's righteous fury was unmatched, the pair slowly began to mirror the callous Mandalorians they were fighting.

Revan and Malak led the Republic to victory after victory. Finally, during the final battle of the war they defeated the Mandalorians and slew their leader, Mandalore the Ultimate above Malachor V. After ending the Mandalorian Wars with a crushing victory, Revan and Malak led the remainder of their forces into the Unknown Regions under the pretense of tracking down the remaining Mandalorians, but they did not come back and sent no word of their whereabouts. In time, the Republic feared them lost in some tragic disaster.

Sith Apprentice
"Once I served you, Revan&hellip;"

- Malak

Corrupted by the ancient Sith energies of Malachor V, Revan and Malak fell to the dark side and indoctrinated their followers with the teachings of the Sith, twisting the allegiance of the Republic forces under their command. In the following months, the fallen Jedi scouted numerous Republic worlds as they completed a survey of planets that they had learned were once under the dominion of the mysterious Infinite Empire of the Rakata. On Dantooine, Korriban, Manaan, Tatooine, and Kashyyyk they found ancient Star Maps that would lead them to the secret location of an ancient Rakatan superweapon known as the Star Forge.

From the bridge of the Star Forge, hidden in the unmapped Rakata system, Revan and Malak founded a new Sith Empire. Revan became Darth Revan and christened himself Dark Lord of the Sith. He chose his old friend Malak as his apprentice and Malak reluctantly assumed the lesser role in a grudging acknowledgment of Revan’s strength. A year after their apparent disappearance, Darth Revan and Malak returned to known space at the head of a massive invasion fleet. Calling themselves the Sith, they declared war on the Republic.

Using persuasion and violence they wrested control of a large space fleet from the Republic and began their career of conquest. One of Malak's early actions in the war was to order Saul Karath to destroy Telos IV, forever earning the wrath of Carth Onasi and other surviving Telosians. As the Jedi Civil War progressed, the ambitious Darth Malak began to chafe under Revan's dominion and began to eagerly await an opportunity to replace his Sith Master.

Dark Lord of the Sith


"Malak is the strongest of us, and the strongest always rules&hellip; at least until one who is stronger can take it from him."

- Yuthura Ban

The moment came when a Republic strike team, led by Jedi Padawan Bastila Shan, staged an assault on Revan's flagship, and Malak was separated from his Master. In an attempt to slay the powerful Jedi and his master at the same time, Malak ordered his ship's guns to fire on Revan's ship. Malak believed that Revan was dead and assumed command of the Sith Empire, at last taking the mantle of Dark Lord for his own.

While the war against the Republic was going very well, he feared Bastila's rare gift with Battle Meditation, a Force power that enabled her to strengthen the Republic forces' resolve and coordinate their fighting effort while sapping the will of their enemies. Her skill with this ability surpassed even the masters of the Order, making her a grave threat to the entire Sith war effort. Darth Malak expended tremendous resources in an attempt to locate and capture her.



Malak nearly succeeded when he blockaded the planet Taris. Although he had the planet destroyed to prevent Bastila's escape, she nonetheless was able to return unharmed to Dantooine accompanied by her rescuers. Among these were three citizens of Taris, Mission Vao, Zaalbar and a Mandalorian named Canderous Ordo; Republic pilot Carth Onasi; the utility droid T3-M4; and Revan himself, his mind reprogrammed as a crewmember from the Republic cruiser Endar Spire. It was Revan who had raced in a hazardous swoop tournament in order to free Bastila from the clutches of one of the street gangs of Taris, then fled the planet in the Ebon Hawk. Calo Nord, a bounty hunter who had also escaped Taris' destruction informed Malak of these events. Calo was hired by Malak to track down the group, capture Bastila, and kill her companions. Calo didn't survive his next encounter with Revan.

Bastila and her companions left Dantooine in search of the source of Malak's power; the Star Forge. While on their search, Bastila was captured by Malak. Malak tortured Bastila with Force lightning and finally corrupted her to the dark side of the Force. Malak made her his new apprentice, replacing his previous one, Darth Bandon, who was slain by Revan in a recent battle.

It was not surprising that Malak's fate would be bound up tightly with Bastila's. The two were very much alike&mdash;courageous, arrogant, and heedless of the warnings of their Jedi instructors to beware the call of the dark side. But the true reason Malak chose Bastila for his apprentice was the unimaginable advantages the Sith Empire could gain from her Battle Meditation.

Death


"Im&hellip; impossible. I&hellip; I cannot be beaten. I am the Dark Lord of the Sith."

- Malak

Finally, reaching the end of their journey, the heroes on the quest for the Star Forge called in the Republic fleet to attack the Sith. For a while, it looked as if Malak would be able to destroy his foes in a single, glorious day. Fate &mdash; or the Force &mdash; handed Malak a stunning defeat, however, and it would be he who would die when his former master, Revan, returned; during the battle, his old master boarded the Star Forge in the Ebon Hawk, defeated an attack force of Forge droids, slew nearly the entire pool of Malak's Dark Jedi and Sith apprentices, and finally killed his old friend in a lightsaber duel.

And so it ended as Malak somehow always knew it must: in darkness.

In the end, Malak's story was a tragic one. He was one of the most gifted and respected Jedi in their Order, and had a lifelong friend in Revan. But by taking the path of the dark side, which, ironically, Revan started him down in the first place, he lost that respect and friendship in a mad quest for power, trading them in for fear, hatred, and, eventually, death. But even after years of the corruption of the dark side, Malak was not entirely evil.


 * "If you had not led me down the dark path in the first place, what destiny would I have found?"
 * "I am sorry I started you on this path. But you chose to continue down it."

As he lay dying, his mortal wounds dealt to him by his best friend, he couldn't help but wonder, had their positions been reversed, if he would have possessed the strength to return to the light as Revan did, and what his life would have been like had he been able to do so. He tried to blame Revan for his fate, but then admitted that, in the end, the only person he had to blame for how his life had ended was himself. Humbled and belittled by that knowledge, and bested by Revan despite all his clever plans and conquests, Malak, realizing that nothing he had ever done or could ever do would compare to the accomplishments of his former master, at last acknowledged his inferiority.

His final words were the truest he had ever spoken:


 * "And in the end, as the darkness takes me, I am nothing."

The Jedi Exile


Although Malak was gone, Revan's final duel with him would not be the last anyone ever saw of him. While exploring a shyrack cave on Korriban, the Jedi Exile discovered a tomb where she encountered visions from the past. The first vision she encountered was that of Jedi Knight Malak, before his fall to the dark side. Malak slowly lured several Jedi to his side, including Bastila Shan. When the Exile refused to join him, the visions of Malak and the Jedi became hostile, attacking her. The Exile prevailed, and made it through the tomb alive after experiencing several more visions.

Personality and traits


Malak was a bald, pale-skinned Human. His head was adorned with tattoos, and later in his life, a large metal shield covered his face from the nose down. The shield was a prosthetic made necessary by a ghastly lightsaber injury that completely severed his lower jaw, which occurred at an unknown point. A portion of this device allowed him to talk, but his voice now reverberated with a gruff electronic influence. This created a very disconcerting effect because his jaw prosthesis didn't move. When Malak spoke, the only hint of emotion came from his cruel, sunken eyes.

During his time as Dark Lord of the Sith, Malak wore a set of skin-tight red-orange body armor that showed off his powerful and imposing physique, draped in a cape of black cloth. He was also thought to have had in his possession a powerful Sith sword recovered from Korriban, though he rarely used it in combat.

Behind the scenes



 * In the Exile's vision of Malak in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Malak wields a purple bladed lightsaber. This may have been the same lightsaber he used when he was a Jedi Knight. According to the offical player's guide, Malak's lightsaber can be found at some point in the game. This occurs only on the Xbox. In the PC version of the game, he wields a red saber.
 * Like many Sith Lords before and after him, Malak's name could be derived from real languages—mala is Latin for "jawbone." Similarly, the word mal means "bad" in Romance languages such as Spanish and French, not to mention the word malice, possibly in reference to Malak's fall to the dark side of the Force.
 * Curiously, the Semitic root "m-l-k" can be translated as "king". Some other, perhaps unrelated coincidences include the Greek offense word malakas, the Filipino malakas which means "strong" (the name of the first man in the local creation myth) and the Turkish melek which means "angel" (cf. Hebrew mal'ach).
 * It is possible that Malak's name could be derived from the word 'malice', as many Sith Lord's names were derived from other terms. The sheer bloody-minded hatred involved in his betrayal of Revan certainly qualifies as malicious.
 * Unlike later Dark Lords of the Sith, Malak (and Revan) did not choose new Sith monikers but instead used their real name.
 * While Revan's ability and destiny bore similarities to Darth Vader, Malak's physical aspect also bore similarities to the infamous Dark Lord. Both of them had cybernetic implants and spoke with a metallic voice. According to Lead Designer James Ohlen, the Malak/Vader similarity was like the Ebon Hawk/Millennium Falcon similarity.
 * Interestingly, one of the items that can be found in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is "Darth Malak's Armor" which is categorized as light and greatly differs in appearance with the armor Malak is seen wearing.
 * It has been speculated that Malak was the red-armored Sith with a red lightsaber whom four Jedi Masters from the Covenant saw in their visions, which — after they mistook this Sith for a future version of one of their own Padawans — led them to commit the Padawan Massacre of Taris. It should be noted that Malak and Zayne Carrick, the only Padawan to survive the massacre, are sufficiently different in appearance and background to establish them as separate persona.
 * An Easter egg in the ending of Knights of the Old Republic allows the player to transform Malak into a green-skinned Twi'lek Dancer and skip the final battle.

Appearances

 * Shadows and Light
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords