Watak yang kejam itu ada dalam cerita itu.

Yang links a noun to a description of that noun.

So:

• watak = character
• yang kejam = that is cruel / cruel

Together, watak yang kejam means the character who is cruel or more naturally the cruel character.

In Malay, yang is very commonly used to introduce a relative or descriptive phrase after a noun.

Examples:

• orang yang baik = the person who is kind
• buku yang tebal = the thick book
• cerita yang menarik = the interesting story

So in your sentence, yang kejam tells us which watak we are talking about.

In Malay, descriptive words usually come after the noun, not before it as in English.

Compare:

• English: the cruel character
• Malay: watak yang kejam

This is a very normal pattern in Malay. English often puts adjectives before nouns, but Malay often places the description after the noun, frequently with yang.

A simple way to think about it:

• English: noun phrase compressed in front
• Malay: noun first, description after

Here, itu marks the noun phrase as definite, something like that or sometimes the, depending on context.

So:

• watak yang kejam itu = that cruel character / the cruel character

In Malay, itu often comes at the end of the noun phrase, not before the noun.

That is why you get:

• watak yang kejam itu

  not

• itu watak yang kejam for this meaning

Because yang kejam belongs to the noun phrase, itu comes after the whole phrase.

Because it refers to two different noun phrases:

• watak yang kejam itu = that/the cruel character
• cerita itu = that/the story

So each noun phrase can have its own itu.

This is perfectly normal in Malay. It does not sound repetitive in the way it might in English.

You can think of it like this:

• Subject: that cruel character
• Location/context: in that story

In this sentence, ada means something like exists, is present, or is found.

So:

• ada dalam cerita itu = is in the story / exists in that story

This is a very common Malay way to say that something is present in a place, text, story, list, group, and so on.

Examples:

• Nama saya ada dalam senarai itu. = My name is on that list.
• Dia ada di rumah. = He/She is at home.
• Watak itu ada dalam novel ini. = That character is in this novel.

So ada is doing the job of showing presence or existence.

Malay often does not need a separate verb like English to be in the same way.

English says:

• The character is cruel.
• The character is in the story.

Malay handles this differently depending on the sentence type.

For location or presence, Malay often uses ada:

• Watak itu ada dalam cerita itu.

For simple description, Malay often has no equivalent of is at all:

• Watak itu kejam. = The character is cruel.

So Malay does not always require a word matching English is.

These are related, but not identical.

• Watak itu kejam = That character is cruel.
• Watak yang kejam itu = That cruel character / the character who is cruel

The first is a full statement about the character.

The second is a noun phrase identifying which character you mean.

So in your sentence:

• Watak yang kejam itu ada dalam cerita itu.

the speaker is talking about the cruel character as a specific character, and then saying that this character is in the story.

Dalam means in or inside.

So:

• dalam cerita itu = in that story

Yes, you may also hear di dalam, but in many cases dalam alone is enough and sounds natural.

Very roughly:

• dalam = in
• di dalam = inside / in

With abstract things like stories, books, lists, and articles, dalam is especially common:

• dalam buku itu = in that book
• dalam cerita itu = in that story
• dalam filem itu = in that film

Yes, but the meaning becomes less specific.

Compare:

• Watak yang kejam itu ada dalam cerita itu.
  = That/The cruel character is in that/the story.

• Watak yang kejam ada dalam cerita itu.
  = A/The cruel character is in that story.
  Slightly less fixed or definite.

• Watak yang kejam itu ada dalam cerita.
  = That/The cruel character is in the story/a story.

• Watak yang kejam ada dalam cerita.
  = A cruel character is in a story / cruel characters appear in stories, depending on context.

So itu helps make the noun phrase definite and more specific.

Not always.

Watak can mean:

1. character in a story, play, film, etc.
2. sometimes character/personality/nature, depending on context

In your sentence, because of dalam cerita itu (in that story), the meaning is clearly a fictional character.

If the context were different, watak could refer more to someone’s character or nature, but here that is not the likely meaning.

Usually it means the character appears in or is part of the story.

Malay often uses ada dalam for this kind of idea:

• in a story
• in a book
• in a movie
• in a list
• in a picture

So it does not usually suggest a literal physical location. It is just the normal way to say the character is included in the story.

A natural English translation would often be:

• The cruel character is in that story.
• That cruel character appears in the story.

It breaks down like this:

• Watak yang kejam itu = subject noun phrase
  (that/the cruel character)

• ada = is present / exists

• dalam cerita itu = in that/the story

So the full structure is:

• [subject] + [presence/location]

You can think of it as:

• The cruel character
  • is in the story

This is a very common and straightforward Malay sentence pattern.