Malefor

Malefor, also known as The Dark Master, is the main antagonist of The Legend of Spyro series as well as the primary antagonist in The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. He is Spyro and Cynder's archenemy, and the true villain of the series.

Personality
It was said he was the first purple dragon ever born. Malefor is, in many ways, the exact opposite of every Spyro villain in the Spyro series. He is depicted as completely evil, possessing no comedic elements nor redeeming quality. He is cruel, ruthless, sadistic, scornful, manipulative, deceitful, destructive, violent, and as his name dictates and represents, he is a villain of pure malevolence; the complete opposite of Spyro. While Spyro does good and wishes to protect the world he lives in, Malefor seeks the destruction of it, and will use all he can to finish what he started.

Like all Dark Lords, he has a calm, courteous, and cold demeanor, with an imposing and menacing presence. He is also very self-confident and self-righteous, dismissing other beliefs than his owns as irrelevant. Malefor is willing to use anything he can to fulfill his goal, and remorselessly destroys everything in his way or everyone useless to him, except if he can use them again later. He also enjoys killing other creatures for pleasure and revels in their torment.

He seems to personify the Deadly Sin of Gluttony for his uncontrollable hunger for power that has occurred since his corruption. He also possesses a fatalistic philosophy; believing it is his fate and destiny to purify the world by destroying it so a new one would be created to replace it. Therefore, in his dark and twisted point of view, he most likely does not perceive himself as evil, more so as an anti-hero; using questionable means to accomplish a "noble" goal, though this may not be the case, as he doesn't appear to object to his title as The Dark Master. Judging from his ruthless and purely sadistic nature, Malefor is especially a murderer as he killed millions of creatures in his "quest to fulfill the destiny of the purple dragon."

Malefor is highly intelligent, cunning and manipulative, able to elaborate convuluted schemes. One of his most defining traits is his skill. While it appeared he'd sent Gaul and Cynder to free him, it was ultimately all a plan to lure Spyro to the Well of Souls and set him free. He is also a skilled orator, able to instill doubt in the most determined minds and to use it for his own gain, as evidenced with Spyro and Cynder before the final battle. With this powerful oration, he is very skilled at using his opponent's faults against them; a prime example is his use of Cynder's past deeds and the fact he used her to free himself to make her doubt herself long enough for him to take control of her.

But like all villains, he undervalues the power of friendship and ultimately love when he uses Cynder to kill Spyro for his nonacceptance of the alleged truth and nature of the purple dragon race, only for her to break his bind over her when Spyro tells her that she has left him with nothing left to fight for, somewhat revealing a trace of his love for her.

Powers and Abilities
Malefor is unfathomably powerful. Being a rare purple dragon, he can control virtually any element through his breath. He is seen using Fire, Ice, Electricity, Earth, Wind, and even the Convexity element (a sort of quintessence element, which manifests as a purple energy and can influence the dimensions to a certain point), including the elemental furies, which he all mastered to the point of perfection. It is hinted that he can also control other elements, most likely Shadow, Fear, and Poison, the evil-based elements that Cynder was gifted with when she was under his control, and perhaps even Time itself, like Spyro. Like all dragons, he is unsurprisingly able to fly and has extreme physical strength, being able to fight on air or on the ground, in melee or at any distance. But he reveals that he is eternal, thus he is undefeatable and immortal.

Living up to his title after him choosing evil, Malefor also wields extraordinary dark powers, which enables him to create, transform, and manipulate things as he pleases. This is demonstrated when he transforms the Dragon Temple into a Fortress of his likeness and makes it levitate, when he turns the Apes into undead ghouls, when he replaced the Apes by creating artificial creatures, like the Grublins, and when he creates an energy chain that his minions shackle Spyro and Cynder together. Malefor also holds the ability to see the events of the world outside of his lair through some unknown power; he was aware of Spyro feeling devastated when Ignitus sacrificed himself to get Spyro and Cynder through the Belt of Fire, and the evil dragon used Spyro's inner loneliness of his mentor against him when Malefor gained control over Cynder.

He even possesses hellish powers, such as complete control over everything evil, being able to control every malevolent being and to increase the smallest drop of malevolence in someone's soul, to the point of turning them into a dark version of their former self. Using his dark powers, he can corrupt and transform them into monsters under their control, such as Cynder, vastly increasing their power.

History
Born in ancient times, Malefor was the first purple dragon and a talented one at that. He first mastered Fire, then Ice, Wind, Earth, Electricity, and many other elements none thought existed. Thus, Malefor was the first dragon to be able to use more than one element, which other Dragons were restricted to only one. Believing him to be the dragon to usher them into a new age, the Dragon Elders willingly taught him how to master these elements. But his power was unlimited, beginning to grow far beyond what was expected, and he consumed everything. When he didn't stop by showing signs of restraint, the Elders banished him to exile, fearing his unstoppable growth.

Filled with hate and malice for his own kind, Malefor took on the title as The Dark Master. He recruited an army of Apes and taught them how to artificially harness the power of the gems, which are the Dragons' lifeforce. With his army established and growing by the day, Malefor built a great fortress upon a mountain, and there he resided, staring out upon the lands with pure hate. His malice was so great, that it split the earth and created a pit of despair, called the Mountain of Malefor, also known as the Well of Souls, by the evil-hearted.

Years later, Malefor was defeated by the Ancestors, and was confined in the Well of Souls. While his spirit was imprisoned in the Mountain of Malefor, his essence was trapped in Convexity.

The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
During the Year of the Dragon, Malefor sent his Ape army to the Dragon Temple, under the command of his servant, Gaul, the Ape King, to destroy all of the dragon eggs to prevent the next Purple Dragon from being born. However, Ignitus, the Fire Guardian rescued the purple egg and hid it, though all the other eggs had been smashed.

Under another order, however, Gaul captured a dragon egg as Malefor needed a dragon born on the Year of the Dragon to open the gateway in Convexity that served as his prison. Gaul captured Cynder's egg so she could serve Malefor and bring him back, while the Apes had smashed all the other dragon eggs, unaware that Ignitus has saved Spyro's egg. The Ape King used Malefor's dark powers to corrupt and influence Cynder, transforming her into a large, evil dragoness with greater strength and agility at an unnaturally fast rate. Cynder and Gaul then set out to bring Malefor back.

Cynder embarked on a journey to open the Convexity portal which imprisoned her master's soul, while her Ape army scattered and left the land in ruins. Cynder's ultimate plan was to capture each of the Dragon Guardians during a battle which may have been a ruse for her to snatch all the Guardians while they were distracted to fend off their enemies, and drain their energies into crystals which she would use to release Malefor from his prison. Spyro, the newly born Purple Dragon, and his adoptive brother, Sparx the Dragonfly, traveled across the land and rescued each of the four remaining Dragon Guardians after Cynder drained their energies into crystals. She then journeyed to Convexity and placed the last one into the portal containing her master, providing Malefor a means of escape.

Before Malefor could break free, Spyro used his full power and defeated Cynder, freeing her of the villain's control and returning her to her true form, a dragoness the same age and size as Spyro. As the portal opened, the effects of Spyro and Cynder's battle caused it to become unstable and it began to implode, drawing everything within the Convexity. Spyro saved Cynder, and he and Sparx escape the collapsing Convexity dimension as Malefor's spirit emerged. However, his spirit got caught in the collapse, and his soul entered the Well of Souls, but was still trapped. As his spirit awakened, an evil energy, possibly his returning essence, appeared at the peak of the Mountain of Malefor, a symbol of his presence within the dark mountain.

After they returned to the Dragon Temple, Spyro and Cynder both watch the sky, wondering if The Dark Master will soon return. While resting off the weakness from the battle, Spyro dreamt of the battle between him and Cynder and how he saved her, hearing The Dark Master's voice in his head, calling his name.

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
Gaul and his Ape army traveled to the Well of Souls after Malefor's essence has been freed, calling to all the evil in the Dragon Realms, and set up their base there. Gaul planned to resurrect their master on the Night of Eternal Darkness and release him from the Well of Souls to satisfy the Apes' lust for power and get their revenge on the dragons. To lure Spyro into his unaware stage, Gaul captured Cynder, who left the Dragon Temple when she still blamed herself for what happened when she was under Malefor's control.

As Gaul held Cynder captive, he informed her that Malefor could either take her back due to her "loyalty" as his servant or be the first to kill her. Though, she refused any notion of becoming the Dark Master's slave again and remain imprisoned by Gaul in the Mountain. Spyro, who had developed romantic feelings for Cynder, and Sparx set out to rescue her and eventually made it to the Well of Souls, where Spyro confronted and fought Gaul. During the celestial moons' eclipse, Malefor's dark influence took control of Spyro's mind and he destroyed Gaul just as he planned from the start. Cynder saveds Spyro from Malefor's control and the Mountain began to collapse all around them, trapping the three. Spyro uses his Dragon Time to save them, encasing them in crystal. After the eclipse, Malefor finally escaped from the Well of Souls after his master and secret plan succeeded, and proceeded to plague the world.

The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon
After being resurrected, Malefor immediately began shrouding the world in darkness. During that time, he attacked the Dragon Temple and reclaimed it, suspending it above the land as a symbol of his dominamce. It was also stated that Malefor cursed the Apes sometime during his dark reign, turning them into shadows as a way of repaying them for their disloyalty to him as they only served Malefor more for their own greed and thirst for power. Presumably afterwards, Malefor created a new army consisting of artificial, earthy creatures called Grublins as replacements for the Apes, and awakened a Golem to lay waste to the world.

After three years of being trapped within the time crystal, Spyro, Sparx, and Cynder finally awakened to stop Malefor from destroying the world. However, both Spyro and Cynder were binded together with the green chains by a troop of Grublins as they were intended to be sacrificed to the Golem under Malefor's orders. They reached Warfang when it was under siege by Malefor's army, and defeated the Golem. But later that night, Malefor made an ominous announcement that since they survived the siege, they would be the first to witness the resurrection of the Destroyer, a mountain-sized golem used to destroy the world to usher in a new one. Spyro and Cynder attempted to stop the Destroyer, but when they destroyed its crystal core to defeat it, Malefor restored the Destroyer through his powers, continuing its mission. Realizing that the only way to stop the Destroyer was to defeat Malefor, Spyro and Cynder set off to confront The Dark Master.

After going on a long journey, Spyro and Cynder both made it to Malefor's Lair where they confronted the villainous dragon himself. He taunted Spyro by saying that they have more in common than just their color. Spyro denied this, saying that he is nothing like Malefor, who then frees the young dragons of the chain that tethered them together since they were awakened from their three-year slumber. He then claimed that his influence over Cynder had not completely diminished and that she had led Spyro to the Well of Souls to trick him into freeing Malefor. Cynder both denied Malefor's words, but grew unsure and said that she doesn't know anymore, to which Malefor replied by taking control over her again and renewing her dark side. Malefor attacked Spyro through Cynder repeatedly, while he assured Spyro that there have been many Purple Dragons before him and that the true nature of their kind has been to resurrect the Destroyer and the Golems of the Deep during that age in order to bring about the "Great Cleansing", destroying the world.

Spyro denied Malefor's statements and continued to be struck by Cynder while Malefor laughed maniacally. Cynder angrily asked why Spyro won't fight back, and Spyro sadly responded that it was because Cynder had left him nothing to fight for. This broke Malefor's hold on Cynder, and she lovingly told Spyro that there's always something. Malefor became enraged and chained Cynder to Spyro with the same energy chain, binding them together in order to kill them both. After a long battle against Malefor, Spyro and Cynder followed after him to continue their fight in the skies above the temple. However, the Destroyer managed to enter the maw of the Earth, intiating the world's destruction as it began to break apart. Spyro and Cynder then battled against Malefor again as they are descending into the core of the world.

Despite their efforts, Malefor proclaimed that he was eternal, unable to be destroyed. After a final energy blast against Spyro and Cynder, Malefor was knocked to the Earth's crystal core, but quickly got back up unscathed, ready to attack again. Suddenly, several dragon spirits who appear to be "The Ancients", the Dragons who trained Malefor, emerged from the crystal core, surrounding the evil dragon. As the egregious Malefor looked upon the spirits in shock, he was dragged and sealed away forever into the crystal by the spirits. Spyro then used his powers to reconstruct the world, slowly putting it back together and ending Malefor's malice for good.

Role in Ultima
In Ultima, Malefor was broken out of the crystal and resurrected by Padro Lodo in order to recruit him to the Organization as a member of the Inner Circle because of his great power and willful malice.