- "I love her, but she scares the piss out of me. But who wants a conventional romance?"
"Yeah, this is so much better."
"Maybe I love her because she scares the piss out of me. I still want to understand her and make it right." - ―Karl Malus and Jessica Jones[src]
Karl Malus was a bio-geneticist at IGH who was responsible for saving the lives of Alisa and Jessica Jones. Taking special care of Alisa, Malus helped her control her new power and unpredictable rage, eventually marrying her. When Malus' work was uncovered by Trish Walker, he was hunted down by Jessica who learned of Alisa's survival. Before Malus could escape, Walker kidnapped him and forced him to perform his procedure on her to gain powers, with Malus' choosing to destroy his own lab and himself when the experiment appeared to fail and caused her severe injuries.
Biography
Early Life
To be added
Treating Eric Ambrose
- "This is my son, Eric. He was born with severe craniofacial dysostosis, a genetic disorder. He wasn't expected to live past age five. I met Karl at university. He had made some incredible breakthroughs, but his techniques were years away from being approved. Eric didn't have that kind of time."
"So you paid Karl to experiment on your son?"
"I would have given him every penny I had. Karl risked his entire career to save my boy." - ―Justis Ambrose and Jessica Jones[src]
To be added
Work with IGH
Testing Alisa Jones
Malus and Alisa Jones within the labs of IGH.
- "Look at how far she's come. It's unreal."
"Well, she's not attacking people. That's progress."
"It's more than progress. We're talking major breakthrough."
"Until something angers her. Why do we keep putting her through this?"
"Because we are so close." - ―Karl Malus and Leslie Hansen[src]
Malus was given patients Jessica Jones and Alisa Jones after the Jones family crashed. During the first seventeen days, he performed operations on the mother and daughter. After discharging Jessica, he oversaw operations and experiments on Alisa, seeing as her body was heavily scorched.[2]
Shutting Down IGH
- "I'm closing down the clinic. Dr. Hansen, Kozlov, I can't trust them anymore."
"I'm not ready. You can't send me out there alone."
"I'm not sending you anywhere. I'll get us a little place by the water. Somewhere safe. It'll just be you and me." - ―Karl Malus and Alisa Jones[src]
Taking a trip alongside a beach, Malus informed Alisa Jones that he was shutting down IGH, as tensions between Leslie Hansen and Miklos Kozlov had driven his project in jeopardy. Despite Jones expressing concern that she was not ready to be released, Malus reminded her that he would continue to seek resolution to her disassociative episodes.[3]
Exposed
Hunted by Jessica Jones
- "Whatever he did to me, whoever else he messed with, I'm not gonna stop until I find out."
- ―Jessica Jones to Justis Ambrose[src]
To be added
Final Experiment
- "Trish wants Karl to operate on her."
"His experiments have killed people. She'd never trust him."
"She has to, if she wants to be like me." - ―Jessica Jones and Malcolm Ducasse[src]
To be added
Unknown to Jessica, Trish Walker intended to gain powers simular to Jessica's. To that end, Trish kidnapped Malus and took him to the closed clinic, forcing him to perform his procedure on her. However, Jessica arrived to confront Trish of her intentions, resulting the experiment to fail and Trish to sustain several injuries.
Death
- "This is all I can create. This is useless."
"Karl, don't."
"Useless as the man who built it. This is where it ends. It has to be destroyed."
"Stop it."
"Tell your mother I'm sorry." - ―Karl Malus and Jessica Jones[src]
To be added
Upon seeing Trish's injuries and recognizing the harm his work has wrought, Malus decided to commit suicide by setting himself and his lab on fire, but not before telling Jessica that he was sorry for what he did to her mother. Upon hearing of Malus's death in the news, an angry Alisa broke out of prison before she was shot by Trish during her attempt to reconcile with Jessica. Because of this event, an angry Jessica disowns Trish for this, though Trish later found out that she has developed enhanced powers thanks to Malus's experiments.
Personality
- "I wanted to save people. I did save people."
- ―Karl Malus to Trish Walker[src]
Karl was, at heart, a decent but misguided man driven by a desire to make the world a better place. Though he did genuinely care for those he treated, his operations often produced unforeseen consequences for his patients, himself and others.
Abilities
- Master Physician: Karl Malus is an extremely talented doctor, with a great knowledge of human anatomy, allowing him to perform dangerous experiments on Alisa Jones without completely harming her.
- Master Scientist: Malus attended and graduated a university in genetics. Utilizing his knowledge, he began experimenting with gene editing. After the birth of Justis Ambrose's first son Eric, Malus succeeded in editing the genes responsible for the facial deformity and extended Eric's life expectency. Establishing IGH, he performed other life-changing experiments on injured victims. However, his successes gifted his patients with powers.
Equipment
- Syringe: Malus utilized needle syringes filled with fluid anaesthesia, often to subdue Alisa Jones during her dissociative anger episodes. At one point, he used one after Jessica Jones punches Alisa upon the confession that she had killed Stirling Adams.
Relationships
Allies
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Enemies
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Appearances
| Appearances of Karl Malus |
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In chronological order:
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Trivia
- In the comics, Dr. Karlin "Karl" Malus is a mad scientist fascinated with superhumans. He later takes on the alias of Carnage after obtaining a symbiote of the same name.
- Karl Malus is shown to be a fan of Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead and The Doors through the T-shirts he wears.
