#shadowbound beast

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Various Maliketh screenshots — by Shepparts, leopardsang, Tarnished David

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I am here to feed you nothing but dog pics of the best boi

https://twitter.com/shadderfans/status/1514134890874253314?s=20&t=722i5RzTZwTMsECX0kIHXQ

https://twitter.com/yoshi_kaoru/status/1514166211289833474?s=20&t=722i5RzTZwTMsECX0kIHXQ

https://twitter.com/mono_0313/status/1514255634463887360?s=20&t=722i5RzTZwTMsECX0kIHXQ

ANON WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME???? I was working really hard on my Arcane fanfic because I'm on a mad deadline, purposefully delaying the pubber fic (as my sweet beta calls the Maliketh x Reader) and now you hit me with more?? I mean... I...

I'm feelin perfectly normal about him having a 6 pack here???

His paw pads??? I???

And then this?? Queen Marika the Eternal manspreader, drinking from the bottle?

TL: Maliketh: Your majesty, a Queen should be aware of her manners at all times Marika: Shut up Maliketh: I'm just- Marika: I'm going to get you neutered if you speak another word

The way he's spread out like a dog, with dainty paws? Maybe they're a little too paw-like tbf. I like his grabby wee fingers. LMAO he's barrel-chested like a damned horse, pubber is truly of insane proportions. It's actually a fun detail. Some people are modding the game and having bosses face off each other and Maliketh is HUGE :

AKA

And that 3rd one looks like he's a minifigurine. I bet this is exactly the sort of pose he'll have when 3D printed! Iconic move!!

Such a feast. Anon, I kiss your pretty hands. Please, always feel free to feed me MOAR... Mine hunger... My sin... My craving for Maliketh's hairy belly...

Ok I'm back to writing Arcane... *sob*. But then... Maybe... Maybe I'll write a Tarnished & Blaidd & Maliketh team up fic after all. The brainrot is real and deep.

Also, cheers for those links, because someone made/shared this meme in the comments of Yoshi Kaoru's art:

It's pretty peak and was a good chuckle.

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Continuing down the rabbit hole that is "what exactly is Maliketh"

The white mane I believe is his hair. Melenia's helm is similar in fashion, when you obtain it, you can see the bright red hair hanging from it. The same goes for Radahn, so it might just be a thing in-game to make the armor stand out and look as close to its original owner as possible.

I'm not against lion Maliketh, however I raise you this; as Gurranq, during the tarnished quest to feed him deathroot, you can catch him howling at the heavens during the night. I'm not sure that coincides with feline/lion behavior. Maliketh may not be a blatant wolf but I THINK he is at least *A* canine breed.

His aesthetic (while it absolutely FUCKS) CAN make it a bit difficult to pin down his genetic origins, so I'll give you that.

OK so, yes and no. As in, I don't think the howl counts, but there's more evidence in favour of wolf. (and more in favour of Lion lol)

First off, Maliketh at night sounds like a roaring lion mixed with some elephant or something :

Compared to :

The noise Maliketh is making just... doesn't sound like wolf howling, with their long, melodous "awooo" calls.

Blaidd, in comparison, makes the most cliché Awoo call you've heard this side of middle school :

So I genuinely don't think the roar Maliketh does really counts in wolf direction.

For the helmet and hair... Malenia is a good call because her helmet 100% is shown detached from her head without the hair! Also the fact the armour free model of Maliketh looses his tail entirely hints that they aren't body accurate. The naked version is probably what's under Gurranq's habit, and they must not want the tail clipping through.

Radahn though... I'd always assumed the hair was part of his helmet regalia, and not his true hair... I guess because of the helmet shape and all but... Looking at it the hair comes from behind a pane of metal, not sprouting obviously from it, like on a galea.

So I agree with you, it's most likely Maliketh does have a mane, and that makes my "below the helmet" Maliketh fanart inaccurate...

_(:з」∠)_

Now, regarding him being wolven anyway, I got a great piece of evidence from @corpseblooming !!

Raging Wolf Helm Helm worn by Vargram the Raging Wolf, one of the first Tarnished to visit the Roundtable Hold. Vargram's nickname comes from the white wolf's mane that decorates this helm.

Raging Wolf Armor Armor worn by Vargram the Raging Wolf, one of the first Tarnished to visit the Roundtable Hold. According to the old legends, wolves are the shadows of the Empyrean, and this is what Vargram aspired to be.

So, this definitely explains away the mane thing. ER wolves have straight up lion manes and that's normal. Which makes Blaidd look pretty lacking in the hair department, don't mock him he might be sensitive.

Couple caveats :

— This sounds like a man aspiring to be a shadow. The mane specifically decorates the helmet. Vargram looks human, and his helmet isn't shaped to accommodate a snoot.

Does this mean you can become a shadow? Is this what happened to Blaidd? Was he a competent human and got wolf-ified by the two fingers?

— We know of 2 shadows, 2 wolves, and 5 Empyreans. Blaidd and Maliketh, who are a "black beast" and a "half-wolf", Blaidd and Red Wolf of Radagon are the more wolf like lads in the game, and Empyreans : Marika/supposedly Radagon?, the Gloam Eyed Queen, Ranni (former), Miquella and Malenia.

↳ It's very likely I'm missing things/assuming a lot so feel free to correct me.

— Shadow seems to be a job position during which you are "shadowbound". It doesn't sound like a descriptor for a being. I take this a lot from Blaidd's own dialogue :

Didn't I say? No harm can befall a shadow.

I...am shadowbound. Wherever mistress Ranni goes, I follow.

Old Iji trapped me here. Told me I'd bring nought but bale to Lady Ranni. But there's no chance that could happen. I'm part of her being. Her very shadow...

See? It sounds like a ritual, where a being is made into/woven inside the shadow of an Empyrean, to be a loyal follower and a check. If you turn on the boss, your shadow becomes a bale/curse.

Bale means "evil considered as a destructive force. Evil suffered; physical or mental torment."

— Then there's the fact the armour says "according to the old legends" which is worse than hearsay in Elden Ring, where we are lied to, or take in knowledge from people who are wrong and don't know it. That phrasing also makes it sound like there were more than two shadows around to make such a judgement. Did the Gloam Eyed Queen have one? Were there Empyreans even before the Golden Order? Aren't shadows explicitly made by the Two Fingers? Could it be it's an older ritual and the Two Fingers simply require it and meddle with the shadow? How old are these legends? is this pre-shattering? Did Malenia and Miquella use to have shadows and lost them? Are they not eligible due to their curse? Is Red Wolf a shadow to Radagon, and the reason he isn't insane is because Radagon himself is still protecting the order?

⇶ My conclusion for the moment... I'm rather inclined to continue with the idea that Maliketh might be the OG shadow and different. he seems too OP and humongous compared to Blaidd to be made of the same stuff, and it's possible he was the first, and the "model" leading to other shadows being wolven/half wolves/wolves, because "wolf-adjacent beasts" simply weren't an option?

Serosh, the lord of beasts, seems like a lion but still has strong conformation similarities to Maliketh in his long spindly arms and fingers, so I'm inclined to believe that's a hallmark of true beasts.

It's very possible Maliketh is in fact a wolf-adjacent beast, but remains close looking to Serosh because beasts might be on a weird lion to wolf spectrum? Maybe there's more options, and they don't look a lot like their base counterparts. After all, Maliketh has precious little in common with the lone wolves we encounter, who are just as wolves ought to be, and his only commonality with Red Wolf of Radagon is a mane. Red Wolf has a bushy tail, very narrow and beardless snout, and true wolf dentition.

Check this out :

Maliketh doesn't have the typical snout scrunching, gum revealing snarl, and it's clearly something Fromsoft knows how to animate so...

See as well how Maliketh doesn't have a wolf's nose at all? The top of his nose is covered in fur like a lion, and not soft nose tissue like on a wolf!!

Edit : let me add more Lion-Maliketh comparisons :

I present you with this crack alternative : Serosh is Maliketh's great grandpa. He had a lion-like son who got it on with a wolf-like lassie, and their lion-wolf beast son got it on with Marika's mom.

OR : (puts crackpot hat on) Marika's mother herself could be bestial. She is Numen, and we know nothing of Numen besides the fact they're from another land. Yet the Beast Serosh guides Marika's lineage? Could be that the Numen have bestial forms, that they can cast aside. Maybe they are humanoid when they get to the lands between. Maybe Marika's mom first had Maliketh through normal means and then cast a part of her out, creating Marika (if Empyreans are born of a single god, that works. She could be to her what Ranni is (presumably) to Radagon.) Maybe Marika's mom is a hot half wolf lady who banged a lion beast first for Mali and a blond dude next for Marika LMAO the sky is the fucking limit.

This is a ton of speculation just to say that Maliketh is "a beast" and we don't know his genetic makeup. I think the demi humans and beastmen prove that he doesn't have to be clean cut.