Marlin

**Marlin** is the protagonist of the 2003 film Finding Nemo and tritagonist in the 2016 sequel Finding Dory.

## Background

Marlin is a clownfish who makes his home inside a sea anemone in the Great Barrier Reef. He once had a mate named Coral who died in a barracuda attack, along with all but one of his children, whom he names Nemo.

Marlin can be somewhat overprotective of Nemo, although he means well. He also tends to be neurotic, worrisome, and pessimistic, believing Nemo can't swim well when he actually can swim pretty well for a fish with a small pectoral fin due to egg damage from the barracuda attack. However, this does not stop him from going on a journey to find his lost son, proving his determination.

### Personality

Marlin was initially a very playful, happy and easy-going clownfish, as seen through the interaction with his wife, Coral. He was shown to be slightly lazy, as he wanted to name half of his children Marlin Jr. and the other half of his children Coral Jr. However, he was also shown to be very brave, as he attempted to defend his wife against the barracuda who sought to eat his children and his mate but was ultimately repelled and knocked unconscious and into the sea anemone before he could do anything. This protected him, but also cost him his entire family, with the exception of Nemo, who was left with a crack in his egg, which resulted him in having a tiny right fin.

From this moment on, Marlin became overprotective, neurotic, paranoid, worrisome and pessimistic, as he made several practices and conditions for Nemo and himself to follow to make sure they were protected and safe. He was especially paranoid and neurotic about any potential danger that could occur to Nemo, and as such, rarely left Nemo alone due to the traumatic experience of losing the rest of his family to a barracuda attack, and not wanting the same thing to happen to Nemo. However, this overprotectiveness is what put somewhat of a strain on his relationship with his son, as Nemo felt suffocated and oppressed by it.

He also initially seems to be very serious, as shown when he couldn't tell a proper joke to some of Nemo's classmates' parents because he kept explaining obvious aspects of the joke, causing him to be considered unfunny despite the apparent notion that all clownfish were supposed to be funny, which became a recurring gag throughout the movie as others state, "He's not very funny for a clownfish".

During his journey, Marlin was on the verge of losing Nemo, the only family he had left, and was rushing as fast as he could to save Nemo. This caused him to have little patience for Dory's antics and other distractions.

However, despite these qualities, Marlin has proven to love his son more than anything and anyone in this world, and it is this love that fuels his determination, strength, courage and bravery as he journeyed throughout the sea to find his son after he is kidnapped by humans. Marlin overcame these obstacles with bravery and courage not seen in his previous behaviour to recover the person he loved most in the world despite the odds being against him.

Throughout the journey, he makes several friends and begins to understand that he should have given Nemo more freedom, particularly through his interactions with Dory and Crush because, as Dory states, "You can't let nothing happen to him, because then nothing will happen to him", meaning if Marlin doesn't let Nemo grow up and get out in the world, he won't be able to live life to the fullest.

He also begins to enjoy himself more throughout his journey, and slowly sheds his serious side, as shown when he had fun when he competed with Dory in racing to see who could get out of the jellyfish valley first and finally managed to have fun with his son Nemo by the end of the film.

## Film Appearances

### Finding Nemo

At the beginning of the film, Marlin and his mate, Coral, are expecting 400 children, which are due to hatch soon. The two are discussing names for their children when a barracuda attacks. While Coral and most of the eggs perish, Marlin and one slightly damaged egg survive. Marlin chooses to name his only surviving child Nemo, a name Coral had liked.

As Nemo grows, Marlin becomes very overprotective of him, in part due to Nemo's unusually small right fin, which was a result of the egg damage from the barracuda attack. One day, Marlin reluctantly sends Nemo to school. At one point, thanks to the alert of one student, Kathy, Nemo swims out into the open ocean to touch a boat as a result of a dare, much to the horror of Marlin. Nemo is captured by a diver. However, the diver drops a mask that bears his address, though Marlin can't read it.

Marlin is able to obtain the help of Dory, who is able to read the address but has short-term memory loss, and learns that Nemo has been taken to Sydney, Australia. Marlin, along with Dory, sets out for Sydney in an attempt to rescue his son. At one point on their journey, Dory is injured by jellyfish. Marlin swims through the jellyfish and is able to rescue her. (He explains that since he lives in an anemone, he is resistant to stings.) Marlin soon passes out, and awakens on the back of a sea turtle named Crush, who is riding the East Australian Current (EAC). After Marlin shares his story with some young sea turtles, word of mouth soon reaches Sydney and eventually, Nemo.

Marlin eventually reaches Sydney's harbour by way of a Whale, after becoming lost in the polluted water. Nigel, a pelican who has heard of Marlin, and knows Nemo, takes Marlin and Dory to a dentist's office where Nemo was taken. There, they find Nemo, apparently dead (Nemo was actually faking it in an attempt to escape). Saddened, Marlin leaves for home, leaving Dory behind despite her claims that her memory is better with him. Later, while swimming through a fishing area, he hears a familiar voice calling out to him. He soon realizes that it's Dory and a still alive Nemo. Dory had met Nemo and soon remembered everything, leading him to Marlin. Marlin happily reunites with his son, but the moment is cut short when Dory is caught in a fishing net. Marlin watches as Nemo is able to successfully rescue her with skills he learned while in the tank at the dentist's office. Marlin had disobeyed himself and becomes less overprotective. The end of the film shows Marlin, along with Dory, waving goodbye as Nemo goes off to school.

During the end credits, Marlin and Nemo can be seen playing together when many sea turtle children jump on Marlin.

### Finding Dory

In the sequel, Marlin, along with Nemo, accompanies Dory to the Jewel of Morro Bay, California in her journey to find her parents, whom she suddenly remembers.

Marlin first appears in the flashback during the events of the first film where Nemo was kidnapped by the divers and was worried that he lost his son after a boat (which is Philip Sherman's boat that Nemo touched from Finding Nemo) zips above Dory's head. As soon as Dory swims away, she collides with Marlin as the adventure of Finding Nemo begins.

One year after Nemo's rescue, Dory is the next-door neighbour to Marlin and Nemo, living in a purple coral bowl, similar to her original home in the Marine Life Institute. Marlin and Nemo are disturbed by Dory in the middle of the night, who tells her to go back to bed until he gives up and gets ready for the day. The next day, Marlin and Dory accompany Nemo's class on a field trip to a stingray migration (much to Mr. Ray's annoyance). After Dory is knocked unconscious by a large flock of migrating stingrays and Dory decides to swim to the drop off to find her parents after mumbling the "Jewel of Morro Bay, California", Marlin refuses to go at first until Dory asks him if he's ever missed his family, which brings up memories of Nemo's capture. However, he begrudgingly takes Dory and his son with him as they go to see Crush and ride the current to California. In it, Marlin, Dory and Nemo hang onto Crush as the three arrive into their destination in sunken wreckage in Morro Bay, California where he and Squirt wish the three good luck in finding Dory's missing parents.

Upon arriving in Morro Bay, he, Nemo and Dory arrive in wreckage where hermit crabs keep shushing the three as they swim along, and shortly after, the three are chased by an enormous giant squid after seeing its eye and fearsome beak inside a crate. While trying to escape, Dory and Marlin are worried that the giant squid grabbed Nemo with one of its tentacles and tries to eat him with its fearsome beak as the two escape from the marine predator after the squid is stuck on a sunken crate while chasing the three. The squid is suddenly crushed as the three suddenly escape the sunken wreckage and arrive in the kelp forest in Morro Bay, California where Marlin tells Dory to slow down because the giant squid is crushed when it tried to eat Nemo.

Upon stopping in the kelp forest of Morro Bay, California, Marlin is worried that Nemo is injured after being chased by the giant squid and snaps at Dory for putting them all in danger, during which he tells her to go somewhere else and forget about it since "that's what she does best", leaving her feeling hurt and causing her to swim off in despondency. Upon arriving on the surface of the Marine Life Institute, Dory gets kidnapped by two volunteers of the Marine Life Institute, and the father-son clownfish duo goes on a quest to find her. Marlin quickly panics due to feeling responsible for her getting captured since the reason she wondered away from in the first place is because he insulted her.

Upon hearing two sea lions telling him to be quiet, Nemo attempts to speak to them, but Marlin warns him that he should not talk to the sea lions, explaining to him that the two are natural predators that could pounce on them at any second. Nemo then explains to his father that the two sea lions do not have the chance to pounce at them while Marlin asks the two about the Institute, to which the two explain that it is a fish hospital. Fluke and Rudder help the two get inside the Institute by calling a flock of loons, including their friend Becky. After Fluke introduces their friend to Marlin and Nemo, she begins to peck at Marlin; Fluke tells the loon to bring Marlin and Nemo to Quarantine, and Marlin is suggested to imprint by looking her in the eye and do a loon call.

After Gerald brings a green bucket to Fluke and Rudder, Marlin suggests that he and Nemo need water as the two sea lions kick and shoo him off from their rock after inviting and giving the bucket to them. Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo get in the green bucket carried by Becky and she flies off with them to the Institute while the two sea lions wish them good luck into their quest to find Dory and help her find her parents. As the two clownfish are carried by Becky, Marlin is disappointed that Becky is confused and doesn't know where to find the quarantine area. She then leaves Marlin and Nemo on a branch after she spots popcorn that fell on the floor and goes to eat it after Hank bumped into a girl who has carrying a cup of it while trying to get to the Open Ocean exhibit. The father-son clownfish duo, still in the green bucket, plan to approach Becky so that she could pick up the bucket again; however, the branch flings the two clownfish all the way into a small tank outside a gift shop.

Upon ending up in the tank, Marlin and Nemo see Becky carrying the green bucket to the quarantine area's roof as Marlin tries to call Becky for attention to rescue the two, but Becky cannot hear Marlin yelling for help. Nemo becomes upset with him and his failed attempts, and later snaps at him, saying he made her feel like she couldn't do it. However, Marlin realizes Nemo is talking about Dory, and Nemo says he misses her. Upon seeing a wind-up toy fish that resembles Dory, Nemo then asks what would Dory do, and they soon find a way out of the tank by using the spouts of water coming out near by to safely hop over to a nearby fountain, where they discover a lonely, yet obnoxious clam who wants to chat with them due to having no one to talk to for such a long time. The two become quickly annoyed before discovering they can escape the fountain through the pipes.

Marlin and Nemo later appear swimming through the pipes, shortly after which they finally find and reunite with Dory. Marlin explains to Dory that they encountered a talkative clam in the tide pool exhibit, and as they backed away, the two ended up in the pipes. Dory then guides the father-son clownfish duo to quarantine where her missing parents are supposed to be, and along the way, Marlin both apologizes to Dory for being too harsh and insulting her earlier, as well as comforts her when she worries if her parents will be happy to see her by assuring her they'll be overjoyed when they reunite. Dory and the clownfish duo soon end up in the quarantine area in which the two leap from tank to tank to find her missing parents, then end up in a mop bucket in which Hank lifts them up in a cup of water and brings them to a tank of blue tang fish. Upon encountering and asking the blue tangs about her parents, some of them explain to her that her parents are not in this area, leaving Nemo, Marlin and Dory to worry that they may be dead. Due to the truck being ready to depart for Cleveland, he quickly scoops up Dory, but forgets to grab Marlin and Nemo, leaving them on the truck, then gets spotted by some MLI employees, forcing him to quickly flee, during which he drops Dory down a drain that washes her out into the ocean, leaving her all alone. Thankfully, however, she manages to find her parents and has a heartfelt reunion with them by following a trail of shells they had left for her since while they left the institute, they created a new home and situated themselves right outside of it in case she ever came back.

Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo are seen inside the truck that is en route to Cleveland looking for Dory since they lost track of her in the confusion. However, Dory then arrives to the rescue with some otters, since after finding her parents, she quickly remembered them and devised a plan to stop traffic by getting a bunch of the otters on the highway to temporarily stop and distract everyone with some help from Destiny and Bailey. Soon after the otters are shooed away by a truck driver and the traffic begins to move, Marlin calls for Becky's attention to rescue them, and Becky suddenly appears perching on Hank's head. However, after Nemo and Marlin leap into the green bucket, they realize Dory got left behind as Becky brings the two to the ocean. Upon arriving back in the ocean, the two clownfish suddenly encounter Destiny and Dory's parents, Charlie and Jenny. Marlin tells the two that Dory is still inside the truck while he tells Becky to return to the truck to rescue Dory. However, the otters have been cleared off the highway and the truck resumes heading to Cleveland again along with the rest of traffic. Marlin, along with Nemo, Jenny, Charlie, Destiny and Bailey, prepare to stop the truck again, but they miss it. However, all of them then witness the truck being hijacked by Dory and Hank, frantically escaping the highway and driving it off the cliff into the ocean, which also causes all of the fish being transported in it to spill out of their tanks and go free as well.

During the epilogue, Dory finds Nemo and Marlin, along with her parents and the school children by playing hide and seek as they attend a substitute class by Hank, Bailey and Destiny. After Dory says goodbye to her parents, Marlin suggests to Dory to return home, to which Dory tells him that she planned on going to the drop off, which Marlin doesn't think is a good idea since he worries she could get lost again. However, Dory tells him that she would enjoy the view safely. Marlin then accompanies Dory there, during which he finally relaxes and enjoys the view with her, as well as praises her for finding her parents, sparkling one last flashback when Dory was a baby and her parents proudly praised her for following the trail of shells all the way back home to the coral, as the two allow her to play with the other fish children as she swims off happily. Back in the present, Marlin and Dory are last seen watching the drop off view safely as Dory smiles, feeling accomplished and satisfied for finding her missing parents, and she deems the memories "unforgettable".