Malicious Face

For more information about other enemies, see Enemies

Malicious Face
cool rok
Attributes
Appearance	Giant stone head with four translucent "legs"
Attack Damage	25 (Projectile) 50 (Explosion)
Health	25 (Boss) 15 (Enemy)
Support Priority Rank	3
Damage Modifiers	150% (Nails) 200% (Ground Slam) 0% (Explosions)
Weight	Superheavy
Susceptible to fall damage	No
Other/Misc	Ranged turret enemy that fires projectiles and beams from afar.

Malicious Faces, also known as Maurice, are Lesser Demons first encountered as a boss at the end of the mission [ 0-1: INTO THE FIRE ], before becoming a common enemy in the mission [ 0-4: A ONE-MACHINE ARMY ]. They serve as big, stationary turret-like enemies that hurl flurries of projectiles and beams.

Appearance

Malicious Faces appear to be fairly large stone heads with faces carved onto them. Though at first glance they seem to float in the air, a closer look reveals that they stand on four translucent, spider-like limbs. Upon death, these limbs seem to disappear, causing the head to drop down onto the ground.

Combat

Malicious Faces are slow, only moving to catch up if they are out of range of the player. When in range, they remain in place, barraging the player with volleys of six Hell Energy projectiles in rapid succession, shot directly out of its mouth. These projectiles can be parried back towards the Face to deal damage.

Alternatively, it can begin charging up a laser beam, indicated by its mouth gradually glowing yellow alongside a charging noise. Once the beam is ready, the Malicious Face will instantly flick in the direction the player is currently going in, attempting to lead its shot for more precise demolition, before firing it. The beam travels instantly and explodes upon contact with any surface. It will only use this attack if the player is close enough, but its use can become more frequent as its health lowers. Additionally, the laser can be parried by punching the Malicious Face right as it finishes charging.

Malicious Faces at half-health or below have cracked exteriors, to differentiate them from healthy ones. Upon death, the Malicious Face falls to the ground, killing any enemies beneath it and creating a non-damaging shockwave that launches both the player and nearby enemies into the air. This corpse can be destroyed via a ground slam.

Explosive projectiles shot at the Malicious Face will bounce off, unless the Malicious Face is covered in any amount of Gasoline from the Firestarter Rocket Launcher, or the projectile is a parried Hell Orb of some variety.

Enraged

On Violent difficulty or higher, Malicious Faces will become Enraged once they drop below half health, causing them to turn red and reveal glowing yellow eyes. When Enraged, they attack faster and will fire a second laser immediately after their first on each laser charge.

Difficulty Changes

• HARMLESS
  • Malicious Faces move and attack much slower than usual.
  • They only fire three projectiles per barrage.
  • The explosion radius of their laser beam is smaller.

• LENIENT
  • Malicious Faces move and attack slower than usual.
  • They only fire three projectiles per barrage.
  • The explosion radius of their laser beam is smaller.

• VIOLENT
  • Malicious Faces move and attack faster than usual.
  • They Enrage at half health, making them attack faster and fire their explosive beam twice in a row.

• BRUTAL
  • Malicious Faces move and attack much faster than usual.
  • They fire ten projectiles per barrage, with a slight spread.
  • They Enrage at half health, making them attack faster and fire their explosive beam twice in a row.
  • Their boss health is increased from 25 to 38.

Terminal Data

For more information, see Terminal

TYPE: Lesser Demon

DATA:
Demons are creatures born from the mass of Hell. They are most easily recognizable by their hard stone-like exterior and slow movement.

Demons have higher intelligence than Husks, but are still incapable of rational thought and communication. No demons have been able to pass the mirror test, though studies are limited due to their hostility.

Malicious Faces are the most common type of demon, but are incredibly dangerous, especially in swarms, due to their mastery of the use of Hell Energy as a weapon.

STRATEGY:
- Due to their burst fire, they can be quite difficult to get close to, so despite the effectiveness of a point blank shotgun shot, nails are the recommended course of action, with magnets enabling long-range combat.

- Due to their invulnerability to explosions, they don't need to hold back the energy of their beam attacks, so staying away from walls and other surfaces is recommended when they begin charging an energy beam.

Rending Apart

Despite their explosive immunity, their sizable health, and their high damage output, defeating Malicious Faces can be quite easy. They take 50% more damage from the Nailgun and take extra damage from point-blank Shotgun parries, with extra pumps from the Pump Charge Shotgun being especially devastating. Utilizing Shotgun swapping along with Knuckleblaster punches up close is an incredibly effective way to quickly dispatch a Malicious Face. The Whiplash also allows the player to easily reach point-blank range for these purposes, and ground slams can be used to stomp down on Faces for extra damage.

The Electric Railcannon deals enough damage to a Malicious Face that it can be easily finished off with a point-blank Shotgun blast, making it helpful for quickly weakening and picking off multiple Faces. A surefire way to kill a Malicious Face from full health is to fire two point-blank Shotgun shots into the Face, then hit it with the Knuckleblaster to finish it off. However, the Screwdriver Railcannon can easily accomplish a swifter kill by simply shooting it, then punching the screwdriver itself with the Feedbacker. Additionally, one of the easiest ways to kill a Malicious Face is a single hit from a fully-charged Alternate Shotgun. By Whiplashing to a Malicious Face before letting go in the last moment, or by hitting it in the middle of a ground slam, the Malicious Face will instantly die due to the high impact.

A Malicious Face's six-volley barrage can be exploited to the player's advantage. Individual projectiles can be parried with the Feedbacker, and with precise timing, parrying the very first projectile a Malicious Face shoots can produce an explosion that diverts the subsequent projectiles in the barrage back into the Malicious Face as well, dealing massive amounts of damage or even instakilling it with the correct timing. A similar effect can be achieved using the Sharpshooter Revolver's alt-fire by shooting the first projectile of the volley, causing an explosion that will redirect the following projectiles back at the Malicious Face allowing for a slightly more consistent method of instakilling. Any other form of explosion can also be used, though the timing can differ between weapons.

When using their charged laser attack, Malicious Faces will make a "pling" noise shortly before firing their laser. During this window, hitting them with the Feedbacker or a point-blank Shotgun blast will parry the attack, creating a powerful explosion around the Malicious Face that damages the Face and other nearby enemies without harming the player. A Malicious Face is instantly killed with a point-blank Pump Charge Shotgun blast with two charges, combined with Knuckleblaster, when parrying a laser attack. Another way to counter the Face's laser is to perform a Chargeback, which involves precisely tossing a Marksman Revolver coin into the laser's path as it fires, causing it to reflect towards the nearest target, instakilling a Malicious Face should it be targeted.

Once a Malicious Face dies, it falls on the ground, crushing any enemies beneath it, including ones protected by an Idol. Upon impact, it creates a shockwave that launches everyone in range into the air, which can be exploited by the player to their own benefit both as a movement option or for follow-up attacks, such as airborne Rocket Launcher rocket explosions. It also leaves a corpse on the ground, which can be grappled with the Whiplash without incurring Hard Damage, making it useful for quick and relatively safe transit. In the Cyber Grind, Malicious Face corpses will break instantly upon contact with the ground, preventing the shockwave from occurring, though they will still crush enemies while falling.

Malicious Faces have complete immunity to any form of explosive, including Core Eject Shotgun cores and Rocket Launcher rockets, causing them to simply bounce right off. Additional sources of explosion splash damage is also completely negated, and Malicious Faces cannot be set on fire. However, the Firestarter Rocket Launcher has a direct mechanical interaction with Malicious Faces, completely negating their explosive immunity while soaked in gasoline, even just a little bit. Firing both the primary and secondary fire from the Firestarter Rocket Launcher during Malicious Face's six-volley fire causes an instakill due to blowback from explosions.

Patch History

Patch 16c (2025/03/02)	Fixed Malicious Faces healing 10x from nails.
Patch 15d (2024/05/13)	Fixed Malicious Faces not taking initial impact damage from explosions when made vulnerable with gasoline.
Patch 15c (2024/05/11)	Malicious Faces now lose their anti-explosion resistances when covered in gasoline. Added hurt sounds for Malicious Faces. Malicious Faces no longer bleed when damaged by fire.
Wait of the World Update (2023/03/16)	Updated Malicious Face model and texture. Falling Malicious Face corpses can now crush Idols. Malicious Faces will now use their beam attack to target rockets that the player is riding on.
Patch 11b (2022/08/29)	Soldiers can no longer block Chargebacked Malicious Face beams. Riding a Malicious Face will no longer make the player spin with the Face.
ACT II Update (2022/08/16)	Malicious Faces now deflect explosive projectiles and make a sound when reflecting explosions to make their resistance more obvious. Falling Malicious Faces no longer instakill Sisyphean Insurrectionists, Mindflayers, or Gabriel. Malicious Faces now die "properly" from the Kill All Enemies Cheat. Fixed falling Malicious Face instakill not working on enemies already inside its trigger before it begins falling.
Saw Your Heart Update (2022/02/17)	Added [+MAURICED] Style Bonus for when enemies are crushed under a falling Malicious Face corpse. Malicious Face's eyes are now properly monocolored when Enemy Silhouettes is enabled. The beam charging effect no longer disappears if the Malicious Face is Enraged while charging.
Patch 9b Lukewarmfix (2021/11/05)	Malicious Face's player prediction now considers the environment and large enemies.
Patch 8b Lukewarmfix (2021/08/23)	Malicious Face beams no longer explode on a coin if the beam barely misses its hitbox.
Sandbox Update (2021/08/14)	Whiplash no longer Auto Aims to Malicious Face corpses.
Patch 7: Hotfix (2021/06/25)	Fixed Malicious Faces losing their sandification visual when changing texture with Outline Only Enemy Silhouettes enabled.
GREED Update (2021/06/24)	Updated and increased range of the Malicious Face's beam charge sound.
Patch 6 Hotfix #2 (2021/04/19)	Fixed Auto Aim not targeting Malicious Faces.
Soul Survivor Update (2021/04/14)	Malicious Faces now change to a cracked texture when below half health. Hitting a Malicious Face with a ricoshot no longer creates a blood splatter at the coin's location rather than where the shot landed. Malicious Faces no longer get stuck in walls while dying.
Early Access Patch (2020/11/05)	Malicious Faces now take double damage from ground slams. Unintentional additional burst of damage from point-blank Shotgun shots kept in for the Malicious Face, patched for other enemies.
Early Access Patch (2020/10/13)	Malicious Face now costs 5 more points for each Face already spawned in the Cyber Grind arena.

Trivia

• The Malicious Face was the first recognizable enemy shown off on Hakita's YouTube channel, first appearing on ULTRAKILL 07 - Enemy Projectiles. Apart from their onion-like appearance, they were functionally almost identical to their current version, only missing the laser beam.
• [ 1-1: HEART OF THE SUNRISE ] features a giant Malicious Face head that is lying on the ground, possibly a long-dead corpse.
• Killing a Malicious Face with a ground slam will instantly break it, rather than leaving a corpse on the ground.
• The Malicious Face is one of the only enemies that keeps its collision on death (unless its corpse is destroyed).
• A Malicious Face's corpse is usually completely immobile; however, if it dies over a Bounce Pad, its lifeless body will bounce on it forever. Any enemies that stand on the bounce pad under the corpse will then get crushed.
• Malicious Faces, V2, the Flesh Prison's eyeballs, Guttermen, Big Johninator, and Sentries are currently the only enemies in the game to use hitscan attacks.
• A rather unfortunate Malicious Face is used as a club by the Sisyphean Insurrectionist.
  • This Malicious Face has a few notable changes: it is larger, has a longer and thicker nose, is covered in blood from the front, and has lost hair on the part where the Sisyphean Insurrectionist holds it.
    • Presumably, this increased size adds mass, thus making the previously flat and harmless shockwave of the normal Malicious Face become spherical and harmful.
• While Noclipping, killing a Malicious Face on top of a skull pedestal at a certain spot over it causes the Face to spin absurdly fast when floating slightly above it. Otherwise, it can be tossed straight up into the air by going beneath it and ascending immediately after.
• Even though Malicious Faces have malicious facial flexes (allowing for malicious facial expressions), they go unused, due to being buggy.
• The Malicious Face's eyes are a separate model from the skull. The player was supposed to be able to shoot them out and blind the face, but the mechanic was scrapped for being too specific and limiting.
• The community has agreed upon the name "Maurice" for the Malicious Face, to the point that the developers have adopted the name as well.
  • The name originated from an ULTRAKILL edit of an abstract meme where the fellow user has to choose between a spider nicknamed "Gilgamesh the Consumer of Reality" or a ladybug nicknamed "Maurice".
  • Crushing enemies with a Malicious Face's corpse will grant a [+MAURICED] Style Bonus. The only enemies that Malicious Faces cannot crush are Sisyphean Insurrectionists, Mindflayers, and Gabriel.
  • Some members of the community believe that the Malicious Face’s design was based off of artwork of prominent catholic historical figure, Saint Maurice. However, the Saint was named after Maurice.
• In [ 5-S: I ONLY SAY MORNING ] a tiny Malicious Face is one of the usable baits, and a loose Face can be found sitting on a chair on the left hand side of the waterfall.
• The Malicious Face minions that Flesh Prison and Flesh Panopticon spawn still use the old textures, as do the Face props spawnable in the Sandbox and the Malicious Bait in [ 5-S: I ONLY SAY MORNING ].
• When targeted by a nearby Stalker, Malicious Faces will lower themselves within range of the Stalker's sand explosion.
• With its size modified by the Spawner Arm, the corpse of the Malicious face will remain as big as it was before it died. Its legs will also grow in length. The rubble that becomes its smashed corpse will unfortunately remain the same size, however.
  • Making the Malicious Face too big (by just clicking the "bigger" button until it reaches the max amount) and then killing it will make its corpse disappear into thin air.
• The Malicious Face's laser can be Deadcoined. This is incredibly difficult to do and is practically useless.
• Malicious Face is found as a secret miniboss in the VR game Vertigo 2, where Gianni Matragrano voices "Officer 13" meaning the presence of Maurice in the game may be his doing.
• During the Christmas Seasonal Event, the Santa hat atop the Malicious Face will turn from its normal color scheme to stone upon death.
  • Curiously, the Santa hat will maintain its normal colors even after the Malicious Face dies if it is killed via a Chargeback rather than with conventional weapons.
• There are exactly 62 Malicious Faces in ULTRAKILL.
  • 67 when counting the two props and the ones the Sisyphean Insurrectionists carry in all their appearances.
    • 69 when counting the ones used by both Insurrectionists in the secret encounter of [ 6-1: CRY FOR THE WEEPER ]. Nice.
      • 70 when counting the one used by the Sisyphean Insurrectionist which appears after taking the Blood Orb in [ 7-2: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT ].
        • 90 when counting 14 more in [ 0-E: THIS HEAT, AN EVIL HEAT ] and 6 more in [ 1-E: ...THEN FELL THE ASHES ].
• The cracks that appear on Malicious Faces after taking a certain amount of damage disappear when it dies, which is presumably a bug.
• Oh no. *VINE BOOM* Oh god! *VINE BOOM* It's the funny Rock. Post this Rock to instantly become funny.

Gallery

In-game render of the Malicious Face remaster, by Action Dawg.

Malicious Face's high-poly model.

Malicious Face's model in a very early version of the game.

Mini Malicious Face prop icon in the Spawner Arm menu.

A mural of Malicious Face as seen in the Greed layer.

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Appearance of Malicious Face prior to the Wait of the World Update.

Malicious Face after being killed with conventional weapons (right) versus a Chargeback (left) during the Christmas Seasonal Event.

Maurice doing some trampoline training.