"Be careful Maladi, that you do not scheme for scheming's sake. Do not become so enamored of your plotting that you lose sight of your goal." ―Darth Krayt [src]

Darth Maladi, born Malincha, was a Force-sensitive Devaronian female who was taken by the Sith from her homeworld of Devaron following the death of her Jedi father at the hands of Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt. She was trained in the dark side and became a prominent Sith Lady in Krayt's One Sith Order. Maladi specialized in the ways of inquisition, torture, and mental manipulation, all skills which she implemented in her service as the head of Sith Intelligence and Assassination. She was also a talented scientist who experimented with ways to pervert science to serve the Sith cause. Maladi manufactured and dealt the narcotic ixetal cilona, and was also the mastermind behind the sabotaging of the Galactic Alliance-sponsored project to terraform the Jedi world of Ossus.

In 127 ABY, Maladi joined Moffs Morlish Veed and Nyna Calixte of the Fel Empire in the instigation of the Sith–Imperial War, which saw the near-destruction of the Galactic Alliance and the New Jedi Order—the major opponents of the Sith. When Krayt usurped the Imperial throne from Roan Fel in the aftermath, Darth Maladi served in the new empire as the head of Sith Intelligence and Assassination. Ten years later, Krayt ordered Darth Maladi to find and dispose of the former Emperor Roan Fel, and to capture Cade Skywalker, the last remaining member of the Skywalker family. Though she failed with the former task, the Sith were able to capture Skywalker, whom Maladi tortured to find his limits. Skywalker eventually escaped, and Maladi was forced to work with Rav, a Feeorin pirate for whom Skywalker had once worked, to find the fugitive. When she located Skywalker in the Deep Core on the planet Had Abbadon, Maladi traveled with Krayt and other members of the One Sith to meet with his supposed captor, an ancient Sith spirit that resided in the body of an Old Republic Jedi Master, Celeste Morne. The meeting turned out to be a trap planned by Skywalker, Morne, and several Imperial Knights, and battle ensued in which Maladi received serious injuries. Following the Sith defeat Maladi was retrieved by Darth Wyyrlok along with her brethren and taken to Coruscant to recover from her injuries.

Darth Maladi became increasingly more certain that Darth Krayt had not survived the battle on Had Abbadon as Darth Wyyrlok claimed. Developing her own plans, Maladi returned to Wayland, the planet where she originally created the Ossus sabotage, where she began to bioengineer a new means by which the next ruler of the One Sith would be able to ensure the loyalty of the masses. A meeting with Darth Nihl resulted in Maladi sending him to Korriban to discover the truth about Darth Krayt's demise. She then lured Cade Skywalker to her laboratory, and forced him to serve as her test subject for a new weapon, only for her experiment to result in utter calamity: he escaped, leaving Maladi's laboratory in shambles. The Sith Lady later regained consciousness on Bastion and in the custody of exiled Imperial forces where, feigning insanity, she offered the deposed Emperor Roan Fel her services in return for the head of Cade Skywalker, a petition which was rejected by Fel. However, when the combined forces of the exiled emperor and the Jedi were badly defeated in the ensuing attack on the latter's hidden Temple on Taivas, Maladi was again approached by Fel, who reconsidered and accepted her offer. She later presented him with the completed form of the Omega Red biotoxin, which was—unbeknownst to the former emperor—engineered to eradicate all non-Sith within the blast radius. Fel failed to unleash the weapon however, and Darth Krayt was subsequently slain by Cade Skywalker, at which time Darth Nihl assumed leadership as Dark Lord of the Sith. Following her escape from the custody of the Imperial Knights, Darth Maladi joined the remnant of the One Sith in hiding, waiting for the prime opportunity to infiltrate the society of the enemy and strike from the shadows.

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Biography Edit

Early life Edit

"I was born on Devaron, child of a rare Devaronian Jedi. Lord Krayt killed my parents and I was taken and trained as a Sith." ―Darth Maladi [src]

Malincha was born on the planet Devaron, the child of a Devaronian Jedi. While Malincha was still young, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Krayt came to her homeworld and slew both her mother and father. The Dark Lord recognized Malincha's Force sensitivity and took the girl with him to be raised on Korriban while also undergoing training in the dark side of the Force. Where her father had once impressed the necessity of emotional control upon Malincha, Darth Krayt taught the Devaronian girl to instead embrace anger, fear, and pain.[1] Eventually Malincha became a prominent Sith Lady in Krayt's One Sith Order under the name Darth Maladi. She specialized in science and Yuuzhan Vong bioengineering, as well as other forms of Sith mysticism. Maladi was also the One Sith's primary physician, and used her medical expertise to heal the injuries suffered in battle by her fellow Sith Lords. Her foremost patient was Darth Krayt himself, whom Maladi sought to cure from a Yuuzhan Vong slave seed infestation that left his body in decay. Aside from her scientific practices, Darth Maladi became an expert in espionage and secret activity.[5] She specialized as an intelligence agent and as such was the appointed Director of Sith Intelligence and Assassination,[4] maintaining a larger and more influential spy network than any other member of the One Sith.[5]

Sith Imperial War Edit

"You control the throne of the Empire, Dread Lord. By himself, Roan Fel is no danger to you." ―Darth Maladi, to Darth Krayt [src]

Prior to 127 ABY, the New Jedi Order and Yuuzhan Vong undertook a project to Vongform—a variation of terraforming—the planet Ossus,[3] a planet that had been devastated by a supernova over 4,000 years prior[6] but now served as the location of the Jedi's training center.[3] This project had been championed by the Yuuzhan Vong Master Shaper Nei Rin and Kol Skywalker, a descendant of Grand Master Luke Skywalker and a senior member of the Jedi Council. Initially successful, the project spread to other worlds that were devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong War or had been previously laid to waste. Seeing an opportunity to break the Galactic Alliance, the foremost interplanetary government at the time, with which the Jedi were aligned, Darth Krayt allowed Maladi to sabotage the project. The Sith's goals were to break the galaxy's trust of the Yuuzhan Vong, who were already distrusted because of the lives that had been lost during the war the Yuuzhan Vong had started, and to cast suspicion on the Jedi by extension, who entrusted the aliens with the Vongforming of the wasted worlds. Maladi went to Wayland[1] and mutated the Yorik-Kul coral seeds that the Yuuzhan Vong used to grow vegetation on the wasted worlds,[3] and sentients on these planets soon found themselves with bony growths on their skin that could potentially kill them.[7] During this time, Maladi contacted High Moff Morlish Veed, the leader of the Council of Moffs, and convinced him and his partner, Moff Nyna Calixte, to ally the Empire, led by Emperor Roan Fel, with the Sith when they decided to reveal themselves.[8]

Maladi's successful sabotage of the Ossus Project began the destabilization of the Galactic Alliance. The Empire, along with the majority of the galaxy's inhabitants, immediately blamed the Yuuzhan Vong, and planets began to ally with the enraged Empire. As a result of Maladi's deception, the Imperial Moffs convinced Fel to go to war in 127 ABY. A year into the war, Krayt's Sith Order decided to finally reveal itself.[3] The alliance that Maladi had created with Veed and the impatient Moff Council, which was desperate to win the war, gave Fel no choice but to ally with the Sith. During the war, Fel's support for the war was tepid at best, and he only went along with it as a political necessity.[8]

After the Empire had captured Coruscant, Maladi, Veed, and Calixte staged an attack against the New Jedi Temple on Ossus, even though Fel forbade any attacks on the Jedi.[8] The successful assault on Ossus resulted in the deaths of most of the Jedi present, though a group of Padawans, including Cade Skywalker and Shado Vao, and the Zabrak Jedi Master Wolf Sazen, escaped.[4] The attack effectively tore apart the New Jedi Order, though Imperial statistics showed that half of the Jedi had survived the Sith's wrath, much to the chagrin of Veed, who believed that they should have waited for the entire Order to gather on Ossus so that all the Jedi died at once. Maladi firmly believed that if they staged an attack later, it would have been a failure, and that bounty hunters and the Sith could kill the rest of the Jedi.[8]

Krayt and Maladi then turned their attentions to supplanting Roan Fel, who never truly supported the war, and installing Krayt on the throne. From the time the Sith had first allied with the Empire, Fel had been untrustworthy of their Order, and never fully embraced them as allies. In order to gain Veed's support for the coup, Maladi made him believe that he himself would be Fel's successor. However, Calixte, Veed's partner, knew that Maladi was going to trick Veed into service with Krayt. Fearing she may become expendable, Calixte revealed to Fel that the Sith were going to kill him. Fel in turn escaped Coruscant, leaving a double in his place and ordered four Imperial Knights to protect the decoy.[8] When Krayt, along with his Hand Darth Nihl, his most trusted servant Darth Wyyrlok, and Maladi, arrived to kill Fel, the Dark Lord instead killed Fel's impostor.[4] Maladi watched the execution of the decoy and the Imperial Knights guarding him, as well as Krayt's announcement that he was Emperor.[8] Krayt also forced the Moffs, including Veed and Calixte, to swear loyalty to him.[4]

However, Krayt soon discerned that he had only killed Fel's double, not the actual Emperor. Krayt called Maladi to him, then Force pushed her to the ground as punishment for not discovering that Fel had replaced himself, since Maladi was the head of Sith Intelligence. Krayt revealed to her that Fel could have resisted the coup against him if he was there, and that because Fel was still alive, he could still pull together a military resistance against Krayt. As a result, Krayt tasked Maladi and Nihl with finding which Imperial commanders and Moffs were still loyal to Fel, and also to hunt the rest of the Jedi as well, whom Krayt believed could ally themselves with Fel to bring down the Sith.[4]

Maladi decided to confront Calixte, and found her in her living quarters. Maladi revealed to her that they had killed Fel's double and that she had sensed that Calixte had helped the real Fel escape. Calixte was quick to deny this, and explained to Maladi that only she could unite the Moffs, an objective Maladi needed done in order to find and kill Fel. Maladi pondered whether she should learn the truth of Calixte's plans and intentions by dissecting her mind using the Force, but decided to work with her instead. Maladi then charged Calixte with leading Imperial Intelligence, but also ordered her to report all security and espionage matters to Maladi herself and the Sith.[8]

Seeking Skywalker Edit

"Why do you put yourself through this? You owe this Cade nothing. He turned you in for the bounty on Jedi." ―Darth Maladi, while torturing Hosk Trey'lis [src]

For seven years after Darth Krayt killed Fel's double and took control of the Empire, Maladi and her agents had no luck in finding the real Roan Fel, nor any success in eradicating the remaining Jedi. Fel and his allies would lead guerrilla attacks on Krayt's Empire, though with no significant damage, while the Jedi avoided exposure. Although he was now the ruler of the Empire, Krayt believed that while Fel lived, his power would be threatened. Tired of searching endlessly for the former Emperor, Krayt tried to threaten Fel's daughter Marasiah with the hope that a frightened Princess would run to her father's hiding place.[9] The plan was a failure,[10] as Marasiah managed to escape the Sith's grip with the help of a former Jedi named Cade Skywalker.[11]

When the news of the existence of a Skywalker reached Darth Krayt's ears, he instructed Maladi to find him. Members of the Skywalker family were known to be exceptionally strong in the Force, and, judging from the decisions of the former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who had fallen to the Dark side over 150 years earlier, Krayt assumed that Skywalker could be tempted to use the dark side as well. Krayt knew if he could turn Skywalker, the Jedi would be a strong acquisition to his Empire. Additionally, Skywalker's powerful healing abilities had been brought to Krayt's attention, which made him even more precious to Krayt, since his body was failing due to Yorik-kul implants. Skywalker could potentially heal Krayt of his ailment, which would allow Krayt to live long enough to stabilize the galaxy.[11]

In the search for Skywalker, Maladi interrogated and tortured the Bothan Jedi Knight Hosk Trey'lis, who had been delivered to the Sith for the bounty cast upon living Jedi. What made Trey'lis important, more than the fact that he was a Jedi, was the person who had hunted him down: Cade Skywalker. Trey'lis could not resist the ruthless interrogation and torture methods of Maladi, and eventually told her everything he knew about young Skywalker, such as his ability in the Force, and that his companions were Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue. With the information she gleaned from the captured Jedi, Maladi ordered Calixte to personally take command of the search, and to bring Skywalker alive. When Calixte tried to find out more about Skywalker, including why the Sith wanted him alive, Maladi would only reveal to her that he was the last remaining Skywalker. After Calixte left the interrogation laboratory, Maladi wondered to herself why it was that Skywalker was needed alive.[12]

Calixte would reveal to her partner, High Moff Veed, her mission to capture Skywalker, and he proposed that he and Calixte should capture Skywalker and use him as a pawn against the Sith. However, Maladi had replaced Calixte's operatives with her own, so Calixte had used her other persona, "Morrigan Corde," to further her own motives. Calixte had already learned that Skywalker was on The Wheel, a neutral space station in the Mid Rim. However, one of Maladi's dispatched agents, Jor Torlin, also discovered that Skywalker was on The Wheel through his associate, Haako.[12] Upon traveling to the Wheel, the two agents found that Skywalker had left the station. Torlin suggested to Calixte, now disguised as Corde, that Skywalker may have gone to Ossus, where he had trained as a Jedi. However, upon arriving on Ossus, the disguised Calixte killed Torlin. She did not want to capture Skywalker, who was secretly her own son, and betrayed Maladi covertly to keep Skywalker out of the Sith's hands.[13]

Seeking Fel Edit

"Roan Fel has bested my assassin and that will make him complacent. The next attack, he thinks, will also come from without. The true killing stroke, when it comes, will come from within. Unlooked for and unsuspected." ―Darth Maladi [src]

Meanwhile, Maladi finally discovered Fel's location—the deposed Emperor had taken control of the Empire's former capital planet of Bastion without a fight, as the Imperial troops there turned against the Sith Empire, and became part of what was considered the "True Empire," loyal only to Fel. Maladi knew, however, that the Sith could not attack Bastion directly due to its strong military defenses. She devised a different plan to execute Fel; she contacted the Imperial governor of Munto Codru, Vikar Dorn, and sent him in the Star Destroyer Dauntless to Bastion to pretend to join the rebels as deserters. The plan was to allow Sith Lord Darth Kruhl, who was also secretly aboard the Dauntless, to infiltrate Bastion and personally assassinate the deposed Emperor. That plan would turn out to be a ploy made by Maladi to lower Fel's personal defenses for a future assassination attempt on him. However, Fel subsequently killed Kruhl and executed the crew of the Dauntless, with the exception of Dorn, whose life was spared so he could deliver Kruhl's lightsaber to the Sith as a message. Dorn did so, but Maladi killed him afterward because of his apparent failure.[14]

Capture of Cade Skywalker Edit

"Interesting. Despite a full day of injections, your body keeps purging itself of ixetal cilona." ―Darth Maladi, during Cade Skywalker's torture [src]

The search for Cade Skywalker would prove to be easier than expected, as he decided to rescue Hosk Trey'lis from the Sith Temple. There, Skywalker rescued Trey'lis, but both were captured afterward by Krayt's hands, Darth Nihl and Darth Talon.[15] After Skywalker's capture, Maladi reported to the Moff Council that the search for Skywalker was over. She did not report that they had captured Skywalker, explaining to Calixte that she did not need to know the results of the search, and that the Moff Council was to return to their original tasks. Within the Sith Temple, Maladi personally tortured Skywalker in order to bring him closer to the dark side. During his torture, Maladi discovered that Skywalker could purge himself of a lethal dose of the narcotic ixetal cilona—which Skywalker was addicted to—and Maladi noted to Krayt that Skywalker bent the drug to his will, much like a Sith. On Krayt's orders, Maladi implanted mutated Yorik-Kul coral seeds within Deliah Blue and Jariah Syn, so Skywalker could demonstrate to Krayt his healing powers in order to save them. Maladi used Force lightning on Skywalker's friends to activate the mutation in the seeds, and Skywalker responded as expected by healing them. In doing so, he became even closer to the dark side, and began listening to what Krayt had to offer should he choose to become a Sith.[16]

When Krayt invited Skywalker into his chambers to further the Jedi's descent into the dark side, Krayt ordered Wyyrlok to bar Nihl and Maladi entry. Noticing his anger at Krayt's decision, Maladi counseled Nihl on the matter. Nihl explained his resentment about the treatment that Talon, who had just become Krayt's hand, received from Darth Krayt, when Nihl felt that he was more deserving of special attention from him because he was Krayt's more experienced hand. Maladi reminded Nihl that, unlike Talon, he had not been born a Sith, and that he was only intended to be Krayt's fist. In defense, Nihl mentioned that Maladi was born a Sith and still was not invited into the chamber, though she said she did not question Krayt's decisions, except why he was keeping Skywalker alive.[16] Later, when Skywalker pretended to join the Sith, both Maladi and Nihl discussed Krayt's obsession with him. Nihl claimed that if Krayt died with no heir, then there would be a power struggle, and that Skywalker would become Krayt's heir if he was to die. Maladi disagreed, and reprimanded Nihl when she realized his discussions were based on holocrons that were forbidden in Krayt's order.[17]

However, Krayt's intentions to have Skywalker willingly join the Sith never materialized. Calixte, who was still disguised as Morrigan Corde, rescued Skywalker from the Sith Temple, and together they escaped Coruscant. Twice betrayed by Calixte, Maladi never discovered her involvement with Skywalker's rescue.[18]

Aftermath of Skywalker's escape Edit

"Find him!" ―Darth Krayt [src]

After Skywalker's departure, Maladi tended to the grievous wounds Skywalker had inflicted on Nihl and Talon during his escape. Krayt, who was furious at Nihl's failure, replaced him with Darth Stryfe, who had been serving as Krayt's fist. Finding Nihl's arm, which Skywalker had severed, in salvageable condition, Maladi asked Krayt if she should reattach the limb. Krayt ordered Maladi to instead replace Nihl's arm with a Yuuzhan Vong organic arm, and to place Talon in a healing trance, before she could die.[19]

Krayt commanded the Sith to find Skywalker once again, as he still needed his healing abilities.[18] After his escape, Skywalker, Syn, and Blue took back the Grinning Liar, a borrowed ship, from the pirate Rav, whom they had once worked for, after a brief fight. Defeated, Rav contacted Maladi, swearing the Bloody Bones oath of loyalty to her, and promised to give any information regarding Skywalker in exchange for credits.[20]

The emergence of rakghouls Edit

"This is an ancient Sith alchemy, my Lord. There is a holocron that speaks of creatures who caused a plague on ancient Taris…the festering wounds he suffered resembled the infectious bite of these "rakghoul." How strange. Rakghouls have been extinct for millennia, yet one transformed Reave…" ―Maladi explains the fate of Darth Reave, who suffered from the Rakghoul plague [src]

In the hunt for Cade Skywalker, one of Krayt's minions, a Devaronian Sith known as Darth Reave, encountered the Human and his companions on the Imperial world of Had Abaddon. During the skirmish, Reave was attacked by a female Jedi, who used ancient Sith alchemy to transform Reave's stormtroopers into vile mutants. Realizing that he was outnumbered, Reave fled and returned to Coruscant, to report on both the Jedi woman and her monsters, as well as on Cade Skywalker's presence on Had Abaddon.[21] Before he could finish his report, however, Reave himself transformed into one of the same mutants he had recently encountered, only to be quickly stricken down by Darth Stryfe. Lady Maladi informed her unfamiliar Lord of the rakghouls; a form of sithspawn that ravaged the planet Taris several millennia ago.[22] Maladi was surprised by Reave's transformation, as rakghouls had been extinct in the galaxy for thousands of years, yet Reave had clearly come across and had been bitten by one.[23]

Krayt was then summoned to Had Abaddon by the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Karness Muur, who resided in an amulet in the possession of a Jedi named Celeste Morne. Using Morne as the vessel by which he could interact with the living world, Muur's instructions to the Dark Lord had been clear—to come alone, lest he and Skywalker, whom Muur had in his custody, would be killed. Nevertheless, Maladi accompanied her Master to the Deep Core world alongside Lords Stryfe, Wyyrlok, and Talon.[23]

Skywalker's trap Edit

"Words don't impress me, Sith."

"Then no more words, Jedi. Only death." ―Shado Vao and Darth Maladi, as they duel [src]

Arriving on Had Abaddon, the Sith were greeted by Karness Muur in the guise of the Jedi, Celeste Morne, who immediately rebuked Krayt for ignoring his instructions. However, Morne had been in control of herself the whole time, and it was soon revealed that Krayt and his group had walked into a trap. Skywalker, who had been visibly held captive, soon produced his own lightsaber, and combat ensued as both his Jedi and Imperial Knight companions ambushed the Sith. Maladi was taken aback by the fact that she could feel none of the Force auras of Skywalker and his friends, as she was attacked by the Twi'lek Jedi Shado Vao. Maladi immediately hurled several torrents of Force lightning at Vao, all of which he absorbed with the blades of his lightsaber. Maladi was unable to best him, and before an opportunity to do so presented itself, the conflict was called to a halt by Darth Krayt himself.[23]

However, Muur through the physical form of Celeste Morne again attacked Krayt, while commanding his/her rakghouls to deal with everyone else. Maladi broke off her duel with Vao to protect herself, slaying several of the sithspawn in the process. She then observed her Master battling the possessed Jedi, and joined him, both blasting Morne with storms of Sith lightning. Maladi's aid proved futile, as both she and Krayt were defeated by the combined superior strength of Muur/Morne. The electric backlash rendered Maladi unconscious, while Krayt was stabbed through the chest by Azlyn Rae. Muur/Morne then Force-pushed Krayt off of a cliff, where he seemingly fell to his death. Maladi was later seen in recovery alongside Darths Stryfe and Talon, having been rescued with Lord Krayt's body by Darth Wyyrlok.[24]

Afterward, Maladi and the other Sith Lords returned to Coruscant, where Wyyrlok announced to the Moffs that Emperor Krayt had been severely injured and would remain on stasis on Korriban until recovering and that he would take control of the Sith.[25] One of Wyyrlok's first acts was to name Grand Admiral Veed Regent of the Empire, an public figurehead that would report to Wyyrlok and follow his orders.[26]

Division Edit

"I traffic in lies, Lord Nihl, and I know Wyyrlok is lying about Lord Krayt. Still, we need to know for certain if Krayt is healing in stasis—or if Korriban has become his tomb." ―Darth Maladi to Darth Nihl [src]

Even though Darth Wyyrlok claimed that Darth Krayt had survived the encounter on Had Abbadon, Darth Maladi believed otherwise. She also believed that Wyyrlok was simply consolidating his own power until which time he would eliminate those Sith whom he perceived as threats to his plans. In her eyes, Wyyrlok was a coward who was unfit to rule the One Sith. She returned to Wayland, the place where she originally developed the sabotage of the Ossus Project, and invited Darth Nihl to her laboratory and shared her concerns with him. Initially wary of Maladi's intentions, Nihl was eventually convinced by her to go to Korriban to confirm whether the Dark Lord was truly alive or dead and, once he had discovered the truth, use it as he best saw fit.[1]

Because Maladi believed that Darth Krayt's successor needed to be an individual with both leadership experience and the power to bend the Sith to their will, she began engineering a new bioweapon that would stabilize the One Sith through fear of the new Dark Lord's power. Once complete, Maladi required a non-Sith individual who was strong enough in the dark side of the Force to act as her test subject. Maladi viewed Cade Skywalker as her ideal specimen, and so paid the Feeorin pirate Rav one million credits to lure Skywalker to her Wayland laboratory. When he arrived, he found that Maladi had abducted his friend, Deliah Blue, who was being tortured through a Yuuzhan Vong Embrace of Pain and to whom Maladi had grafted a Vong bioform that resisted Skywalker's Dark transfer ability, causing excruciating pain to its host when exposed to the Force. Maladi appeared and explained her plans to Skywalker, citing Blue's suffering as the means by which Skywalker's rage would be fueled sufficiently into serving Maladi's needs. After revealing that Blue's survival depended on his acceptance, Skywalker agreed, thus pleasing Darth Maladi.[1] After time spent under Maladi's torture and tests, Skywalker succumbed to his anger and showed Maladi her own fear; the loss of control over the creatures of her creation. Skywalker then demanded that Maladi fear him. After grabbing her by the neck, Maladi shoved him back with a strong Force push and set the laboratory to detonate, leaving Skywalker and his friends to die.[27]

Captured Edit

"One thing one tiny thing only do I ask in return. I want the head of Cade Skywalker." ―Darth Maladi [src]

Maladi was later found inside a Vong ship in a comatose state by an Imperial frigate loyal to Roan Fel. Hogrum Chalk, the Emperor's head of Intelligence had her secretly transported to and imprisoned on Bastion, where she later awoke in what seemed to be a fragile, paranoid state of mind, the aftermath of Skywalker's mental attack. She requested an audience with Emperor Fel with claims that Darth Krayt had survived despite her attempts to ensure his demise, and appealed for safehaven from the empire-in-exile. She offered him Omega Red, a biotoxin she claimed was capable of killing a planet—in exchange for the head of Cade Skywalker. Her sincerity was questioned by Fel, who was hesitant to unleash such devastation and threatened to instead deliver Maladi into Skywalker's hands. Chalk, however, considered the weapon as an opportunity to end the war and save countless lives by sterilizing Korriban of all Sith. The Emperor refused to be branded a pariah in the galaxy for employing the same techniques as the enemy. He ordered Chalk to keep Maladi's capture in secret, and she was left in her cell.[28]

Not long afterward, Darth Krayt learned that the Jedi's hidden temple was located on Taivas, and made swift preparations to wipe them out.[29] Emperor Fel's forces joined the Jedi in a trap laid for the Sith, but were defeated in the subsequent attack that had been a counter-trap designed by Krayt. Desperate to defeat the Sith, Fel again approached Maladi and agreed to her initial offer, under the condition that she first make good with her claim.[30] While Roan Fel and his allies' prepared for a final battle on Coruscant, Maladi completed the Omega Red bioweapon.[31] However, her promise Fel had been nothing more than a fabrication; when detonated, her weapon would incinerate all approximate enemies of the One Sith, the followers of the dark side themselves immune to its effects.[32] She was soon visited by and presented the toxin to the emperor, guaranteeing its lethality against an entire planetary population in just a few breaths. Maladi then secretly escaped to rejoin her fellows, giving silent confirmation to Darth Krayt that she had completed her true task.[31]

As the emperor's flagship, the Jagged Fel, entered the fray above Coruscant, Roan Fel gave into the dark side in his determination to make use of Maladi's bioweapon, only to be thwarted and felled in combat by his Imperial Knights. The One Sith were routed on all fronts in their final stand on Coruscant, during which Darth Krayt was slain in a duel with Cade Skywalker. He was succeeded by Darth Nihl, who ordered the retreat of all forces to predetermined locations. Under the Nagai Dark Lord, an alternative approach to his predecessor's dream was decided upon; rather than open war, secrecy, deception, and infiltration would be the means of the enemy's defeat. Maladi retreated to a secret laboratory, where she indulged in her craft until the time she was required.[32]

Personality and traits Edit

"Darth Wyyrlok suggested looking to older Sith lore…very helpful. Not at all like that witch Maladi. She shares nothing." ―Vul Isen [src]

Darth Maladi, like most Sith in Darth Krayt's New Sith Order, knew complete obedience to her Master.[16] She always completed his orders as asked, though she sometimes wondered about some of Krayt's decisions,[12] such as why he wanted Cade Skywalker alive.[16] Maladi often tortured individuals, and took pride when she was able to successfully extract information out of them, evidenced when she garnered information about Skywalker from Hosk Trey'lis. Maladi was often in control of sentients, and barked commands at Nyna Calixte[8] and Trey'lis, much like her Master Krayt did himself.[12]

As the head of Sith Intelligence and Assassination, Maladi was adept at manipulating individuals without using the Force. Along with Krayt, she instigated the Sith–Imperial War by manipulating Morlish Veed into an alliance with the Sith, convincing him that the Sith were going to seat him as Emperor, though Maladi instead put him in a position of servitude to Krayt.[8] She funneled lies as a matter of course, and easily detected when falsehoods were perpetrated against her.[1] Her skills of manipulation were well known and enemies dubiously heeded what she presented as truth.[28] Maladi was affronted by comparisons to fellow Sith scientist Vul Isen, whose poisons she denounced as inferior,[28] and with whom she refused to collaborate.[33]

Maladi loved to scheme the demise of others. She molded the perfect assassin in Darth Kruhl, who was ready to die in order to kill Roan Fel. When that failed, Maladi revealed that Kruhl had been part of a larger scheme to kill Roan Fel, and that she was planning to mold another to finally place the final killing stroke. However, her scheming sometimes blinded her, and she was so enamored with her plans that she almost lost sight of her Krayt-given goal—to eliminate Roan Fel. On one occasion, Krayt had to remind her to keep sight of her goal to kill Fel before she became too consumed with plotting. She was ruthless to this end, and did not suffer the failures of her subordinates gladly, evidenced when she executed Vikar Dorn for his blunder during the assassination attempt on Emperor Fel's life.[14]

Maladi was also confident in the stability of the New Sith Order, believing that they were more successful than the older Sith, though Nyna Calixte believed that the present day Sith were like the Sith of old, and that that reminiscent quality was going to be the demise of Maladi and the rest of the Sith.[8] She was cold, calculating, unafraid to commit unspeakable acts if that suited her agenda. She held complete control over her emotions, even her fears;[5] the greatest of them being the loss of control over her scientific creations.[27]

While most females of her species had a good deal of fur that was naturally white, Maladi was hairless and instead red-skinned, resultant of genetics.[2]

Powers and abilities Edit

"Impressive, Jedi. You and Fel's Forcelings managed to conceal yourself completely in the Force—even from me!" ―Darth Maladi, to Shado Vao, as they duel [src]

Darth Maladi was a Sith trained from birth in the New Sith Order, and could use a lightsaber proficiently.[14] Maladi displayed considerable dexterity when her lightsaber skills were called into action; while dueling, she focused on strong Force attacks supported by her blade work, making her twice as formidable in battle. This was evidenced when she engaged the Twi'lek Jedi Shado Vao in personal combat on Had Abaddon, and attacked him with Force lightning. Vao defended against the lightning with his own weapon, but it held him at bay, and neither Jedi nor Sith was able to gain an advantage. Maladi was confident in her detection skills and was complementary that Vao, Skywalker, and the Imperial Knights were able to completely conceal their Force presences even from her.[23]

Maladi specialized in the ways of torture and assassination. Through relentless use of specialized torture droids, she was able to successfully extract the information about Cade Skywalker out of Hosk Trey'lis, a Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order.[12] Maladi was a master of espionage, assassination and interrogation, extremely skilled in both Sith alchemy and Yuuzhan Vong bioengineering.[5] She knew the Memory Walk technique, using it to attack Cade Skywalker's mind on Wayland.[27]

Maladi's skill with Force applications was also on par with her fellow Sith; she was proficient with Force lightning, having successfully attacked both Jariah Syn and Deliah Blue with it while torturing Cade Skywalker. Maladi also had a mastery over Sith alchemy, using it to mutate Yuuzhan Vong coral seeds into fatal, painful sores on sentients.[16] She used her abilities to sabotage the Ossus Project, which started the Sith–Imperial War,[3] and created Omega Red, what she considered the perfected form of the extremely-lethal Alpha Red.[28]

Behind the scenes Edit

Darth Maladi was first mentioned in the preview for Star Wars: Legacy, Star Wars: Legacy 0, and later appeared in the first issue of Legacy. Maladi served as a supporting character in the issue, and did not appear for the rest of the story arc, Broken. Maladi's character was greatly expanded on in the next two story arcs of Legacy, Allies and Trust Issues. A few issues later, Maladi appeared in Ready to Die, trying to orchestrate Fel's death, though she failed. Maladi is featured in the next story arc, Claws of the Dragon, at first torturing Cade Skywalker, and later doubting Krayt's obsession of Skywalker with Darth Nihl.

Artist Jan Duursema redesigned Darth Maladi after deciding that her initial illustration was too "sexy," and thus too much like Darth Talon. The redesigned Darth Maladi was meant to look more tightly wound; a design inspired by one of Dermot Power's original sketches, that would later become the character Asajj Ventress.[34] In an online interview on TheForce.Net, Duursema jokingly agreed that Maladi was supposed to be a bit "emo."[35] Another thing to note is Maladi's different skin color and fur quantities. It was established in The Essential Guide to Alien Species that female Devaronians had large fur quantities that had a white pigmentation, while Maladi has red skin and no fur. Duursema resolved this continuity issue by stating that she thought that Maladi looked different because she did not want all Devaronians to look the same.[2]

While she was born on Devaron and was conscious of the stigma that surrounded members of the One Sith who were not born on Korriban,[1] the Legacy Era Campaign Guide stated incorrectly that the opposite was true. She was represented as born and raised on the Sith homeworld, proud of her heritage and engaged in that elitism that actually troubled her.

Appearances Edit

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