The Marine is one of the Gungeoneers in the games Enter the Gungeon and Exit the Gungeon. In addition to his starter items and guns, he starts each run with an extra piece of armor.ETG
The Marine was a guard stationed at Primerdyne R&D when an experiment went awry, unleashing an Interdimensional Horror into the facility. The Marine chose to flee in an escape pod, abandoning the scientists and his fellow guardsmen on board the station to their doom. Wracked by guilt and regret, he travelled to the Gungeon, seeking to undo the past and save the people he left to die.
If the Bullet That Can Kill The Past is used on The Marine, he will be brought back to Primerdyne R&D before he left for the escape pods. Talking to an injured scientist outside the starting room will reveal that there was an issue during a test and "something" has come through a dimensional opening. The scientist says that the escape pods are just down the hall and advises The Marine to leave. If The Marine goes left and then up towards the Lab he will enter to see that other soldiers have taken cover in the room's lower corners. Suddenly, the Interdimensional Horror will emerge from a portal in the center of the room. If The Marine is able to defeat the Interdimensional Horror, he will be thanked by his fellow soldiers for saving all their lives (except the scientist in the hallway, as he has "definitely died") and is honored as a hero.
Compared to the other standard Gungeoneers, The Marine has the least variance in playstyle and is relatively reliable in performance. He comes equipped with a piece of armor, which makes him slightly more durable than the rest of the characters. His starting weapon, The Marine Sidearm, has a high clip size and fire rate combined with decent damage output and comparatively high accuracy with a quick reload, making it a viable weapon by itself for the entirety of the first floor and a useful backup even beyond.
Military Training provides a notable increase in accuracy and decrease in reload times; provided the player can find weaponry to lend the trait to, it can vastly extend the effective range of some weapons and make some of the slower weapons more viable, particularly powerful bolt-action weapons such as the Hexagun. The increased accuracy can also make most shotguns much more effective at medium to long range, though it is recommended to stick to wider targets at these ranges nonetheless.
Supply Drop, if kept until required, is a guaranteed ammo drop in emergencies if the player is low on ammo. The downside is that the player is unlikely to need it until later floors; often, a better active item will drop beforehand and the player will be compelled to drop it or use it immediately. However, more experienced players who are using elevator skips to later floors, particularly the third or beyond, may find the Supply Drop highly useful. It may also be sold to the Sell Creep if one is strapped for casings.
Overall, The Marine is an extremely reliable character for combat, but while he receives a bonus to his gunplay, he lacks the special bonuses of other Gungeoneers, such as The Hunter's Dog or the variety of boosts The Pilot receives. However, he remains a highly useful character for players with a steady aim, as his sidearm is easily the most powerful of the standard infinite-ammo weapons and his passive gives him an almost alarming propensity for chewing through rooms with some weapons. He is best used if the player is looking to simply blast their way through the Gungeon, as other characters have bonuses that will help them with quests more.
Like all characters in Exit the Gungeon, The Marine's escape route up through the Gungeon features a series of unique elevators.
The Forge
The Hollow
Black Powder Mine
Gungeon Proper
Keep of the Lead Lord
Standard two-level elevator with no way to fall.
A large elevator which does not spawn enemies. The player must enter a series of doors and complete a number of rooms.
A horizontal platform moving at great speed to the right. The player can touch the ground here, but if they go off screen to the left they will take damage.
Standard two-level elevator with no way to fall. Features four mini teleporters that the player can use to teleport around the elevator.
Same for all characters. A free-moving rocket powered platform which bounces around the elevator shaft.
Other Appearances
The Marine is the subject of Enter the Gungeon Steam Trading Card 1, titled Marine.
The Marines face is the subject of a common Enter the Gungeon Steam emoticon titled etgmarine.
In Other Media
The Marine was considered for Indie Pogo as a Bullet Kin clone, but was ultimately scrapped.
The Marines armor appears as an unlockable character costume in the game Heave Ho.
Trivia
If The Marine loses his armor, his helmet will disappear. His helmet will reappear upon picking up armor.
Furthermore, The Marine's starting armor is represented by his helmet during character selection, despite technically not being an item or a gun.
If in co-op during The Past, the soldier in the ending cutscene will say “We're all still alive because of you... and your... little friend?”
Posters of Black Stache appear on certain walls in The Marine's past.
The Marine's Forge elevator in Exit the Gungeon resembles a military barrack.
The Marine's boss screen portrait is a reference to DOOM's cover art.
The Marine's portrait weapon is a close homage to the Pulse Rifle from Aliens.
When The Marine faces left, the scar on his right eye will change to his left as the sprite is flipped.
The Marine's appearance is based on the character Doom Guy from DOOM.
Additionally, his past is both a reference to the events of Doom (1993) and Half-Life, as both feature experiments gone awry, allowing the invasion of extradimensional threats.
According to his artwork, The Marine is right-handed.
The Marine's scar is not the same color consistently, as it is yellow on his sprite after losing his helmet, light brown on his old avatar, and red on the past-kill win screen. His right eye also is not consistent, being white on his old avatar but yellow on his win screen.
Cut Content
During early development of Enter the Gungeon, The Marine was known as "The Soldier."
On the initial release of Exit the Gungeon, The Marine was called The Soldier as well, though this has since been reverted.
