| “ | I'm going to restore a whole country to greatness. A country that your heroes, the Psychonauts, tore apart. | „ |
| ~ Gristol Malik |
Gristol Malik, also known under his assumed identity of Nick Johnsmith and the stolen identity of Truman Zanotto, is the main antagonist of Psychonauts 2. He is the heir to the sunken land of Grulovia that is plotting to return it to glory.
He was voiced by Elijah Wood.
His Qualities[]
What Makes Him Entertaining?[]
- Elijah Wood voices the villain very well, in contrast to his more heroic roles, such as Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings, or Mark Evans from The Good Son.
- He is quite smart in his plan to destroy the Psychonauts and retake his throne of Grulovia, infiltrated the Psychonauts under the guise of the mailroom expert "Nick Johnsmith", having Dr. Loboto to kidnap Truman Zanotto and switched brains with him, and then eventually unleashing Maligula for his plan. He could actually have been a Magnificent Baddie if it wasn't for his severe un-magnificent traits, like smugness and childishness.
- He has been covering his tracks pretty well, since no one was aware of his true nature (except for Truman, who sees him as an "obsequious lickspittle") and even liked him.
- He had some funny lines.
- His mental world "Fatherland Follies" is one of the best parts of the game, featuring an amusement park ride with a song of his greatness.
- While he's the most evil antagonist in the series, he is still liked by fans due to being an interesting villain.
What Makes Him Detestable?[]
- Due to his decadent lifestyle as a child, he is pretty much a spoiled brat who only cares about himself and his caviar.
- He’s a a huge manchild who kept his spoiled brat personality even as an adult and does evil acts out of childish desires.
- He is racist to any non-Grulovians, as shown when only Raz is allowed on the park ride that makes up his mental world.
- He also shows zero care for his people, implicitly dismissing the commoners protesting outside his family castle as stupid, whiny rabble and disdaining his fellow royals as too "weak" to keep the kingdom afloat.
- The whole plan of him reviving Maligula and retaking his throne is, rather than wanting to restore his country's prosperity for others, just him wanting to re-create an environment where he can have whatever he wants, whenever he wants.
- He doesn't care about his own family, as it's clear that he hated his father for being weak to lead the country, and he doesn't even speak of his own mother.
- He forced Dr. Loboto into working for him and impliedly abused him with Maligula’s images.
- He’s so despicable that he meets one of the less desiderable fates of all the villains, this being becoming Sasha’s guinea pig.