| Malik Hellfire Vaccaria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Species: | Vampire |
| Gender: | Male |
| Age: | 300 20-25 (physically) |
| Skin color: | Fair |
| Hair color: | Light brown |
| Eye color: | Brown |
| Status: | Deceased |
| First Appearance: | The Good, the Bad and the Undead |
| Last Appearance: | Blood Match |
Malik Hellfire Vaccaria is the only child of Elizabeta Vaccaria, and whilst he initially believed his father to be Count Dracula, in reality he was not, and the identity of his actual father is unknown.
Malik was around 300 years old when he first arrived in the area around Garside Grange shortly after the Cease-fire between vampires and the Slayers began, and along with the rest of Malik's gang he was forced to enroll in REVAMP by Vladimir Dracula to overcome his blood addiction.
Unfortunately however, later on he would meet an early and unpleasant demise due to a ritual performed by Ramanga, who was attempting to steal the Chosen One's powers.
History
Malik's mother Elizabeta was the wife of Arta, Count Dracula's older brother. Elizabeta married the Count after Arta was murdered by Elizabeta, as required by vampire law. Count Dracula abandoned Elizabeta and ran off with Magda Westenra.
Elizabeta at some point became pregnant with Malik, and due to vampiric society's patriarchal views this made Elizabeta an outcast. Malik claims that she went mad while raising him, and although the Count claimed she was already going slightly mad, either way it led to what was a far from easy and very lonely childhood for the young Vaccaria.
Series 4
Malik during Series Four.
Vlad and Bertrand immediately realise that Malik is a threat and endeavour to stop him causing trouble. Though Malik manages to recruit Ryan Noble into his gang, he and his comrades are apprehended by Vlad. They are forced to take part in his 'REVAMP' program where they are taught to control their cravings for breather blood.
Though Malik completes the program he hangs around Garside Grange, his true motivations unclear. Malik meets in secret with a mysterious ghostly entity which later murders Ryan Noble. The entity is later revealed to not only be a shapeshifter, but also his mother Elizabeta.
Elizabeta clears the path so Malik can take the Dracula throne, poisoning the Count and almost killing Vlad. Malik is captured by Vlad and Ingrid, and he is tortured to lure out his mother. When Elizabeta takes the bait, she is dragged into the blood mirror. Vlad and Ingrid confront Malik, Elizabeta and Erin inside the mirror, and Elizabeta is unable to shapeshift. Vlad zones Elizabeta and throws into the lake on the other side. Vlad warns Malik that he will dust him if he ever sees him again.
Malik and Erin "WANTED".
Vlad reads that Erin and Malik are "wanted" in the Vampire Times.
At the finale of series four, he was reported to be in Paris with Erin biting breathers. He was pictured on the front page of the "Vampire Times".
Series 5
Malik returns to Young Dracula screens in the fifth episode of the fifth series with a dusty look and a seemingly "good" personality. His light brown hair has taken on a blond-ish tinge and he has some facial hair. He managed to escape a vengeful Ramanga - along with his Shadow Warriors - who went on a rampage and killed all the vampires in sight. Malik later hints that Erin might've been one of those unlucky ones. . He and Ingrid form an alliance in order to destroy the Dracula Clan. Yet he chooses to secretly ally with Shango and Asan, Ramanga's sons.
"Vamped-up" Malik.
When Ramanga is resurrected and he begins a ceremony in which he attempts to absorb the Chosen One's essence. Using Malik would enable Ramanga to fully absorb all Vlad's powers without any danger of being overwhelmed. During the ceremony, his true identity is revealed. The ceremony fails as Talitha instructs Vlad to concentrate his vampire side and balance it with his Breather side. Talitha also frees Ingrid and the Count from the UV cage. Vlad manages to break free from Ramanga, who is staked by the Count. Shango and Asan escape and Malik is dusted during the process of the ceremony.
Malik's last words (as he was dying) were: "This is how it ends. Good. I'm sick of your faces. Lies, corruption, guilt and pain. You'll never know how much I despise you. My loathing will live on for eternity. I curse you to darkness! Dust to dust. You contemptible fools". Although everyone surrounding was shocked by his death, Ingrid seemed to have been affected the most, despairing and seeming as if she is about to cry as Malik explodes into dust. Maybe she thought him special after all.
The truth is revealed.
After Renfield collects his remains, the Count forbids any mention of his name in the household. Ingrid tosses his remains into the fire and looks on forlornly and teary eyed whilst quietly muttering, "you fool". The episode ends with Malik's remains disintegrating in the blazing fire.
He muttered "dust to dust" during the ceremony. As Ingrid was emptying his ashes into the fire, she does the same.
Personality
Malik was a rebellious "bad boy" vampire who has little respect for authority. He insulted Vlad and Bertrand, but was scared to insult the Count. Malik was deeply jealous of Vlad and Ingrid. He said he'd been waiting 300 years to become the heir to the Dracula throne.
Malik was also very known for how he liked to butter people up; one moment he seemed to care, the next he's plotting their downfall.
However, there might have been another side to him we didn't often see.
In the ninth episode 'Sun and Heir', Malik states that "I'm not letting my family cook without a fight" and "all I ever wanted was a family", implying he does care about them and he was lonely during his childhood.
He also showed a reluctance to hurt the Count, as perhaps it was because he was afraid to lose the father he always wanted. " In 'Kiss of Death' - the series four finale - he said he was "starting to like having a brother and sister," to which Elizabeta replies "don't get sentimental."
Although, following the revelation that the Count was not his father, Malik's mental stability began to crumble. Feeling angry, hurt and betrayed by his mother's deceit, he found it harder to keep his temper (evidence for this were his several emotional explosions throughout his final episodes). This was anger he might have been keeping bottled up for centuries.
He also grew much more suspicious, perhaps even paranoid.
It was especially obvious in the episode "Blood Match" whilst he was fighting Vlad, whom he'd been raised to believe was his little half-brother. Malik felt he had nothing to lose, stating "we have no family ties left."
Relationships
Count Dracula
Malik had a complicated relationship with the man who was supposedly his father, due to both Malik's strong reservations against the Count for how he abandoned his mother, as well as how at the time he met his "dad", Malik was involved in a 300 year long plot against him, formulated by his mother in which she aimed to manipulate his mum into wiping out the Dracula Family.
Despite this though, at times a different, more family-orientated side of Malik made itself apparent.
This side, was one that was keen to make the Count proud of him, and during series 4, upon the Count initially rejecting Malik after he revealed how he was his son (something that Malik genuinely believed to be true at the time), Malik was visibly upset by this and retreated to the kitchen to comfort eat in the form of an entire bottle of blood.
It also became especially evident that Malik did in fact care for his "father" only a short while after this when, during a private conversation with his mother where he would have had no reason to lie, he seemed quite against going through with his mother's plan to dust the Count, stating how "I'm only just getting to know him" and even pleading to his mother about how "Plans change", only relenting after being berated by Elizabeta.
This is despite how when she actually did try to kill Count Dracula, Malik seemed not overly upset about the prospect of his father being dusted, suggesting that this apparent apathy may have in fact been a façade in order to placate his mother, who was displayed on several occasions to lecture her son should he show any form of affection towards the Dracula's (e.g."I was starting to like having a brother and a sister..." "Don't get sentimental.").
On top of his reluctance to kill him as well as desire to make the Count proud of him, Malik also genuinely seemed enthusiastic to spend time with him, and even moments before his mother's plan went into action after he was proclaimed the heir, he seemed to actually be enjoying having a drink with his father.
Throughout series 5, Malik continued to flip-flop between working against the Count and wanting to impress him and even the Count, despite how, understandably, following his son's return after being banished, he was initially very hostile towards him, after the defeat of the Shadow Warriors, was showed to quickly warmed up to his alleged eldest again.
This flip-flopping continued right until Malik discovered that he wasn't actually a Dracula, and his subsequent decline in mental stability. Following this, Malik felt he had nothing left to lose anymore and as soon as Asan presented the opportunity he chose to align with the Ramanga family against the Dracula's he immediately took it, becaming permanently set on destroying the clan until his premature death caused by Ramanga.
Following being dusted though, despite how the boy had tried to kill him multiple times and wasn't even really his son, the Count appeared devastated by his murder, pointing a stake towards Ingrid and demanding why she never told him. It also seemed that, despite Malik never knowing, the Count was actually proud of him, stating in the final episode how when the younger vampire came along the Count though that he was "a son worthy of the name Dracula".
Elizabeta Vaccaria
Despite his mother being a devious witch whose methods of raising her son were neglectful at best and very often emotionally abusive, she was all Malik had really had family-wise for over 300 years, and the two did seem to be genuinely care for each other and have some sort of a mother-son bond. This bond is evident in several cases with, for example, Malik walking through artificial sunlight in order to try rescue his mother from the Blood Mirror in series five, and Elizabeta immediately going to her son's rescue when he was captured by the younger Draculas in series four.
Although, despite this upon discovering his mother's deceit and manipulations regarding the true identity of his father, a heartbroken Malik, who'd previously been trying to rescue his mother, threw her back in the lake in a fit of rage, and later went on to declare that he wished she wasn't his mother. The revelation of his own mother using him his entire unlife, was the catalyst that lead to his mental breakdown, and thus subsequent downfall.
Ingrid Dracula
Ingrid didn't really have a good relationship with Malik. This is seen when she insulted him and showed he had not gained their acceptance. In series 5, it appeared that they were willing to be allies when it comes to getting rid of Vlad. towards him after finding out Count Dracula wasn't his father. In "Open House" Malik and Ingrid became allies. Their affections for each other seemed to grow as they did before Ingrid found out he was her 'half-brother.' When he was dusted she looked on teary eyed and devastated. Perhaps she felt he was special after all.
Vladimir Dracula
Malik despised Vlad because he was the heir to the Dracula Dynasty. In series 4 Malik and his mother plot to overthrow the Count, and while they are unsuccessful, Vlad finds it difficult to trust Malik again. After finding out Vlad is a half-breather, Malik starts to resent Vlad more than ever.
Although, despite his resentment of him, during the series 4 finale, Malik did say that he was "starting to like having a brother and a sister."
Erin Noble
Erin and Malik had a very rocky relationship when they first met, with him not liking her due to how she was not only a breather, but also kept getting in his and his mother's way as they plotted to take out the Dracula's, and Erin not being to fond of Malik either, most likely due to his opposition of The Cease-fire. This dislike was to the extent that when his mother said that Erin needed to be "taken out of the equation" in series 4 episode 4, his only response was "How"?
Things did improve though after Vlad bit Erin, turning her into a half-fang, with the
eventually entering a relationship following the pair kissing during "Loyalties are for breathers". Erin even joined the Vaccaria's in their plotting against the Dracula's, and expressed her dislike when Bertrand started going through Malik's things.
It was especially clear that the two had genuinely developed feelings in "Kiss of death", when Malik, who as said earlier was all too happy for Erin to be taken out, directly saved her life by preventing his mother, who he was displayed to care enough about to be willing to walk through artificial sunlight for in series 5, from staking her.
The two later departed to Paris following Elizabeta being zoned, where Erin was eventually dusted by the Shadow Warriors, something Malik seemed somewhat upset about when he informed the Dracula's.
Asan Ramanga
After Asan saved his life, Malik seemed to have some respect for him. Later, Asan had trouble staking Malik because of the connection the two share. Asan and Shango bring Malik to their side in the plot to slay the Draculas. Asan seemed devastated when Malik died.
Relatives
- Elizabeta Vaccaria (mother)
Powers
Malik seemed weak compared to his so called "family." His only redeeming feature was being able to influence a group of weak/low-level vampires (the only one shown to have any considerable power is Ryan Noble) to follow him. When facing Ingrid Dracula, his supposed half-sister, she lifted him with one hand, easily overpowering him. Later, in a duel against Vlad his half brother , he was almost destroyed. He was only able to win because of help from his mother.
- Hypnotism: He hypnotises the Policeman in the first episode of series four.
- Fireballs: He was able to throw fireballs at Shango during 'the Enemy Within.'
- Telekinesis: He easily pushed a table away during 'Blood Match', episode ten of series five.
- Enhanced strength: He easily held Vlad by the collar during 'Blood Match', episode ten of series five. Though this was probably due to Vlad's growing weakness.
- Enhanced speed: Malik has frequently displayed vampiric speed throughout the course of his stay. He is, however, shown to be slower than Ingrid Dracula.
Trivia
- Malik means 'king' in Arabic.
- In 'Lessons for a Vampire', Malik impersonated Hamlet.
- Malik said his parents came from "Bistriff", though it is suspected to be simply a pronunciation error, as the Count soon replies, "ah yes, I know Bistritz (Bistriţa, Transylvania, Romania) well. Loyalty's for Breathers He empathises the "tz", implying he was subtly correcting.
- In the ninth episode 'Sun and Heir', Malik is shown to possess a hand sized book entitled 'the Vampire Chronicles: the Transylvanian Edition.' This is signed by Elizabeta as 'to my darling Malik Hellfire Vaccaria, love Mum...'
- He - along with Ingrid - called Vlad 'brother'.
- His favourite blood type is apparently AB-
- Malik seems to have somewhat of a tendency to comfort eat/drink during times of emotional duress, being seen on a few occasions downing bottles of blood when upset. Examples of this habit are such as following when the Count rejected him as a son and later after he found out that he wasn't actually a Dracula.
Known Half-fangs
Due to having been "old-school" for almost 300 hundred years Malik has quite a few half-fangs. The known ones are: