Marcus
| Marcus ギシン Gishin | |
 Marcus | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Eye color | Burgundy |
| Hair color | Burgundy |
| Hometown | Michina Town |
| Region | Sinnoh |
| Anime debut | Arceus and the Jewel of Life |
| English voice actor | Jason Griffith |
| Japanese voice actor | Kōichi Yamadera |
Marcus (Japanese: ギシン Gishin) is the main antagonist of Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
In the movies
Marcus was once Damos's assistant in taking care of Michina Town's lands. During this time, he learned of the Jewel of Life's role in Michina Town's prosperity and the promise by Damos that it would be returned to its creator, Arceus, on the date of the next solar eclipse. Growing bitter and resentful of Arceus due to his belief that returning the Jewel of Life would result in Michina Town reverting into a wasteland, Marcus began scheming to betray it. He betrayed and jailed Damos under the custody of Tapp and a group of soldiers, then gathered an army of Pokémon he kept compliant using magical armor attached to their bodies. When the solar eclipse came, he forced Damos to do his bidding utilizing his Bronzong's Hypnosis, sending him to lure Arceus into a trap using a counterfeit Jewel of Life. However, Arceus survived the onslaught of Marcus's army and counterattacked, causing the Michina Town temple to crumble. Marcus and Damos tried to flee, but both fell to their deaths.
Over the following centuries, Marcus faded from history and Damos was labeled as the traitor who betrayed Arceus, breaking its trust in humanity and ensuring that it would one day return to pass its Judgment upon the world. Despite his falling into obscurity, the fallout of his actions would ultimately lead to the events of The Rise of Darkrai and Giratina and the Sky Warrior, due to Arceus's prophesized awakening causing the collision of Dialga and Palkia's home dimensions and their subsequent battle polluting Giratina's Reverse World.
In the present day, Ash, Dawn and Brock visited Michina Town, where they met Damos's descendant, Sheena. Arceus returned as the prophecy had stated, and not even the combined power of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina could stop its rampage. In a desperate last-ditch effort to save the world, Dialga sent Ash, Brock, Dawn and Sheena back in time to the day of the promise with Arceus in hopes of changing history to avert the disaster. They arrived too late to do anything but watch Damos's betrayal of Arceus, but observed Marcus's presence for the first time. In response to Sheena's prayer, Dialga sent them a few hours further back, where they were captured by Marcus's soldiers. Marcus himself soon arrived with his Bronzong and Heatran and placed Ash, Brock and Dawn under Bronzong's Hypnosis, but grew intrigued when Sheena informed him that they were from the future. While his men threw Ash and his friends in prison, Marcus hosted Sheena at a dinner to hear her story. Shocked to learn of his fate, he continued to question her, specifically asking if Damos had used silver water in his trap. Deducing from Sheena's reaction that he did not use it, Marcus claimed he would help her change history by having her return the Jewel of Life to Arceus. However, he secretly removed the Jewel from his staff before presenting it to her, tricking her into complicity in his plot.
At the temple, Sheena tried to return the Jewel to Arceus, only to discover Marcus's treachery too late. Marcus, revealing the Jewel of Life in his possession, ordered his Pokémon army to attack and unleashed a flood of silver water as well, exploiting his newfound knowledge of the future to his own benefit. The silver water proved to make a difference, overwhelming Arceus and rendering it vulnerable to the onslaught. Damos arrived with Ash, Dawn and Brock in tow, having been freed from the prison and brought up to speed on Marcus's plans by them earlier. While Damos and Sheena teamed up to combine their powers and free Marcus's Pokémon, Ash and Dawn fought him directly. Eventually, the hearts of Heatran and Bronzong were reached by Damos and Sheena along with those of all the other Pokémon, freeing them from Marcus's influence. This allowed Ash to try and recover the Jewel of Life from him; Marcus dropped the Jewel after a brief struggle but Ash managed to catch it. Marcus attempted to leave and give chase, only to be cornered by Dawn, her Piplup, Heatran, Bronzong, a Chikorita, a Cyndaquil, a Totodile, and multiple Rattata.
Although the Pokémon had stopped attacking and Ash had the Jewel of Life, with Marcus unable to get it back, the crisis was not yet over. Arceus, now stranded at the bottom of the shrine, was by that time on the edge of death as the silver water continued to bury it. This began causing the timeline to shift, nearly erasing Ash, Dawn, Brock, Pikachu, Piplup, and Sheena; Marcus indifferently informed Dawn that they were disappearing as a result of history changing. Only Marcus, Damos and the Spiky-eared Pichu were unaffected, due to their being from a point in time prior to the shift caused by Arceus's impending death. At that moment, Damos managed to reach the last remaining spark of life in Arceus's heart, giving it enough strength to reabsorb the Jewel of Life and fully recover, thus thwarting Marcus's plans and saving everyone from destruction. However, the overflowing silver water caused the temple to begin to crumble, as it had in the original timeline from Arceus's counterattack. The ledge Marcus was standing on collapsed, and he was heard screaming. His crown was later seen on a rock, implying that he fell.
In the ending credits, Marcus was revealed to have survived the fall. He was seen working in Michina Town's fields alongside Damos, exhausted from the work necessary to keep the land alive without the Jewel of Life's power.
Character
Marcus is characterized by his manipulative, untrustworthy nature. Damos, Sheena, and Arceus all fall victim to his careful planning and betrayal, as well as his lack of concern about using force, sometimes deadly, to accomplish his goals. He believes in the noble cause of keeping Michina Town from falling into desolation, but is unable to see the error in his misguided methods of reaching it.
Pokémon
This listing is of Marcus's known Pokémon in the anime:
Controlled
| Debut | Arceus and the Jewel of Life |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Unshō Ishizuka |
| English | Bill Rogers |
Bronzong was instrumental in Marcus' plan to destroy Arceus. By hypnotizing Damos, Marcus forced him to betray Arceus and refuse to return the Jewel of Life. However, Bronzong was not acting under its own will, but was being controlled by special armor. Eventually, Damos' special ability to touch the hearts of Pokémon made Bronzong realize what it was doing, and, after the armor was destroyed by Piplup's Peck, Bronzong turned on Marcus and helped defend the Trainers that had rescued it.
Bronzong's known moves are Hypnosis, Gyro Ball, and Flash Cannon.
| Debut | Arceus and the Jewel of Life |
|---|---|
| Voice actors | |
| Japanese | Kenta Miyake |
| English | Tom Wayland |
Heatran, like Bronzong, was also forced to obey Marcus against its will by special armor. Heatran was also very powerful and also, like all Heatran, had the ability to walk on walls and ceilings with ease. Heatran was forced to battle against Ash and Dawn, but eventually realized what it was doing thanks to Damos and Sheena, and it allowed Pikachu to destroy its armor with Iron Tail. Free from Marcus's control, Heatran turned on Marcus along with Bronzong.
Heatran's known moves are Fire Spin, Flamethrower, and Protect.
Artwork
|
| Ken Sugimori's design of Marcus |
Voice actors
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In the manga
Movie adaptations
Marcus appears as the main antagonist of the movie's manga adaptation, where he fulfills a similar role to his part in the movie, but with some changes. His plot is the same, but his motivations are much less altruistic, intending to use the Jewel of Life to become a god in his era. His actions are also more violent; for example, when Heatran disobeys him, he kicks it in the head repeatedly. At the climax of the story, when his plan is foiled, he commits suicide by activating a mechanism to cause the temple to collapse, causing a rockfall that is shown burying and killing him.
In the English translation of the manga adaptation, his name is spelled Markus.
Pokémon
- Controlled
Heatran was another Pokémon that Marcus controlled. Unlike the anime, Heatran was shown to have disobeyed Marcus.
None of Heatran's moves are known.
In the TCG
This listing is of cards mentioning or featuring Marcus or his Pokémon in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
| Marcus's Pokémon Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
Heatran 
|
|
Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 005/022 | ||||
| Bronzong
|
|
Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 015/022 | ||||
Trivia
- Marcus shares the same voice actors with Sir Aaron, both in English and Japanese.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ギシン Gishin | Can be taken to mean 義臣 gishin (loyal retainer) and 疑心 gishin (suspicion), both aspects of his character. |
| English | Marcus | Possibly a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war and an agricultural guardian. |
| Korean | 기신 Gisin | Transliteration of his Japanese name. |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 奇辛 Qíxīn | Transliteration of his Japanese name. |
| Thai | กิชิน Gishin | Transliteration of his Japanese name. |
|
This movie article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
