A religious zealot dedicated to the unification of all life, Void to be the gateway to Runeterra's salvation. In the desert wastes of Shurima, he opened his mind to the universe, and the whispers that answered led him to Icathia. Amidst the ruins of that land, he gazed into the dark heart of the Void itself—and Malzahar emerged changed, a shepherd empowered to bring others into the fold… or to release the voidling creatures that dwell beneath.
truly believes the newly emergent
"We are timeless. We demand sacrifice." — Malzahar | |
Background[]
Early life[]
Beneath the glare of the Shuriman sun, there have always been those blessed with the power of foresight. The only son of aging trinket peddlers, Malzahar did not realize his gift until his parents had already succumbed to a wasting sickness, leaving the young, traumatized boy to fend for himself on the city streets of Amakra. He read fortunes in the gutter, for a coin or scraps of bread.
As his auguries proved more and more accurate, his reputation grew. He used his second sight to predict who a curious cameleer might marry, or where throwing daggers would land in games of chance at the bazaar. Soon, he began to receive patrons dressed not in dirtied sandals, but jeweled slippers.
However, for all this, Malzahar could never see his own destiny. His future was hidden.
Increasingly disillusioned with his success, he noted the common disparities of wealth, and witnessed those unhappy with their lives acting out in spiteful violence against one another. It was apparent to him that people were bound up in a never-ending cycle of pain, often of their own making, and no hopeful prophecy seemed able to break it. Malzahar himself soon felt nothing but a sense of emptiness, finally relinquishing his mortal possessions and leaving Amakra for good.
Contemporary history[]
For years, he roamed the land, from the trackless wastes of the lesser sai to the ruins of old Shurima. By distancing himself from others, he was alone with his thoughts at last. He divined not just how callous people could be, but also how corrupt the world might yet become. Feverish visions began to plague his waking hours, along with otherworldly whispers of war and strife, and endless suffering.
He wandered far, until the sands turned to salt. He could not know that he had arrived in Icathia, a lost city ravaged in the wars of a bygone age. There, gazing into the depths of a ragged abyss, Malzahar opened his unsteady mind, desperate for understanding.
And the Void answered.
That would have been the end of any other tale, and yet somehow Malzahar endured. What lay in the darkness below brushed against the soul of the broken seer, only for an instant, and yet its strange and unknowable energies saturated his mind completely.
The lone figure that eventually strode out of Icathia was no longer just a man, but something greater. Malzahar had seen in the abyss an end to all the suffering he had witnessed in his mortal lifetime. Malzahar was then whispered to by
, the Void Empress, who granted him a vision promising the destruction of Runeterra. He realized the future he had believed hidden from him all this time was in fact a vision of his true calling: to accelerate the world toward inevitable oblivion. Malzahar devoted himself completely to the Empress's will, his mind corrupted by the touch of a higher power. He had to return to the people, and spread word of the holy nothingness that would gladly embrace them, the willing and non-believers alike. He would become the herald of the world’s salvation.Among the nomads of the deep desert, he found his first disciples. Before their astonished eyes, he used his new Void-given powers to rend the very earth itself, summoning chittering, nightmarish creatures to carry away any who dared to deny him. Within a matter of months, strange rumors began to travel with the merchant caravans; rumors of men and women gladly sacrificing themselves to unseen powers, and of powerful quakes opening up the bedrock of Shurima in new fault lines hundreds of miles long.
gathering his followers, the Cult of the Void. Even since, rumors had been told of merchants killing themselves for their "prophet", earthquakes opening up large faults across Shurima, and settlers said to experience horrifying vision, sacrificing their cattle to satisfy the Void, Malzahar grows ever closer to bring about the apocalypse of Runeterra.
In the years since, Malzahar’s legend has spread even to the northern ports. As followers of “the Prophet” grow in number, nearby settlers are said to experience malefic visions grasping at their hearts, and fear gives rise to superstition—even the hardy villagers of the far wastes now make offerings of livestock to appease the voidling creatures below.
Appearance[]
Malzahar is a Shuriman man with dark skin and blue eyes. He dresses himself in desert clothes, with blue shirts and pants, and a pink scarf covering most of his head. His most distinctive characteristic is the top of his head, that thanks to the power of the void, reveals a grotesque hole from where void energy pulses and flows.
Personality[]
As child, Malzahar lost his family and was forced to live alone, which gave him great sadness and also a sense of empathy towards others less fortunate. After becoming a famous fortune-teller, Malzahar took joy in helping others make choices about their futures and guiding their lives to a better path. In spite of this, he was still unhappy, as his experiences with others made him see more and more of human misery. This made Malzahar lose hope in humanity, which led to him come to Icathia and embrace the Void.
As The Prophet Of the Void, Malzahar is fanatically devoted to the powers of the Void, regularly sacrifing entire cities to the Void.
Abilities[]
- Psychic Abilities: Malzahar was born with powerful psychic abilities. This mainly manifested in his ability to see the future, which he used to live as a fortune-teller, revealing the future of others. He was also able to feel the call to the Void. After being touched by the Void, he is also able to force others to see visions. He mainly uses this to submit them to terrible visions that break the minds of others. He also demonstrated the ability to levitate.
- Void Touched: Malzahar was touched by the Void, which changed his nature into a new strange form, and granted him many powers that few others in Runeterra have. He can survive in Void-infested areas, commune with the Voidborn, and developed strange mutations, the more obvious one being the center of his head that seems to have become a hole were void energy constantly pulses.
- Energy Manipulation: Malzahar can freely manipulate raw Void energy, mainly in the form of destructive blasts of power. He also seems to be capable of creating forces fields of this energy, or control the direction of the energy to bring devastation to foes.
- Portal Making: Malzahar can open portals to the Void and let it's influence fester in the physical realm.
- Summoning: With his powers, Malzahar can call fourth Voidborns to do his bidding. This Voidborns are mainly voidlings.
Relations[]
[]
Even though Malzahar (and Shuriman their ties to the Void directs all their focus to the ancient city of Icathia and what lies within it.
) are bothShurima[]
Malzahar might be attempting to make Icathia rise again just like
did with the Ancient Shuriman capital. It is uncertain whether or not he is aware of the . Even if so, making way for the Voidborn takes precedence over a handful of actually mortal demigods that can be overrun by infinite hordes anyway.[]
Malzahar in turn lured Runeterra. It could be speculated the hivemind entity is the Mouth of the Abyss' 'Daddy', the 'Terror who is coming'. In short might be foreshadowing a cataclysm on an interdimensional scale so large the Rune Wars will seem a children's brawl in comparison.
into[]
Void to Runeterra in exchange for him providing her with sacrifices to assimilate.
is Malzahar's master, helping him in his goal to bring theRead More
Biography
Starring Champion
Mentioned Champion
Alternate Universes
Trivia[]
- Malzahar's story may be referencing Abdul Alhazred from the Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft.
- The "eye" in his forehead is a physical manifestation of Malzahar's connection with the Void.
Change log[]
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References[]