This article needs maintenance and organization, as it may have become cluttered or confusing. Its heart is in a good place, it's just a little special. Won't you please help out an article in need? This template will categorize articles that include it into the Clean Up task category.
Gaius Marcus, known in the late 20th Century as Buzz, was a demonic enemy of Supergirl.
History
Early Life
Gaius Marcus was born in the year 20 A.D., a Patrician in Ancient Rome. He was approached in 41 A.D. by Cassius Chaerea, a captain in the Praetorian Guard, to help with an assassination attempt on Emperor Caligula. Marcus refused to help.
However, upon returning to his home, he found the Emperor there, taking off with Valeria, Marcus's wife. Marcus kept silent but went to the nearest temple to appeal to the gods for help. The Roman gods did not answer... but the demon lord Beelzebub, Lord of Flies, did. Marcus made a deal with the demon: allow for Caligula's assassination to go forward and for Valeria to be returned to him alive and he would become the demon's slave upon his death. Unfortunately for Marcus, the shocked and devastated Valeria blamed him for her horrible treatment and stabbed him in the chest. Marcus became a demon whom Beelzebub renamed Buzz.
As a demon, Buzz was responsible for much chaos in history: he aided John Wilkes Booth and Jack the Ripper in their respective murders. Beelzebub promised to eventually restore Valeria to him but did so in the form of one of the Ripper's victims. During an extensive stay in England, Buzz developed an English accent.[1]
Leesburg
Buzz was sent to Leesburg to stir up some trouble. He created a cult that became involved in numerous illegal and illicit activities. He also encountered a young Linda Danvers, who was at a particularly vulnerable point in her life (having learned that her pastor murdered his wife and got away scot free) and fed on her insecurity. He lured her into his cult, where she remained over the next several years until she was in her early twenties. Linda even helped him in the murder of the pastor and his mistress. Buzz then attempted to murder Linda in an attempt to draw a demon named Chakat into the world. His ritual was stopped by Matrix and subsequently Matrix and Linda were bonded together as a new being.[2][3]
The Final Night
Main article: The Final Night
Buzz tried a second time to bring the demon Chakat into the world, but was again foiled by Supergirl.[4] Attempting to learn how human this new Supergirl really was, Buzz aided Gorilla Grodd in his takeover of Leesburg.[5]
Antagonizing Supergirl
Linda's mother, Sylvia Danvers, was tricked into inviting Buzz over for dinner. After a cryptic dinner with lots of mixed messages, Buzz staged an attack on the house by a being called Tempus Fugit (which was a possessed form of Dick Malverne. Buzz spotted Wally the God Boy during the fight, something that changed Buzz slightly (although arguably he had already been falling for Linda, who looked exactly like his wife Valeria). Buzz had been ordered by the Chaos Lords to get Supergirl to kill Tempus--she was on the verge of doing so, too, after believing that Tempus had killed the Danvers, but thanks to some words from Buzz she stopped herself. Buzz was then dragged off by the Chaos Lords.[6]
Much later it was revealed that when Buzz was dragged off, he managed to break off a piece of his essence and place it within Dick Malverne. He laid dormant inside Dick for months, though his presence drew chaos to him (and vice versa). When Buzz was convinced of Linda's love for Dick, he made his appearance. Buzz wanted Supergirl to retrieve the rest of him from a Chaos Lord prison: actually, a meteor hurtling through the solar system where all manner of demons were guarded by a creature called the Unholy. Buzz threatened to kill Dick if Supergirl didn't do it. Supergirl brought Buzz back and separated him from Malverne--unfortunately, Buzz's presence was the only thing that had caused Dick's cancer to go into remission, so with him gone it came back full blast.[7]
Buzz kept a low profile soon afterward. He did, however, give Supergirl some insight into her foe, the Carnivore, as well as offering some encouragement to Sylvia Danvers. The Carnivore himself addressed Buzz and told him to steer clear.[8]
The Quest for Supergirl
After the Carnivore was defeated and Linda and Matrix split apart, Buzz was stripped of his powers and turned human. He was then to serve as Linda's guide as she followed the Chaos Stream trying to track down Matrix.[9] Buzz was initially bitter about the task but was made to realize that the pain he felt every time he tried to abandon Linda was his own conscience trying to get the better of him.
While on the trail, Buzz was captured in New Orleans by the family of one of his victims -- sixty years earlier, Buzz had tricked a girl into running out on her true love and sleeping with him. Unbeknownst to Buzz at the time, he impregnated the woman, who gave birth to a horrific demonic monster named Dominique. The family kept the "daughter" for all those years, always on the lookout for Buzz. Dominique attacked her father, and even though Supergirl drove her off, Buzz was poisoned. Luckily, a visit with Doctor Fate healed him and they continued on their way.[10]
After being cured, the Chaos stream led Buzz and Supergirl to Kansas, on the trail of Imperiex. Supergirl followed the demon back to Leesburg, while leaving Buzz to face the authorities when she was convinced that he had attempted to assault a young girl-coincidentally also named Linda- when she was protecting the public. Buzz had in fact saved the girl from a car wreck and, after initially leaving, returned to help her fight off an assault by minor career criminals. The police did not believe his story when he was caught with the girl, and neither did Supergirl. She left him in Kansas jail, where he was put with the criminals he had beat up to save the girls life, who ended up attacking and horribly scarring his face.
Some time later, Supergirl realized her mistake and returned for Buzz. After tracking him to a local hospital, she found a note indicating he left for Gotham City. By that time, Buzz had already teamed up with Two-Face, but both were shortly under the influence of the Joker's laughing gas, which was spreading throughout Gotham. After reuniting with Supergirl and being cured of the effect, the two resumed their journey.
Buzz then met with Twilight in a bar, who offered him a trade. She said that the demon mother she was working for has the Earth Born angel part that Supergirl was looking for. If he turned Supergirl over to Twilight, she will then give him the Earth Born in exchange, a deal which Buzz agreed to readily[11].
Following the chaos stream, he got to help children of the New Hope School for the Deaf thanks to his knowledge of the sign language[12] and brought Supergirl to Las Vegas where he got briefly merged with Etrigan[13].
After being restored to his human form by the Demon Mother he got caught up in a fight between Supergirl, helped by Mary Marvel, and Quetzalcoatl. He was then summoned by Beelzebub who reminded him of his mission to bring Supergil to Lilith in exchange of the Earth Angel Supergirl and added the promise of the restoration of his demon status[14].
He stayed aside during the battle between Supergirl and her Earth Angel part controlled by Bizarro Supergirl but when Lilith was about to bring the demons of Perdition, Buzz threw Hurmizah hellspawn knife in her chest killing her. He admitted to do that for pure revenge against Beelzebub who deprieved him of his status. He then faded out laughing, not to be seen again[15].
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Demon Physiology
- Immortality
- Magic
- Metamorphosis: Buzz could shapeshift in order to look as a common human.
Abilities
- Occultism
- Deception
- Multilingualism: Buzz speaks at least English and Latin.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 50 Appearances of Gaius Marcus (New Earth)
- 4 Images featuring Gaius Marcus (New Earth)
- 2 Quotations by or about Gaius Marcus (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Gaius Marcus (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #58
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #17
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #7
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #2
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #3
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #9
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #43
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #47
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #50
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #56
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #64
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #65
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #66
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #72
- ↑ Supergirl (Volume 4) #74
Supergirl Villain(s) This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Supergirl. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Supergirl Villains category." |