Marcus
- “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 with a fixation for young children. He's portrayed by Kevin West.
Biography
- “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 travelled from Sunnydale to Los Angeles in an attempt to get the Gem of Amarra back from Angel. Marcus 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.
Although Spike believed that Marcus had no interest in the ring, Marcus claimed it for himself when Spike was distracted by the arrival of Cordelia, Doyle and Oz, subsequently leaving the warehouse where he'd been torturing Angel and heading for a nearby beach, seeking to find prey.
Marcus walks in broad daylight thanks to the Gem of Amarra.
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 direc sunligth, 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
- “He's known love.[...] And he has a soul.”
- ―Marcus[src]
Marcus inspects both Angel's body and spirit.
Marcus possessed the common powers and weaknesses of a vampire. Besides, 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.