- “It's through the pain that we find the truth of who we are... It strips us of our defenses - we are made innocent again, like children. I like children.”
- ―Marcus[src]
Marcus was a vampire and a torturer for hire. He also had a taste for feeding on and killing young children.
Biography[]
Torturing Angel[]
- “He's a bloody king of torture, he is. Humans, demons, politicians, makes no difference. Rumor has it he invented several of the classics, but he won't tell me which ones. Beneath the cool exterior, you'll find he's rather shy... except with kids. You like kids, don't you Marcus? Well, "likes to eat" and other nasty things.”
- ―Spike[src]
An expert torturer, Marcus was hired by fellow vampire Spike when the latter traveled from Sunnydale to Los Angeles in an attempt to recover the Gem of Amara. The Gem of Amara was a ring that granted any vampire who wore it absolute immortality, including immunity to sunlight and being staked in the heart. Spike had lost the Gem to Buffy Summers, and the Slayer sent the ring to Angel.
Marcus captured Angel during a trap laid by Spike and imprisoned him in a warehouse. Astonished by Angel's lack of external wounds, and surprised to discover he had a soul and that he had known love, the torturer employed hot pokers as well as sunlight in his attempt to break Angel's will. Thanks to the torture, Marcus discovered that Angel did not want the Gem for himself, and went so far that the ensouled vampire confessed to the torturer he sought forgiveness for the evil he had done.
The Gem of Amara[]
Marcus walks in broad daylight thanks to the Gem of Amara.
Despite the damage suffered by the torture, Angel managed to grab a stake with his feet and use it in an attempt to stake Marcus, only to be stopped by Spike. Although Spike believed that Marcus had no interest in the Gem, the bald torturer claimed the ring for himself when the chance arose. Spike was distracted by the arrival of Cordelia Chase, Allen Francis Doyle and Oz, who had agreed to relinquish the ring to Spike in exchange for Angel's freedom. Amidst the confusion, Marcus grabbed the Gem from the patch of direct sunlight the ring was thrown to and subsequently left the warehouse where he had been torturing Angel. Afterward, having become invulnerable to the effects of sunlight, Marcus headed for a nearby beach, seeking to find prey.
Death[]
When Marcus was about to attack a group of children purchasing ice-creams on a pier, Angel, despite having been weakened by torture and exposed to sunlight, charged the pedophile vampire, throwing both off the pier and into the ocean. As the two battled underneath the pier, covered from direct sunlight, Angel managed to impale Marcus on a thick support column, giving him the chance to grab the ring from Marcus's finger, leaving Marcus to collapse into dust.
Powers and Abilities[]
Marcus inspects both Angel's body and spirit.
- “He's known love.[...] And he has a soul.”
- ―Marcus[src]
Marcus possessed the common powers and weaknesses of a vampire. Besides this, he was also capable of sensing Angel's soul and that he had known love simply by touching him. As vampires were immune to mind-reading, Marcus must have possessed some kind of empathic ability. With the Gem of Amara, Marcus was rendered invulnerable, able to walk in sunlight and remain unaffected by staking