Marcus Ren

"Two words: Sparrow jousting." "Two words: why not?"

- Marcus Ren and Amanda Holliday

Marcus Ren is a Hunter who became a legend in the Last City due to his skill in the Sparrow Racing League.

Guardian of the Last City
"Don't notch your cloak for every bounty. You'll run out of cloak."

- Marcus During his efforts to perfect the Fr0st-EE5s, Marcus asked his fellow SRL racer Blue Boaz to help test them out. Boaz thought the boots were great despite the name, and Marcus was glad they worked so well despite the problems he still had not fixed, admitting that the Energy Transfer Capacitors had around a two-percent chance of exploding. His friend was furious that Marcus had him test them without warning about the danger, threatening to inform Deputy-Commander Sloane, but Marcus quickly offered him rare Sparrow mods to ensure his silence.

Marcus was part of several fireteams of Guardians deployed to the Cosmodrome in the aftermath of the SIVA Crisis. The fireteams found most of the Fallen House of Devils hideouts abandoned, with their banners and House armor burned. After the mission, Marcus spoke with Sloane and stated that he believed that the Fallen's siege of the City was broken, as the other Fallen Houses across the system had also abandoned their holdings and disappeared.

During the Red Legion's assault on the Last City, Marcus was drained of his Light when the Cabal placed a cage upon the Traveler. Attempting to escape the occupied City, Marcus raced through the streets on his Sparrow while imagining commentary from the SRL narrating his ride. He was ambushed by a Centurion who destroyed his Sparrow, sending him crashing into a mound of debris, briefly knocking him out. As he came to, he found himself being picked up by the neck by the Centurion and with a broken leg. As the Centurion choked the life out of the Hunter, Marcus continued to imagine SRL commentary and thought that he had a good run, but this was the end for him. However, his friend and fellow SRL racer Enoch Bast arrived and tackled the Centurion before killing it in hand-to-hand combat. With Marcus heavily wounded, Enoch carried him to safety out of the Cabal occupied city.

A New Golden Age
"But these are the Stompies. I'm going to do a test-drive, and if they rip my legs off—" "Is that likely?" "You disintegrate me quick before the rogue mechasynapses spread—" "WHAT—"

- Marcus Ren and Boaz

Following the reclamation of the Last City from the Red Legion and the restoration of the Light, Marcus returned to the City. At some point, Marcus suggested to Amanda Holliday that they could attempt to use Sparrows for jousting, which Amanda thought was a great idea.

While working on the creation of the St0mp-EE5, Marcus invited Boaz to help test them. He asked Boaz to disintegrate him quickly if the boots ripped his legs off so that the rogue mechasynapses could not spread. Boaz was disconcerted about the dangers of the experiment, while also noting he would not even get Crucible credit for the kill. Marcus offered to let him win their next race and suggested that he could ask Ariadne Gris for help instead, as he was sure she would want to shoot him. His fellow racer agreed to help and Marcus began his first field test of the St0mp-EE5's.

One day in his workshop, Marcus complained to his Ghost, Didi, that he was bored and needed a new project. She pointed out that he had three unfinished Sparrows and a task from Ikora Rey that he had yet to complete. Marcus complained she was not taking him seriously, causing her to fly over to his bright red racing jacket and point out that she had always wanted one for herself. Excited by the idea, Marcus agreed she needed a racing shell and that he was going to create the flashiest Ghost shell ever. He kissed Didi's shell and thanked her for the idea.

During the first Crimson Days event following the Liberation of the Last City, Marcus raced in the Crimson Cup to defend his win the previous year. During the final lap he had a four length lead on Enoch, but while looking behind him dropped his lucky coin. A moment later, Marcus' Sparrow fried a cell, causing him to lose speed. Just before the finish line, Enoch passed Marcus and won the race, stunning the crowd and announcers. Marcus sped off the track on his damaged Sparrow, casting one last look back at the Titan racer who had defeated him.

After hearing rumors that the Scorn Baroness Yaviks, the Rider had successfully ridden through the chaotic asteroids of The Ragged Valley in the Tangled Shore, Marcus set out to prove that it was impossible to do so in order to discredit the murderous Fallen raider. He made four runs through the Ragged Valley, and the ever-changing orbits of the crashing asteroids destroyed four of his Sparrows and required him to be resurrected by Didi once. After the fourth attempt Marcus declared the Ragged Valley to be too random to navigate and that predicting the path of the asteroids was impossible, however he decided to attempt it for a fifth time. He successfully managed to cross the Ragged Valley on that attempt, squeezing through a narrow gap just before two asteroids collided. Despite proving that the Ragged Valley could be navigated, Marcus refused to admit that Yaviks could have accomplished the same feat.

Marcus later played the role of the Young Wolf's Ghost in a play written by Didi entitled "ORYX THE NIGHTMARE DADDY: One Brave Ghost Versus the Death from Outer Space" that was being put on by the Ghost Community Theater.

Marcus collaborated with Anastasia Bray on construction of a new Sparrow infused with Solar energy. However, the Solar infused Sparrow unexpectedly remained on fire constantly with no way to put it out. Marcus took it for test rides and later showed it to Ariadne, explaining that it was stable to ride but that it could explode at any moment. As they stood there watching the Sparrow burn, Ariadne whispered that the Sparrow was cool, causing Marcus to break out in a grin and happily agree with her.

During a SRL race, Marcus took the lead right out of the gate, with Enoch behind him in second. As he planned on how to celebrate his victory later he slowed down to match speed with his friend and exchanged some friendly mocking. As he did so again on the final lap, Marcus was stunned when another racer shot past both of them and almost loses his balance. Throttling his Sparrow up to full speed he attempted to catch up with the racer, whose Sparrow he did not recognize, but he is unable to make up ground as the other racer gets further ahead. Marcus comes in second, but the unidentified racer, who entered as "Jane Doe", does not stay to collect her winnings.

Personality and traits
"Like I said, it's stable for now, and I can ride it, but who knows how long that'll last. It could probably explode at any second." "Cool." "I know, right?"

- Marcus and Ariadne Gris discussing the Burnout

Marcus was an extreme risk taker. He continually designed new Sparrows and armor that ran the risk of exploding or backfiring on their user. This behavior extended to the use of Stasis powers from the Pyramid on Europa. Marcus argued that the risks of Stasis were worth wielding if it gave them a chance to defeat the Darkness.

Trivia

 * Cayde-6 believed that Marcus was one of the few Hunters skilled enough to kill him and take over the position of Hunter Vanguard.

List of appearances

 * Destiny: The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron
 * The Dawning
 * Destiny 2
 * Curse of Osiris
 * Warmind
 * Solstice of Heroes
 * Forsaken
 * Black Armory
 * Joker's Wild
 * Season of the Worthy
 * Season of Arrivals
 * Beyond Light
 * Season of the Splicer