Marcus

Marcus is a temporary player character in the game Final Fantasy IX. He is a member of Tantalus and is Blank's best friend, frequently referring to Blank as his brother and noting at one point "There's only one man I call Bro". He is a Thief and dresses like a pirate. He is also the lead actor in the play I Want to be Your Canary, and plays a character of the same name.

Story
Marcus is first seen on the Prima Vista. He participates in the first fight against Baku, and is next seen acting out his part in the play. The purpose of the play was to be a present for Princess Garnet of Alexandria's sixteenth birthday, but also to act as a guise for Tantalus to kidnap her. However, the play gets interrupted when Zidane, Garnet, and Steiner find their way onto the stage. Garnet has studied the play, so she acts out the part of Princess Cornelia, the female lead, with Marcus. However, Steiner, who was supposed to improvise out the part of Prince Schneider, gets frustrated and challenges Marcus, Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi, who also found his way onstage, to a fight. The Prima Vista then escapes, but Queen Brahne destroys it, forcing it to land in the Evil Forest. There, Marcus helps the survivors of the crash.

Marcus regroups with Cinna and Baku and the three eventually decide to rescue Blank, who has been petrified in the Evil Forest. However, to do so, they need the Supersoft, an item that can cure petrification. Only Doctor Tot in Treno has it. Marcus and Cinna travel there, and meet Garnet and Steiner in South Gate. Marcus accompanies them to Treno. When they arrive, they find Baku is already there. He sets them up to rob Tot of his Supersoft, much to Steiner's frustration. However, they are caught, but Doctor Tot was Garnet's private tutor, so he gives them the Supersoft. Marcus then decides to return to Alexandria so he can access the Evil Forest better. Garnet and Steiner accompany him, as they are returning there as well. However, upon arrival, they are captured by Zorn and Thorn. Marcus and Steiner are held prisoner in a suspended cage, and Marcus decides to rock the cage back and forth to escape. He then returns to Evil Forest and rescues Blank. Marcus and Blank return to Alexandria just in time to save Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi from Zorn and Thorn and help them escape.

Marcus then participates in the struggle against Brahne, along with Blank, Steiner, Beatrix, and Freya. Later, in Lindblum, Blank jokes that he and Marcus had to carry out the wounded bodies of the other three. Eventually, Ruby, Cinna, and Baku show up as well. However, after Brahne's death, Ruby decides to open up a minitheater in Alexandria, and Marcus, Blank, and Cinna help her. They decide to take Vivi to the first show, and uses him as a decoy so that Ruby won't scold them for lateness. Marcus and Blank also help patrol the streets of Alexandria at night.

After the destruction of Alexandria, all of Tantalus except Ruby returns to Lindblum to rebuild their headquarters. Marcus briefly returns to Alexandria to help Zidane look for Garnet after Hilda is rescued, but subsequently returns to Lindblum afterwards, where he remains for the remainder of the game. It is presumed that he goes to Alexandria in the ending to put on another play for Garnet. However, aside from the Tantalus meeting during Vivi's monologue, Marcus is the only member of the troupe not seen, and although the player is led to believe that he is, dressed in a full body cloak, it is actually Zidane in disguise to reveal himself to Garnet that he survived the Iifa Tree.

Equipment and Stats
Marcus is a thief, and thus has speed and high physical attack power. Despite this, he can equip swords. He also equips lightweight shirts and vests, similar to what Zidane can equip. Any stats he has when he leaves the party are transferred to Eiko. As a result, there is an infamous glitch in the game involving Marcus' leveling up. The more the player levels Marcus up, the more powerful Eiko will be when she joins, regardless of what level she is at.

Abilities
Since Marcus is only a temporary character, he has no support abilities. However, he can Steal in battle, similar to the other thieves.

Trivia

 * In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary remakes of the original Final Fantasy, Marcus is one of the automatic names the player can choose for the Monk job.
 * Marcus's name may be a reference to Marcus Brutus in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". This is supported by the fact that a fellow member of Tantalus, Cinna, is also the name of a character from the play.

Marcus Marcus