Malzahar/Trivia

General

• After the Battlemage update in V6.9, Malzahar's Voidlings had their color scheme changed from purple with yellow eyes to gray with purple eyes.
• Malzahar is one of the few champions to have a pet, the others being Annie, Elise, Heimerdinger, Ivern, Shaco, and Yorick.
• Malzahar and his Voidlings' dance references U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer.
  • A side-by-side comparison for Malzahar's part can be seen here.
  • A side-by-side comparison for his Voidlings' part can be seen here.
    • He shares this dance (specifically his Voidlings' part) with Jayce.
• Upon the removal of Zz'Rot Portal in patch V9.23, Gathering Swarm stacks for Void Swarm was renamed to Zz'Rot Swarm to honor the item.
  • This might indirectly imply that Malzahar's voidlings are a similar if not the same species as the Voidspawn that spawned from that item.
• Malzahar's Voidling had its assets reused for several rotating game modes.
  • It was given a retexture and features as a monster in Invasion.
  • Its animations were reused for the Cyte monster in Odyssey: Extraction.

Development

• Malzahar is voiced by Vic Mignogna.
  • Lee Sin, and God Fist Lee Sin were also voiced by the same voice actor before their voice update.
• During development he was called MalZahar and later in PBE it got changed to Al'Zahar, which sounds almost like الظاهر Að̣-ð̣ahir "the Manifest", one among the Names of God in Islam.

Lore

• Malzahar's story might be referencing Abdul Alhazred from the Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft.
• The "eye" in his forehead is a physical manifestation of Malzahar's connection with the Void.

Quotes

• Malzahar shares quotes with:
  • "Without question". -    / ▶️  

Skins

Original Malzahar

• The scene depicted has him summoning a Void Swarm.

Shadow Prince Malzahar

• This skin shares the Legacy theme with:
  • Darkflame Shyvana
  • Defender Leona
  • Earthrune Skarner
  • Gladiator Draven
  • Hillbilly Gragas
  • ...and others
  • Iron Solari Leona
  • Ironscale Shyvana
  • Jailbreak Graves
  • Rusty Blitzcrank
  • Silverfang Akali

• He might be referencing Prince of Persia.

Vizier Malzahar

• This skin shares the Wonders of the World theme with:
  • Bear Cavalry Sejuani
  • Dynasty Ahri
  • Masked Shaco
  • Oktoberfest Gragas
  • Outback Renekton
  • ...and others
  • Panda Teemo
  • Sultan Tryndamere
  • Uncle Ryze
  • Viking Tryndamere
  • Winged Hussar Xin Zhao

• He references the eponymous Middle-Eastern title.

Djinn Malzahar

• This skin shares the Fables theme with:
  • Dark Valkyrie Diana
  • Loch Ness Cho'Gath
  • Muse Sona
  • Musketeer Twisted Fate
  • Mythic Cassiopeia
  • ...and others
  • Perseus Pantheon
  • Royal Guard Fiora
  • Sasquatch Nunu & Willump
  • Siren Cassiopeia
  • Valkyrie Leona

• He references the wish-granting supernatural beings from Arabian myth.

Overlord Malzahar

• This skin shares the Definitely Not theme with:
  • Definitely Not Blitzcrank
  • Definitely Not Udyr
  • Definitely Not Vel'Koz
  • Draven Draven
  • Furyhorn Cosplay Veigar
  • Pajama Guardian Cosplay Urgot
  • Pengu Cosplay Tristana

• He might be referencing the eponymous video game and/or the the eponymous Scrin leader from Command & Conquer.

Snow Day Malzahar
Chromas: Golden

• This skin shares the Snow Day theme with:
  • Snow Day Bard
  • Snow Day Gnar
  • Snow Day Graves
  • Snow Day Singed
  • Snow Day Syndra
  • Snow Day Ziggs

• He was released in celebration of Snowdown Showdown 2014 along with:
  • Winter Wonder Orianna
  • Poro Rider Sejuani
• He commands an army of Void Poros.

Battle Boss Malzahar

• This skin shares the Arcade: Battle Bosses theme with:
  • Battle Boss Bel'Veth
  • Battle Boss Blitzcrank
  • Battle Boss Brand
  • Battle Boss Qiyana
  • Battle Boss Yasuo
  • Battle Boss Ziggs
  • Final Boss Veigar

• Arcade Corki is fighting him in his splash art.
• His body shape resembles a few characters:
  • Necrozma from Pokémon Sun and Moon.
  • Starscream from Transformers: Prime.
  • Evangelion Unit-01 from Neon Genesis Evangelion.
• Some of his ability effects take inspiration from games such as the Geometry Wars series.

Hextech Malzahar

• This skin shares the Hextech theme with:
  • Hextech Alistar
  • Hextech Amumu
  • Hextech Annie
  • Hextech Jarvan IV
  • Hextech Kassadin
  • ...and others
  • Hextech Poppy
  • Hextech Renekton
  • Hextech Sejuani
  • Hextech Singed
  • Hextech Ziggs

• He might be referencing Father Karras/Mechanists from Thief 2.

Worldbreaker Malzahar
Chromas: Amethyst, Citrine, Emerald, Obsidian, Rose Quartz, Ruby, Sandstone, Turquoise

• This skin shares the Worldbreaker theme with:
  • Spirit Fire Brand
  • Sun Goddess Karma
  • Worldbreaker Hecarim
  • Worldbreaker Maokai
  • Worldbreaker Nasus
  • Worldbreaker Nautilus
  • Worldbreaker Sion
  • Worldbreaker Trundle

• Worldbreaker Maokai and Worldbreaker Sion can be seen in the background of his splash art.

Relations

• Even though Malzahar (and Kassadin) are both Shuriman their ties to the Void directs all their focus to the ancient city of Icathia and what lies within it.
  • Malzahar might be attempting to make Icathia rise again just like Azir did with the Ancient Shuriman capital.
    • It is uncertain whether or not he is aware of the rise of the Ascended.
      • Even if so, making way for the Voidborn takes precedence over a handful of actually mortal demigods that can be overrun by infinite hordes anyway.
• Malzahar was brainwashed into believing the Void overrunning Runeterra is an inevitability and this in turned prompted him to become its prophet.
  • Kassadin is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He glimpsed into the Void and his resolve to fight it only strengthened.
    • In the new lore: Malzahar was only indirectly responsible for sending Kassadin's family into the Void after an earthquake destroyed their village.
      • It is a commonly held player theory that Kai'Sa is Kassadin's daughter whom Malzahar sent to the Void.
    • In the old lore: Malzahar goaded the Void Walker into joining forces with him, going so far as to sending Kassadin's daughter into the Void itself.
• The one resposible for luring Malzahar to Icathia might have been the same entity Aurelion Sol suspects of commanding all the Void incursions into Runeterra.
  • Malzahar in turn lured Kog'Maw into Runeterra.
    • It could be speculated the hivemind entity is the Mouth of the Abyss' 'Daddy', the 'Terror who is coming'.
      • In short Kog'Maw might be foreshadowing a cataclysm on an interdimensional scale so large the Rune Wars will seem a children's brawl in comparison.