Marv

[close] Marv is a fictional character in the graphic novel series Sin City, created by Frank Miller. In the 2005 film adaptation, he is played by Mickey Rourke. He first appears in The Hard Goodbye and follows with appearances in A Dame to Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night, and Silent Night. He makes a brief cameo in Blue Eyes (as featured in Lost, Lonely, and Lethal).

Marv is one of the major characters of the series, and appears or is mentioned in nearly every book. He is the protagonist of the first Sin City "yarn", The Hard Goodbye, as well as two shorter installments, Silent Night and Just Another Saturday Night. He also has a supporting role in A Dame to Kill For.

In the book Sin City: The Making of the Movie, creator Frank Miller describes the creation of Marv as a juxtaposition of his two biggest influences: film noir and medieval stories. The result was the idea for a character he called "Conan in a trench coat."

In the film and A Dame to Kill For his good friend Dwight remarks "most people think Marv is crazy. He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century. He'd be right at home on some ancient battlefield swinging an axe into somebody's face. Or in a Roman arena, taking his sword to other gladiators like him."

Marv has an incredible level of strength which, coupled with his well-developed fighting skills, allow him to bring down nearly anyone who challenges him or breaks his personal code of ethics with startling ease. Marv is also fond of long trench coats, and immediately prior to killing someone in possession of such a coat, he often remarks something to the effect of "That's a damn fine coat you're wearing", after which he takes their coat, especially if the one he had was damaged.

He suffers from an unnamed mental condition that causes him to "get confused", which, judging from his own awareness of his illness and the effects it is shown to have, probably involves short-term memory loss and possibly hallucinations. He also fears "turn(ing) into what they always said [he] was gonna turn into- a maniac, a psycho killer." Lucille, his parole officer, supplies him with medication (presumably antipsychotics) through her girlfriend Claire to control these effects of his condition. Claire, a psychiatrist, once tried to analyze him, but he claims she got "too scared."

Marv has convinced himself that he doesn't have a particularly high intellect, but he shows a surprising amount of intelligence when needed, noticeably an ability to logically deduce confusing and complex events quite accurately, and his skills in combat also imply a degree of intelligence from a strategic viewpoint. However, in most situations he just smashes his way through conflicts, such as kicking down a door and sending police flying, or charging a squad of heavily armed cops whilst only armed with a hatchet.

Marv has a well-developed skill and a strong appetite for torture. He never blinks or seems to think twice about inflicting the slowest, most creative and painful death he can possibly implement on his worst enemies. He speaks in a soft, plain-spoken, and calm manner, almost bordering on the nonchalant, showing no sign of hesitation or fear, even while committing gruesome killings. He admits in The Hard Goodbye that he never feels bad about killing hired hitmen, though he may show some small measure of mercy when extracting information from them. He also shows little to no fear in dangerous situations, even when heavily outnumbered, and faces them with a dry laconic wit. In The Hard Goodbye, instead of panicking when cornered by several members of the SWAT team, upon being asked to open the door, he very calmly states "I'll be right out.", before successfully fighting his way out of the building.


While Marv has no compunction about maiming and killing anyone he feels has wronged him or those close to him, even he has his limits. He is deeply afraid of winding up as "a maniac [or] a psycho killer" (as mentioned previously). He will only kill someone if, as Marv himself puts it, "I know for sure I ought to", making it a point to avoid unnecessarily hurting or killing those who have not earned it in his eyes. A perfect example of this was when he knocks out Wendy rather than let her watch him dismember Kevin, since he believed Wendy witnessing Kevin's dismemberment would cause her a lifetime of nightmares, and would therefore be unnecessarily hurting her. He also adheres unrelentingly to his own personal code of honor, which dictates the repayment of debts and chivalry towards women, stating that "it really gets my goat when guys rough up dames,". He also highly values kindness, often going out of his way to repay kindness shown to him. As such, anyone whom he considers a friend and/or has shown him kindness, he will defend until he is no longer capable, or he feels the debt has been repaid, whichever comes first. Marv is shown to have a platonic relationship with Nancy, being a sort of guardian angel to her, especially after an incident in which "some Frat boyfriend of hers roughed her up". And another platonic relationship with his social worker, Lucille, who is a lesbian. Both Nancy and Lucille clearly adore Marv and do what they can to help him. He also has a soft spot for children, suggested when he rescues a little girl from pimps in Silent Night, as well as for animals, as shown when he knocks out, rather than kills, Kevin's wolf, which he only does as a matter of necessity to maintain the element of surprise, since Kevin's wolf had otherwise done nothing wrong to him. Throughout the story, Marv often shows a good-natured, humorous side, unresentful of even the worst fate throws at him and often showing a wry sense of humor at the absurdity of his situations.

Marv was ranked as the 24th greatest comic book character in Wizard magazine. Empire magazine also ranked Marv as the 26th greatest comic book character of all time stating that Marv is a Frank Millar Grade A patsy, the fall guy, the hapless hero at the center of a conspiracy that he can't even begin to understand but with a traditional Miller tweak; Empire described Marv as a force of nature, cutting a path through the corrupt power-brokers of the city, until his pound of flesh (and more) has been exacted. Also In 2008, Empire Magazine also selected Marv as the 82nd greatest film characters stating that he ain't too bright, but it turns out that Marv, despite his seemingly indestructible (if bandage-swathed) exterior, has a soft center. IGN also listed Marv as the 75th greatest comic book hero of all time stating that Sin City is a place where only the strong and sadistic can survive. Marv is a little of both, but he also has a noble streak and an unbreakable sense of loyalty towards those few people who can see beneath his craggy exterior and recognize the good man within.