What Happened to Malice in TotK? HYRULE COMPARISONS 

This is the pilot episode of a potential new BotW/TotK Hyrule comparison series. 👍 the video to show you want more, and subscribe to catch the next entry when it drops. www.youtube.com/@thetonyexpress?sub_confirmation=1

my take on it is that Malice was created by Calamity Ganon, which was an extension of Ganondorfs hatred leaking out into the world. since it was Calamity making it and not Ganondorf, it's only goal was to mindlessly harm anything it touches. Gloom on the other hand, is directly from the man himself who would rather make everyone suffer than just kill everything like Calamity tried to, which is why Gloom wears down whatever it touches and prolongs their suffering

Fun fact: if you explore the castle ruins, you will find a slate hidden somewhere saying the castle was important to Ganondorf's seal. If it stays in its prime, the seal lasts for eternity. If it falls into disrepair, the seals weakens. I think gloom was weakened into malice and reverted into gloom again when the seal began to weaken due to the castle's state.

Fun fact: In the game code, Malice is called "Grudge" and Gloom is called "Miasma".

The diamonds redesign is actually for gameplay. In BotW, the only purpose gems served was selling and using them as materials in some instances. In TotK, though, gems have two distinct types: Those that grant elemental powers when fused (ruby, saphire, topaz, opal) and those that only give higher attack power (amber and diamond). You'll see that the elemental gems keep their old round shape (nice for going at the end of a magic rod) while the "physical" gems are longer and pointer (better for creating a blade).

In German Gloom was referd to as "Miasma". Miasma is something like an aura of sickness that comes from corpses. Its how people used to explain why you should not come into contact with dead people. Which is very fitting considering Ganondorfs state in the beginning of the game.

I personally hold that Malice is a composite substance. Whereas Gloom is the pure, untampered with energy that Ganondorf has dominion over, Malice is what happens when it corrupts another material. Namely the energy that powers Ancient Sheikah artifacts. This might explain the difference in color, Malice is Gloom + Sheikah Energy, Red + Blue resulting in the more purple look Malice has.

We learn more about the difference between Gloom and Malice based on what we learn about the Calamity from Impa when you talk to her at her house in Kakariko in Totk. When King Rauru sealed away Ganondorf, Ganondorf's hatred would build up underneath Hyrule castle and cause a Calamity. The Calamity is an event that happens when a build-up of Ganondorf's "Malice" starts leaking out and this build-up causes Calamity Ganon to be reborn into the world. Impa specifies at least two different "Calamities" have happened and implies that this is a frequent occurrence. After the events of BOTW, the seal on Ganondorf loosened up and it started causing Gloom to leak out of Hyrule, which prompts Link and Zelda to investigate. Gloom is the "element" that Ganondorf's Secret Stone (that he stole from Queen Sonia) manifests, just like how the Sages have their own array of elements they command over. So the big difference is, Malice is hatred that spills out of Ganondorf when he was sealed. Gloom is an element Ganondorf produces with his Secret Stone. Furthermore, we can safely assume Ganondorf produces Gloom via his Secret Stone, because during his previous battle with Hyrule he used controlled Moldugas to attack. Ganondorf does not get access to Gloom until he steals Sonia's Secret Stone. Lastly, when Ganondorf swallows his Secret Stone, he turns into a Gloom Dragon just like how when Zelda swallows her stone she becomes the Light Dragon.

If you read ganondorfs character description, it says that he’s been slowly building up his power since the start of the last calamity because raurus seal was weakened when the castle was overtaken, it’s most likely that malice was a leakage of his power and gloom was a concentrate of it since it seemed to be leaking from himself rather than something that just appeared because of the calamity. Also side note they changed the designs of diamonds and amber to make them look like arrow heads, that’s why they do more damage than ruby, sapphire, and topaz, but don’t do elemental damage like those precious stones. it’s not a inconsistency it’s just to make things make more sense

It is said in Tears Of The Kingdom that the damage from the Calamity ended up causing Hyrule Castle to open up, so it could be that Gloom was always down there and started coming out of the castle once the calamity was gone

4:38 I always thought that "the power to oppose it that lies dormant beneath the ground" was referring to all the guardians, sheikah towers, and divine beasts that were buried underground after the original calamity was defeated 10,000 years ago

6:10 There's also the mention of "Vah Medoh's Perch" In one of the Rito's dialogue. I do agree, it feels as if the divine beasts and their champions have gone completely missing!

I remember a loading screen that said "Pools of Malice: Poisonous bogs formed by water that was sullied during the Great Calamity. Coming into contact with one will hurt you." I think this means that Malice is formed with water, with Gloom being a more "dry" version

Remember when you first meet King Rhoam he states, “The Demon King was born into this kingdom, yet his transformation into malice created the horror you see now.”

The power dormant beneath Hyrule Castle is supposed to the 5 Sheikah pillars that create guardians, King Rhoam was likely not aware of the legacy of the Zonai and King Rauru's sacrifice. Or at least not aware that the Demon King was specifically sealed beneath the castle. The legacy of the Zonai wasn't completely forgotten, just faded into myth, much like the rest of Hyrule's History. The reason I say this is that if you talk to Zelda in the prologue of TOTK before she sees the statues of the Zonai, she'll say that her father and all previous Hyrulean monarchs forbade anyone from entering the deepest tunnels beneath the castle, even other royalty, but he himself was not aware of the reasons why, and that it had been a rule for as long as anyone could remember, and no one could remember the reasons anymore. It's optional dialog so it's very easy to miss. Strangely, BOTW does mention that Zelda had spent time searching and excavating beneath Hyrule Castle for those Sheikah pillars to prepare for the Calamity (and was ultimately unable to find them during her research), so maybe there was a hard limit to how far she allowed to dig back then? Or it's just a retcon. Though the tunnels ARE far deeper into the Earth than even the Sheikah observatory (where you fight the Calamity) beneath the castle (it seems it was part of the "landmass" that was taken into the sky during the Upheaval) and presumably where the Sheikah Towers were stored). Side note: the game clarifies in Ganondorf's character profile and on a plaque written in the escape tunnel between the Castle and Lookout Landing that Hyrule Castle was specifically built over the Imprisoning Chamber to strengthen the seal on Ganondorf, as well as protect it from tampering. So that's likely why that rule was made

I literally thought the same thing: I just assumed gloom was concentrated malice and just more powerful. Theories said that Calamity Ganon was a build up of gloom (or malice) which built up for thousands of years from the demon kings body and carried on his will (in a way) and whilst I haven’t finished TOTK, this theory makes sense so far.

I think malice is a raw, undefined form of gloom similar to how Calamity Ganon is no longer an attempt at reincarnation. Ganondorf’s gloom is focused on weakening Hyrule and Link so that they may be under his control. Calamity Ganon’s malice is pure beastly hatred with the goal of killing anything.

I'm not sure when, either after you complete all the geoglyphs or when you beat the game, but Impa returns to Kakariko Village and Link can speak to her multiple times and one time she references the Calamity. She says, " The Calamity was the Demon King of ancient times, brought back to existence in the form of hatred manifest." Its the only conversation I've found so far that seems to attempt to connect Calamity Ganon and Demon King Ganondorf.

To me personality it was alwyas clear that malice was just the little power that Ganondorf was able to get through Rauru's seal, and with time it swelled up becoming calamity ganon every few thousand tears. Now that the seal is broken, even if he is weakened, it can go back to its original form

I love how both gloom and malice both have personalities similar to that of their creators in a way. Malice is unpredictable and deadly, while gloom is more tactical

One thing to mention is that malice is a sort of gelatinous substance that has it's own volume, where as gloom only seems to cover other surfaces.

This might be a bit off-topic but it was briefly mentioned in the video : for the small design changes of the gems like amber and diamond, I think that since fusing these materials with your weapon deals now more damage, they needed to have more offensive and harmful look, this is why they have a sharper design in Totk.

There are mentions of the divine beasts in totk! If you go to Hateno School and talk to the kid at the bookshelf, he reads about it. Also, you can see a deactivated guardian at the top of the research lab.

I think one of the best explanations of the differences between them is what they are intended to do. Calamity Ganon just wanted to destroy, making malice damage you faster intending to kill you. Gloom is meant to steal your life force, to give ganondwarf his strength back.

I think malice was used to represent Gannon's anger in the first game, hence the name Malice. And gloom fits better because it's darkness in its purest form. Much liek how they changed the diamond to fit the fusability making it look more like a blade, they changed malice to gloom to fit the setting better. Notice malice was used more as a wall you cant get over. Wear gloom is used more as an obstacle you can get over.

Actually, there are at least 2 references to the Divine Beast. One directly to Rudania in one of the Goron City cutscenes, and one infered when you are spotted as a voe in Gerudo Town.

Personally, I feel like malice is a representation of Ganon's anger (malice), and came to be when he was sealed underneath Hyrule castle, his hatred being one of his only ways to still survive in the sealing chamber. It was more a loose hatred than a concentrated fury, which I believe would be gloom. This is why when they go into deep Hyrule, the "Gloom gets thicker". Idk. In short, gloom is concentrated magic, and malice is released hatred over 10,000 some odd years. Just a thought tho. Good vid

6:12 ish. During the Hateno school side quests, the teacher and Purahs former assistant explicity talks about the Divine Beasts and the Calamity. Each champion is still referenced, Riju talks about Urbosa, Revali's Landing, and the dominating statue of Daruk.

The pools of malice in botw are what happens when malice from the camilty mixes with stagnant water, so guess its probably just watered down and cant take health permanently or smthn

I think looking at the original Japanese terms would help. In BotW "Malice" is called 怨念 (on'nen) which means "grudge." In TotK "Gloom" is called 瘴気 (shoki) which means "miasma" (noxious gas) which is similar to the term used for Malice in previous games such as ALttP: 邪気 (jyaki) which means "evil energy/mood/spirit" but can also mean "noxious gas." As to where the English team got "gloom" from, Ganondorf's secret tear symbol is 闇 (yami), the same kanji used for the Shadow Medallion in OoT, which means "darkness" but can also mean "gloom." I believe this also ties into the Blood Moon power since irl blood moons are lunar eclipses, which are caused by the Earth casting a shadow on the moon.

This is effectively just conjecture but, I think malice is a more direct extension of Calamity Ganon and gloom is more of a passive radiation of the demon king. Malice can be destroyed and only deals damage, while gloom is permanent and it’s effects last longer.

I personally read malice's disappearance as most of it having been pooled together to create dark beast ganon and any that remained after that had been dumped into physical form to create the story bosses As the stuff that comes out of them as they're defeated resembles malice much more than gloom Ganon decided to recycle all of his old stuff once the seal weakened and he was able to start producing gloom again

I feel as though that malice disappeared after Dark Beast Ganon was killed in BOTW like how when you shoot one of the those malice eyes and that gloom is separate and is the demon kings own thing

The JP version also used different terminology for both. BotW: 怨念 On'nen - Grudge, malice TotK: 瘴気 Shouki - Miasma (a kind of vapor/liquid that is usually used by demons in Japanese folklore, an older term for viruses other other causes of sickness etc.) (tbh idk why the localization stuff didn't use miasma instead of gloom) While BotW's "calamity" was the hatred of the demon king given form, malice makes sense. Whereas with "gloom" or "miasma", it's actually the Demon King's presence itself which is affecting the environment (like stealing life from link, causing other ailments etc.) So in this context, I find it kinda fitting.

Calamity Ganon was created from the power of Ganondorf that was able to seep through the seal, and Ganondorf's entry on the Purah pad says that Calamity Ganon damaging the castle during it's last appearance caused Rauru's seal on Ganondorf to weaken and Ganondorf slowly regained his power.

6:10 There is one mention of the Divine Beasts in TotK that I know of, although it's very minor. If you get the Vah Rudania Divine Helm before you can start the quest to find it and then talk to Bludo while wearing it after beating the Fire Temple, Yunobo will call it out as being made to look like one of the Divine Beasts.

I think they kind of intend the in-world characters, like Zelda and Purah, to not automatically associate the gloom with Calamity Ganon’s malice. They just see a new phenomenon, and call it “gloom.” Idk how they dont see the reddish/black oozing evil liquid and think, “hey that’s like what Calamity Ganon was made of.” But that’s my interpretation anyways. Could also be that gloom was the OG, but Ganondorf was only able to project malice in his sealed state, so gloom only appeared once the seal started breaking. Calamity Ganon has only ever been malice in all the times it arises, so it’s fair to assume people just assumed it is a person from Hyrule transformed to malice as the legend ages.

In BotW it was stated (i think by an art book) that Malice was a substance that had mixed with the water in Hyrule. So it may be that Malice is just Gloom-polluted water.

Quick correction, the "power to oppose the Calamity" beneath the castle Rhoam talks about isn't Rauru's arm, it's the buried Sheika tech that was excavated 100 years ago.

i think they got rid of the divine beasts so ganon couldnt take control of them again or for parts

My view is Gloom is the original substance. Malice is Gloom that has been filtered through Rauru’s seal. It’s the part of the Gloom that was able to get through. Because Rauru’s seal started weakening shortly before TOTK, the Gloom was no longer being filtered and could come out in greater amounts. Compared to Gloom, Malice only came out at a very short rate, but it built up in concentration beneath Hyrule Castle over time. Once it built up enough, it coalesced into Calamity Ganon who burst out from the Depths.

I've been waiting for video like this!

6:10 Actually, I’m pretty sure during a shrine quest in Rito village, one of the Rito refers to the rock formation above the village as “Vah Medoh’s perch”

I feel like malice is ganondorfs hatred overflowing and basically becoming it’s own entity but gloom on the other hand is ganondorfs demonic power overflowing and consuming everything around it. Both prove how powerfully he truly is even if link can beat him naked with a stick but that just speaks volumes on how powerful link is.

Malice is likely a primordial force that already existed in the world: a dark living energy from which monsters eternally spring forth and rot back into in the darkness of the depths. Ganon was shown to already have a proficiency for manipulating it since he could form puppets with it even before stealing a stone to enhance his OWN abilities. So the depths is the natural domain for the monsters of the darkness, and the only reason they even ended up on the surface was due to Ganon learning to utilize malice on the surface.

I was waiting so long for someone to make this video!

I tried looking this up a few days ago and nobody seemed to have made a comparison. Thank you.

All I know is that gloom is peanut butter and malice is chunky peanut butter

You mentioned how diamonds changed because of why not, it changed because it looks like it fits more as an arrow head and a sword

I'm pretty sure its as simple as the gloom on the surface evaporated away since it after Rauru sealed Ganondorf (its explained to be able to sort of evaporate). Then when we get to the time of the calamity the malice is "excreted" by the various sources that came with the calamity, this too went away after calamity and dark beast Ganon are dealt with. (you can clearly see the ground looks "scarred" from the malice being there for a century in TOTK) and then upon a path to the depths being opened up gloom started to leak out, leading to the start of the game where Ganondorf wakes up and generates a whole bunch more of it. I'd be willing to bet that, if we were allowed to see any of hyrule after the demon dragon is destroyed, we would either find the gloom had evaporated away now that Ganondorf is gone or evaporate quickly given a little bit of time and maybe the use of some lights to help bake it away faster.

Super awesome video. I really enjoyed it!

Vah Medoh is mentioned in a Rito side quest, a rito points out Vah Medoh’s perch, and a side quest in hateno talks about previous calamities

before I watch the video- I was under the assumption that malice is still malice, it just causes gloom- that gloom is merely an illness caused by exposure, not a substance. I'll edit this after if I see I'm wrong or you explain things well enough to convince me. edit- well, you didn't sell me on it immediately, but I'm definitely open to the idea of them possibly being different now. and good catch on the different colors, behaviors, and "textures" between the two games- I just looked at it, saw icky goop stuff, and said "yeah that looks about right" and didn't think about it. I wonder if its a consciousness thing? before, malice was just ganon lashing out however he could without a goal, but now that he was nearing/ was awakened, he could focus his power into less random destruction and more on oppressing and dominating its surroundings? eitehr way, I do look forward to more of this- hopefully the secret of the ooze will be cracked.

Vah Medoh is mentioned, the bit at the top of Rito Village is refered to as Vah Medoh's perch. I'm pretty sure Urbosa is also mentioned by Riju.

I've actually been asking this exact question! Thanks the analysis

I think of Malace and gloom as the same thing but Nintendo just changed the name

I think Gloom is more Ganondorf’s own inherent dark magic. Secret stones are said to enhance a person’s innate abilities. As an example, Zelda already had the abilities to manipulate time and light within her (being descended from Rauru and Sonia) so when she came in contact with a secret stone it enhanced her time powers allowing her to use recall. Something similar must be the case with Ganondorf, he already had some type of dark/evil magic (which he used to make puppet Zelda) so when he came in contact with a secret stone, it enhanced that power to an even darker magic, gloom, which can sap a person’s or even entire area’s life force and creates monsters (essentially Ganon’s puppets, a link to his original power through which he created puppet Zelda.) Malice only appears when Ganondorf is sealed. It seems to be a less powerful version of gloom, due to its magenta colouring (slightly away from Ganondorf’s signature red) as well as the fact that it can’t permanently break your hearts. Malice seems to be a weakened form of gloom that escapes Rauru’s seal through the force of Ganondorf’s pure hatred and pools beneath Hyrule castle until there’s enough to form Calamity Ganon and erupt. Rauru’s seal becomes weakened after the Calamity Ganon boss fight, which I think is the point when pure unweakened gloom starts to leak from Ganondorf.

Your a goated RU-vidr I’m subbing

Gloom is such a worse name compared to malice. Should have stuck to malice or called it decay or something.

My theory is that Tears of the Kingdom is actually a separate timeline from Breath of the Wild Hardly any of BotW is referenced, and there's new stuff in TotK that chronologically should have existed in BotW. Tears of the Kingdom is a bootstrap paradox. TOTK SPOILERS: In Memory 13 of TotK, Rauru talks to Zelda about how they rely on Link and his sword. *"But remember, that was a future where you never appeared in this world."* From the moment Zelda went back in time, it split and TotK is in fact a different time where the Zonai actually flourished thanks to Zelda's intervention, and Light Dragon had existed all along.

6:13 INCORRECT! Vah medoh is mentioned at least once by a rito in rito village after the rito main quest. They call the big rock rito village is based on "vah medoh's perch"

My interpretation is that Malice is what Gloom becomes when it tries to seep out of Ganondorf, but Rauru’s binding hampers it and lessens its severity. Because Rauru’s binding was sort of a one-and-done thing, he couldn’t practice it beforehand, so it isn’t perfect with holding back Ganondorf’s power, which is how the Calamity seeps out over periods of time. However, he does have the ability to hamper what power does leak out, sort of “diluting” it from the energy-sapping gloom to just a dangerous malice. Because it’s sort of implied that Hyrule Castle is in some way linked to Rauru’s ability to contain the Demon King’s power, the link stayed intact for as long as the castle was occupied and maintained. And as long as that link was intact, Ganondorf’s hatred would only ever be able to manifest as the diluted Malice. However, once BotW’s Calamity happens and the kingdom of Hyrule is practically dismantled and its castle left in ruin, that sacred link is severed. Rauru’s binding slowly weakens over time, and while the outside is still Malice (possibly due to Hyrule technically being under Calamity Ganon’s control, not necessarily Ganondorf’s, meaning that only malice can manifest on the surface), Ganondorf does slowly regain his strength. That’s why, after Calamity Ganon is defeated and Ganondorf has open ground to take again, what manifests is his more concentrated and much deadlier Gloom.

There was a video I watched years ago that went in depth about malice. The theory goes on to say that it was always around in Zelda just in different forms. The part I remember in the video was about skyward sword, when you're in this underground dark area there are things that eat away at you. Malice essentially is just something that evolved over time I wish I remembered what the video was called

To note that when executing the main bosses, they spur a malice like substance identical to when killing the blights in the original.

Great video man i have also thought about that but its hard answer that

You said that there's no mention of the Divine Beasts but if you look around the 4 town after the finishing their respective boss, you can find side quests that lead you to the Divine Beast helmets. The descriptions of which talk about how it's the same helmet the Sage's wore

6:10 i think it would be worth mentioning that one of the side quests in Rito Village makes reference to Vah Medoh, as they reference the rock formation that supports the village as "Vah Medoh's Perch," but as far as im aware thats all ive seen mentioned

there are mentions of the champions other then Mepha and the Devine Beast as you can get their weapons and the Amibo helms through a quest in each region.

I really wish the story was more consistent. I don’t necessarily mind the lack of answers, but at least a sense of consistency between the plots of the games would go a long way.

I think it’s worth noting that ganondorf was very conscious with how he used gloom, unlike calamity ganon. The power of a sacred stone is to amplify a quality that’s already there, which fits in perfectly with ganondorf’s character. He’s meant to be an absolute tyrant, crippling anyone that stands in his way and controlling them aswell, both abilities that gloom has featured. Along with this, he can create his own subjects. Calamity ganon’s Malice is a bit simpler than that, if you have some background knowledge of LoZ. It’s meant to bring destruction, which is the prophecy of calamity ganon, so instead of weakening you, it hurts you. My personal theory is that malice is a mindless part of calamity ganon himself, rather than being a tool that calamity ganon uses. That’s how it differs from gloom, ganondorf uses it as a conscious tool while ganon can’t. Edit: I think it’s worth noting that in the script for the game “malice” is called “grudge” (relates back to the curse) and “gloom” is called “miasma” (meaning a toxic object (gloom in this case) radiating off of another object (ganondorf)). This doesn’t necessarily support or disprove my argument, it’s just extra info.

I’ve always thought of it this way: Gloom is super concentrated, almost has to be directly from the source. When Ganondorf was sealed so were most of his powers but his existence was still prominent enough to have the calamity. This would be an attempt from the sealed Ganondorf to gain a body, as he was making one when Link interrupted him, and break the seal himself. Seeing as Ganondorf was unconscious, his hatred unconsciously turned into Calamity Ganon and it was made out of the strongest stuff Ganondorf had, gloom. But, seeing as the gloom became less concentrated as all his powers had while sealed, it started becoming more viscous and didn’t deal the same type of damage, but since it stuck it dealt *more* damage. It still tried to make the roots but it only turned into pillars, and the gloom hands morphed into the eye thingies. Once Calamity Ganon failed, something shook Hyrule castle just right to break through to Ganondorf’s chambers. Could have been Zelda’s sealing power, or reconstruction was happening and the wrong grate was opened. Either way, something happened to key Rauru’s stone in to Zelda existing (since it fell towards her). Then gloom starts slowly fading into the world. There’s a small amount until Ganondorf is unsealed and then it’s a massive burst of more gloom. And the only reason malice disappeared is because the thing making it did, Calamity Ganon. There was no more use for malice if it couldn’t make a body to unseal Ganondorf. But this is just what I think, if it helps any then awesome but if it doesn’t that’s fine

Diamonds look different in TotK cuz of Fuse, with their 25 bonus attack power, they're pretty a decent fuse

There's the statue of Mipha and the large rock carving of Daruk looming over the Goron Town

In Rito Village, the peak of their village is referred to as "Vah Medoh's Perch". You learn this as a part of a side/shrine quest there.

Can you make a video about clothing? I never see videos talking about how important the different outfits you choose are but through my gameplay I constantly change my clothes to give me the best advantage based on what I'm doing

love this idea, I've been wanting to see something like it for a while. I've also thought about malice comparing to gloom in the back of my head but never analysed it as much as you did. Great video! edit: oh and I totally agree that the zelda team should've given us more continuity and clarification on how this links to breath of the wild. Which seems hard to balance with making the game easy to get into, but considering every other incredible thing they did, this shouldn't have been to o difficult to do.

6:10 the Divine Beasts and four champions are discussed by Symin in history class, in the first Hateno school quest. He summaraizes the Great Calamity and the Calamity 100 years ago. Urbosa is mentioned in Riju's diary. Daruk's face is still carved into Death Mountain

You can also still see the giant monument to Daruk in death mountain, as well as the vah rudahnia mask which is the only direct reference to one of the devine beasts I could find other than the lightning helm that the yiga made obviously being a copy of the thunder helm which is just vah naboris

I remember reading somewhere that malice comes from Calamity Ganon's evil spirit after it infuses with water, that's why it slows you down, like the grime in totk and takes your life away faster because it can easily seep inside the person's body. While gloom is a side effect of Ganondorf's power, sapping life away, while strengthening monsters and other evil beings.

I think it’s like with bug classifications, they may look similar but if there’s a slight difference it’s a different subtype. The scientists of hyrule decided similar but different and classified it separately

I beat the game for the second time recently, and I noticed that the final room where you fight gannondorf is called the “source of the gloom.” Link and Zelda destroyed all of the malice in botw, but the gloom was all still deep underground since gloom is only found in the depths or near chasms so I believe that the gloom is a far more pure and ancient form of malice. Meanwhile the malice only comes from calamity Gannon, so it’s possible Gannondorf is channeling his gloom through his pure hatred and evil to make malice and calamity.

6:17 There is also the statue of Daruk with his fellow Gorons in Goron City, reason being that these two games are on the same map.

So this might help you: "Gloom" in the german dub is called "Miasma" and you find lots of crazy stuff when you google it.

In reference to the part about previous champions, you can get helms of all the divije beasts. Wearing them also changes your companions to wear their respective helms like the original champions implying that they are daruk rudah etc.

there is also a reference of s the divine beasts in rito village, where the long thing at the top is called vah medoh's perch.

Malice definitely feels like it's a lot chunkier, and with the webbing on the edges, it seems like malice takes root on a wall or floor, and slowly starts building onto itself in layers, though said layers wouldn't be very distinct from eachother, since I feel that when a new top layer is formed, any definition the lower layers had is lost. I feel the connective webbing that stems out to connect the malice to walls, or exists between pillars made of malice is either a sign of splitting, or or an attempt at connection, being that the malice is trying to reach out and grab onto/ take root on more objects, or in the instance of the malice pillars, either the malice generated two growths off of itself, and is trying to connect them, or those two pieces were apart of a larger chunk, and those bits in-between are the parts that are connected to both, but didn't get ripped apart like the rest of the pillar. Gloom definitely feels a lot thinner, and seems to be more like a paint than anything, it sticks to walls, but it doesn't feel very viscous

It’s very clear that the gloom is trying to bring the energy it consumes back to Ganondorf from the rootlike structures found in the depths and their concentration at glooms origin. Using this information, I think it’s safe to assume that malice and gloom are the same, but malice is gloom that doesn’t know where to put the energy it consumes, whereas the gloom in totk knows to bring it to Ganondorf

Malice is such a badass and more threatening name than “gloom”.

personally I think malice is a substance that mimics gloom and that's why they are similar but different and the malice even tried to copy ganon but imperfectly but that's just a head cannon that has no evidence besides the fact that they act similar.

After the source of gloom went away, it must have weakened into malice, so when he came back it went back to gloom

The only thing I missed from botw about all of this Is that malice eyes just used to look at you or throw random skulls instead of being abke too slide with his band on any type of terrain to catch you.

Malice is a less concentrated version of gloom that Gannondorf was able to leek from under Hyrule castle. It’s also possible that as you were saying, this energy is an incarnation of hatred, stemming from Gannondorf’s frustration of being trapped, which would explain why it deals more damage as opposed to Gloom which completely steals your life away slowly.

The sages do have helmets named after the divine beasts, but that’s the only reference I’ve seen to them. Also Urbosa does get mentioned in some dialogue.

6:15 divine beasts are mentioned briefly when you get the divine beast helms or more specific would be vah rudania

If you do the first quest at the hateno school you actually learn all about the great calamity. So it’s still mentioned, and ofc other small references that are there

I think they mainly wanted to change Malice into a form that was more fun and interesting to deal with that's different from normal damage, and since they changed malice so much, they gave different name and lore to it.

Aside from miphas statue being moved. Urbosa is mentioned in Rijus journal one last time when she struggles with the sand shroud. Revali and Daruk I haven't seen anything yet. The calamity is mentioned in Hetano school. And in a grave nearby hyrule where Zelda erects a little memorial that talks about the people who died during rhe calamity. I think impa talks about it too briefly. So really the OG characters only remember. The kids in the school act like its a fairy-tale too.

I personally see Gloom as a more "directed" form of Malice. Malice is just Ganondorf's hatred and leaking power acting on basic instinct, trying to regain a semblance of form by spawning "phantoms" that look like even more monstrous versions of the Demon King, from Calamity Ganon to the Blights. At its best, it can make a permanently raging copy of the original, without any of his ability for higher thought, just his thirst for destruction. Meanwhile, Gloom is the same sort of energy/substance, but used with more intent, with intelligence and focus behind it. The destruction it causes seeps deeper, causing corrosion and disease as well as direct damage. When it spawns copies of Ganondorf, these copies are full-fledged Phantom Ganons, capable of acting with subtetly as well as taking a form much closer to that of the original. During the scene where Ganondorf creates his army of monsters after powering up as the Demon King for the first time, we even catch a glimpse of what may be the only time anything resembling Malice appears in Tears of the Kingdom. As the power explodes out of Ganondorf's body it's initially pinkish and unfocused, before getting more concentrated and turning into the colour of Gloom.

I think of gloom as a stronger form of malice, it’s more concentrated because calamity ganon was just a bit of ganondorf’s anger getting out because of rareru seal weaking, it wasn’t as strong but now that the seal is gone it is fully powered and stronger.

personally my headcanon for gloom and malice apart from that nintendo made the gameplay first then tried to make a story to explain it which is actually what happened is that after getting sealed away malice would eventually form and be the latent goopy condensed "malice" that was leaking from the likely malice filled hole that ganon was stuck in and eventually after the beast was defeated the malice went away and what was left was the original power of ganon now that the seal was close to broken leaking out up until he was awoken which then expedited the scourge and subsequent spread of gloom which i guess can be just considered a seperate form a malice but i mean it can also be chocked up to in game characters naming the new pestilence something else since it was slightly different than malice and the dark beast was defeated so they thought giving it a new name fit