The Malus travelled to Earth in a computer-controlled Harkol reconnaisance probe made of malleable tinclavic metal. As it was popularly known as a myth associated with the appearance of apparitions, few people realized that the Malus actually existed. A living, sentient creature of pure evil, the Malus appears as a large demonic face of stone with glowing green eyes, a long nose, and a wide mouth belching smoke. It was re-engineered as an instrument of war and sent to Earth to clear the way for an invasion that never came.
The Malus harnesses psychic energy for use. To do this, it requires a focus point, a sort of medium. The Malus' only purpose is to destroy, and that is all it knows how to do. Once it establishes a link with its focus point, that person becomes a slave to the Malus, which fills it with hate and rage. The focus point then spreads that rage to others, generating the energy upon which the Malus feeds. This power enables the Malus to produce psychic projections which are capable of frightening people and even killing them, thus eliciting yet more psychic energy. It can also manipulate time and bring people from one time zone into another.
The Malus apparently first appeared to people during the English Civil War - to be precise, in 1643 - although it had been on Earth before this point. It was concealed behind the wall of a church, and when the Roundheads and Cavaliers began fighting in the church, it appeared to them in the midst of a great wind. In 1984, it was still trapped behind the church wall. Tegan's grandfather, Andrew Verney, the historian of Little Hodcombe, discovered that the Malus was real and determined its location. He then told Sir George Hutchinson about it; Sir George promptly awoke the Malus and became its focus point. After he had imprisoned Verney, he began using the annual war games - of which he was in charge - as a means of gathering psychic energy for the Malus. A thorough recreation of the war would reactivate the Malus completely - but to be thorough, it also had to include all the bloodshed of the original. The powers given the focus point also seem to include the ability to influence others, because most of the villagers went along with Sir George's mad schemes with nary a protest.
The Doctor was able to defeat the Malus by first draining it of some of its power. When the Malus' focus point was then killed, it had no means of collecting further psychic energy. If defeated, the Malus will then destroy as much as it can; in this case, it self-destructed and took the church with it.
