Malenia appears as a tall, red-haired woman, wearing a golden valkyrie-like armour and prosthetics replacing both legs and her right arm, the latter of which is attached to a katana-like blade.

[2] Malenia is considered one of Elden Ring's most memorable encounters, where her boss fight received massive media attention for its high level of difficulty.

[4] During a civil war known as the Shattering, Malenia led her knights on an undefeated campaign across the land, winning many victories, including against at least one fellow demigod relative.

Her campaign eventually brought her into conflict with her half-brother Starscourge Radahn, with her encountering heavy resistance from his army before the two demigods met each other and dueled to a stalemate.

With both sides unable to claim true victory, she lost control of the disease and Malenia herself was dragged unconscious by one of her few remaining knights to the Haligtree, a holy tree created by Miquella.

The red flower gives the player another Unalloyed Gold Needle in return, which can be used to suppress the Outer God of Frenzied Flame if inherited, and avert the otherwise locked ending.

[11] When designing the downloadable content for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree, the game's director, Hidetaka Miyazaki, stated that there would be optional bosses tuned similarly to Malenia in terms of difficulty.

Discussing her boss battle, Deyo felt that her first phase was "designed to thwart and emasculate," commenting that there was a "deep humor in the idea of a woman whose very attacks steal health from you to empower herself."

They commented on how her second form covers her body in rot except for her breasts and genitals, which "evokes a confusing mixture of fear and titillation, arguing that the fact that she wears no armor feels "not like a vulnerability but a challenge."

They felt that Malenia was an exemplification of FromSoftware's typicality of writing women in their games, stating that they share a "specific brokenness; disfigurement, abandonment, and loss" and that they are "afflicted by gender" to where the only cure, when they are an obstacle, is to "enact succinct violence."

Commenting on the personalities and expressions of women in FromSoftware's games, they felt that they tended to be either "demure, quiet, void of needs or motivations" or "shrieking, horrifying hysteria when encountered in combat."

She also expressed a desire to have had a character like Malenia 15 years ago to convey that women in video games were more than a "pretty pink princess, total eye candy, [or] subdued final girl.

"[18] Screen Rant writer Thomas McNulty called her the face of Elden Ring, describing her design as iconic and memorable due to her "flowing red hair," valkyrie helmet, and large prosthetic arm.

Players have employed alternative methods to fighting her, such as Twitch.tv streamer MissMikkaa, who spent 15 hours and 553 attempts before successfully killing Malenia at level one while using a dance pad.

[30] A player named Perri Karyal managed to defeat Malenia using an EEG machine, using it to pick up on electrical activity, made conductive using a saline solution.