Marcus Corvinus
Marcus Corvinus (also spelled Markus) is the first vampire in the Underworld storyline, portrayed by Tony Curran. He is the son of the first immortal and was bitten by a bat, thus making him into a Vampire.
Background
Template:Spoiler Marcus was one of three sons of Helena and Alexander Corvinus. He, along with his twin brother William, inherited the same virus which transformed his father into the first true immortal. Marcus had a strong bond with William. While William was bitten by a wolf which resulted in him becoming the first Lycan, or werewolf, Marcus was bitten by a bat which transformed him into the first Vampire.
William went on to ravage the countryside of Hungary, infecting the populace with his highly infectious lycanthropy virus. In order to combat the growing lycan threat Marcus approached Viktor, a dying warlord, to borrow his military genius and army (who became the Death Dealers) in exchange for immortality. Viktor accepted and became one of the Vampire Elders. Marcus also personally infected Amelia, making her the first Vampiress Elder.
In 1202, Viktor led a charge into a Hungarian village which William supposedly passed through. Instead of finding only William, they found an entire village of lycans. Death Dealers, including Amelia, subdued and injured William before Marcus, who pleaded for his brother's life before Viktor. Viktor, thinking that if any of the Corvinus brothers were killed the immortal bloodline would eventually die, locked William far away from the reach of Marcus. Marcus, then swore vengeance against Viktor and all those loyal to him, but was able to do little, as the Death Dealers were loyal to Viktor alone.
After William was captured, the "Chain" was constructed, a system when only one Elder ruled while the other two slumbered. Supposedly, Marcus ruled the two covens (the New World and Old World), but power was truly in the hands of Viktor, the ruler of the Old World coven. Viktor started to gather more power to himself to become the true leader of the Vampires, going as far as to alter history into naming him as the original Vampire. Later Marcus supposedly frowned upon the practice of feeding on humans. Marcus claimed that he enjoyed the company of Andreas Tanis, the Official Historian of the Coven, most likely because Tanis knew that Marcus was indeed the original vampire. However, Viktor and Amelia undercut Marcus' power, ensuring he would never have the strength to free his brother.
Underworld: Evolution
Much later, on the eve on Marcus' awakening for his century of rule, a Lycan plot, led by the presumed dead Lucian, to combine the bloodlines became evident. A captured Lycan scientist called Singe explained Lucian's plan under duress - and was killed by a death blow from Viktor. His Lycan blood seeped into Marcus' tomb and revived the slumbering Elder. However this was no normal awakening - Singe's Lycan blood reacted with Marcus' Corvinus Strain to turn Marcus into a Hybrid. He beheaded the treacherous Kraven (who had attempted to assassinate him) with his wing-spikes, not before learning the regent's memories, and burned down Ordoghaz, the Old World Coven. Determined that the time has come to free William, he sought to find Selene, who held half of the key to William's dungeon. He failed on his first attempt thanks to Michael Corvin, his distant relative who was also a Hybrid. He learned from Tanis, that the other half was held by his father, who had retrieved it from Viktor's body. Attacking again he seemingly killed Michael, and drank Selene's blood, learning the location of his brother. Marcus then confronted his father, and revealed his true plan - to rule over a race of Hybrids. Marcus then mortally wounded his father, and retrieved the other half of the key.
Journeying to the old fortress, Marcus then released William from his dungeon. Their bond was so strong that even the crazed William refused to harm his brother. They were soon interrupted by Selene and the survivors of his father's company. Marcus combated Selene, and was enraged when a resurrected Michael killed William. Marcus drove a wing-spike through Selene, who survived due to her drinking of Corvinus' blood. However, Marcus was distracted by the death of his twin, and wracked by shock and disbelief. These emotions caused him to be temporarily stunned and off guard and gave Selene her opportunity. She broke off the spike and impaled Marcus' head with it before shoving him backwards into the still whirling blades of a crashed helicopter, killing him.
Trivia
- The prequel novel to the original Underworld, "Blood Enemy". revealed Marcus had a son called Nikolas, who was due to be wed to Viktor's daughter Sonja. After her death at Viktor's hands he tracked down Lucian and engaged him in combat - only to be killed when the Lycan learned how to transform into his wolf form without the aid of the full moon.