Malebrancho is a winged devil that guarded a passage in Nobiskrug. Defeated, it did not die but withdrew promising to return: «Ya volveré, ya volveré» (“I’ll be back, I’ll be back”).
| Type | Devil (guardian) |
| Spanish entry | Malebrancho |
Description
It first appears as “a dark and red shadow” with a flaming glow above. Its “gigantic” wings hold it twenty feet off the ground, “or more. 20 or 30 feet.”
Its weapon is disputed: “a kind of metal pitchfork”; “like a trident missing something”; later “a fork plus one… a two-sided fork”, that is, two-pronged. All accounts agree it is metal, constantly “flames at the top”, and is magical, adding burning to the blow.
Combat
From above it “will throw its fire anyway”; when it descends, it dives: “it falls on top of you and stabs you with that fork of its”.
History
Its defeat freed the passage it guarded, and its flaming weapon was taken as loot. Having withdrawn alive, it remains a recurring threat.
Open questions
- Only one is recorded; whether Malebrancho is a proper name or a kind is unknown (the quote names it only “the devil”).
- What it guarded, and on whose orders, is unknown.
- Whether “I’ll be back” is its own formula or a law of this world’s devils is unknown.
- Its size, wingspan, sound and smell are not recorded.