Marco Diaz

Bản mẫu:Quote
**Marco Ubaldo Diaz** is the deuteragonist of *Star vs. the Forces of Evil*. He is the son of Rafael Diaz and Angie Diaz, as well as Star Butterfly's best friend on Earth. As of "Lint Catcher", he lives on Mewni with Star and her family.

## Appearance

Marco is a Latino-American teenager of medium height with a slender build, tan skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a mole on his right cheek. He usually wears a light gray shirt, a red hoodie, dark gray skinny jeans, and olive and white sneakers.

As an adult in Hekapoo’s dimension, he is taller and muscular, with shaven facial hair, multiple piercings in his right ear, and a scar on his left eye.

In "Deep Dive", Marco has crescent moon-shaped emblems on his cheeks while casting the All-Seeing Eye spell.

## Personality

Marco is kind, responsible, very organized, and supportive of others. He has a reputation at his school for being the "safe kid" due to avoiding danger and being cautious, though he insists that he is a "misunderstood bad boy". He prefers keeping his possessions neatly organized. Marco is smart, gets good grades in his math and psychology classes, and figures out how to find a replacement for Star's wand charger using the metric system. Because he likes it when things go his way, he can become unstable when they don't, like when he snaps at Star for ruining his room and insanely trying to live in front of Stop & Slurp. Although he isn't used to the kind of craziness that Star brings, he admits that he would like a little danger in his life and finds fun in fighting monsters with karate.

He often struggles with self-confidence, afraid of being ridiculed by others, and can become nervous easily. "Naysaya" reveals that he has many insecurities and emotional hang-ups. He has an occasional temper and can get frustrated and/or annoyed with others, such as with Star when she intrudes upon his life, or recklessly drags him into overly dangerous situations. However, he soon makes amends with those who cause him grief, like thanking Pony Head for saving him in "Party With a Pony". He cares deeply for those he is close to, attempting to save Ferguson from being kidnapped in "School Spirit" and trying to cheer up Star whenever she is feeling upset. Marco also has an urge to occasionally protect Star and keep her safe, as depicted in "Sleep Spells" and "Blood Moon Ball".

Over the course of the series, Marco becomes less overly cautious and more confident, especially in his romantic pursuit of Jackie Lynn Thomas in "Freeze Day" and "Naysaya". He progressively takes more risks as a result of his friendship with Star, but he sometimes still struggles with self-confidence. After Marco moves into the Butterfly Castle, he usually tends to prioritize his wants over his responsibilities which can cause him to mess up his important duties such as him wanting a job higher up so that he could see Star or keeping Star's sleep-portaling a secret from Hekapoo so that they can continue to work together and go on adventures. Whenever he realizes this, he does his best to make things right.

## Relationships

### Star Butterfly

 Tập tin:S3E8 Marco giving Star a goodbye hug.png   Although it took Marco a while to accept Star and her magical abilities, he cherishes her company and sees her as his best friend. He thinks her skills with fighting monsters are impressive, and he likes joining her on her adventures. With Star's help and adventurous ways, Marco is learning how to be less cautious and instead make the most of his life. In turn, he makes sure that they do not get into too much trouble. If she is upset, like in "Cheer Up, Star", he does what he can to make her happy and feel better.

While Star's bubbly, helpful, and reckless personality can sometimes cause Marco a lot of trouble or irritate him, he appreciates having her around, even calling her the coolest girl he knows. He can be a little overprotective of her at times and underestimates her ability to handle things on her own, which often infuriates her. "Sleep Spells" also shows that he sometimes feels inadequate compared to her, as he is just a normal kid, and Star is a magical princess. Despite this, he is willing to help her where required and they are usually fast to make amends whenever they end up in a fight or disagreement.

Ultimately, their friendship is steadfast and unbreakable; In "Gift of the Card", when the two were facing imminent death by the gift card Star had gotten him, Marco told Star that they should hug, so whoever found their "charred skeletons" would know they were best friends.

In "Blood Moon Ball", Star and Marco briefly dance together under the light of the Blood Moon, which according to legend binds their souls together for eternity.

In "Face the Music", Marco learns that Star has a crush on him, causing constant awkwardness between them in "Starcrushed". At the encouragement of his father, Marco talks with Star about these feelings, which she initially denies, and they manage to work through the strain in their relationship and remain best friends. After Star finds out she has to return to Mewni, she confesses her feelings to Marco and runs away before he can respond, leaving their relationship uncertain.

In "Return to Mewni", Marco is shown to have fallen into a depression following Star's departure. In "Marco and the King", he visits Butterfly Castle to see Star and give her a box of Captain Blanche's Sugar Seeds (her favorite cereal), and he asks her father if she is in any danger. When Marco later rescues Star from a castle dungeon, they reunite with a hug, indicating they care a great deal about each other regardless of the circumstances of their separation in "Starcrushed". Near the end of "Toffee", when it appears that Toffee has killed Star, Marco attacks him in tears by punching a hole in him which indicates how much he has grown to care for Star.

In "Scent of a Hoodie" since Star has to stay on Mewni for her protection, he and Star share a tearful goodbye hug before they part ways. He later receives his missing hoodie at the end of the episode and, after noticing that it smells like Star, he sniffs it.

In "Lint Catcher", Marco is appointed as Star's royal squire so that they can hang out again. In "Lava Lake Beach", he realizes he might be developing feelings for Star and feels sad after seeing Star and Tom kiss. In "Deep Dive", his concern for Star is so great that he risks wielding her wand, and he blushes when Star hugs him in the end.

In "Stump Day", Marco throws a surprise birthday party for Star on Stump Day; though she is initially conflicted due to her devotion of the Stump, she later thanks him for the gesture.

### Rafael and Angie Diaz

 Tập tin:S1E9 Mrs. Diaz unwraps fanny packs.png   Marco loves his parents, but he is sometimes annoyed by their cheery and optimistic personalities. He can also be embarrassed by his mother, such as when she said the "Ph.D" in "Doctor Marco, Ph.D" stood for "pretty handsome dude". In "Starcrushed", Marco takes his father's advice of talking with Star about their situation. In "Heinous", he is annoyed when they take Miss Heinous' side during her home invasion. In "Sophomore Slump", Angie tries to help him readjust to Earth life by recalling how she became arrogant and condescending to others after a summer in France. When Marco prepares to depart for Mewni, Rafael shows concern, but Angie declares that Marco needs to go.Bản mẫu:Clr

### Jackie Lynn Thomas

 Tập tin:S2E39 Marco and Jackie kiss at Love Sentence concert.png   Marco has had a huge crush on Jackie since kindergarten and hopes that she will like him back in the same way someday. However, he has a hard time getting her attention without messing up or losing his cool. He is also overly nervous around her, not even picking up the courage to say "hello" to her until recently. More recently, he is starting to show some progress in getting closer to her in spite of his nervousness. In "Sleepover", Marco confesses his feelings to Jackie, but he admits he is not sure whether he likes *her* or the image he has of her in his head. Despite this, he is willing to admit all of his insecurities to her in order to secure a date with her in "Naysaya".

In "Bon Bon the Birthday Clown", Marco goes on his first date with Jackie, on which he gets to know her better, and the two have such a great time together that they share their first kiss. It is stated in "Just Friends" that the two are officially a couple.

In "Starcrushed", the two share some casual boyfriend-girlfriend interaction, hanging out together and feeding each other pizza nuggets. At one point, Jackie asks Marco to try and read her mind, and she rewards his guess with a kiss on the cheek.

In "Sophomore Slump", Marco's adventures on Mewni distance him from his friends and family on Earth, and Jackie breaks off their relationship before it causes them long-term misery but they remain friends.

### Alfonzo and Ferguson

 Tập tin:S1E12 Marco, Ferguson, and Alfonzo laughing together.png   Marco enjoys being with Alfonzo and Ferguson, calling them the coolest kids at school (although he questions this occasionally). After Ferguson becomes the mascot of the school's football team, Marco fears that the rival team, the Warriors, will kidnap him, so he does everything he can to keep his friend safe, despite Ferguson's protests. Marco cares about his two friends quite a lot, and became devastated after believing Ferguson had died due to one of Star's landmines. Marco and Alfonzo's relationship has yet to be seen in great detail, but it can be assumed that it is similar to Marco and Ferguson's. In "Sophomore Slump", Marco briefly gets into a fight with them due to his constant talking about Mewni, but they reconcile shortly before Marco leaves Earth.

### Pony Head

 Tập tin:S2E24 Marco and Pony Head make a pizza together.png   Upon realizing that Pony Head does not like him and threatens him for his friendship with Star, Marco is both terrified and bothered by her treatment of him. Pony Head ditches him at the Amethyst Arcade, but she eventually comes back and saves him from the guards from St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, even though it meant she would have to go back with them. Marco greatly appreciates her saving him, and ends up on better terms with her, telling her "good luck in princess jail" before she is taken away.

Later on, he still holds unfavorable feelings towards Pony Head, but begrudgingly joins Star in breaking her out of St. Olga's for her birthday. After they manage to escape, Pony Head congratulates Marco for inciting a riot amongst the other princesses, with Marco accepting the compliment. In all future encounters, the two are far more civil with each other, their initial animosity all but forgotten.

However, Pony Head's wild, reckless behavior still irritates Marco on occasion. In "Pizza Thing", Marco begrudgingly includes Pony Head in his and Star's tradition of "Friendship Thursday", but his strait-laced personality clashes with her spontaneity and partying lifestyle. After receiving some words of wisdom from a little boy, however, the two manage to put aside their differences and declare a truce.

In "The Bounce Lounge", he expresses disinterest when Pony Head arrives at the Diaz Household in tears, believing she is crying over something trivial, and he gets annoyed when she praises Milly Sparkles for repeating his words of wisdom. "Monster Bash" shows that they still have somewhat of a rivalry over being Star's best friend.

### Monster Arm

 Tập tin:Marco and Monster Arm.png   At first, Marco is not pleased with having his right arm turned into a monstrous tentacle, but he quickly warms up to it when he sees what good it brings him. Unfortunately, Monster Arm is a bad influence on Marco, causing him to become more aggressive and heartless. Once Marco realizes this when it urges him to kill Jeremy Birnbaum, he stops the arm from doing it and tells Star to get rid of it. Although his arm is returned back to normal, Marco is fearful that Monster Arm will return someday.

### Sensei Brantley

 Tập tin:S2E4 Marco respectfully bowing to his sensei.png   Marco shows a lot of admiration and respect for his karate instructor in "Red Belt", bowing to him when instructed and stating that he wants to someday be like him. Unfortunately, he loses respect for his sensei when it is revealed he still lives with his mother and shows no interest in getting his red belt. By the end of the episode, however, Marco's sensei regains his respect after his nonsensical teachings help them both earn their red belts.

In "All Belts are Off", Marco is upset when his sensei picks Jeremy Birnbaum to represent his dojo instead of him, but he is later pleased to learn that his sensei considers him a friend and "dojo bro". In "Sophomore Slump", Marco accidentally upsets him by suggesting he's earned more than his sensei has, but they reconcile shortly before Marco returns to Mewni.

### Jeremy Birnbaum

 Tập tin:S2E37 Jeremy Birnbaum taunting Marco.png   Marco despises Jeremy, complaining that the only reason Jeremy is good at karate is because his parents are rich and spoil him with the best equipment and private lessons. In "Monster Arm", he wants to beat Jeremy in a tournament and not be made fun of for losing or "wussing out". When Monster Arm later attempts to slaughter Jeremy, Marco is mortified and intervenes. Outside of karate, Jeremy continues to bully Marco on a regular basis, much to Marco's frustration, as revealed in "Cheer Up, Star". Marco tends to rebuff Jeremy verbally, apparently not wanting to use force outside of karate matches. However, he did physically come after Jeremy in "The Banagic Incident" after Jeremy pushed his temper too far.

### Glossaryck

 Tập tin:S1E11 Glossaryk telling Marco when Star will be back to normal.png   When Marco first meets Glossaryck in "Mewberty", they start off on less than good terms when Glossaryck mistakes him for a girl and refuses to help him. Marco dislikes Glossaryck's intentionally roundabout helping methods and overall mischief, demonstrated further in "My New Wand!", "Star on Wheels", and "By the Book", but Glossaryck does tolerate Marco and enjoys messing with him. When Glossaryck appears to betray Star in "Raid the Cave", Marco remarks that he never thought of him as much of a team player. When Marco returns to Mewni in season 3, he helps Star take care of the mentally-impaired Glossaryck, notably in "Sweet Dreams" and "Night Life". Bản mẫu:Clr

### Tom Lucitor

 Tập tin:S2E19 Tom and Marco Diaz laughing together.png   Marco, having heard about Tom from Star, distrusts and dislikes the demon from the second they meet, even karate-chopping his hand off in an attempt to protect Star. Unwilling to risk him hurting Star, Marco inadvertently sabotages Tom's attempt to have his soul bound with hers, earning Tom's boundless rage. In "Mr. Candle Cares", Marco and Tom manage to come to an understanding, with Marco convincing Tom to let Star go.

In "Friendenemies", Tom invites Marco to hang out with him. Over the course of the night, Marco bonds with Tom, mostly over their shared love of the band Love Sentence. When Marco learns that Tom was only hanging out with him to complete his anger management course, he leaves in disgust. Tom makes him a peace offering by resurrecting deceased martial artist Mackie Hand, and they watch him beat up some movie ushers together, though they end the episode stating they still do not like each other. Despite this, they have hung out semi-regularly since then, as Tom says in "Naysaya".

In "Lint Catcher", they are happy to see each other when Marco returns to Mewni. In "Stump Day", Tom and Marco get into a disagreement over Marco's idea to throw Star a surprise birthday party. Their fight escalates when Marco accuses Tom of being a bad boyfriend to Star, but they eventually reconcile.

### Janna Ordonia

 Tập tin:S1E11 Make magic together.png   Marco is often annoyed and weirded out by Janna's habit of teasing and flirting with him, and he greatly dislikes her constantly invading his privacy (such as going through his wallet in "Gift of the Card" or keeping things in a hidden compartment behind his locker in "Naysaya"). Nonetheless, he is willing to hang out with her on occasion and generally friendly with her when she isn't messing with him. In "Deep Dive", it is revealed that Janna had, at some point, hypnotized Marco into passing out by snapping her fingers and saying the word "chickenbutt".Bản mẫu:Clr

### Hekapoo

 Tập tin:S2E31 Hekapoo 'not bad for a human'.png   In "Running with Scissors", Marco is initially very annoyed by Hekapoo's condescension toward him, impishness, and tendency to smack and burn the back of his head. After sixteen years of hunting her and her clones down, he grows more tolerant of her antics, giving her the nickname "H-Poo", and their adventure together ends on more or less friendly terms. However, she still occasionally annoys him with her teasing.

In "Night Life", Marco helps Hekapoo deal with rogue interdimensional portals. When she finds out that they were being created by Star in her sleep, Hekapoo becomes angry with Marco for not telling her. While she agrees not to tell the rest of the Magic High Commission, she says that they are done working together.

### Kelly

 Tập tin:S3E19 Marco and Kelly watching the Soulrise together.png   When Marco first meets Kelly in "Goblin Dogs", he is initially put off by her lack of response to his conversation and keeping food to herself without offering him any. Regardless, Marco is able to confide in Kelly about his problems with Star and Pony Head, and he says it was nice talking to her at the end of the episode.

In "Lava Lake Beach", Marco comforts Kelly after her most recent breakup with her boyfriend Tad, and she likewise helps him through the heartache of seeing Star and Tom together. As they watch the Underworld Soulrise together, Marco offers Kelly his hoodie to keep warm, and she wishes him a happy birthday. In "Monster Bash", Marco is annoyed when the party guests imitate his karate poses as dance moves until Kelly asks to dance with him. They also dance together at the end of "Stump Day".

## Abilities

* **Karate**: Marco is a student in the Tang Soo Do discipline of karate and, as of the eponymous episode, has a red belt. He is very capable of using karate chops, kicks, and punches to battle monsters as effectively as Star. He is able to use karate with potentially lethal force as demonstrated when he cuts off Tom's hand with a karate chop and punches a hole through Toffee's chest.
* **Culinary prowess**: Marco is good at making nachos. In "Pizza Thing", he makes a pizza with Pony Head, which had too many mushrooms for Star's liking. In "Baby", Marco prepares an entire spread of food for Baby.
* **Academics**: In "Match Maker", it is shown that Marco has good math skills, getting good grades (including an A in psychology) and in "Quest Buy", using the metric system to find a charger for Star's wand at Quest Buy. However, he admits in "Naysaya" that he doesn't know how to do long division.
* **Strategic mind**: Marco has somewhat of a talent for coming up with strategies, as demonstrated in "St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses" when he plans out Pony Head's rescue and in "Toffee" when he leads a resistance movement against Ludo.
* **Swordsmanship**: As of "Running with Scissors", Marco has become proficient at wielding a one-handed sword.
* **Survival skills**: Sixteen years of experience hunting Hekapoo has turned Marco into a hardened survivor and warrior. Upon returning to his original age on Earth, it is unknown if he has kept these skills.

## Trivia

* Marco has appeared in every episode except "Is Mystery", "The Hard Way", "Moon the Undaunted", "Book Be Gone", "Puddle Defender", "Club Snubbed", "Stranger Danger", "Demoncism", "Starfari", and "Ponymonium". His appearance in "Ludo in the Wild" was recycled footage from "Storm the Castle".
* In "Match Maker", Marco says that he has a dozen red hoodies, due to liking both the color red and hoodies.
* Marco's favorite color has varied depending on the episode/situation. In "Sleepover" and "Match Maker", he says his favorite color is red. However, in "Gift of the Card", he says his favorite color is plum at first, and later says it's Prussian blue.
* At the start of the series, Marco has a green belt with a white stripe in the Tang Soo Do discipline. As of "Red Belt", he is promoted to red belt.
	+ A green belt represents "the growth of a seed that sprouts upward, becoming a plant. Like the sprout, the student is becoming something greater." A green belt is roughly middle level.
	+ A red belt represents "a close, hot sun. This proximity to the sun represents the student's detailed knowledge." In standard forms of martial arts, a red belt is just below black belt.
* Marco's middle name is Ubaldo, as revealed on a test paper in "Match Maker".
	+ Marco's initials spell "MUD".
	+ The names "Marco" and "Ubaldo" are of Italian origin.
	+ His middle name is said aloud for the first time in "Lint Catcher".
* At the start of the series, Marco is 14 years old. As of "Lava Lake Beach", he is 15.
* Marco once kissed a ninja at Karate-Kon 2012, as shown on the shirt he wears in "Cheer Up, Star".
* In "Star and the Forces of Evil", his pants are blue instead of dark gray.
* According to Marco's voice actor, Adam McArthur, Marco's favorite food is nachos, which was first demonstrated in "Party With a Pony".
* Originally, in Daron Nefcy's version of Star without magical powers, Marco was named Sol, had an obsession with *Dragon Ball Z* (where his karate interest came from), and was more like an enemy to Star.
* As seen in "Cheer Up, Star", Marco's cellphone number is 555-0111, and his ringtone is "Space Unicorn" (which he claims is supposed to be ironic).
	+ However, when Star calls Marco's cellphone in "Storm the Castle" from the Diaz Household landline, she dials 573-1829.
* He suffers from motion sickness, as evident in "Brittney's Party", but in "The Other Exchange Student", he was fine riding to Isolation Point in his family's minivan.
* As seen in "Freeze Day", Marco has only greeted Jackie Lynn Thomas with a nod since kindergarten. At the end of the episode, he moves up to saying hello.
* In "St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses", Marco claims to have seen "every prison escape movie made".
* According to "Gift of the Card" and "Sophomore Slump", Marco's social security number starts with "904" and ends with "271".
* In "Naysaya", Marco is forced to reveal his deepest secrets and insecurities:
	+ Ever since watching a shark movie, he is afraid of the bathtub and only takes showers.
	+ He wears ballet shoes around the house (first revealed in "Gift of the Card").
	+ Until he started dating Jackie, he had never held hands with a girl, so he practiced with Ferguson.
	+ He always sits when he uses the bathroom to be polite for the girls living in his house.
	+ He cries when it rains.
	+ He still has his "wubbie", and he calls it Esteban (also revealed in "Crystal Clear").
	+ He used to think the "state of mind" was between Nebraska and Kansas.
	+ He has no idea how to do long division, despite being a straight-A student.
	+ He filled a notebook with his first name and Jackie's last name because he couldn't decide which looked better – "Marco Diaz Lynn Thomas" or "Marco Lynn Thomas Diaz".
	+ He kept Jackie's painting of a watermelon (which he originally thought was a moon) that she threw out in art class because it reminds him of his biggest fear: "that we're all alone on this tiny blue marble, floating in the infinite expanse of the universe, ripped from the center and ejected out into a black void for no reason at all. Players on the stage of the absurd."
* In "Heinous", Marco reveals he receives a monthly royalty check for $650 for "Princess Marco" merchandise based on his likeness. This becomes a recurring gag in earlier and later episodes:
	+ Prior to that episode, in "Goblin Dogs", he pays $650 for Goblin Dog merchandise.
	+ In "Pizza Thing", he pays a crane operator $650 to drive him and Pony Head to Emilio's Pizza.
	+ In "The Bounce Lounge", he provides the last $650 needed to pay off the Bounce Lounge's mortgage.
	+ In "Just Friends", he gets a medical bill for $650.
	+ In "Toffee", he uses the $650 to represent the Resistance members on a crudely drawn map for a plan to ruin Ludo's credibility as a ruler.
	+ In "Sophomore Slump", he uses the $650 to buy everything on a restaurant menu while on a date with Jackie.
* Marco has a cat allergy, as shown in issue #4 of the *Deep Trouble* comic series.
* Marco's favorite karate move is the "block and claw", and his favorite spell is Rainbow Fist Punch.
* Marco's birthday is on November 28.
* In the "FanCo13" live chat:
	+ Marco admits he's felt strange around Star ever since the events of "Blood Moon Ball".
	+ He also admits that he's not sure if he and Tom have become friends.
	+ He gets upset to learn that someone nicknamed him "Mango" (namely Oskar Greason in "Starcrushed").
	+ When asked about how he feels about Star, Marco admits that he still doesn't have an answer, saying that he barely had any time to process Star's confession (but also admits he's glad she told him).
		- Additionally, in the "StarLIVE" live chat with Star Butterfly, although he has yet to give a finite answer on the subject, he casually remarks, "Who *wouldn't* have a crush on you?", hinting how he may feel about her.
		- In the second "Marco's Spooky Stories" live chat, Marco admits that Star is "kinda cute", but when asked if he thinks she's "super cute", he becomes flustered and moves on to the next question.
* It is revealed in "Monster Bash" that Marco's karate stance has become a popular dance craze among Mewman and monster teenagers called the "Sword Hand Dance".

## References

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ru:Марко Диаз
de:Marco Diaz

1. ↑ Bản mẫu:Cite episode
2. ↑ 2,0 2,1 Bản mẫu:Cite episode
3. ↑ Marco in "By the Book": "My uncle Enrique hid in a box for three days once."
4. ↑ 4,0 4,1 Bản mẫu:Cite web
5. ↑ Bản mẫu:Cite web
6. ↑ Bản mẫu:Cite web
7. ↑ Bản mẫu:Cite web
8. ↑ Bản mẫu:Cite web