Markus

Markus' appearance as seen in the 360 Character Showcase.

**Markus**, brother of Andrew, is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the M&A HarmonyPlay show, created by Martin and Arthur Greywhinder.

## Story

### **Are\_Y0u\_HappY?**

In the Are\_Y0u\_HappY? video, Andrew is seen entering the scene with Banzo awaking Markus from his dream. Markus isn't impressed by the awakening, talking briefly about what he had been dreaming about whilst gradually turning to the camera. He talks about dreaming of a man dressed in red with two cones on his head (assumed to be the entity described at the end) and Andrew jumps in, claiming he's being ridiculous for thinking about anything else but the perfect toy. Markus brushes off the interruption, asking Andrew if The Toymaker is in town to which he responds with excitement that he is.

The boys - along with Banzo - venture off to visit The Toymaker. However, both of them are unable to find The Toymaker when arriving at a beige building. At this moment, Andrew and Markus turn their heads towards the camera yet again asking the audience "*Do you see The Toymaker?*" which may have prompted a younger audience to interact and state his location just a few steps west from them. In the scene, you can see replicas of The Baby Doll, Jack-In-The-Boxes featuring the Jester and a newspaper article discussing about Martin Greywhinder being pronounced a fraud (which The Toymaker is reading).

When encountering The Toymaker, Markus and Andrew ask him if he can create the perfect toy for the pair of them. He then goes off into a short narrative about how his toys are able to blink, walk, eat and talk. But, The Toymaker is incapable of making toys seem "life-like" by making them see, dance, taste and sing, causing his downfall in production. During this scene, some speculate that The Toymaker uses emotional manipulation through self-pity to guilt-trip the boys into helping him create the "perfect toy" (which proved to be successful when they offer).

As Markus asks if there is anything they could do to assist him, the screen dims rapidly as The Toymaker's mouth finally moves with a low and somewhat distorted voice stating "*Why yes there is...*".

Both Andrew and Markus stare awkwardly in silence for a few seconds before Andrew asks "*Well, what is it?*".

The Toymaker quickly announces in his calmer voice the "four main ingredients": a needle with thread, fabric with paint - later revealed - Banzo and their voice. Markus tries to interrupt him declaring the boys don't have money to which The Toymaker responses "*Don't you want to be happy?*" in the same distorted voice as before. The staring and awkward silence repeats again before the camera cuts to The Toymaker listing off the ingredients.

Eventually, Andrew and Markus leave to find the first ingredients: the needle and thread. They soon spot a line of red thread leading underneath the bridge which they follow to discover a closed-up bag. Upon opening it from curiosity, they find a corpse but quickly brush this off when also finding a needle alongside the body. They return back to the The Toymaker who informs them their next ingredient is fabric and paint.

Whilst it is not shown, both boys seemingly find the fabric and paint as the next scene involving them includes Andrew announcing they found the paint only to be interrupted by The Toymaker proclaiming his praise over their determination. This is when they ask what is the third ingredient to which The Toymaker says enthusiastically "*The next thing I need is your dog!*".

At this comment, Andrew is visibly confused and anxious about allowing The Toymaker to have Banzo. He attempts to ask him why he would need Banzo to be answered with "*The toy needs to be happy, and it can't be happy without a friend*". Markus jumps in trying to question the choice only for The Toymaker to almost repeat his line from before with "*Don't you want it to be happy?*" in - yet again - the distorted voice.

As a result from the harsh response to their questions, Markus forces Andrew to push aside his doubts and give him Banzo as to "not be square". The scene abruptly fades to another segment involving Henry before fading back to the cartoon.

Andrew and Markus return to The Toymaker, all eager to see the final product. But, he declares the forth and final ingredient is their voice via singing. Just when the boys are able to repeat after him, a loud emergency siren is heard as a warning appears reading:

> "*Warning - The following audio recording is an unauthorized release of private footage. For your safety we ask that you please discard the tape immediately. If there is any audio from the original footage, please cover your ears and close your eyes."*
>
>

Until the warning disappears, Banzo's monstrous form can be seen gradually being zoomed in from the center of the warning. Once this ends, The Toymaker prepares the children to witness the creation on the other side of the door. He states with distortion "*I really do hope you enjoy it*" with the camera tinted red as - presumably - both Andrew and Markus scream in horror at what was done to Banzo.

Before the cartoon ends, a few seconds are spared to showcase Banzo's new appearance via his face which zooms in and out with a heavily glitched filter. A memorial of sorts plays as Banzo fades away, showcasing the lives lost including: Amy Wilson, Richard Smith, Nathan Barnes and Banzo. Some of the captions underneath their censored photos describe their deaths. Nathan Barnes (aged 6) has a caption that reads: "*His body was found with his head facing backwards*".

### **Wh4t\_Went\_Wr0ng?**

In the Wh4t\_Went\_Wr0ng? video, The Toymaker is seen slamming the door shut as Andrew is heard crying in the background being comforted by Markus. The footage is more distorted when shifting to showcase the boys but seems relatively visible when showcasing The Toymaker. He faces away from them, asking to either the children or himself "*Incredible, isn't it?*".

Markus - frightened and bewildered - questions what he did to Banzo when The Toymaker keeps talking to himself about no matter how much he perfects the equation, there always seems to be something wrong. Both the children and himself state they wanted the perfect toy, leading to The Toymaker proposing the question "*What did you two do?*", attempting to push the blame onto the boys instead. Of course, Markus doesn't understand which only fuels The Toymaker's aggression as he slams the door in frustration with a harsher tone, repeating the question as his physical appearance becomes more sinister (as seen by the pentagram forming on his forehead).

This causes The Toymaker to begin a tangent about spending days trying to perfect this process, fooling many and trying over and over to get some success, only to receive failure in the end results. After cornering the boys, his glaze shifts to Andrew as he exclaims "*You!*", expressing how he is to blame for his failure in creating the perfect toy by doubting him. Andrew begs for him to let him and Markus go as The Toymaker lifts him into the air laughing maniacally announcing that he won't allow anyone to let him down, including Andrew.

Fortunately, he is cut off mid-rant by a demonic entity (assumed to be The Devil) arriving at the scene. The Toymaker becomes fearful of the entity, slowly backing away pleading with it to "*give him more time*". His pleads are unheard and the camera lunges at him, indicating that The Toymaker likely has his soul taken or is killed off-screen (as the screen freezes on his terrified expression). In the background, distorted and slowed audio of sorts is played. For now, there's no context behind it and its relevance to the video in question.

## Personality

Markus is a rather ambitious and highly confident boy out of the pair. He's usually the one to take charge and not ask too many questions as seen by his interaction with The Toymaker, even when the situation seems dire. He'll also try to force Andrew to leave his comfort zone by teasing him into giving up Banzo.

Still, from the video Wh4t\_Went\_Wr0ng?, Markus has been shown to be caring for Andrew as he's seen comforting him after witnessing Banzo's new form. And, he actively questions The Toymaker's actions/mentality when possible.

## Appearance

Markus has short brown hair, a black and white striped shirt, blue buttoned pants, black shoes and porcelain skin. Since he's placed in a cartoon-like world, his eyes also don't have a specific color, instead being just black. His cheeks are also slightly lighter than Andrew along with having a matching nose.

## Trivia

* Two boys featured in the memorial section look eerily similar to Andrew and Markus. In this case, Nathan Barnes could be the reality counterpart of Markus given the similar hair of both boys. Then again, Richard Smith could also be linked to Markus given the similar tops.
* Markus is usually the instigator within both videos to break the fourth wall via staring directly into the camera.
* It's not known if Andrew and Markus are technically alive within the cartoon after the sequel video was released. It's assumed they are given The Toymaker is the only individual who seems to have a relatively confirmed death off-screen.