The Dark Elves are a primordial race of dark beings from the obscure world of Svartalfheim who predate the current universe itself. They're enemies to the Asgardians and all life of this universe. Their primary goal is to convert the universe back into a state of eternal darkness for their people, for they believe the current universe to be poisonous, that it was never meant to be.
History[]
Thor: The Dark World[]
Five thousand years ago, the Dark Elves' leader Malekith sought to use the Convergence (the alignment of all the realms) and the Aether to return the universe into eternal darkness which would exterminate all other life in the universe. However an army of Asgardians lead by King Bor opposed Malekith's forces erupting a large battle on Svartalfheim, but eventually Malekith was attacked by Asgardians who distracted them long enough to Bifrost the Aether out of his grasp as his armies fell. However Malekith sacrificed most of his fleet and his men to destroy Asgard's army as he and Algrim fled with the last of their people into deep space on their last ship.
History would label the Dark Elves extinct, though in fact Malekith, Algrim and the surviving elves had sealed themselves away in cryo-sleep awaiting the arrival of the next convergence. In 2012 when the next convergence neared, Jane Foster accidentally discovered the Aether and it merged with her, which awoke Malekith and the other Dark Elves. Malekith and Algrim returned to their home world to see it in total ruin from their battle with Asgard, angering Maleikth who vowed to end Asgard and the universe. Algrim was given the power to become a monster of great power and was slipped into Asgard's prison where he used it and became Kurse, who tore through the prison cells and the prisoners caused havoc throughout Asgard, though Kurse deliberately left Loki in his cell out of distrust. Kurse meanwhile killed every Asgardian that stood between him and the city's shield generator and destroyed it, allowing Malekith and the other Dark Elves to send their attack ship's in the heart of the kingdom where they killed many Asgardians looking for Jane, even killing queen Frigga. The Dark Elves used many assault rifles and black-hole grenades and even destroyed Odin's throne chair. However, Malekith was badly wounded by Thor and the Dark Elves retreated.
Against orders Thor and Jane teamed up with Loki to sneak onto the Dark World to return the Aether which Malekith sensed and he and his army returned to their home. However Loki appeared to betrayed Thor and handed Jane over to Malekith asking only to witness Asgard's destruction with his own eyes. After Kurse confirmed him being an enemy of Asgard, Malekith allowed it and extracted the Aether from Jane, but Thor and Loki had pulled a deception and Thor attempted to destroy the Aether, but it failed and Malekith merged with it, becoming immensely powerful. Malekith traveled to Earth to unleash the Aether while Kurse and a few Dark Elves remained behind to fight the sons of Odin. Loki killed all the other Dark Elves while Kurse badly beat Thor into submission before Loki stabs him, but Kurse used the same blade to impale Loki but Loki was able to activate his black-hole grenade which sucked him in and killed him.
On Earth, the Elves arrived in their ship and Thor battled Malekith as the other Dark Elves secured the area. With the Aether, Malekith was capable of projecting multiple energy waves that were capable of badly hurting Asgardians on contact and killing humans with a touch. Thor and Malekith battled each other, and due to the emerging portals the two battled on Earth, Svartalfheim and Jotunheim. Thor and Malekith battled the other elves pursued Jane, Erik Selvig, Darcy Lewis and Ian Boothby. Due to the convergence's unstable gravitational portieres Ian killed most of them by swinging a car onto them while one of them was killed by a Frost Beast brought back from Thor and Malekith's battle. Eventually Malekith succeeded in unleashing the Aether but Thor used gravity monitoring devices from Jane and Erik sent Malekith back to his world, as his ship fell through a portal and crush him.
Guardians of the Galaxy[]
The Collector had a Dark Elf in his museum in Knowhere, it's unknown if it survived the explosion that followed The Orb's activation.
Physiology[]
The Dark Elves are an ancient, primordial race from before the universe existed. They have a humanoid body structure, but with the trademark pointed ears of elves. They lived in an eternal night, and they were once a beautiful race. As evidenced by their masks, they had smooth pale skin and large eyes, possibly adapted from being in the constant dark. The universe of matter and light corrupted their appearance, now they have a monstrous appearance. Their eyes are smaller and sunken in, their skin has a more rugged texture, their foreheads jut out slightly before the hairline, they have thin scar-like lines on their cheek bones, and dark lines protruding from the corner of their mouths.
Despite the paler skin, they have a variable skin pigmentation that resembles those of humans of African descent. It is unknown how their internal anatomy may be different from that of other species. They have a superhuman resistance to energy bursts, as shown when an electric blast from Mjölnir burned Malekith's face but did not electrocute his entire body, as well as the fact that he escaped alive. They seem to be as frail as humans, since they do not engage in physical combat but instead rely on their advanced weaponry. However, when transformed into a Kurse, they are one of the strongest and most unstoppable beings in all the Nine Realms and possibly the universe. They take on a hulking monstrous appearance and will eventually die, consumed in the darkness that gives them their powers.
Technology[]
The Dark Elves display some of the most advanced technology seen as of yet, at least rivaling the Asgardians in most fields and surpassing them in some areas.
- Stealth: The Dark Elves have highly sophisticated stealth technology that can evade even Asgardian sensors and highly attuned Asgardian senses such as those possessed by Heimdall, making it likely no currently known people could detect a Dark Elf vessel when cloaked. It also makes their vessels invisible to the naked eye.
- Interdimensional travel: The Dark Elves are capable of traveling between the Nine Realms at will.
- Interdimensional sensors: The Dark Elves can detect the alignment of the nine realms and track their exact position in the multiverse in relation to each other.
- Energy weapons: The Dark Elves make use of powerful energy weapons on their ships and in ground combat. Well the nature of the discharges is unknown, their handheld rifles were capable of piercing Asgardian armor and killing them when the shot hit in the chest. Asgardian hand held shields could absorb the discharges, but the kinetic energy still made them stumble.
- Grenade: The Dark Elves possess grenade type weapons that create a short lived singularity capable of sucking in practically anything within a certain radius.
- Harrow: large spaceships used for interdimensional travel. They resemble a large "T" and are powered by a black hole. They are used to house and transport Dark Elves to battlegrounds and can house entire platoons of soldiers. They also contain smaller craft that engage in combat. They have interdimensional sensors that can track the Nine Realms and stasis pods for the maintaining of a Dark Elf's health over millennia and help heal their battle wounds. They are equipped with their stealth technology and move undetected despite their massive size.
- Fighter craft: smaller space and air vessels used for attacks and transport. Several detach from a larger Harrow. Although they seem unbalanced they are very fast and maneuverable and highly effective in aerial combat. They can be used with relative ease by others (notably Thor) and have a 360 display of its surroundings surrounding the round piloting cabin
- Aether: By far their greatest artifact, it is an infinity stone. Made from darkness it turns matter into dark matter and can regress the universe back to its former state of darkness.
Notable Dark Elves[]
- Malekith the Accursed - Ruler of the Dark Elves.
- Algrim the Strong/Kurse - The Dark Elves' most powerful warrior.
Trivia[]
- In previous incarnations, the Dark Elves are hurt by contact with certain metals, especially iron. This may be true in the new continuum as well, as the Dark Elves appeared to use non metallic components in their armor and weapons.