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Ok, so outside of the background found in Lexi/Wiki...what's everyone think of Malcador? I ask, as he's popped up in several of the Heresy books now and it's obvious he's going to be an important character throughout the series. So, we know he's;

1. Human
2. Very power psyker
3. Trusted by the Big E on most everything
4. Runs the Assassins
5. Runs Terra right now since Big E retired to the basement
6. Is 'beyond' human in some aspect, as he took a backhand from a Primarch, got back up and summoned his staff with his mind and seemed no worse for wear


I think he's an interesting character. The BL authors have always included plain old humans in their books, so you can actually see 'humanity' at the Heresy and not just football jocks that make death jokes (The Astartes). The Remembrancers, housecarls, etc...there is always a human aspect on how they interact with the Astartes. Malcador is different though, he's human...but not. So theories on where they'll go with him?

The Big E's offspring?
Made by the Big E?

AgeOfEgos wrote:5. Runs Terra right now since Big E retired to the basement

Just asking, when is "right now"?

Also, cheers for talking about my favourite pre-Heresy Human (i.e. non-Astartes/Emperor)!

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:5. Runs Terra right now since Big E retired to the basement

Just asking, when is "right now"?

Also, cheers for talking about my favourite pre-Heresy Human (i.e. non-Astartes/Emperor)!

Let's say....between the time Big E left the Great Crusade....to the point where Malcador takes over the Golden Throne while Big E fights Horus. So, at the height of the Heresy.

AgeOfEgos wrote:

AlmightyWalrus wrote:

AgeOfEgos wrote:5. Runs Terra right now since Big E retired to the basement

Just asking, when is "right now"?

Also, cheers for talking about my favourite pre-Heresy Human (i.e. non-Astartes/Emperor)!

Let's say....between the time Big E left the Great Crusade....to the point where Malcador takes over the Golden Throne while Big E fights Horus. So, at the height of the Heresy.

That's good 'cos i was gonna say something about that...

I think Malcador is the pinacle of how pwerful a human psycher can get without being the emperor or a primarch. I'm not sure of what his personality is, but seeing that he is both the master of the assassins and founder of the demonhunters, he's probably willing to do what others won't for the greater good (not tau, just same mind set).

He seems to be the prime example of the Emperor's efficiency at putting the right people in the right place... apart from Horus obviously.

You bring up some interesting points I hadn't thought of previously.

He really could be a clone of the Emperor, or, at the least, genetically modified by him...

He must have started the inquisition (although I haven't seen anything that explicitly says so) because the =][= symbol thing was 'the sigle (sp?) of Malcador'.
He DEFIANTLY recruited Garro as the 1st grey knight

I had an interesting thought when reading this thread.

We all know how the Emperor came into being...a bunch of shamans knew they were doomed, decided to pool their colletive powers togather to create the perfect individual to guide and protect mankind ect. ect. What if a small fraction of that power went to create the sigilite? In lexicanum it talks about the varying degrees of pyker levels. It says that in theory the highest level of psyker would transcend the need for a physical body. What if the power that culminated in the Emperor what too much for one soul to handle? So in order to have an individual that was the most powerful psyker ever but not powerful enough to be a warp entity in its own right the shamans created the Emperor and Malcador. It would make sense since the ultimate goal of the sacrifice of the shamans was:

A. to prevent their souls from being destroyed by demons

B. to continue protect and guide mankind

If the excess power did spill over into the sigilite it would make sense in the current setting.

A. He has known the Emperor the longest.

B. He has increadible longevity but possibly not immortallity

C. Incredibly powerful "human" psyker. Second only to Magnus

D. It was rumored that he was possibly distantly related to the Emperor

E. Does other more powerful then a regular human psyker things

What if not every shaman killed themselves, what if Malcador is the one shaman who didn't kill himself? It would explain his great abilities, wisdom and closeness with the emperor.

The old Fluff, from the Rogue Trader days, hinted that Malcador was actually a son of the Emperor. But, the Realms of Chaos book with Nurgle on the cover, stated that this was not a "special" or "unique" thing, as there were many children fathered by the Emperor through the ages. Each one was gifted with a pure soul, and could do things that even Psykers could not do. In time, they would attract other "pure" souls to their side, and would then set out into the universe to do good things for Humanity. Malcador was just supposed to be the Sensai closest to the Emperor.

Now, I don't know if they are going to stick with this story, as the BL seems to be changing EVERYTHING in the HH books. But, that is how it was in the late '80's and early '90's...

While the sensei theory is valid I'd like to suggest you take a look at this page, http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/The_Assignment
My guess is he's an alpha plus level psyker who was mentored by the big man himself during humanity's golden era, thereby receiving the very best possible tutelage and training. Effectively Malcador represents what the emperor saw as the next step for human evolution. As for the backhand from a Primarch thing Im guessing as an alpha plus level psyker he has such "subconscious" mastery of the warp that if something was to injure him, his psychic powers instinctively conjure a ward to shield him. While this wouldnt make him able to take a hunter killer missile to the face, Itd displace the damage from a cqc blow.

Yeah, now that the whole sensei thing is basically out the window, I think he is just what they say, the most powerful human psyker, with great tutelage. I doubt he is a shaman, as from what the fluff has said it took all of them combining to make an immortal being, and if not immortal, daemons would rip his soul apart when he died to be reincarnated.

Alpharius wrote:You bring up some interesting points I hadn't thought of previously.

He really could be a clone of the Emperor, or, at the least, genetically modified by him...

I was having a Discussion with someone that Malcador is an manifestation of The Emperors Humanity/hope/trust etc etc, and that he died on the Golden Throne not because the Astronominican has drained him, but because The Emperors hope/humanity had died.

True Big E is very likely not human, but that doesn't stop him picking up some humanity on the way.

I see no reason why the Sigilite should be anything but an exceptionally powerful but otherwise human psyker, kept alive for centuries by his own might and imperial science.
He took a backhand from a primarch? So what? Powerfull as your average Marty Stu...erm, primarch, might be, he must have a serious measure of control over his physical strenght, otherwise he wouldn't even
be able to interact with his surroundings, shake the hand of some imperial dignitary or take a sip of tea out of dad's invaluable porcelain teacup.

According to most fluff he was the (besides the emporer) most powerful psyker in the Galaxy and died giving the emporer his soul.

If he was the spare shaman then surely if he gave the emperor his soul he completed the emperor?

corpsesarefun wrote:If he was the spare shaman then surely if he gave the emperor his soul he completed the emperor?

No, the power would go to a reincarnation, but if they had died at the same time, then both their power would reincarnate into a single being.

RayvenQ wrote:

Alpharius wrote:You bring up some interesting points I hadn't thought of previously.

He really could be a clone of the Emperor, or, at the least, genetically modified by him...

I was having a Discussion with someone that Malcador is an manifestation of The Emperors Humanity/hope/trust etc etc, and that he died on the Golden Throne not because the Astronominican has drained him, but because The Emperors hope/humanity had died.

True Big E is very likely not human, but that doesn't stop him picking up some humanity on the way.

Now that's a fresh and interesting idea. All of the Primarchs were parts of the Big E's personality amplified (Anger, Intelligence, Beauty, etc).....so it makes sense the most 'human' of his inner group would be...a human. The idea that his humanity died when he faced Horus and was forced to kill his son....well that's just plain cool thinking (and likely the symbolism behind the scene). Very good!

He's also present in a lot of situations where the Emperor should be, but isn't, although as i recall, with the new books, there's 2 situations where he is present and then the Emperor Arrives, in The First Heretic and A Thousand Sons at the Council of Nikea. Otherwise, as far as I recall, there aren't many times that he is seen by others in the presence of the Emperor.

And not maybe a direct, magnified aspect of his humanity, but a mixture of his humanity and hope, or maybe the embodiment of human hope. Maybe the realisation of horus's betrayed hadn't fully sunk into the Emperor until he "connected" (in the physical presence of) with Malcador (aka his hope/humanity) as it seems auspicious timing that the Emperor arrived (well, was brought back) just as he died, and that the emperor woke just as he died.

Maybe He's the Big E's brother