Marco Maez, also known as Mime, is a convicted criminal and former costumed villain. He is the husband of Erika Manson.
History
Pre-Series
Years prior to the events of Watchmen, Marco used to work at his family's shop Maez Glass that was right across from Erika Manson's father's puppet store. Marco was visibly depressed as his parents were arguing while he was looking out the window.
Before he could walk away, he saw Erika control a puppet and waved at him. Marco then walked into the store amazed and Erika showed him around. The two would become good friends, but Marco's stepfather saw Erika as a bad influence.
Erika would later be beaten on by three kids after they were making fun of her and calling her dad a pedophile. Before they could hurt her further, Marco threw glass bottles at the two boy's heads while Erika chased after the girl who took her puppet. Marco's mother would later be killed by Officer White and Officer MacDonald after she refused to give them their payment. They pushed her down the fire escape and made it seem like it was an accident. Erika's father wanted to make him a puppet and before Marco can decide on anything the officers arrive and Marco runs from them in terror.
After Erika found out what the cops were up to, she tried to convince Marco to join her in helping her dad, but he was reluctant to do so. Erika then enters her dad's store and sees his body hanging from a noose. While she is hugging her dad's body, the officers arrive for their payment but are shocked by what they see. Enraged, Erika grabs a pair of scissors and stabs one of the officers with them. The second officer throws her and before he can shoot her, Marco runs at him and bites his hand making him drop his gun. Before he can hurt Marco, Erika jumps on him and strangles him to death with string. They then run away together and live off of the streets stealing food and killing crooks who tried to harm them.
Marco Maez was active as Mime at some point prior to 1985. Their careers as costumed criminals came to an end when he and his wife were defeated by Rorschach. By 1992, Mime was serving a prison sentence at Sing Sing.
Their last heist was at a bank one mile from Empire State Plaza. Manson and Maez entered the bank early on Wednesday morning, putting on an extravagant display for the cameras while they held up the bank. When Mime noticed a teller, Julia, signal for the police, the duo focused on her. Marionette used a photo of her son on the desk and thinly-veiled threats to intimidate her into revealing the identity of Mr. Mangold, the man who could open the bank's vault. When Mangold tried to bluff, saying that the vault opened on a timer, Julia was once again intimidated into revealing the truth. Mangold declared he would fire her, verbally abusing her and her child. Marionette, disgusted by this, did a display of acrobatics and cut off the man's finger. Ironically, the vault opened on a hand scanner, which they now lacked access too.
They were interrupted by the arrival of Doctor Manhattan, whose appearance left Marionette in awe. When Mime moved into a standoff with the superhuman, Manhattan prepared to kill him. However, Manson put herself in-between them, and declared that Manhattan would have to kill her first. Recognizing she was pregnant, he lowered his hand and withdrew as the authorities surrounded the couple. Police would later confirm that thirty-seven people had been killed in their crime spree prior to their capture.
Months later while Marco is locked up in Sing Sing, Erika gives birth to her son, yelling that she wants Marco there so they can both see their child. Before Erika can see the baby, it is taken away and Erika is later transported to Sing Sing with her husband.
Doomsday Clock
When Sing Sing was compromised by the threat of imminent nuclear conflagration, Mime was engaged by several other prisoners. At first Mime appeared to be helpless, but his wife, who had been freed by the second Rorschach, revealed this was in fact a "performance" of his. He then brutally battered the attacking prisoners and reunited with his wife, who informed Rorschach that Mime needed his weapons from a locker in the prison. Rorschach, already pressed for time, was annoyed to discover that Mime's weapons were apparently imaginary. Rorschach then recruited them for the job he and his partner were working on.
They traveled into New York City and entered the sewer system, taking them to Nite Owl's old base, where they found Ozymandias waiting for them. Ozymandias was disappointed, but not surprised, to see Mime as Rorschach's mission was only to free Marionette. Ozymandias decided to adjust his plans accordingly, knowing that time was short. He revealed the job he had brought them onboard for was to find Doctor Manhattan and save the world.
After crash landing in Gotham City, Mime and Marionette are handcuffed by Veidt and Rorschach, who deem them too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. He asks them to wait patiently until they locate Doctor Manhattan, at which point they will let the duo accompany them once again. While Rorschach and Ozymandias go to determine where precisely they have landed, the criminal duo break free and flee. He and Marionette find a bar own by the Joker's gang. One of the gangsters takes Marionette and he shoots him, revealing that his weapons aren't imaginary, they are invisible. After killing all the gangsters, he and Marionette decide to find the Joker.
Personality
Mime is mute, never speaking, communicating with his wife only through a special sign language. He is shown to be a deeply disturbed individual, taking great pleasure in inflicting pain upon others, demonstrated by his actions in Sing Sing, with even Rorschach being taken aback by his disturbing behavior. Mime is a skilled and brutal fighter, killing five prison inmate quickly. He also shows a high tolerance for pain, preferring to let opponents get hits in before making a "dramatic comeback" and turning the tables.
Trivia
- Mime is based off a Charlton Comics character, the villain Punch, an enemy of Captain Atom and Nightshade, the inspirations for Doctor Manhattan and Silk Spectre, and the husband of Jewlee, the inspiration for Marionette.