Fun fact: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown was one of my first, if not my first, Digimon movie. I think I had it on DVD, even. It's been years, but I distinctly remembered scenes from it when rewatching with a friend more recently, so Wendigomon kinda seared a permanent memory in my brain, haha. It was like a traffic accident - he was kinda scary, but I couldn't look away because it was so cool at the same time. Then I grew up to be a horror freak, and it all fell into place!
Although Wendigomon is a notoriously evil digimon, I like to believe it falls under the universal rule of nature versus nurture - no species of digimon is completely evil. Some are just more likely to lean in that direction than others.
Mal had a strong thirst for destruction and predisposition for darkness - he wanted to fight all the time, bite anyone except Akira when they got too close, and was much akin to an angry chihuahua, even as a lopmon. The saving grace was that he was way weaker than the other digimon around him, so the threat was minimal.
Akira, however, had made Malroth a promise. Since their fight against Gryzmon, he would never let any bigger digimon step on or make fun of him again. He knew Mal was weaker, but trained him, knowing his limitations. He was patient, didn't overwork him, and let him take breaks to rest and play. Despite everything, Akira preferred avoiding fights whenever possible instead of charging in.
Mal showed outstanding progress, but still let out his nasty side on other kids and digimon for no particular reason. One night, when the two were on watch duty, Akira talked to Mal in private.
"Hey Mal... Don't be too mean to my new friends, okay? I know they are lame, but... I don't have a lot of them. I don't want to lose the ones I've got."
Ever since, Mal stopped headbutting and biting everyone! Sure, he still growled pretty often, but he was so tolerant, now!
The sentiment carried over with his evolution to Wendigomon. He is well aware of his whopping new strength, yet has become quite the gentle giant... if you can look past the nasty attitude, that is.
Some things just never change.
