Among the Daedric Princes found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Malacath tends to be overlooked. Malacath, the Daedric Prince, represents those ostracized or otherwise shunned by society– a character who can only be interacted with if the player accesses one of the orc strongholds of the province.
Malacath's statue has a demonic appearance very similar to other violent Daedric Princes, such as Mehrunes Dagon. As the patron of orcs, Malacath is less a bringer of chaos and more a demonic being standing up for his own people, the Orsimer. Here's what most may not know about him still.
10 Leader Of The Ostracized
As already mentioned to a degree, Malacath represents those who have been pushed outside of society and who have become ostracized. In that sense, one could argue he represents shunned minorities and stands up for them, orcs being that specific group of people.
Orcs tend to keep to themselves, as the rest of Tamriel doesn't always view them favorably. Moreover, it's believed orcs came from Malacath directly, and were a side product of his birth, which is why he's so protective of his own people.
9 Volendrung's Appearance
The Daedric artifact that players can receive after completing Malacath's quest The Cursed Tribe is Volendrung. This unique hammer has a very special appearance that can't be found in any other weapon in the game, as is often typical for the Daedric weapons and other trinkets.
Knowing that Volendrung is actually a Dwemer hammer makes things interesting and a bit weird. Dwemer objects are usually upgraded with respective metals and parts, but the Volendrung requires Ebony ingots instead.
8 His Meaning To Dunmer And Nords
Malacath's negative image among some of the inhabitants of Tamriel might come from the fact that Dunmer consider him to be one of the members of the House of Troubles, which is a belief unique to Dunmer tradition. That belief puts Malacath on the same level as other evil Daedric Princes, namely Mehrunes Dagon and Molag Bal.
The Nords as well have their own perspective on Malacath. They actually consider him to be a demonic creature, which they've dubbed as Mauloch. In either case, the interpretation of Malacath seems completely different from the actual orcish interpretation.
7 He Lives In The Ashpit
Just like every other Daedric Prince, Malacath has his own unique plane of existence in Oblivion. Known as the Ashpit, this plane is exactly what the name implies. It's a barren wasteland with no up or down, floor or sky. The entire place is filled with smoke and dust.
Although many consider this plane representative of Malacath's features– namely agony and emptiness– the orcs who are devout followers of Malacath consider the Ashpit to be a luxurious place where they can eat and drink to their heart's content.
6 The Scourge's Whereabouts
Malacath actually has a second Daedric artifact to his name. Known as the Scourge, this unique mace-like one-handed weapon makes an appearance in both Battlespire and Morrowind.
The Scourge is an enchanted weapon, with the special Curse of Scourge effect on it. It can be found in Tel Fyr, but since Morrowind, it's been impossible to say where its whereabouts are. It'll be interesting to see if this unique weapon does make a comeback in the next game.
5 Theories About His Birth
There's a lot of controversy surrounding the birth of Malacath. Depending on who's telling the story, it might look a little different. Some people believe that Malacath was the side product of Boethiah consuming Trinimac and then excreting his remains, from which the Daedric Prince was born.
However, orcs themselves deny this is the case and even Malacath has put this story into question, as it does make every orc sound like a disgusting side product, and could just be propaganda. The orcish version tells that Trinimac was so ashamed of his defeat by Boethiah that he ripped his skin apart and was born again as Malacath.
4 An Alternate Belief On Malacath
Although orcs are consistently the number one supporters of Malacath, there are some orc scholars that actually reject Malacath and instead see him as a false god. This is the case with Gortwog gro-Nagorm, who firmly believes that Trinimac was never defeated and destroyed.
Instead, Malacath is some sort of a demon that has taken the place of Trinimac. Whether or not this is true, there's no way to say. And while it's certainly an interesting theory, the grand majority of orcs in Tamriel don't consider his words anything more than blasphemous.
3 Volendrung's History
Earlier, it was stated that Volendrung is a unique weapon due to its Dwemer appearance, while still needing Ebony ingots rather than Dwemer metal ingots for upgrades. Concerning its Dwemer roots, the origin story of the Volendrung is quite fascinating.
It is said that a Dwemer chieftain once threw the hammer across the continent and named the area it landed on after it. This is how the province of Hammerfell was born, which is a play on the words and the legendary events that took place that day. The hammer itself is rumored to be Volendrung.
2 Surprisingly Kind Daedra
Despite what the Dunmer and Nords say, Malacath isn't as unkind as he appears or is portrayed by so many people in Tamriel. Compared to some other Daedra, he shows a surprising amount of compassion and loyalty to those who decide to follow his teachings.
For instance, he's incredibly protective of his worshipers, since by nature he's the king of the ostracized and therefore understands them the most. Moreover, he's been known to show sorrow at the loss of his mortal son, which confirms he's not some chaotic psychopath like Mehrunes Dagon.
1 Summoned With Troll Fat
Each Daedric Prince has a specific day that they can be summoned on by their worshipers. On the 8th of Frost Fall, Malacath can be called to come worth at his shrine, but it's also possible to summon him outside of this specific date.
A worshiper should bring along Troll Fat and place it on the altar when wishing to summon the Daedric Prince outside of any other date. The meaning of Troll Fat isn't clear here, unless there's something that isn't known about the background of trolls and how they came about to be.