Malal still even kind of canon?

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

I've read about Malal, the Anti-Chaos Chaos God, whose portfolio includes contradictions and anarchy. I've also read he's only semi-canon or noncanon at the moment. Opinions, maybe from someone more knowledgeable than me?

[Shinespider]

He's now known as Malice, as the Malal name is tied up in copyright shenanigans. He hasn't been explicitly disavowed by GW, so he's certainly still canon in the strictest sense.

 

Ultimately the question is, what do you want from him being canon? If you're expecting him to play a role in events going forward, that's probably not going to happen. GW has expressed no interest in writing about him. If you want to integrate him into your own army's fiction, you're welcome to do so: it wouldn't be any less legitimate than any other character you might want to include.

[Captain_Krash]

Read The Labyrinth from black library its awesome

 

Krash

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

My question was just if he exists. If he EXISTS, then I can do whatever, I'm aware. I wonder what Daemons of Malice would look like.

[Gederas]

My question was just if he exists. If he EXISTS, then I can do whatever, I'm aware. I wonder what Daemons of Malice would look like.

He exists because the Sons of Malice exist. As to what Daemons of Malice look like, well, even though it's 1d4chan, there's an article on it that can be helpful.

[Closet Skeleton]

Malal only appeared as far as I know in the Warhammer Fantasy setting so wouldn't be 40k canon in any sense, the Sons of Malice are an apparent reference to Malal but were no more than a colour scheme and name for around a decade. I haven't read The Labyrinth but since its the only source that goes into the Sons of Malice then whatever that says is 'canon'.

 

Malal was never established as the 5th Chaos god, warhammer fantasy always had more than 4 chaos gods with the 4 only being the major gods and the minor gods including Daemon Princes and the gods of non human races (Hashut and the Horned Rat being the main ones). In early editions of fantasy and 1st ed 40k the two chaos books had rules for unaligned daemon princes having their own daemons (the Vermin Lord was the only non-major god daemon explicitly sold as a warhammer product since furies don't have a god). Daemons of Malal reached the concept art stage and I've heard that those sketches were realized by some third party at some point so can be purchased.

 

http://realmofchaos80s.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-malignancy-of-malal-malals-daemonic.html

[Doom Herald]

Malice is an obvious equivalent to Malal in 40k. Malal HAS been retconned in Fantasy. Malice never has been retconned, only neglected further mention. The Labarinth and some White Dwarf articles are the sum of Malice and his "sons'" lore. As I understand it, Sons of Mallice bind other gods' daemons and force them into service when they do use Daemons.

 

Another potentially analogous, or at least related, character is Be'lakor. Be'lakor is a reference to Kaleb Darke, the first written champion of Malal. Take the "or" out of Be'lakor and read it backwards. Be'lakor is a Daemon Prince who draws power from all four gods, much like Malalice. He is also said to be a fractured example of what he once was. He ruled a huge empire in the past and was much more powerful. The language used in sources to describe Be'lakor's lore even heavily hints at a connection.

 

Lastly, there is a chaos warband mentioned in the 8th edition CSM Codex which suggests they worship Warp gods other than the big 4.