Ma'alefa'ak

Ma'alefa'ak (also known as Malefic and Malefic Jones) is a fictional supervillain appearing in books published by DC Comics, usually depicted as the archenemy of his twin brother, the superhero Martian Manhunter. Created by writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake, the character first appeared in Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) #0 (October 1998).

Ma'alefa'ak
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceMartian Manhunter (vol. 2) #0 (October 1998)
Created byJohn Ostrander and Tom Mandrake
In-story information
Alter egoMa'alefa'ak J'onnz
SpeciesGreen Martian
Place of originMars
Team affiliationsLegion of Doom
Notable aliasesMalefic
Malefic Jones
Abilities

The character appears in the 2012 animated film Justice League: Doom, in which he is voiced by Carl Lumbly. The character appears in the fifth season of Supergirl after appearing in the season finale of the fourth season voiced and portrayed by Phil LaMarr.

Publication history

The character first appears in a flashback sequence in Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) #0 (October 1998) and in a storyline in the same title in issues #3–6 (February–May 1999) by writer John Ostrander and artist Tom Mandrake.

Fictional character biography

Ma'alefa'ak, a native of the planet Mars, is the twin brother and archenemy of J'onn J'onnz, a.k.a. the Martian Manhunter. Led to believe he was the only member of the Martian race born without telepathy and a weakness to fire, Ma'alefa'ak was actually stripped of this ability and his memory erased when he mind-raped J'onn's wife, M'yri'ah. Feeling ostracized because of his perceived genetic differences, Ma'alefa'ak engineered a deadly trap for the remainder of his race called "H’ronmeer’s Curse". When the Martians attempted to use their telepathic abilities to communicate with each other or the Great Mind, they would fall victim to a plague of fire and literally burn to death.[1]

With his race destroyed and the Martian Manhunter teleported to Earth against his will—J'onn having escaped infection by the virus by sealing his mind from the rest of his people—Ma'alefa'ak lived alone on Mars for centuries. Eventually learning that J'onn still lived, Ma'alefa'ak followed him to Earth. Posing as J'onn, Ma'alefa'ak battled several members of the Justice League and tortured Jemm before confronting J'onn directly, seeking to destroy J'onn's reputation before killing him. However, J'onn was able to defeat Ma'alefa'ak by erasing the telepathic block, thereby returning Ma'alefa'ak's telepathic abilities and phobia of fire. Trapped on the vessel in close proximity to the sun, and lacking experience with the telepathic barriers that other Martians had been able to develop over the years to protect them in similar cases, a terrified Ma'alefa'ak could only watch as he was consumed by the fiery heat.[2]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Ma'alefa'ak was reintroduced in a 2015 storyline in which the Earth-born Martian survivors of the mass death of the Martian race build a weapon to infiltrate and help enslave the Earth.[3]

Powers and abilities

Ma'alefa'ak possesses abilities similar to the Martian Manhunter and all other Green Martians. The character has superhuman levels of strength, stamina speed and durability. Other base abilities include "Martian vision" (projecting energy beams from his eyes). Complete control of his molecular structure also allows Ma'alefa'ak to shapeshift, regenerate, and utilize invisibility and intangibility. Ma'alefa'ak also possesses telekinesis, and originally possessed telepathy, although this ability was removed by the Council of Mars.

Although Martians can be weakened by fire and suffer from pyrophobia ("H’ronmeer’s Curse"), Ma'alefa'ak did not share this weakness due to the removal of his telepathic abilities. When the Martian Manhunter removed the telepathic block instilled by the Council, Ma'alefa'ak regained his telepathic abilities but was also once again susceptible to fire, his vulnerability stronger than the standard Green Martian due to his lack of experience at resisting the flames.

In other media

Television
  • Ma'alefa'ak appears in the third season of Young Justice, voiced by Benjamin Diskin. This version of the character is M'Comm M'orzz, the younger brother of M'gann and thus a White Martian. His past has made him feel the White Martians are constantly oppressed by the Green and Red Martians (the former of whom he describes as "a superstitious, cowardly lot"), and seeing them as his enemies, uses the name "Ma'alefa'ak" (a creature feared by the Green Martians on Mars) in order to strike terror in them. In the episode "Away Mission", Ma'alefa'ak (impersonating Orion) attacks the native Bug hives on New Genesis in an attempt to make the Bugs wage war with the New Gods in exchange for him gaining support for his White Martian revolution. After having his identity revealed by M'gann, he is defeated in a psychic battle with her, but manages to escape while swearing revenge on Forager for interfering with his plans.
  • Malefic J'onzz appears in the season four finale of Supergirl, voiced by Phil LaMarr while his kid form is portrayed by Marcello Guedes as a boy and his teenager form is portrayed by Domonique Robinson. The Monitor frees him from an unknown place and sets him loose on Earth-38 to seek vengeance on his brother J'onn J'onzz. In the episode "Event Horizon," Malefic infiltrates a museum as a girl named Mallory (portrayed by Ellexis Wejr) in a tour group in order to obtain some Kryptonian technology. After briefly assuming the form of a Tyrannosaurus and fighting Supergirl and Martian Manhunter, Malefic gets away. He then uses the Kryptonian technology to make a Phantom Zone projector and free Midnight from the Phantom Zone. After Midnight was defeated, Malefic confronts Martian Manhunter where they are blasted apart when they try to come near each other. Martian Manhunter is able to overcome the block placed by some of his memories and learn that Malefic betrayed the Green Martians during the civil war and helped the White Martians kill his own kind. For that, the council sent him into the Phantom Zone and wiped the memory of him from the collective consciousness. Malefic then tried to gather information from Alex Danvers, by posing as her girlfriend Kelly (Azie Tesfai), but halfway through their chat, Alex figured out something wasn't right and after a fight with Supergirl, the alien left again. Malefic later did an attempt on Kelly Olsen's life by posing as a man named Pete Andrews (portrayed by Sean Astin). This plot was foiled by Martian Manhunter causing Malefic to retreat.

Film
  • Ma'alefa'ak appears in Justice League: Doom (2012), voiced by Carl Lumbly.[4] Ma'alefa'ak, alongside Bane, Star Sapphire, Metallo, Mirror Master, and Cheetah are hired by Vandal Savage for a collective $690 million to kill their respective arch-nemeses in the Justice League. Ma'alefa'ak disguises himself as an woman and poisons Martian Manhunter with magnesium carbonate, a poison that the Manhunter sweats out of his body and that Ma'alefa'ak uses to light him on fire. Later on, the Martian joins Vandal's genocidal plans to destroy as much as two-thirds of Earth's population in a plot for world domination and christen themselves the Legion of Doom. A fight soon breaks out between the Legion and the League where Ma'alefa'ak and Martian Manhunter assume the form of various monsters to fight rather evenly until the Martian Manhunter ducks out of the fight to leave Ma'alefa'ak to presumably die in the flames of a missile.

Miscellaneous

References
  1. Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) #0 (October 1998). DC Comics.
  2. Martian Manhunter (vol. 2) #3–6 (February–May 1999). DC Comics.
  3. Williams, Rob (w); Barrows, Eddy (p); Ferreira, Eber (i). "Different Worlds", Martian Manhunter (vol. 4) #3 (August 2015). DC Comics.
  4. James Harvey (2011-09-28). "Warner Home Video Announces Voice Cast For "Justice League: Doom" Animated Film". Worldsfinestonline.com. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
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