Martin (マーチン, Māchin) is a tertiary antagonist featured in Baoh the Visitor.
He is a ferocious, artificially evolved mandrill created by Dr. Kasuminome at the Dress Organization. He and his master are tasked with assassinating Ikuro Hashizawa.
Appearance
Martin is a large mutated mandrill with a robust build, having sturdy limbs and a small tail. Like ordinary mandrills, he has a pronounced and elongated muzzle, a pattern of grooves below his eyes, and wide and prominent nostrils.
Sumire's first impression upon seeing him is that he looks like a devil.[2] Martin has a full set of sharp teeth and pointed ears. His irises are small and light with dark pupils, though he is commonly drawn without them when attacking, making him appear more fierce. His fur is darker on his exterior and lighter on the interior. In addition, his hands and feet have sharp claws, prominent veins, and bumps on them.
Personality
Martin is a savage beast that frequently growls and roars. He has an advanced level of intelligence since he was trained for combat, understanding commands by listening to the sound of his master's whip cutting the air.
Although Martin is loyal to his master, who calls him a lovable fellow, he severely injures the man's face when playing with him. His master fuels his violent and sadistic tendencies by giving him ruthless commands such as allowing him to eat humans and to kill whoever sees him. He always appears gleeful when attacking, grinning when he is given orders to dispose of children.[2]
Abilities
As an offspring of genetically modified mandrills forced to live in harsh environments, Martin possesses exceptional physical capabilities and resilient limbs.
Martin's master warns that even a mere touch from him can cause significant damage, as Martin critically scarred his master's face when playing. Moreover, his jumping power surpasses Ikuro Hashizawa's while Ikuro is transformed into Baoh. For example, he can jump out from the depths of the sewers.
Martin can also easily throw large pieces of rubble and an iron plate. The force of the spike he throws at Ikuro is strong enough to break the blade of the Baoh Reskiniharden Saber Phenomenon.[2]
Weapons
Martin also has several lethal weapons hidden inside his fur and stomach for defeating his prey, which he can easily pull out whenever he needs them.
Concealed within Martin's fur is numerous iron spikes. He pulls them out and throws them at his targets.[2]
Martin stores a grappling hook inside his stomach which he ejects out of his mouth to attach himself to buildings and scale vertical surfaces. It is attached to a long wire and has an arrow-shaped tip. Martin also uses the wire to tie up Ikuro.[2]
Inside Martin's stomach is an odorless poison gas emitter which he can spread from his mouth. Inhaling it instantly kills a nearby rat. It makes Ikuro's movements sluggish and weakens him, as he loses his balance and could no longer use the Baoh Meltedin Palm Phenomenon to melt through wire.[2]
History
Background
In his laboratory at the Dress Organization, Dr. Kasuminome developed a drug that manipulates the genetic material within an organism's cell nucleus. After administering the drug to hundreds of animals, his laboratory created severe environments to breed them, such as a room with extremely cold air, a room with limited oxygen, a room with excessive heat, and more. Although nearly all of the animals died, some survived in the harsh circumstances. The offspring of the survivors formed "neoplasms" due to artificial evolution. Martin is the descendant of mandrills from Africa that survived these experiments, making him similar to the Baoh parasite.
Martin was then trained for combat by his master, like how the man trained killer dogs and monkeys for the military.[2]
Baoh the Visitor
Martin jumps out from the sewers on his master's command. He instantly leaps higher than Ikuro and pulls out a spike from his fur, using it to shatter Ikuro's saber. He then slams Ikuro away with his hand, sending the boy flying into a building. Martin pulls out his grappling hook to reach the building, snaps off a pipe, and then throws it at Ikuro, impaling him through the torso.
While Ikuro recovers, Martin points out a mother and child who saw them. His master orders him to kill them and he gladly obliges by smashing their heads together. His master then orders him to kill Sumire, so he throws three spikes at her. Ikuro blocks it with his arm, getting pierced by all three spikes instead. Ikuro regenerates and throws a large piece of rubble at Martin but he counters it with his palm, throwing it onto the ground. Martin then emits his poison gas and weakens Ikuro. He uses his grappling hook again to tie up Ikuro and finally plans to finish him off with an iron plate he throws. Ikuro jumps and the iron plate chops his leg off instead of his neck. Martin's master commands him to do the finishing blow, but Sumire realizes how Martin was listening to his commands and grabs his master's whip. This causes his order to be delayed, allowing Ikuro to finish off both Martin and his master. He uses Baoh Shooting-Bees Stinger Phenomenon to burn Martin's master, then punches Martin through his stomach. Ikuro pulls out the poisonous gas emitter and vertically slices Martin in half, killing him.
Chapters
Manga Appearances- Baoh the Visitor Chapter 4: Evil Beast Martin (1st appearance) (Death)
Gallery
Martin jumps from the sewers
Introduced by his master
Attacking a mother and her child
About to throw spikes at Sumire
Countering rubble thrown at him by Ikuro
Punched through the stomach by Ikuro
Martin's death
Manga Realization Figure of Ikuro with Martin's head
By Yukito Kishiro (Battle Angel Alita) for Volume 100.5
Trivia
- During early development of Street Fighter III, Capcom created concept sketches for an unused character named "Martin" whose name and appearance are directly based on Martin from Baoh the Visitor.[3]
- He was omitted from the OVA adaptation of the series, though Hirohiko Araki wishes that it adapted both volumes of the manga.[4]
- Martin was likely inspired by the creature in The Crate, a story by Stephen King that was adapted in the 1982 film Creepshow. Like Martin, the creature eats humans, scratches a man's face, and grins with all of its sharp teeth showing. Araki also mentioned the film in his novel Hirohiko Araki's Bizarre Horror Movie Analysis.
References
- ↑ Shueisha Jump Remix: Cool Shock B.T. vs Baoh the Visitor - P436 Baoh the Visitor ARCHIVES Part: 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Baoh the Visitor Chapter 4: Evil Beast Martin
- ↑ "ストⅢの最初期のキャラデザインスケッチ（SHOEI）@akiman7 #カプコンアートワーク #SF35th #ストリートファイター", Capcom (@CAPCOM_AWT), November 3, 2022.
- ↑ JOJO A-GO!GO!