Malladus

Malladus is the name of the primary antagonist of Spirit Tracks.

Spirit Tracks
Malladus makes his debut in Spirit Tracks as an extremely powerful demon that once terrorized and ruled over the land that was discovered by the Hyrulean settlers that included the Hero of Winds, Tetra and her Pirates. He is shown in the introduction of Spirit Tracks, attacking the land and causing much devastation and destruction. However, it is revealed that the good spirits that resided across the land rebelled against him and used all of their energies to overthrow him, though they did not possess enough strength to truly finish him. Instead, he was buried deep in an underground prison, and a special set of chains were constructed that spanned across the land as well as a great tower that acted as the lock on Malladus's prison. These came to be known as the Spirit Tracks and the Tower of Spirits, and as long as they remained intact, Malladus would be safely bound within his prison. After this great effort, the good spirits of the land were exhausted of their power, and so they returned to the heavens, but not before giving the land over to the new settlers, who proclaimed the land as the re-established kingdom of Hyrule and revived the Hyrulean monarchy to govern the land just as it had been with its forbearer.

Over a century later, Hyrule's Chancellor Cole concocts a scheme to free Malladus from his prison and unleash him upon the land once again. To do this, he causes large sections of the Spirit Tracks to begin to disappear, causing great alarm in the land's monarch, Princess Zelda. Zelda immediately suspects Cole due to his untrustworthy nature and decides to take matters into her own hands by investigating the Tower of Spirits herself without Cole's knowledge. Though she flees with her friend Link aboard a train to the Tower of Spirits, they crash along the way due to the tracks disappearing beneath them. They then witness the destruction of the Tower of Spirits, as it shatters into four segments that are swept away. Malladus then escapes amidst the destruction and takes the form of a demonic train. It is at this moment that Chancellor Cole drops his guise and reveals himself to be a follower of Malladus, knocking Link and Alfonzo out and stealing Zelda's body, meaning to use it to somehow restore Malladus to full power. This marks the beginning of a quest for Link to retrieve Zelda's body, restore the Tower of Spirits, revive Zelda completely, and ultimately stop the Malladus's return to power.

Trivia

 * Malladus bears a strong resemblance to Ganondorf, especially in his  The Wind Waker appearance, however it has been confirmed that the relation is aesthetic in nature and that he is not Ganon.
 * The Spanish-language version of Spirit Tracks refers to him as "Mallard", which is Spanish for "train", and is also the derivative name for the English one.
 * Malladus resembles a diesel train which is strange since diesel were not invented until the late 19th century while locomotives like the one Link rides was developed in the late 18th century.