Malos

Malos is a primary antagonist of both Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Torna ~ The Golden Country. He is the second in command in the organization. He briefly joins Rex's team as a guest party member on the Ancient Ship.

Appearance and personality
Malos is a tall man with black spiky hair and grey eyes. Designed by Tetsuya Nomura, he wears edgy black armour with gold and silver accents.

Malos is a serious and no nonsense type of man. He is very short tempered and aggressive, attacking Rex without provocation upon their first meeting, but nonetheless a skilled Driver.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Malos first appears as part of the elite salvaging crew hired by. He attacks Rex to test his worth and is satisfied. However, upon finding the treasure in the Ancient Ship - the Aegis - he yells at Rex to not touch it, which of course he does. Malos watches Jin kill Rex as a result and moans about the waste. As he carries the sealed Pyra out of the ship, he orders Nia to kill all the other salvagers so none would know about the Aegis, but Pyra escapes and the revived Rex reappears. The two fight off Malos and his Blade Sever, and Malos remarks he should've expected this if he'd paid better attention to Rex's eyes. The fight continues, only saved by Nia's turnabout and Azurda's appearance, and Malos reluctantly accepts that they got away.

Malos and Jin are next seen meeting with Akhos and his Blade Obrona. With Obrona's power, they discover that Pyra and her entourage are in Gormott but might be leaving. Jin goes off on his own mission to take out a Core Crystal shipment enroute to Indol, while Malos and Akhos prepare to chase down Pyra. On the hunt, they go to Fonsa Myma and meet with the playwright Cole. Without introductions, they offer to heal him and extend his life in exchange for information about Pyra. They are rejected, but they come upon his granddaughter Iona, and exploit her to find Pyra's whereabouts. With this, Malos appears in Pyra's dreams of Elysium, telling her to come alone to Olethro Ruins to rescue Iona. She does so.

At the ruins, Malos taunts Pyra over staying in "that form", and reasserts that he and Jin are on the same side. He starts to smack her around with ease, but Rex and his party arrive. The ensuing fight goes badly for them once Obrona activates her anti-ether field that separates all the Drivers from their Blades. After Akhos says Jin's goal is to wipe out humanity, Malos and Pyra debate over whether this is what their "Father" wanted them to do. Malos demonstrates a great shadowy power, which is unusual for wielding a wind Blade. In the subsequent scuffle, he kills. This incites Rex to recklessly charge at Malos, almost killing him in the process, but he is interrupted by Pyra turning into Mythra. Malos is pleased that he got this to happen, but the fight afterwards results in Mythra killing Sever and Obrona, forcing him, and Akhos to retreat.

Mythra turns back into Pyra, and she explains that Malos is also an Aegis. A man once climbed the World Tree to find Elysium empty but for two Core Crystals, herself and Malos. The man awakened Malos, using his destructive powers without restraint. Mythra was awakened by Addam to contest him, and he was defeated, but three Titans were destroyed in the crossfire.

Malos is later seen with the other members of Torna aboard the Marsanes, discussing Mythra, and the Judicium Titan weapons found in Temperantia, with Jin voluntarily to go to Temperantia to activate one of Titan weapons to buy the group time.

After Akhos saves Jin following the incident in Temperantia, Malos tells Jin to not to get too reckless. He then starts to question if his hatred for the world is truly his own or someone elses.

Malos later reappears alongside Jin at Genbu Crown after Akhos, Patroka, and Mikhail are defeated by the party during their attempt to take the Omega Fetter. He watches as Jin effortlessly defeats Rex and Mythra (with Mythra reverting back to Pyra in the process). To save the rest of the party, Pyra surrenders herself and the Omega Fetter, and Torna flees the scene with Pyra in tow.

In the Marsanes' engine room, Malos and Akhos discuss how Aegises operate and how they're different from other Blades. Malos reveals that Pyra had replaced Rex's heart with half of her Core Crystal after Jin pierced it at the Ancient Ship, and that Aegises can live for short amount of time without their Core Crystals, to which Akhos expresses awe.

Torna then takes Pyra to Gotrock Oracle Ruins at the Cliffs of Morytha near the Great Void, revealing his damaged Core Crystal. He then begins to repair his Core Crystal, and in the process steals Pyra's memories and learns about the existence of Artifice Aion, much to his delight. After repairing his Core Crystal, he joins Jin, saying that preparations for climbing the World Tree are complete. He then summons Ophion using the Omega Fetter, but Ophion attacks the duo due to its autonomous attack instincts. Malos blocks the attack and reprograms Ophion to follow his will.

When the party finally confronts Malos at Balquor Ruins, he had been expecting them. With his powers finally restored, Malos now wields a Monado-like Blade weapon. He take notice of Nia's Core Crystal, remarking that she's given up being a human, before attacking the party, creating a hole in the process. Armed with the Monado Arts he then engages the party who has a difficult time harming him. Only with the combined effort of Rex and Nia is he able to be defeated by altering the replication rate of the cells in his body, causing him to fall off a cliff, seemingly killing him.

Malos however survives the encounter and joins up with Jin at Gotrock Oracle Ruins as the party confronts him, tossing Pyra's limp body towards Rex, revealing that he extracted her memories to restore his power, as well as control of his Artifices before the duo attacks the party. As Rex talks to Pyra and Mythra telepathically Malos laughs it off, claiming that he finally cracked, only for Rex to summon the third Aegis sword, turning Pyra into Pneuma who proceeds to defeat Jin. Malos then summons Ophion in response to destroy the party, only for Siren to intervene, who destroys a majority of the ruins, sending the party and Jin plummeting into the Land of Morytha.

He and the other members of Torna later pick up Jin at the Land of Morytha, near the base of the World Tree in the Monoceros. As they pick him up, Jin gives the order to not to attack the party, an order that Patroka ignores as she prepares to fire on the party, prompting Jin to furiously disable it, surprising Malos.

Back on the Marsanes, Jin as awakes from the regeneration device, Malos tells him he can die when their tasks are done before Judicium hadn't been destroyed, Jin would've gotten better treatment. Malos then questions Jin why he kept Lora's body in which the latter says its a reminder to not have faith in the Architect.

Malos and the rest of Torna later ascends the World Tree via the Marsanes, only for them to come under fire by Indol. Malos and Jin then went to the bridge while the latter gives Akhos the order to activate the Blade Bots before they notice Indol's arrival, not surprised on how they given up on Rex really quickly.

After Amalthus takes control of Mythra (by using Haze's Core Crystal) in an effort to destroy the Marsanes via Siren which fails because she resists her. The aftershock of the blast, startles Akhos, thinking that she used Siren's power against them before Malos corrects him by revealing it was Amalthus who tried to attack them with Siren, not Mythra. He then remarks that Amalthus is his Driver and he's an Aegis himself. Malos further explains that if the energy gets stronger Amalthus will not only control the Blades, but Mythra as well. Patroka expresses concern that he'll control everyone on the Marsanes. Malos reassures her that it will not happen because they're half humans, although he can weaken their powers, citing the reason why he created the Blade Bots in the first place; they will only answer to Torna before they reach the boundary layer with Jin and Malos disembarking. Malos then tells Akhos, Patroka, and Mikhail to hold the line. Mikhail jokingly asks Malos to thank the Architect for everything, which he agrees to do.

As Malos and Jin reaches Lv. 4, Megrez, the latter convinces him to go on without him as he contronts the party one more time. Malos is reluctant, but accepts before saying farewell.

As Malos is the first to reach the Architect, who he greets by his true name Logos. Confused he asks him what it meant, in which the Architect replies it has no meaning. He then tries to kill the Architect to no avail, with the latter revealing that he's dying anyway. Malos then asks him if his will is really his own replying that it was 'a choice they made together'. Malos then thanks him for creating him and leaves to take control of Artifice Aion.

Malos then begins his assault on Alrest, starting with several Siren models, as well as sending down several Gargoyles down to assault every nation on Alrest as he prepares to take control of Aion.

The party finally confronts him in the Aion Hangar. He learns from them that the rest of Torna is dead, but doesn't care. Rex then tries to reason with Malos, saying his will is not his own, but rather Amalthus's. Malos reveals he doesn't really care what the party thinks, justifying that the world is a "wretched place". Azurda then explains that if it weren't for him and Amalthus, Jin and Lora's lives would have been different; Malos agrees, and tells them that he is a "hideous monster, far beyond saving". After the heated exchange, he takes command of Aion and fights the party.

As the fight progresses Rex tries to persuade him to stop Aion which he ignores claiming that the world will not change if the party cannot stop him. Rex tells him that the reason they got this far is that he believes that he can change the world for the better; Malos tells Rex to let it go and asks him what he's doing it all for. Rex tells Malos that Jin wanted Rex to take care of Malos in his place, saying that Jin never wanted to die, only to connect with Malos. He retorts that many people died because of Torna's actions, and questions whether Rex can forgive Jin just like that. Rex tells him that forgiving isn't easy, but it's the world they live in, and that they need to find a way forward in that world even for him.

After a long battle, Rex and Pneuma with Siren's power manages to defeat Aion, mortally wounding Malos in the process. As he lays dying, Malos muses that things would've been different if Rex were his Driver, but still insists that Amalthus was the only Driver right for him. Malos then dies, disappearing in a purple light. With his death and the disappearance of the Conduit, the Artifices halt their attack. After his death, his voice can be heard as Pneuma prepares to sacrifice herself by detonating Aion to destroy the World Tree.

Torna ~ The Golden Country
Malos is first seen destroying (presumably) Coeia's Titan with his Siren. Malos is later seen in a flashback involving Amalthus and Rhadallis, in which he walks up to Indol's most sacred treasure, known as "The Aegis", which is believed by the Indoline to embody the Architect's light; a divine revelation which Indol's founder Meldinare received. Malos then destroys the treasure and takes its title for himself, since he claims he was born from divinity.

Malos is an Aegis, the self proclaimed "Endbringer" and has the Aegis Core Crystal which is colored purple on his chest, which has been partly shattered due to the events of Torna ~ The Golden Country and was covered by a metal chest piece for the majority of the game. Malos wants nothing more than to see the world burn, believing that it is the sole reason that the Architect created him and the other Aegises. In reality, the reason he thinks this is because of the influence that the initial driver has on the awakened Blade: Amalthus's hatred of the world was reflected in Malos through the power to destroy it. Although in Torna ~ The Golden Country and the early parts of the main game Malos has not realized this, later on he becomes aware of it. This causes him to develop an intense hatred of himself, which erupts in the cutscene before the final boss, where he calls himself a "hideous monster, far beyond saving". Despite knowing this, Malos is unable to change his nature and, using Jin's life as his main motivation for hating the world, he chooses to fight the party anyways, ultimately ending in his demise.

As a guest party member
Malos is a guest party member on the Ancient Ship early in the game. Like and, he cannot be controlled directly. His Blade is.

As a boss
Malos is a boss on numerous occasions:

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

 * Malos (Ancient Ship)
 * Malos (Uraya part 1)
 * Malos (Uraya part 2)
 * Malos (Balquors Ruins)
 * Malos (Gotrock Oracle Ruins part 1)
 * Malos (Gotrock Oracle Ruins part 2)
 * Artifice Aion (part 1)
 * Artifice Aion (part 2)
 * Malos (Torna's Finest)
 * Malos (Serious Showdown)

Torna ~ The Golden Country

 * Malos (Auresco)
 * Malos (Soaring Rostrum part 1)
 * Malos (Soaring Rostrum part 2)

Gallery
Malos