Malach

“	Do you want to see the forest around? See if those malach things were out there?	”
	— Matt to Stefan in The Return: Nightfall

Malach is the name of a supernatural creature, they served as key characters in the "Vampire Diaries" book series. They first appeared in "Nightfall", the fifth book in the series and the first book in the "The Return" trilogy.

Novel Appearance[]

Nightfall[]

The Malach were used by Misao and Shinichi (Kitsune) in order to possess Damon and Caroline. Misao possessed Caroline to spread the Malach in town, so everyone could be infected. Shinichi used one on Damon. The Malach entered his body and took him over from the inside, corrupting his body and his soul, making him entirely under Shinichi's will. Caroline spread the virus to several of the city's girls, Jim Bryce's girlfriend Isobel Saitou, his sister Tami Bryce, the Dunstains' daughter Kristen, among others. Misao controlled the girls through the Malach and made them rebellious and sexual, that is why they made insinuations to Matt and dressed only with cardboard in a few parts of their body, turning them into exhibitionists.

Characteristics[]

The Malach are a race of tentacled creatures that possess the living and / or the undead people. It can be as small as a fingernail or as large as an arm, they have a bark texture, at least on the body, insect-like antennae but in excess. Its appearance resembles more like a leech or a squid. They have a completely circular mouth, with sharp teeth all around, and too many tentacles that looked like thick vines lashing at their back. They can stick to a person, they can become transparent and get inside anyone and they will feel nothing more than a simple prick. They always swarm, use power and have a diet of power to survive, these creatures can be manipulated but it must be by a stronger power. How they reproduce and how they originated is unknown.

Powers and abilities[]

Shapeshifting: In Nightfall, the possibility of the Malach shapeshifting is mentioned, however, that was not seen in the trilogy and they always kept their natural morphology. It is mentioned that they can become transparent.
Mind Control: Once inside the individual's body, they feed on the person in question and, being controlled by a Kitsune, they can wreak havoc with their victims. An example is when Jim Bryce's sister, Tamra Bryce, was infected by a Malach and these (being controlled by Misao, a Kitsune) made her rebellious and exhibitionist
Others: It is believed that they can control trees.

Weaknesses[]

They only live to survive, therefore they lack their own personality.
They are manipulable before other species such as Vampires (although they never resort to these creatures) and Kitsune.

Trivia[]

Malach was originally a general name to indicate a creature of darkness: a brother or sister of the night.
They first appeared in "Nightfall".
The first person to be infected by a Malach in the book series was Caroline Forbes.