Malachi Zwei

Malachi (mal+ak+eye) is a highly skilled locksmith with years of experience under his belt. Mal has the sort of open and trustworthy energy that makes people feel at ease around him. He's patient, empathetic, and listens carefully to customer needs and concerns. His business, "Picky Locksmithing", has earned a trusted reputation within his community. He has very little faith in the actual effectiveness of locks, and is constantly trying to improve on his designs.

When Mal encounters an unkind or overly-wealthy customer looking for new locks, he sells that information to a shady group of thieves who rob the place before the security measures are installed. For a bit of extra money, he may also instruct them on the vulnerabilities of the current locks before his go in. To return the favor, the thieves don't touch any properties where his locks have been installed until after a few years when he's developed better versions. Because of this, the community believes Mal's locks are the best around and his company has great reviews.

Malachai grew up poor and starving. He got his start lockpicking to steal food from other houses. One night, he made the mistake of breaking into an insomniac locksmith's house. Rather than getting angry and pressing charges, the locksmith was impressed he got in, gave him some food, and offered him some honest work as a locksmith apprentice.

Mal is forever grateful to that man for his mercy and kindness, and is a firm believer in second chances. When he befriended some questionable people who were nice to him, Mal was gradually convinced to sell the group addresses and details of any rude or excessively wealthy customers. That way, in his mind, the theft was justified and nobody was losing things they couldn't afford to replace. They rewarded him well, assured him he was valuable to them, and promised to take care of Malachai and his business, providing Mal some relief with the knowledge he would never go hungry again.

• - When Malachai is startled or angry, the fur along his back stands up straight like a mohawk (look up pictures of striped hyenas)
• - The bodysuit is what he used to wear when he went out to steal food. He still has it in the back of his closet, but it's dusty and hasn't been worn in a long time
• - Mal's design is inspired by Twice from BNHA, but his species, personality, world, and story are completely different