- "I love her, but she scares the piss out of me. But who wants a conventional romance?"
"Yeah, this is so much better."
"Maybe I love her because she scares the piss out of me. I still want to understand her and make it right." - âKarl Malus and Jessica Jones[src]
Doctor Karlin "Karl" Malus was a bio-geneticist at IGH who was responsible for saving the lives of Alisa and Jessica Jones. Taking special care of Alisa, Malus helped her control her new power and unpredictable rage, eventually falling in love with her. When Malus' work was uncovered by Trish Walker, he was hunted down by Jessica who learned of Alisa's survival. Before Malus could escape, Walker kidnapped him and forced him to perform his procedure on her to gain powers, with Malus' choosing to destroy his own lab and himself when the experiment appeared to fail and caused her severe injuries.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Fear of Drowning[]
When Malus was young, he almost drowned at a family vacation. Due to this, he developed a fear of the water. However, in college, some of his colleagues had a theory that could only be tested in the ocean. So Malus put on a life jacket and helped.[2]
Treating Eric Ambrose[]
- "He wasn't expected to live past age five. I met Karl at university. He had made some incredible breakthroughs, but his techniques were years away from being approved. Eric didn't have that kind of time."
"So you paid Karl to experiment on your son?"
"I would have given him every penny I had. Karl risked his entire career to save my boy." - âJustis Ambrose and Jessica Jones[src]
An old friend from college named Justis Ambrose had a son. However, the son grew very sick shortly after birth. Knowing of Malus' expertise, Ambrose enlisted the help of his friend by paying him to help Eric. With the right funding, Malus experimented on Eric and healed him. Ambrose then paid for Malus' experiments from then on out of gratitude.[3]
Work with IGH[]
Testing Alisa Jones[]
- "Look at how far she's come. It's unreal."
"Well, she's not attacking people. That's progress."
"It's more than progress. We're talking major breakthrough."
"Until something angers her." - âKarl Malus and Leslie Hansen[src]
Malus and Alisa Jones inside of IGH's labs
Malus was given patients Jessica Jones and Alisa Jones after the Jones family crashed. During the first seventeen days, he performed operations on the mother and daughter. After discharging Jessica, he oversaw operations and experiments on Alisa, seeing as her body was heavily scorched. She woke up one day, so Malus had to explain to her everything that happened. She managed to break out by killing Luanne McClure. She then went into the streets to find Jessica. Later, she returned with blood all over her jacket. Malus calmed her down and brought her in as she realized her anger issues were too dangerous for the world. Malus and her then stayed hidden from the world and eventually fell in love.[4]
Getting Married[]
At Love By The Sea hotel, Malus and Alisa Jones got married. However, since she was dead, there was no official documents, meaning it was not legitimate to anyone but them.[5]
Shutting Down IGH[]
- "I'm closing down the clinic. Dr. Hansen, Kozlov, I can't trust them anymore."
"I'm not ready. You can't send me out there alone."
"I'm not sending you anywhere. I'll get us a little place by the water. Somewhere safe. It'll just be you and me." - âKarl Malus and Alisa Jones[src]
Taking a trip alongside a beach, Malus informed Alisa Jones that he was shutting down IGH, as tensions between Leslie Hansen and Miklos Kozlov had driven his project in jeopardy. Despite Jones expressing concern that she was not ready to be released, Malus reminded her that he would continue to seek resolution to her dissociative episodes.[5]
Exposed[]
Hunted by Jessica Jones[]
- "Whatever he did to me, whoever else he messed with, I'm not gonna stop until I find out."
- âJessica Jones to Justis Ambrose[src]
Malus admires the octopuses
Eventually, old test subject, Jessica Jones had caught on to Malus' experiments. Jones got information that Malus loves octopuses, so she went to an aquarium to find him. Like every day, Malus went to watch the octopuses with his wife, Alisa Jones. Upon seeing Jones, Alisa punched the glass chamber, releasing water so they could escape.[1] Outside the aquarium, Malus seduced Alisa and they left.[3]
Telling the Truth[]
While helping Alisa Jones, Malus was called by Justis Ambrose who told him of Jessica Jones who wanted information from him. Malus thanked his friend. Later, Malus found Jessica searching around his house. He decided to let Alisa confront Jessica with the truth.[3] Malus then told the truth to Jones about the experiments and that he saved her. She decided that she wanted to help, so he let her out of her restraints only to be grabbed by her. She eventually let go and followed him up the stairs, but she betrayed him and locked herself in a room to call the police. Alisa broke back in and held Jessica, pleading for Malus to run before the police arrive. He eventually complied and left for Love By The Sea.[6]
Kidnapped by Trish Walker[]
Jessica Jones decides to help Malus
Eventually, Jones had found Malus at Love By The Sea. She decided to help Malus as long as he leaves the country for Uruguay and never experimented again. She took a photo of Malus and left to make a fake passport. While waiting for Jones, however, Trish Walker had already found and kidnapped him.[5]
Final Experiment and Death[]
- "This is all I can create. This is useless."
"Karl, don't."
"Useless as the man who built it. This is where it ends. It has to be destroyed."
"Stop it."
"Tell your mother I'm sorry." - âKarl Malus and Jessica Jones[src]
Malus experiments on Trish Walker
Unknown to Jessica Jones, Trish Walker intended to gain powers similar to hers. To that end, Walker kidnapped Malus and took him to the closed clinic, forcing him to perform his procedure on her. However, Jones arrived to confront Walker of her intentions, resulting the experiment to fail and Walker to sustain several injuries.
Upon seeing Walker's injuries and recognizing the harm his work has wrought, Malus decided to commit suicide by setting himself and his lab on fire, but not before telling Jessica that he was sorry for what he did to her mother.[2]
Legacy[]
Alisa Jones' Grief[]
Upon hearing of Malus' death in the news, an angry Alisa Jones broke out of prison before she was shot by Trish Walker during her attempt to reconcile with Jessica Jones. Because of this event, an angry Jessica disowned Walker for this, though Walker later found out that she has developed enhanced powers, thanks to Malus' experiments.[2]
Personality[]
- "I wanted to save people. I did save people."
- âKarl Malus to Trish Walker[src]
Karl Malus was, at heart, a decent but misguided man driven by a desire to make the world a better place. Though he did genuinely care for those he treated, his operations often produced unforeseen consequences for his patients, himself and others.
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect: Malus is an exceptionally intelligent man who has proven himself to be highly skilled in his field, capable of breakthroughs had previously been considered impossible and giving people enhanced abilities as a side effect.
- Master Physician: Karl Malus is an extremely talented doctor, with a great knowledge of human anatomy, allowing him to perform dangerous experiments on Alisa Jones without completely harming her. He also performed experiments on Jessica Jones and Robert Coleman which gave them powers.
- Master Scientist: Malus attended and graduated a university in genetics. Utilizing his knowledge, he began experimenting with gene editing. When the friend of Malus, Justis Ambrose, had a son Eric, Malus succeeded in editing the genes responsible for the facial deformity and extended Eric's life expectancy. Establishing IGH, he performed other life-changing experiments on injured victims. However, his successes gifted his patients with powers such as Alisa Jones, Jessica Jones, Robert Coleman and Trish Walker.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
- Smith & Wesson M&P Compact: Malus used this handgun to shoot at a flammable container in order to blow himself and his lab up.
Other Equipment[]
- Syringe: Malus utilized needle syringes filled with fluid anesthesia, often to subdue Alisa Jones during her dissociative anger episodes. He used one after Jessica Jones punches Alisa upon the confession that she had killed Stirling Adams.
Facilities[]
| This section requires expansion |
- Industrial Garments & Handling Facility: To be added
- Malus Residence: To be added
- Neptune's World Aquarium: To be added
- Love By The Sea: To be added
Relationships[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Dr. Karlin "Karl" Malus is a mad scientist fascinated with superhumans. Malus would later take on the alias of Carnage after obtaining a symbiote of the same name.
- Karl Malus is shown to be a fan of Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, and The Doors through the T-shirts he wears.
- Karl Malus' favorite animal is the octopus, since its genes are of unknown origin.
References[]
- â 1.0 1.1 Jessica Jones: 2.05: AKA The Octopus
- â 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Jessica Jones: 2.11: AKA Three Lives and Counting
- â 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jessica Jones: 2.06: AKA Facetime
- â Jessica Jones: 2.07: AKA I Want Your Cray Cray
- â 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jessica Jones: 2.10: AKA Pork Chop
- â Jessica Jones: 2.08: AKA Ain't We Got Fun
