Malekith

"Thor, your bravery will not ease your pain. Your family, your world, will be extinguished."

- Malekith Malekith is the cruel leader of the Dark Elves, a race of beings said to be older than the universe itself. Born into darkness, Malekith led his people in a war against the Asgardians, but they were thought to have been destroyed thousands of years ago. Malekith survived, however, and now seeks to transform the universe, plunging it back into eternal darkness.

Malekith's War
"Long before the birth of light there was darkness, and from that darkness came the Dark Elves. Millennia ago the most ruthless of their kind, Malekith, sought to transform our universe back into one of eternal night. Such evil was blossomed through the power of the Aether, an ancient force of infinite destruction."

- Odin Born on Svartalfheim, Malekith was a cruel Dark Elf leader and sorcerer. Thousands of years ago, he attempted to harness the power of the Aether, an Infinity Stone predating the universe itself, and use its destructive power to destroy all of the Nine Realms. Led by Bor, the Asgardians managed to stop Malekith, who sacrificed the majority of his people, including his own wife and son, in an attempt to wipe out the Asgardian invaders sticking himself and a few survivors into hibernation.

Revenge
"Who are you?" "I am Malekith, and I would have what it is mine."

- Frigga and Malekith

Thousands of years later, the vengeful Malekith and his remaining army awoke, and started searching for the Aether. They found it on Earth, where the Aether found a host in the body of Jane Foster. After finding out that Jane was on Asgard, Malekith sent his lieutenant Algrim into the city under the guise of a prisoner. After Algrim transformed into a Kursed and freed the inmates including Lorelei, they went to the palace room where they found Queen Frigga protecting Jane. As Frigga fought off Malekith, Algrim eventually arrived and restrained her while he went to grab Jane, only to discover that she's an illusion. Realizing that Frigga would not talk, Malekith allowed Algrim to kill her. Thor, witnessing this, angrily struck Malekith's face with lighting, leaving a permanent burn on the right side of his face and causing him to retreat.

Battle on Svartalfheim
Malekith and his forces were more than prepared to attack Asgard again, but Thor and Loki chose to move Jane to Svartalfheim in order to draw Malekith out. Malekith was surprised when Loki suddenly betrayed his brother by seemingly cutting off his hand and surrendering Jane to his forces. Loki then told Malekith that all he wanted was a seat from where he could watch Asgard burn. Algrim recognized Loki as a fellow prisoner on Asgard and confirmed this to his superior. As the Dark Elf extracted the Aether from Jane, it was revealed that Loki cutting off his brother's hand was actually an illusion. Summoning his hammer, Mjølnir, Thor attempted to destroy the Aether while Loki protected Jane, only for the Aether to reconstitute itself almost instantly. Malekith explained that the Aether could not be destroyed and absorbed it, leaving his Dark Elves and Algrim to deal with his two Asgardian opponents.

Malekith then made his way to Earth, where he would unleash the Aether into the Convergence and then obliterate the realms.

Attack on Earth
Arriving on Earth, Malekith and his forces were soon confronted once again by Thor. With the Aether enhancing his power and abilities, Malekith battled Thor through various portals left by the Convergence. Their strength was equal, finding that neither could overpower the other. Eventually, the two were teleported away from each other and Malkeith nearly succeeded in unleashiing the Aether on the Nine Realms, when Thor returned and used a teleportation device Erik Selvig had created to send him to Svartalfheim. Moments later, Selvig used another device to teleport Malekith's ship to the Dark Elf's location, and Malekith was subsequently crushed and killed.

Powers
Malekith seems to be one of the most powerful beings in the nine Realms but is only able to match Thor with the power of the Aether, if not slightly surpass him. Malekith possesses various superhuman attributes, some of which are common to his race, the Dark Elves.

Superhuman Strength: Malekith, like all Dark Elves, possesses superhuman strength. Ordinarily, Malekith possesses sufficient strength to overpower weaker beings without supplementing his strength with his other powers. However, while using the Aether, he is able to increase his strength to the point where he can match Thor blow for blow, even with Thor having Mjølnir.

Superhuman Speed: Malekith can possibly run and move at speeds that are beyond the physical limits of even the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Stamina: Malekith's musculature produces considerably less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He can physically exert himself at peak capacity for up to 24 hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood begins to impair him.

Superhuman Durability: Malekith's body is tougher and much more resistant to physical injury than the body of a human. Malekith can withstand powerful impact forces, exposure to temperature and pressure extremes, falls from great heights, and powerful energy blasts without being injured.

Superhuman Agility: Malekith's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Reflexes: Malekith's reflexes are similarly enhanced and are superior to those of the finest human athlete.

Extended Longevity: Malekith, like all Dark Elves, possesses a greatly extended lifespan and ages at a much slower pace than humans. He is also immune to the effects of all known Earthly diseases and infections.

Regenerative Healing Factor: In spite his his body's increased durability, it is possible to injure him. However, Malekith's metabolism enables him to repair damaged bodily tissues much faster and more extensively than a human is capable of. The limits of Malekith's natural healing abilities aren't known, but it is believed that he isn't able to regenerate missing limbs or organs without magical assistance.

Magical Energy Manipulation: Malekith can manipulate great amounts of mystical energy for a number of purposes. Malekith has been known to often use his mystical powers to alter his shape and appearance. He can even use this ability to transform himself into a mist-like substance, allowing him to fly through the air over great distances. He is also capable of using this same energy to teleport himself across great distances, including between dimensional barriers. Malekith can also generate powerful blasts of concussive energy for destructive purposes. It is also believed that Malekith can use this mystical energy to increase most, if not all, of his superhuman physical attributes temporarily.

Abilities
Though he generally avoids it, Malekith is a moderately skilled hand to hand combatant, but not as good as Frigga. However, he is also a talented and powerful sorcerer.

Multilingual: Malekith speaks his native language, Dark Elvish language and English.

Relationships

 * Algrim - Servant
 * Bor - Enemy
 * Odin - Enemy
 * Thor - Enemy
 * Jane Foster - Enemy
 * Frigga - Enemy
 * Loki - Enemy
 * Erik Selvig - Unintentional Killer

Behind the Scenes

 * In a non-canon story in the Captain America & Thor: Avengers! comic, Malekith is the royal mage of Queen Alflyse of Svartalfheim.
 * Mads Mikkelsen was considered for the role of the Dark Elf, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
 * Unlike most of Malekith's appearances, the dark side of his face is on the right instead of left.