Merlyn Murphy

**Merlyn Murphy** (born January 24, 1990) is an American cryptozoologist. She prefers to go by "Murphy" and rarely uses her first name. After reuniting with her childhood friend Jack Sherwood, she and Jack traveled Europe in search of monsters and creatures from mythology.

## Biography

### Early Life

Merlyn Murphy was born in Delaware, United States on January 24, 1990. She was the daughter of two cryptozoologists, Thomas Murphy and Brigit Murphy, and would follow in their footsteps. As a child, she was friends with Jack Sherwood.

#### Training for Parliament

Having studied monsters from a young age with her parents, Murphy began combat training with Parliament at the age of 11. When she was a teenager, Murphy studied with Marius Ardelean, a professor at the University of Bucharest who was a part of Parliament. By the age of 19, she had become the youngest Parliament agent to become a Lyko, the second highest rank in the organization. The following year, she left Parliament headquarters. At the age of 25, Murphy began traveling across Europe.

### Vacation in York

In 2020, Murphy traveled to York. On the morning of July 5, Murphy discovered the body of Graham Laurens on a beach in Yorkshire. She discovered a scale on the body, pointing to a possible Siren attack, but was caught by the North Yorkshire Police and brought to the station for questioning, where she learned that Detective Inspector Andrew Marino had ruled Graham Laurens’ death a suicide.

#### Reunion with Jack Sherwood

When the detective on the case entered the interrogation room, Murphy immediately recognized him as her childhood friend, Jack Sherwood. She refused to admit to him what her real suspicions about the body were, but hinted to Jack that she also thought that Laurens was murdered. She showed Jack the scale and asked Jack to show her what he found, but he lied and said that he already turned it over to forensics for analysis. Murphy gave Jack her business card and left the station.

Hitting a dead end with Jack, Murphy followed the new detective Samuel Taylor to the Sailor’s Pub and pumped him for information about the Laurens investigation. Jack also happened to be at the pub and confronted Murphy and Sam. Murphy left in a hurry and did some more research based on the new information she got from Sam.

Murphy ran into Jack outside the police station the next day where she learned that Jack had been put on a week’s suspension for withholding evidence and blamed Murphy. When Jack asked why she was really in York, she decided to tell him, and the two went back to the Sailor’s Pub.

At the pub, Murphy told Jack about her background as a cryptozoologist. She told him that she believed that a Siren had been responsible for Graham Laurens’ death, and that monsters and mythical creatures were actually real. Jack didn’t believe Murphy, but Murphy left her notebook with him anyway. She went back to her flat, and after a short time, received a call from Jack that he now believed her, to which she told Jack to meet her at her flat.

Murphy learned that Jack had gone back to the scene of the crime and heard the Siren’s song that had lured Graham Laurens to the water. She thought it odd that Jack had not been affected by it. The two of them made a plan to take a boat out to the water and try to talk to the Siren. But first, Jack wanted to retrieve the needle tooth from the station.

#### Search for the Siren

While Jack coaxed his friend Elliot into getting the needle tooth out of evidence for him, Murphy waited by the entrance, where she was approached by Samuel Taylor. He told her that, while it was a shame that Jack had been suspended, he wouldn’t have been able to solve the Laurens case anyway. He hinted to Murphy that he knew more about what was going on that he let on, and made Murphy uncomfortable.

Elliot caught up to Murphy and Jack and told them that the needle tooth had been taken out of forensics by someone else already. Murphy, Jack, and Elliot then went back to the scene of crime. They told Elliot to keep watch and stay with the car, as Murphy did not want to divulge the secrets of her occupation to Elliot.

Murphy helped Jack steady himself on the rowboat as they pushed off into the water. She was already aware of Jack’s thalassophobia. Eventually, Murphy and Jack heard the Siren’s song and Murphy recognized it as the Song of Eirene. Murphy sang the next verse of the song back to the Siren, who responded by attacking Jack and capsizing the boat. Worried for Jack’s safety as the Siren pulled him deeper into the water, Murphy once again sang the second verse of the Song of Eirene in an attempt to gain the Siren’s trust.

Murphy offered to help the Siren, but before she could follow through, they were ambushed by Samuel Taylor. Sam confirmed that he had told Marino about Jack withholding evidence and had taken the tooth for himself in order to study it. He came to the same conclusion as Murphy about a Siren having killed Graham Laurens. Seeking fame and fortune, Sam took it upon himself to bring back a Siren. When he brandished a fishing spear to use against the Siren, Murphy wanted him to put the spear down, but Sam did not listen. The Siren attacked him, at which point she was also impaled by the spear.

Outraged at the events that had just occurred, Murphy held the dying Siren in her arms. The Siren told Murphy that she was in danger, and that the Judges were coming for her. Murphy did not understand what this meant, but before she could ask anything else, the Siren died.

#### Partnership with Jack

Murphy and Jack brought the dead Siren and an unconscious Sam back to shore. She gave the Siren a water burial and gave an elixir to Sam that would cause him to forget all about the Siren and recent events. Murphy offered Jack the chance to come on an adventure with her and search the world for mythical creatures, but Jack turned her down.

A week later, Jack called her and asked her to meet him at the Sailor’s Pub. He told her that he had resigned from his police job and that he wanted to join her. She warned him that it was a dangerous job, but he joined her anyway.

### The Shredder Case

After Jack agreed to join her on her search for monsters, Murphy wasn't sure where to go next. On July 16, she and Jack went to Tom Einstorn's café, and Jack received a phone call from Phillis Burger asking him to meet him and Peter Bourgot at a restaurant to discuss a case. Jack reluctantly agreed, and he and Murphy left the café in a hurry. On the way to the restaurant, Murphy asked Jack about the case, and he told her about the Shredder Investigation that had gone cold several months before.

At the restaurant, Murphy instantly picked up on a foul odor that only she could smell due to her Parliament training. She realized that the smell was coming from Peter Bourgot, a lawyer that Jack used to work with when he was a detective. With Peter was his partner Phillis. Murphy was even more disgusted by Peter when she watched him eat the bloodiest steak she had ever seen. Peter told Jack that he had come to the conclusion that Tom Einstorn, the owner of the café, was the man responsible for the Shredder murders. Jack agreed to help with the investigation as a private investigator, and went to pay for the bill. When Peter went to shoo him away, he grazed Jack's silver money clip and Murphy noticed that he was hurt by it. She had unfortunately been thinking out loud, causing Peter to become suspicious of her.

Back at Jack's flat, she told Jack that she thought that Peter was actually a werewolf. Jack refused to believe her, and angrily told her that he just wanted to be able to finally close this case. Murphy didn't pursue the matter further when Jack told her that he needed to review some files, and Murphy then noticed a bracelet she had made for Jack when they were kids, triggering an unpleasant memory. Murphy was brought back to reality when Jack came back in the room, wondering how he was going to get into the station.

At the station, Murphy and Jack were stopped at the front desk by Janet, who refused to allow them into the station after Jack had quit. Elliot noticed them from across the room and blackmailed Janet into allowing them into the station, bringing them to the evidence room at Jack's request. While they were looking through the Shredder evidence and discussing the case, Murphy remarked that the name reminded her of Jack the Ripper, and then pointed out a cross on a necklace. Jack explained that the cross was ripped off of the victim during the attack and that the hair found at the scene came up as a dead end. To Murphy, this was just more evidence that this was in fact a werewolf attack, not just a regular serial killer. She also learned that Jack and Elliot had been taken off the case shortly before it went cold. Jack began to be suspicious of Peter as well, but not for the same reasons. He found a journal with missing pages in the evidence, and wanted to ask Peter some questions before he handed the evidence over to him.

At Peter's office, Jack began asking Peter questions about the case, and Murphy stood up to explore the room. She found books on his shelves that were centuries old, remarking that the last time she had seen books this old was at an old witch library in Salem. What really piqued her interest though was an old article on the werewolf trials, something that only Parliament had access to. She and Jack left in a hurry, and back at Jack's flat, Murphy told him what she had found. Jack informed her that Peter had the missing journal pages, which he swiped from his briefcase after he'd left the room at one point. Jack still didn't believe Peter was a werewolf, but made arrangements to meet Elliot at a train station to obtain the evidence. When they met up with Elliot, he noticed that Jack's car was being followed by Phillis, so they decided to take the train to Murphy's flat where Phillis couldn't find them.

At Murphy's flat, Jack put the journal back together with the missing pages and came to the conclusion that Murphy was right about Peter being a werewolf. Murphy asked Jack to pull down the wine glass in her china cabinet, and the cabinet opened into a mini armory containing weapons and devices for fighting all sorts of cryptids and monsters. She retrieved a pair of silver knuckles for herself and closed the cabinet. She gave Jack her grandmother's silver plate and gave Elliot, who had just been told rather abruptly that Peter was a werewolf, a walking stick. Jack called Phillis to arrange a meeting at the crime scene, and the three of them left in Murphy's car.

#### Fight With a Werewolf

Murphy, Jack, and Elliot arrived to the crime scene to find that Peter and Phillis had arrived shortly before them. Jack accused Peter of being behind the Shredder murders, which Peter denied until Murphy told him that she knew he was a werewolf. Peter transformed, and Murphy and Jack were left to fight Peter while Elliot dealt with Phillis. It had been a while since Murphy had last fought a werewolf, but she scored some hits. Eventually, she began to tire out. Jack threw the silver plate at Peter, incapacitating him long enough for Murphy to regain her footing and attack him with the silver knuckles until he weakened to the point of becoming human again. Defeated, Peter surrendered to Murphy, but still refused to tell her the circumstances behind which he had been given the ability to turn into a wolf. Murphy brought Peter to a werewolf village where he could live freely, and the Shredder investigation was closed after Peter drafted up a letter confessing to his crimes.

Murphy and Jack went to the cemetery where Cirilla Monarch, Peter's last victim, was buried. Murphy was reminded of another unpleasant memory where she had lost a friend, and remarked that Jack was finally beginning to understand how and why the monster world and human world were kept separate from one another.

#### Elliot Joins the Party

When Murphy and Jack arrived at Murphy's flat, she heard a champagne bottle open and assumed that an intruder had entered her home. Elliot emerged and said that Murphy had left her door unlocked, and left her key under her doormat. Elliot said that he wanted to join Murphy and Jack on their adventure, which Murphy accepted, noting that people and monsters were changing, and she needed all the help she could get.

### Trip to Romania

On July 21, 2020, Murphy received an envelope in the mail from her former mentor, Marius Ardelean. Inside was an invitation to a Q&A at the University of Bucharest the following day with a famous mystery novelist named Jonathan Roxburgh, as well as newspaper clippings indicating that three different women (Sorana Eder, Adelina Funar, and Maria Bogdan) had been murdered in the vicinity of the Boldu-Creteasca forest in Romania. Having seen books from Roxburgh on Jack's bookshelf, she arrived at his flat the next morning shortly after 9:00. She told him about the invitation, and the two made plans to board a flight later that day to Bucharest, having Elliot stay behind to water Jack's plants on short notice.

After the flight, during which Murphy had slept almost the entire time, they arrived at Bucharest and checked into the Matisse, the hotel that Marius had booked for them. There was one bed, and although Jack offered to take the sofa, Murphy insisted that she take it instead. Jack preferred to treat the trip as a holiday, which Murphy encouraged him to do now that he was free from his former job, but Murphy insisted that for her it was a business trip. After Jack left the room to take a stroll through some gardens, Murphy began to do research on the forest where the women had died, learning about the Witches Pond, a small, supposedly-haunted pool where it was rumored that Vlad the Impaler had been beheaded. Knowing that Ardelean wouldn't have sent the newspaper clippings for no reason, Murphy came to the possible conclusion that the women were witches, but couldn't be sure exactly what his hunch was supposed to be.

Murphy and Jack got to the University too late to find seats together, so Jack offered to stand at the back, not wanting to get in the way of a reunion between Murphy and her former mentor. For the Q&A, Ardelean asked Roxburgh about the inspiration for his new novel, Witches Pond. Murphy noticed that when Ardelean had asked him to read from a specific graphic section of his novel, the color drained from his face and he seemed surprised and a little uncomfortable. When Roxburgh finished reading the excerpt, which was about a homicide detective finding a woman completely drained of her blood at the Witches Pond, Murphy made direct eye contact with Ardelean, finally understanding why he had asked her to come.

After the reading, Murphy and Jack met up with Ardelean at the after-party. He wouldn't say much in public out of paranoia, but he said that they should meet him at his apartment the next day. When Marius made the mistake of implying that she was attracted to Jack, she quickly brushed it off, trying to make sure everyone understood that her relationship with Jack was purely platonic.

## Personality and Traits

> "They used to call us 'monster hunters' once. I've never liked that word, 'monster'. I just use it because most times it's easier than calling them anything else."
>
> -**Merlyn Murphy**

According to her case file by the Scrivener, Murphy outwardly appears to have no sympathy for the day to day troubles of her fellow man, yet her actions to defend supernatural creatures show that she does have something akin to self-appointed responsibility. Her deep caring for not only these creatures, but for the few humans she holds close does begin to show cracks in her façade of indifference.

Murphy has long brown hair and is known for usually wearing a leather jacket and combat boots.

## Skills and Abilities

Having been trained as a Parliament agent from a young age, Murphy has significant combat skills and knows how to fight a variety of monsters and creatures. She also has heightened senses which causes her to be able to see, smell, and hear things that others might not even notice.

## Behind the Scenes

The voice of Merlyn Murphy was portrayed by Emma Grace Myers.

## Appearances

* *Pilot* (First Appearance)
* *Ground Coffee*
* *There Existed An Addiction To Blood*
* *In The Woods Somewhere*
* *There Was Music In Her Eyes*
* *Below The Murky Depths*