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Description
I had this idea to reinvent an Italian folk tale that I previously covered in a “monsters that nobody knows” entry, into an antagonist for some sort of story, I still don’t know what kind of story, but I really want to incorporate the creature known as “Malombra” as the main villain.
Malombra is a folk tale born in the city of Bari, to which nobody has given a proper shape, some say it shows itself disguised as an old lady, some say as an animal and some, describe it as a formless black mass of smoke.
One thing is certain about it however: it torments a specific target bringing misfortune and anguish into their life until it ultimately kills its unfortunate victims after a long period of suffering and madness.
One can postpone their inevitable demise by running away for the rest of their life or by placing a broom in front of their bedroom’s door, forcing the creature to count the straws on the broom until dawn comes, unfortunately the victim needs to find a new broom as the previous one has lost its magical effect on Malombra.
It’s unsure why Malombra only kills during the night, I speculate it’s a way to take away from the victim even the peace of a good rest, however during the night the entity exposes its only weakness: it’s hands, which I imagine are the only corporeal thing of this being.
But only a pair of completely metal scissors can cut off its fingers, severing its bond to its victim.

Malombra is a fascinating myth to me, as to this day some people in the area where this tale was born, are still scared to mention its name.
But what makes it really fascinating for me is the fact that is described as “an amalgamation of darkness and hatred”.
So I thought to myself, wouldn’t be a manifestation of hatred be a perfect antagonist?

We as humans distinguish ourselves from other animals for many different reasons, but the most disturbing is our ability to hate. Animals are still capable of showing love and affection, look at domestic animals for example, but we as a species are driven to hate at least something in our life, may it be good or evil.

This version of Malombra embodies that hatred unique to mankind, meaning that it hates everyone and everything around it.

Some Wizard perhaps might have cursed it, locking it away in a hall full of brooms, forcing it to count each straw, but somehow, the same human hatred that created it, might gave it some manner of influence on the world once again.

Being a shapeshifting mass of smoke, I loosely based its design on AKU from Samurai Jack, but I expect its demeanor and personality to be similar to Death from the Castlevania anime, Malombra would also probably say some pretty awful stuff considering it’s an amalgamation of humanity collective hatred, but the villains would be forced to work for it in order to reach their goals after they have made a deal with it, granting them its power.

Description
I had this idea to reinvent an Italian folk tale that I previously covered in a “monsters that nobody knows” entry, into an antagonist for some sort of story, I still don’t know what kind of story, but I really want to incorporate the creature known as “Malombra” as the main villain.
Malombra is a folk tale born in the city of Bari, to which nobody has given a proper shape, some say it shows itself disguised as an old lady, some say as an animal and some, describe it as a formless black mass of smoke.
One thing is certain about it however: it torments a specific target bringing misfortune and anguish into their life until it ultimately kills its unfortunate victims after a long period of suffering and madness.
One can postpone their inevitable demise by running away for the rest of their life or by placing a broom in front of their bedroom’s door, forcing the creature to count the straws on the broom until dawn comes, unfortunately the victim needs to find a new broom as the previous one has lost its magical effect on Malombra.
It’s unsure why Malombra only kills during the night, I speculate it’s a way to take away from the victim even the peace of a good rest, however during the night the entity exposes its only weakness: it’s hands, which I imagine are the only corporeal thing of this being.
But only a pair of completely metal scissors can cut off its fingers, severing its bond to its victim.

Malombra is a fascinating myth to me, as to this day some people in the area where this tale was born, are still scared to mention its name.
But what makes it really fascinating for me is the fact that is described as “an amalgamation of darkness and hatred”.
So I thought to myself, wouldn’t be a manifestation of hatred be a perfect antagonist?

We as humans distinguish ourselves from other animals for many different reasons, but the most disturbing is our ability to hate. Animals are still capable of showing love and affection, look at domestic animals for example, but we as a species are driven to hate at least something in our life, may it be good or evil.

This version of Malombra embodies that hatred unique to mankind, meaning that it hates everyone and everything around it.

Some Wizard perhaps might have cursed it, locking it away in a hall full of brooms, forcing it to count each straw, but somehow, the same human hatred that created it, might gave it some manner of influence on the world once again.

Being a shapeshifting mass of smoke, I loosely based its design on AKU from Samurai Jack, but I expect its demeanor and personality to be similar to Death from the Castlevania anime, Malombra would also probably say some pretty awful stuff considering it’s an amalgamation of humanity collective hatred, but the villains would be forced to work for it in order to reach their goals after they have made a deal with it, granting them its power.