Marlin the Elite

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The Marlin the Elite logo

'Marlin the Elite is a popular machinima made by Thomas Productions Inc. using the Halo 2, 3, and Reach engine. It is based around Marlin, an Elite that some may call dumb. It would be placed in the Comedy genre of machinimas. To view the episodes, click here.

The machinima came to attention of www.gruntsrus.com [1], which sponsored the series up until it's shutdown (after it reopened, the same deal was struck and GRU still sponsors Marlin). It is also sponsored by Machinimaniacs [2](a machinima community) and the Halo podcast Halo Amplified, as well as the Forging community H3 Artificer.

It is one of a few poplar machinima from TP including Halo 3 Dance TV, Random Sauce and Friend.

Introduction

Marlin the Elite follows the story of Marlin, as he goes on crazy adventures throughout different places with different people. The Marlin series has a relatively large fanbase. The episodes are usually around 7-10 minutes long, and the shots are usually around 2-6 minutes long. Each season is ten episodes long. In most episodes, someone that Marlin meets will die, whether it's an explosion, or something more humorous. This so far excludes Lemon Man, Marlin's grandmother, and Cotton Swab.

Characters

This is a list of the main characters of Marlin the Elite.

Marlin

Marlin has appeared in all episodes. and comical without knowing it. He is the star of the series. He is played by Layne.

Grandma

Introduced in episode 7 (but briefly mentioned in episode 6), Marlin's grandma is an old purple Elite who carries around flame grenades wherever she goes. She loves Marlin, but doesn't really care for anyone else. She was seen in A Message From Marlin: Thanksgiving at her house in Guardian, and is a recurring character in the series.

F'Andre "Lemon Man" Norman Klaus

Lemon Man was first seen in episode 9. He pulled a prank on Marlin by sending him to a closed area, but became his friend in episode 10. He has appeared in almost every episode since. His real name, as revealed in episode 14, is F'Andre Norman Klaus.

Sardonicus "Cotton Swab" McGillicutty

Cotton Swab, whose name was revealed to be Sardonicus McGillicutty in episode 40, was a Prisoner of War at the same time as Marlin. With the help of Marlin's grandma, Cotton Swab was able to escape. He then moved to The Pit next to Lemon Man and across from Marlin.

Seasons

Marlin the Elite is a seasonal show, with ten episodes per season. The first season, often viewed as the most classic, started in Spetember and was finished in December. The second season started in September. The third started in September and went through December. The fourth has been started. A fifth was accidentally confirmed.

Season 1

The first season of Marlin the Elite showed off ThomasProductions's machinima techniques, as well as their ability to produce a comedic character and a slight-storyline show.

The slight storyline is season 1 is that the mayor of Marlin's town kicked him out for destruction, and he moved to a new, more quiet but small town called the Pit, where he met a new friend.

Season 1 contained:

• Marlin the Elite (original airdate: 9/4/07)
• Ep. 2: The Dunes (original airdate: 9/5/07)
• Ep. 3: Marlin Gets a Job (original airdate: 9/8/07)
• Ep. 4: Marlin's Road Trip Vacation (original airdate: 9/11/07)
• Ep. 5: Roberto's Avenge (original airdate: 9/11/07)
• Ep. 6: Moving (original airdate: (original airdate: 9/15/07)
• EP. 7: Marlin's new house (original airdate: 10/26/07)
• Ep. 8: The Dealership (original airdate: 11/17/07)
• Ep. 9: The Playground (original airdate: 12/5/07)
• Ep. 10:The Elite in Pink (original airdate: 12/14/07)

Season 2

Season two kept the series going uphill. It was highly anticipated by fans.

Season 2 has no main over-arching storylines to it. It also gave fans the chance to participate in an episode (14). It also contained the "best/funniest episode" (according to fans), which is episode 18.

Season 2 contains/will contain:

• Ep. 11: Tryouts (original airdate: 2/9/08)
• Ep. 12: A Real Job (original airdate: 3/7/08)
• Ep. 13: Unlucky? (original airdate: 4/11/08)
• Ep. 14: Candy (original airdate: 4/30/08)
• Ep. 15: The Chopperz (original airdate: 5/9/08)
• Ep. 16: Marlin of the Dunes (original airdate: 5/16/08)
• Ep. 17: Rap Trap (part 1 and part 2) (original airdate: 6/13/08)
• Ep. 18: Hot Air (part 1 and part 2) (original airdate: 6/21/08)
• Ep. 19: Friendly Neighborhood Neighbor (original airdate: 7/12/08)
• Ep. 20: Agent Marlin (original airdate: 7/19/08)

Season 3

Season 3 began on Spetember 4th, 2008, exactly 1 year after the first episode aired. Season 3 contains:

• Ep. 21: Drafted: 9/4/08
• Ep. 22: Escape: 9/13/08
• Ep. 23: The Scary: 9/29/08
• Ep. 24: Klaus vs. Samson: 10/31/08
• Ep. 25: Reunion: 11/7/08
• Ep. 26: Lunch: 11/14/08
• Ep. 27: Marlin on a Plane: 11/21/08
• Ep. 28: Commercial: 11/28/08
• Ep. 29: Game Show: 12/5/08
• Ep. 30: Caroling: 12/12/08

Season 4

Due to the Mapocalypse (see below), Thomas Productions created original music for this new season.

• Ep. 31: Driver's Ed: 2/9/09
• Ep. 32: RIP: 3/15/09
• Ep. 33: 1337: 4/11/09
• Ep. 34: h311: 4/24/09
• Ep. 35: Trip to the Mall: 5/1/09
• Ep. 36: Grandma's Birthday: 5/8/09
• Ep. 37: 'Puter Store: 5/15/09
• Ep. 38: Match Made in Heaven: 5/22/09
• Ep. 39: Sweat and Toil: 5/31/09
• Ep. 40: Southern BBQ: 6/6/09

Season 5

The fifth season began on September 4th, 2009. It once again included new and original music. This season took longer and officially ended in June 2010.

• Ep. 41: Target Practice: 9/4/09
• Ep. 42: Birthday Surprise: 9/13/09
• Ep. 43: Space Invasion: 10/31/09
• Ep. 44: Down at the Docks: 11/15/09
• Ep. 45: Hunting Challenge: 12/18/09
• Ep. 46: House Service: 12/20/09
• Ep. 47: The Orange Confusion: 2/10/10
• Ep. 48: The Bodyguard: 3/13/10
• Ep. 49: I See Marlin, I See France: 4/9/10
• Ep. 50: Galacticon: 6/12/10

Season 6

• Ep. 51: Getting Schooled: 9/4/10
• Ep. 52: End of an Area: 10/15/10
• Ep. 53: Alpine Springs: 10/30/10
• Ep. 54: Dental Dilemma: 12/18/10
• Ep. 55: O Christmas Tree: 12/24/10

Episode Chronology: Season 1

Episode 1 (Halo 2)

Marlin gives a tour of his penthouse, and then heads over to his friend's house. It turns out that his friend doesn't like Marlin very much, and ends up getting killed because of Marlin. It was the only nameless episode.

Episode 2: The Dunes (Halo 2)

Marlin takes a train ride to a local city that is host to some dunes. Marlin, being as reckless as possible, totals the car he is given in the dunes. He is given a fine of 600 McBillion dollars, a running gag in the series.

Episode 3: Marlin Gets a Job (Halo 2)

Marlin, realising that he needs some furniture, sets out to buy some. It turns out that he needs money to buy some, so he gets a job as a construction worker, but ends up in a small drug-related company. Realizing what must be done, he takes action and destroys the drugs, killing the dealer in the process.

Episode 4: Marlin's Road Trip Vacation (Halo 2)

Marlin realizes that he has been going on almost a killing rampage, so he decides to take a vacation to get away from the madness. He checks in a hotel, and clogs the hotel's famous Manurefall. When it ends up unclogging itself, Marlin accidentally kills the hotel owner. He flees, and gets run over by a train.

Episode 5: Roberto's Avenge (Halo 2)

After the trauma of getting hit by a train, Marlin checks into rehab at a beautiful rehab center. He is then relocated to a much lower-grade facility, where he meets his friend's Billy Bob's brother, Roberto. Roberto wants to avenge his brother, by killing Marlin, but ends up killing himself.

Episode 6: Moving (Halo 2)

Marlin wants a new vehicle, so he steals a military tank. He uses it to destroy the town, and the mayor stops him. Marlin is then evicted from his town.

Episode 7: Marlin's New House (Halo 3)

Marlin's grandma helps him look for a new house. He looks in Valhalla, where trades one of his precious Warthogs for a Mongoose, and then finds a small, cozy room in the friendly neighborhood of The Pit.

Episode 8: The Dealership (Halo 3)

Marlin is teased for being an Elite and owning a Mongoose, so he is pressured into going to a dealership. He ends up destroying all of the Ghosts there, and the Ghost dealer is also killed.

Episode 9: The Playground (Halo 3)

Marlin's new neighbor, nicknamed "Lemon Man" for his yellowish appearance, tells Marlin about a new playground. Marlin's grandma drives him there, where he is shot at a lot but not killed. He and his grandmother are kicked out of the playground.

Episode 10: The Elite in Pink (Halo 3)

Lemon Man tells Marlin about a new crashed Pelican. He goes to check it out, where he meets a pink Elite. He chases the Elite around, thinking that it's a cute girl, and asks to be friends. The Elite ends up being a man, and Marlin runs away.

Episode Chronology: Season 2

Episode 11: The Tryouts (Halo 3)

Lemon Man tells Marlin about the age-old sport of "Rocket Baseball". Marlin is up for tryouts, and journeys to Standoff for them. When he incredibly makes the team, he spoils it by killing the team captain during practice on the day of the big game. The coach is also killed a few moments later, by Marlin again.

Episode 12: A Real Job (Halo 3)

Marlin learns that he needs to pay off his first mortgage, so he gets a job as a high school chemistry teacher. He doesn't know a thing about what he's supposed to be teaching, so he takes the teens out to teach them about rockets. The roudy students end up killing each other, and Marlin is fired on the spot.

Episode 13: Unlucky? (Halo 3)

This episode was released simultaneously with another Marlin video (see Fan episode below). It starts out with a crook from the Pit stealing Marlin's Mongoose. Lemon Man aids him in getting it back, but when it explodes, Marlin realizes that he has bad luck. So he goes to a scientist so that tests can be performed to see if he really is unlucky.

File:Default.jpg

Marlin talking to his best friend Lemon Man in episode 13.

Episode 14: Candy (Halo 3)

Marlin and Lemon Man win a tour to a candy factory. After the agonizingly boring but extremely funny tour, they learn that most of the workers there are actually slaves. Marlin then leads a slave revolt, and all paid workers are required to "shoot the slaves on sight". This was the fan episode.

Episode 15: The Chopperz (Halo 3)

The Chopperz Gang (a 3-person gang who ride Brute Choppers) terrorizes the Dunes that Marlin went to. They were remodeled, and Marlin was invited back to try it again on a Mongoose. But after he accidentally destroys the Chopperz' Choppers, they strand him and leave him to die. Episode 16 will continue this story.

Episode 16: Marlin of the Dunes (Halo 3)

After wandering around, a tribal assistant finds Marlin. He is taken to the leader, who ropes Marlin into a plan to destroy the Chopperz. They use a TTV (Tribal Transport Vehicle) to attack, and end up destroying it along with the chopper gang.

Episode 17: Rap Trap (Halo 3)

This episode is so long, that it was split into two parts, and a deleted scenes video was made as well. A producer and manager for a famous rapper (named the Rapping Crapper) recognizes Marlin's talent as a rapper, and so he makes Marlin and the Rapping Crapper do a record together. But RC is used to doing albums solo, and when their duet album becomes #1 on the charts, he wants it taken down. Marlin fans attempt to run them out of town. A number of songs were created by Thomas Productions for use with this episode. Extended versions are up on thomasproductionsinc.com for download.

Episode 18: Hot Air (Halo 3)

Lemon Man comes to Marlin for help with a Hot Air Balloon contest, then Marlin bets that he can beat the worlds fastest Hot Air Balloon Racer, Cory Von Sexy. It is unclear who won or not, but Lemon Man ended up having to pay off the damages. Among fans, this is the best episode.

Episode 19: Friendly Neighborhood Neighbor (Halo 3)

This episode, filmed alongside episode 20, takes place entirely in the Pit. A new neighbor, named Virgil, moves in. He collects weapons. Marlin sneaks in to look at the weapons, and ends up being chased by Virgil. Virgil explodes a warhead on accident and is killed.

Episode 20: Agent Marlin (Halo 3)

Marlin's plasma pistol is stolen. He and Lemon Man go to find the culprit. Their search takes them all the way to Guardian, where they find that Marlin's grandma stole it so that she could give it to him as a birthday present.

Episode Chronology: Season 3

Episode 21: Drafted (Halo 3)

Marlin and Lemon Man try to join the army, but Lemon Man leaves and Marlin in captured by the enemy.

Episode 22: Escape (Halo 3)

In this episode, Marlin and his new jail buddies, Cotton Swab and Tattoo, try to escape from a POW jail. After Tattoo is executed, Marlin makes a comment that makes the Iraqimanestein leader angry. When the leader comes to Marlin's cell to punish him, the audience learns that the leader is actually Cory von Sexy. Marlin's grandmother rescues him, and they go home. Meanwhile, it is presumed that Von Sexy dies when he rides off the edge of a cliff on his flaming Mongoose, screaming at the top of his lungs. A new permanent character, Cotton Swab, was introduced in this episode.

Episode 23: The Scary (Halo 3)

As more and more salespeople visit Marlin's house, he ends up hiding in a corner. Lemon Man tells him that the only way to get over his fear of salespeople is to go to Sales Con '08, a salesperson convention where Marlin can see that salespeople are regular guys who just want to sell him useless junk. When Marlin doesn't have enough money for the plane ride home, he ends up having to go door to door selling cell phone socks

Episode 24: Klaus vs. Samson (Halo 3)

Lemon Man's secret lemon cake recipe is stolen, and he goes to court to find out who did it. The suspect is J.O. Samson, but it turns our the judge is the culprit. Marlin is the only person unbiased against J.O., so he is the only jury member.

Episode 25: Reunion (Halo 3)

Marlin's grandfather is having a birthday party at his house. His old friends have been invited, and two of them hate each other. Marlin's present is a Ghost, to which Grandpa drives off an edge. Grandma says that she will fish him out in the morning.

Episode 26: Lunch (Halo 3)

This episode was done entirely by Layne. It is centered around a fast food restaurant. When Marlin goes to the McChicken Hut (home of the McChicken Patty), things more and more complicated, making for confusion. These include lost orders and difficulty deciding what to get.

Episode 27: Marlin on a Plane (Halo 3)

Marlin, Lemon Man, and a man named Frank are all on a plane. After the pilot goes blind, Frank jumps off of the plane. It turns out, however, that they were all just on a ride at Barnaby's Happy Happy Joy Joy Land. This episode was paired with a teaser for Thomas Productions' next machinima project, Project BlackKnight

Episode 28: Commercial (Halo 3)

In this episode, Marlin in invited to star in a Warthog Repair commercial. However, he does such a poor job that someone voices over him.

Episode 29: Game Show (Halo 3)

In this episode, Lemon Man falls sick just before filming a game show episode, so he asks Marlin to substitute for him. Marlin fails to the answer the first question, despite using all of his lifelines.

Episode 30: Caroling (Halo 3)

Cotton Swab moves in to Virgil's former home. He and Marlin go caroling. Anywone who hears Marlin kills themselves, even when he sings a very nice version of Silver Bells. This concluded Season 3.

Episode Chronology: Season 4

Episode 31: Driver's Ed (Halo 3)

Lemon Man signs Marlin up for Ralphonso Mexitalian's driving class. Ralphonso gets impatient when Marlin can't seem to do anything right. And when Lemon Man finds out that Ralphonso just wants money, he attempts to kill him.

Episode 32: RIP (Halo 3)

When Marlin thinks that Grandma dies, he sets up a funeral for her. During the funeral, Grandma shows up, ending up alive. Cory Von Sexy also shows up to explain what happened to the funeral food. He is chased away by Grandma.

Episode 33: 1337 (Halo 3)

This is the first of a two-part story arc. Marlin forgot that he joined the 1337 Scouts (a boy-scout type club for Elites). He has to pay off his membership fees, but decides to work it off as a volunteer. As the group travels to Camp Wawabahoosus, Marlin and the 1337 Scouts get trapped in a desert. One of the kids, Snot, falls down a tunnel, and Marlin and the Scout leader go down to rescue him.

Episode 34: h311 (Halo 3)

This episode finished up the two-part story arch started with episode 33. Marlin, the camp leader, and Snot are stuck in Hell, and must get a hole-in-one on one of the devil's golf courses. The camp leader takes the Kiddy Course of Terror and fails, so his soul is kept forever. Snot takes the Tower of Death, and he fails too. Marlin wins the Anthill of Doom, but there is no way out. However, Lemon Man comes to rescue him and shows him out by way of elevator.

Episode 35: Trip to the Mall (Halo 3)

Marlin and Lemon Man head to a mall to get a present for Grandma's birthday. They buy a Sausage maker and Flamethrower. Marlin is scared of escalators, so Lemon Man enlists the help of a security officer to get Marlin to come down. Eventually he does, and Marlin and Lemon Man head to the Mongoose to go home.

Episode 36: Grandma's Birthday (Halo 3)

In this episode,Marlin and Lemon Man give their presents to Grandma,but Lemon Man forgot his and sends Marlin.Marlin has to do 3 Trials which involve him signing a contract and paying 600 Mcbillion dollars to the security system, giving the security system 600 Mcbillion dollars,eating a tree,and learning a new language.He passes all 3 trials and it given 15 seconds to find Lemon Man's gift to Grandma,which he can't find in time,and runs out of the house screaming while the security system charges it's laser.

Episode 37: 'Puter Store (Halo 3)

Cotton Swab wants to buy a computer, so he and Marlin go to a computer store. Then a robber comes in and tries to steal a huge computer. But the sales clerk calls SWAT to take care of the robber. Unfortunately, the robber gets away and SWAT completely destroys the 'Puter Store. Marlin and Cotton Swab escape, but the clerk dies when SWAT destroys the place.

Episode 38: Match Made in Heaven (Halo 3)

This episode was concieved in a time where the creators were running out of ideas for episodes. But cast member Kyle came up with this episode the same way they all come up with the other ones: The more outrageous, the better. Marlin and Lemon try online dating as part of a dare, but then unknowingly get matched up with each other.

Episode 39: Sweat and Toil (Halo 3)

This episode details Marlin and Lemon Man swimming in a lake on a hot day. However, the owner of the lake tries to kill them for trespassing. Eventually, Lemon Man and Marlin run him over, and return to the Pit with nothing to cool them down.

Episode 40: Southern BBQ (Halo 3)

Marlin's Grandma and Grandpa are having a southern BBQ. But the souther BBQ goes south when Lemon Man and Cotton Swab get in a fight. They end up liking each other though, and all is well.

Episode Chronology: Season 5

Episode 41: Target Practice (Halo 3)

Because Cotton Swab was in the army, he knows a great shooting range for target practice, so he takes Marlin and Lemon Man there. While he a Lemon Man are doing great, Marlin is accidentally killing all of the instructors.

The three main characters: Lemon Man (left), Cottton Swab (center), and Marlin (right).

Episode 42: Birthday Surprise (Halo 3)

Marlin and Lemon Man take Cotton Swab to space for his birthday, where a Space Terrorist threatens to board them.

Episode 43: Space Invasion (Halo 3)

The Space Terrorists were overtaken by Space Pirates, who captured Marlin, Cotton Swab and Lemon Man and made them walk the plank. However, they were rescued by Space Cowboys and were teleported back to Earth by Space President Space Obama.

Episode 44: Down at the Docks (Halo 3)

Cotton Swab takes Marlin and Lemon Man to his Uncle Fronk's fishing company headquarters, where Fronk is low on money and business, because a vaccuum is sucking up all of the fish. Marlin sells lemonade to make extra money, which he stores in a large box that he accidentally pushes into the water. However, the box plugs up the vaccuum and the fish return.

Episode 45: Hunting Practice (Halo 3)

Estabon, a hunter, challenges Marlin and Lemon Man to a hunting challenge. Estabon loses.

Episode 46: House Service. (Halo 3)

As revealed on TPCast #59, this episode was the first one filmed for season 5, although it is being shown over halfway through the season. Marlin's address is mistaken for an old man's address, and so nurses end up taking care of him.

Episode 47: The Orange Confusion (Halo 3)

Marlin is mistaken for the producer of the band Saturday's Schedule. He is asked to fix their bass amp, which he miraculously does.

Episode 48: The Bodyguard (Halo 3)

Marlin becomes a bodyguard for famed politician Barney Gorgeous, but accidentally allows him to die.

Episode 49: I See Marilin, I See France (Halo 3)

A French ice cream salesman is given a role in Slumdog Mcbillionaire. He goes to the pit to study how to be a slum and takes notes on what Marlin does.

Episode 50: Galacticon (Halo 3)

(Fan episode 2)

Cotton Swab gets tickets to Galacticon and brings Lemon Man and Marlin along. And when the new sidekick of Galactic X is revealed Marlin and Lemon Man realize it's Cory von Sexy, who took the part to get revenge on the three. Before he does so Jerry a.k.a satan from the episode H3ll and everyone else at Galacticon try to kill him. When Cory gets to the exit Marlin's grandparents are there and try to kill him also. Then all the people t-bag him.

Episode Chronology: Season 6

Episode 51: Getting Schooled (Halo 3)

Lemon Man brings Marlin and Cotton Swab to his high school reunion, but when he discovers that he missed it, he shows them around the campus instead. Cotton Swab and Marlin are then inspired to show him their schools.

Episode 52: End of an Area (Halo 3)

A health inspector comes to take a look at the Pit, but is killed by deadly viruses in the community bathroom. The mayor is forced to relocate the Pit's population, including Marlin, Lemon Man, and Cotton Swab.

Episode 53: Alpine Springs (Halo Reach)

Marlin, Lemon Man, and Cotton Swab get to their new home and meet a rich man who owns two jet-packs. Marlin wants to try it out and takes it for a flight and becomes lost.

Episode 54: Dental Dilemma (Halo Reach)

Marlin discovers that his teeth have become much larger than they used to be. Lemon Man takes him to see a dentist, where said dentist informs Marlin that the growth of his teeth was stunted by desises during his stay in The Pit. Marin, Lemon Man, and Cotton Swab then get a check-up to make sure they are not infected. When asked to pay, all three of them run out, effectivly doing a "doc-and-dash".

Episode 55: O Christmas Tree (Halo Reach)

Marlin realises it's Christmas Eve and wants to decorate for the holidays. He finds a tree and tries to chop it down with Lemon Man and Cotton Swab's help, but is unsucessful. Just when all hope is lost, Cotton Swab remembers the tree in his house and suggests they decorate that instead. They go inside and have fun decorating, but not before the tree they were trying to cut down falls on Marlin.

Episode 56: An Elite Walks Among US (Halo Reach)

Marlin wakes to find items in his house with no knowledge of how they got there. Each morning, more and more items appear. Lemon Man suggests he takes a spiritual journey, and so Marlin walks into a cave where he meets a genie. The genie helps Marlin to discover that he has been sleepwalking, and stealing items from a store to bring back to his house. Marlin and the genie then must quickly escape, as they find out that the cave actually belongs to the Alpine Spring Community Hobos.

Behind the Scenes of Marlin the Elite

This documentary features behind-the-scenes footage of episodes 37 and 38 of Marlin the Elite, including voice-overs, acting, editing, ect. The film is hosted by all three members of TP, but mostly Layne and Kyle. The video was released on Saturday, June 13th, 2009. Check out the event here.

This film is also accompanied by two spin-off videos, one being an extended version of how to capture footage to a computer, and the other being an outtakes video.

Shorts

Marlin the Elite is also famous for doing short episodes for each holiday. These shorts are called "A Message from Marlin: (Holiday Name). So far, only Layne has been in a Marlin holiday short; the other two people that make the Marlin show (Kevin and Kyle) are not present in any of these. "The Light" features Kevin, but Kyle's part was deleted.

A Message From Marlin: Halloween

Marlin, dressed in a Halloween costume, attempts to teach you how to be safe while you Trick-or-Treat.

A Message From Marlin: Thanksgiving

Marlin's grandpa catches a good dinner, and he, Marlin and Grandma have a Thanksgiving dinner.

A Message From Marlin: Christmas

Marlin quizzes Santa Claus to see if he is real or not.

A Message From Marlin: Valentine's Day

Marlin counts down the top ten things people are looking forward to on Valentine's Day.

A Message From Marlin: St. Patrick's Day

Marlin finds all of the things that are green in The Pit, and then runs into a Leprechaun.

A Message From Marlin: Easter

Marlin hires a British man to help you find Easter Eggs... or find people.

An Announcement From Marlin (a.k.a. A Message from Marlin: April Fool's Day)

Marlin announces the sad news that the Marlin series is ending. After explaining that that is just an Apirl Fool's joke, one of Marlin's neighbor's from the Pit pulls pranks on everyone. Marlin tries to stop him by coming up with the best prank of all time... but is it not a joke at all?

The Light

The first short that isn't a Holiday short, this was made while filming episodes 15 and 16. It features the Chopper gang finding a light and proclaiming that it is a gift from the gods. Then one of the members are killed.

Messages For Marlin

Marlin's fans send him messages, and now we get to see and hear them.

A Message from Marlin: Fourth of July

Marlin tries to help out with the 4th of July planning committee, but ends up destroying the whole set up.

Ways Characters Have Died (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

• Ep. 1: Billybob was blown up in a car accident.

• Ep. 2: A Warthog exploded in front of the man at the dunes and kills him.

• Ep. 3: The drug dealer explodes with all of his drugs in a pool of exploding drug barrels.

• Ep. 4: The Hotel worker is stuck by Marlin while inspecting the manure-fall.

• Ep. 5: Roberto accidentally kills himself with a mini-nuke while trying to kill Marlin; the Nurse blows herself up with a grenade, thinking it is fruit.

• Ep. 6: One Spartan kills himself with a fusion core, the other killed by Marlin in a tank. The Mayor is killed with Marlin's Brute Shot.

• Ep. 7: One Spartan is splattered by Marlin.

• Ep. 8: The Ghost dealer is killed by a Ghost explosion, and the guy who thinks he's cool is killed by a sticky exploding next to some fusion coils.

• Ep. 9: One cop is shot in the head, and after that, he is flamed by Marlin's Grandma.

• Ep. 10: The Tour Guide is splattered by the pink elite, and then the pink elite gets a tank dropped on him.

• Ep. 11: The Scottish guy is killed by a rocket, and the coach and the team member are killed by stray Marlin rockets that he hit with his hammer.

• Ep. 12: Marlin's students all end up killing each other while fooling around.

• Ep. 13: Dr. Science and Dr. Bottletry go up a man cannon in a Warthog and Marlin kills them with a Missile Pod.

• Ep. 14: The tour guide is killed by one of the slaves, and the slaves are killed as Marlin fires missiles as fireworks.

• Ep. 15: No character was killed in this episode. It was saved for 16.

• Ep. 16: The Chopper Gang explodes in the Tribal Transport Vehicle.

• Ep. 17 (part 2): RC and the producer are chased off a cliff by fans, then the fans jump off as well.

• Ep. 18 (part 2): When CVS's Balloon lands on the announcer's stage, there is a big explosion and everyone in the Balloon, and the announcer, die.

• Ep. 19: Virgil exploded a warhead, which killed him.

• Ep. 20: Nobody dies.

• Ep. 21: The military leader, Hank, is blown up. The other two green soldiers are killed by weapons fire.

• Ep. 22: Although it was never shown, Tattoo was executed. Cory Von Sexy's Mongoose caught on fire and he rode off of a cliff.

• Ep. 23: None

• Ep. 24: The judge falls off of his post, and gets stuck behind a box. Because he is trapped, he kills himself.

• Ep. 25: Grandpa drives his Ghost off of the edge of his house, but Grandma says that he is not dead.

• Ep. 26: Nobody dies.

• Ep. 27: None.

• Ep. 28: The director is sniped in the head.

• Ep. 29: The trucker drives off of a cliff.

• Ep. 30: While Marlin and Cotton Swab went Christmas caroling in the neighborhood, their singing ended up killing 4 of their neighbors.

• Ep. 31: Ralphonso and his car are blasted off of a cliff by Lemon Man's gravity hammer.

• Ep. 32: It is unclear if Cory was killed or not. Grandma was not actually killed.

• Ep. 33: Nobody really died, but there was talk of one "Fatty Fartface" falling off of a cliff to his death.

• Ep. 34: The scoutmaster and Snot died after failing to make hole in ones.

• Ep. 35: No one died, but at the end of the video, Marlin was seen beating around the body of the policeman.

• Ep. 36: No one.

• Ep. 37: The clerk got blown up by the SWAT along with the store.

• Ep. 38: No one, but Marlin was tried to be kill to be served as food.
• Ep.39 Marlin and Lemon Man run over the owner of the lake.
• Ep.40 Marlins grandpa falls of a cliff but climbs back up, Then Marlins grandma accidently flames him but Lemon Man and Cotton Swab put the fire out but he does not die.
• Ep. 41 Marlin ends up killing all the instructors.
• Ep. 42 (part 2)The captain goes out to the rockets hull to bring oxygen into the ship but ends up floating away in space.
• Ep. 43 the space terrorists ended up being killed by the Space Pirates.
• Ep. 43 (Part 2) The space pirates got kill by space cowboys.
• Ep. 44 No one on screen, but Cotton Swab's uncle may have been killed by the shark.
• Ep. 45 Estabon's sniper rifle bullet hits some exploding barrels that he is standing next to and he dies from it. The explosion blasts him very far away.
• Ep. 46 The old man in the beginning of the episode dies of a sickness.
• Ep. 47 No one perishes
• Ep. 48 A bodyguard-in-training gets sniped in the head, and Barney Gorgeous falls to his death along with a camera man.
• Ep. 49 Nobody, but the producer was almost ran over.
• Ep. 50 Cory von Sexy by almost everyone at Galacticon, even by Marlin's grandma and grandpa.
• Ep. 51: Nobody
• Ep. 52: The Health Inspector is killed by all the diseases in the Community Bathroom
• Ep. 53/54: Nobody
• Ep. 55: As this episode only contains the 3 main characters, none of them die, however all three of them are taken down at some point in the episode.

The Essential Marlin

The Essential Marlin: Volume 1

After the Mapocalypse (see below), Layne started to create his own music for the show. The Essential Marlin: Volume 1, is a CD with 20 tracks and more than 40 minutes of music. Track 20 is a voice outtake from Marlin from episode 22. The CD was released on 7/7/09 (July 7th, or "Bungie Day"). The CD can be purchased here.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Marlin the Elite Main Theme
2. Marlin's Intro (*)
3. Trouble in the Pit (*)
4. J.O.'s Court Case
5. Driving School
6. RIP
7. Desert Campfire
8. Scary Story (*)
9. Ditched
10. Golf Course from Hell
11. Present for Grandma (**)
12. Dinner Date
13. Sneaky Swing Beat
14. Jovial Adventure
15. That's Life
16. 1337 Scout Theme Song
17. Marlin Blues
18. Jovial Adventure (Rhythm)
19. Happy Ending
20. "I Burped" (Voice Outtake)

• (*) Denotes a song that was released on YouTube prior to the date of the CD's release.
• (**) Denotes a song that released on YouTube the day of the CD's release.

Episode Production Process

The process of creating an entire episode can take up to a few days, and consists of three major parts.

Part 1: "Puppeting"

The creators of the show already have a list of the episodes for the season. They look at what episode they are to film next, and talk about what details should go into the episode. From there, they load up the Forged maps and start to act out all of the scenes for the episode. About 10% of the material they film does not end up in the final episode. Acting out these scenes is called "Puppeting".

Part 2: Editing

Layne, the head of Thomas Productions goes into Theater mode and films all of the scenes needed for the episode. He then captures all of the scenes in the puppeting stage onto a digital video camera, and uploads those scenes from the camera to a computer. He then uses a special editing software to edit the episode, while trying to keep it under 10 minutes. This is where unneeded scenes are cut.

Part 3: Voices

Layne, who voices Marlin, does all of his voices after editing is complete. He then calls over the other two members of Thomas Productions, and they record their voices for the characters that they played in the puppeting stage. Once this is complete, the episode is watched to make sure everything looks okay, and then it is released on YouTube.

Music

Although TP originally used music from other atists, the videos were eventually taken down (see Mapocalypse below). After that, Layne began writing his own music for the show. He and Kyle are currently working on some music for season 5 together. A CD containing all original music will be released later this year.

Running Jokes

This show, along with many other shows, has running gags, or running jokes, that they use on the show.

These jokes are:

• Every time Marlin has to pay money, it's 600 McBillion dollars.
• Talk shows are mentioned.
• After the credits on episode, there is something funny that happened while filming.
• Every time Marlin comes to a door or wants to know if someone is near, he shouts "Ding-Dong!"
• Ever since episode 21, a scream known as the "Kylehelm" has been put into any episode that will take it. This scream was recorded by Kyle, a member of TP.
• Lemon Man offers Marlin Lemon Cake many times through the series (A reference to himself).

Characters' E-Mail

Lemon Man made an e-mail account, so fans can e-mail him with questions and comments. "Lemon Man" personally answers every email. The e-mail is lemonman@ymail.com

Fellow actor Kyle has said numerous times on TPCasts that he will most likely never set up an e-mail for one of his characters out of fear that he will forget about it. However, one of his characters now has an e-mail. Cotton Swab's e-mail is thecottonswab@yahoo.com. He also has his own Facebook page.

Shutdown of Gruntsrus.com

GRU sponsors Marlin the Elite for the reason that oriol003 (the creator of GRU) liked the series.

On June 9th, 2008, GRU shutdown due to hackers. It reopened a few months later and re-struck the deal with TP. GRU is still a prominent partner.

The "Mapocalypse"

When a deal with Warner music fell through with YouTube, Marlin videos began to be taken down, due to the theme music. Subsequently, all episodes 1 - 30 were removed from YouTube, and made only available on ThomasProductionsInc.com. Season 4, however, will continue on YouTube. This era (from January - March, 2009) is referred to as the "Mapocalypse".

Trivia

• The creators of Marlin the Elite decided to make a machinima in the summer of 2007. One of the creators made a test video, which apparently includes Marlin going crazy, and then telling the audience that he will give a tour of his house. This video takes place in the Halo 2 map Coagulation, although in the actual series, Marlin's house is in Headlong. Very few people have seen this "Intro to the series".
• Episode 4 was one of the longest episodes, so the editor had to cut some of it out. Deleted scenes from this episode were released on YouTube shortly after episode 4 was released.
• Thomas Productions apparently has a paper with short overviews of all the episodes they have planned to make for Season 2.
• Lemon Man's house was created in Forge, in the same map as Marlin's house, however, Lemon Man's was Forged long after the original map was created.
• Marlin's emblem is a happy face. Lemon Man's emblem is the skull king. Grandma's emblem is a radioactive symbol (this was done on purpose as a joke).
• Due to the fact that Kevin and Kyle (co-creators of the show) are not in any of the Holiday shorts, Layne (creator of the show) sometimes plays some of the recurring characters. For example, Kyle plays Marlin's grandma, but Layne played her in the Thanksgiving short. Kevin plays Lemon Man, but Layne played him in the April Fool's short.
• Episode 12 had more scenes cut than any other episode, and to get as many scenes as possible into the episode, the Marlin theme at the beginning of the episode was altered slightly so that it was shorter. This was also done with episode 13.
• Episode 13 has to do with being unlucky. This was done on purpose.
• The movie 1408 was referenced in episode 4. This was the number of the room Marlin resided in.
• Thomas Productions has stated that the map "Valhalla" is used as the all-purpose map. It has, so far appeared in episodes 7, 8, 10, 13, and 14, and 33.
• Although Layne used his own account for the fan episode, Marlin has his own XBox Live account.
• Episode 14 had a goof. The tour guide's first appearance in Valhalla featured him in Mark VI armor, but during the tour, he had CQB.
• Marlin has it's own shop where you can buy products with the logo on it: [3]
• In episode 15, the guy in the Chopperz gang with the Mk. 6 helmet armor was actually the MarlintheElite account, only changed.
• Marlin 16 was originally called "Gone Tribal", but a last-second change of idea made it "Marlin of the Dunes", a reference to George of the Jungle and Lawrence of Arabia.
• Episode 8 was originally planned to be episode 4.
• The idea for episode 17 was thought up during the production of the first season.
• On May 25th, 2008, the TP team had a big day thinking up ideas for Marlin episodes. What had been planned for episode 28 was liked so much after a brief discussion that it was moved up into season 2 as episode 18.
• Grandpa is the only character to be featured in a holiday short before an actual episode.
• The "in flight" movie in Cory's Balloon is "Commercial Sabotage, a live-action video Thomas Productions made earlier in 2008.
• While filming episode 22, Tattoo was actually executed. The scene was captured, but was deleted for unknown purposes.
• TP is known to be interactive with their fans. In Episode 32, Lemon Man said he would send out emails inviting people to the funeral. And lemonman@ymail.com, the official email of Lemon Man, sent out actual invitations to people who had emailed him in the past.
• Marlin the Elite is a show that has many stand-alone episodes, and also many two-part episodes. Episodes 15-16 was the only two-part story arch filmed in one day.
• Marlin the Elite seasons are shorter than normal TV seasons; about half as long in fact (ex. September-December). Each of these seasons typically contains ten episodes, so if Marlin the Elite seasons were the same as regular TV seasons, they would contain twenty episodes.
• In Episode 37, all of the names of computers and such are named in leet. There is the P155, the A55 P00, and the T175. There is also the POS, which stands for "Piece of S***".
• In Episode 50, it is revealed that Jerry (aka Satan)'s full name is Jerry Cripes.
• In the same scene as above, the sub that F'Andre orders is the same sub that actor Kevin orders at Subway when he goes there.
• Episode 55 is the first episode to contain Marlin, Lemon Man, and Cotton Swab as the only characters in the whole episode