- "Stop it! You're confusing me! Enough of this. I wish this nightmare would end once and for all!"
- —Marcus Kane, Twisted Metal: Head-On
Marcus Kane is a character who has been the driver of Roadkill in Twisted Metal 2, Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal: Head-On, Minion in Twisted Metal: Black, and is one of the two drivers of both Dark Tooth and Tower Tooth in Twisted Metal: Head-On.
Marcus Kane returns in Twisted Metal (2012), as the past self of Needles Kane (dubbed as Sweet Tooth). His name becomes the real name of Sweet Tooth.
Twisted Metal 2[]
- "I know the truth you freak! You sit back in your living room with your little video game console and play, play, play! But I know what's happening, I can see you! They think I'm crazy but you'll find out I'm the only one who's sane!"
- —Twisted Metal 2 - Marcus Kane's Bio
Marcus has been living in his car for the past ten years. Penniless, friendless, and on the brink of sanity, the homeless bum is convinced that the entire world is one horrific nightmare. If he wins Twisted Metal, sanity will be his prize and the key to going home.
Ending:[]
Marcus Kane wins the contest, and, believing it is still an illusion, begs for Calypso to help him. Calypso "congratulates" Marcus for figuring it out and agrees to his wish. Marcus then awakens at a hospital ward with other contestants next to him. The doctors inform that he was involved in a 25-vehicle pileup, with the other victims still unconscious. Marcus is delighted by the arrival of his family and assures them everything will be alright just as Calypso's face briefly flashes, subtly implying it, too, may be a dream in itself.
Roadkill Ending (JPN) - Twisted Metal EX
Twisted Metal III[]
- "Marcus is a deranged homeless guy who drives an old clunker he slapped together from junkyard scraps. Though he is a diagnosed schizophrenic, we can confirm that everyone is indeed out to get him. After all, this is Twisted Metal! Insanity required! Marcus plans to win the tournament then crawl into the forest to frolic with the wildebeests."
- —Twisted Metal III - Instruction Manual
Marcus reappears in Twisted Metal III.
Bio Dialogue:
- "I'm channeling a transmission from the mother ship docked in Area 51. The bald-headed friendlies tell me I'll win the Twisted Metal contest even though I'm an evil, smelling wacko! I'm not begging for this victory, I'm earning it!"
Info and Ending
Marcus Kane wins the contest. Calypso grants his wish of solitude amongst the pines by quite literally committing him to the Whispering Pines State Mental Hospital.
Twisted Metal: Black[]
- "Beware: You have unlocked Minion. Can you discover his secrets?"
- —Twisted Metal: Black - Minion Unlocked
Marcus Kane is the split personality of Needles Kane. This is revealed directly in Twisted Metal: Head-On, but is also implied through his loading screen quotes.
Story[]
Marcus does not have a main story, cutscenes or ending. He is only said as the winner of the previous year's Twisted Metal contest. In the load screen for each level while playing as Minion, his quotes are replaced with a string of numbers, which can be decrypted to reveal hidden messages. The formula used is 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, etc. The following is a list of them:
Dialogue[]
- 941514152020891411208919919185112 (I do not think this is real.)
- 91321192019165111914315451518852391212490931522518135 (I must speak in code or he will discover me.)
- 23511852018116165491489198514 (We are trapped in his head.)
- 208919919815238519551920852315181245152319235520201515208195519891912965920919141520185112 (This is how he sees the world, how Sweet Tooth sees his life, it is not real.)
- 11212156211911852018116165491489198514 (All of us are trapped in his head.)
- 913919192085151231512151862112231519124 (I miss the old colorful world.)
- 235239121218520211814201515211815124231518124151454125 (We will return to our old world one day.)
- 9142085185112231518124132514113591911311832119111145 (In the real world my name is Marcus Kane.)
Minion Unlocked[]
 Minion Unlocked - Twisted Metal Black |
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Twisted Metal: Head-On[]
- "Marcus Kane is a man plagued with nightmares of competing in past Twisted Metal competitions. Each dream is very real, but he believes it's all fake. He doesn't know it, but he's got a split personality. His other identity is Needles Kane (the driver of Sweet Tooth). Lately these nightmares, (which are actually memories that Calypso has tried to hide form Marcus), have gotten worse and worse. One day, he wakes up and there's a Twisted Metal vehicle waiting outside for him. Ready to put these nightmares to rest once and for all, he decides to compete in what he believes to be another nightmare; he doesn't realize this Twisted Metal is for real."
- —Twisted Metal: Head-On - Marcus Kane's Bio
In Twisted Metal: Head-On, Marcus is once again the driver of Roadkill, trying to leave the world of Twisted Metal and return to the "real" world.
Additionally, Marcus is now shown as struggling with what may be another side of himself in the form of the serial killer Needles Kane.
Ending:
Twisted Metal (2012)[]
- Main article: Needles Kane#Twisted Metal (2012)
Marcus Kane appears in Twisted Metal (2012) as the past self of the notorious killer clown Sweet Tooth.
Story[]
Marcus Kane was a normal man who lived a decent life, happily married and now the father of four. His job was selling ice cream to the public. However, he started thinking too much of himself as another person, and he gained a split personality, Needles Kane. The influence of this personality was so powerful that it eventually enveloped Marcus, shutting him out completely and essentially “killing” him. He then went on a killing spree starting with his own family. All but his daughter, Sophie Kane, were killed by his hands, and he swears he won't let her get away this time.
Going strictly by the alias Sweet Tooth, he easily slashes through all his opponents. His final fight is against The Brothers Grimm, two heavy set monster trucks (known as Hammerhead and Slayer). After he destroys one of the two, the other activates heavy armor that cannot be blasted through. He is forced to drive under the Armored Monster Truck, and stay there until his minion can climb inside. Then he has to run around while his gunner is placing a bomb on the inside Sweet Tooth has to stay alive. After waiting a little bit, Sweet Tooth killed off his gunner by leaving him under the truck. After the bomb detonates, the armor will come off it. At this point, he blasts away at it until he is destroyed.
Upon winning Twisted Metal, his wish is to be taken to where "the one that got away" is "hiding." It is then revealed that his daughter committed suicide and has been dead for ten years. He is last seen buried in his daughter's grave, the tombstone above being marked over with spray paint reading "Sweet Tooth."
Some time after his death, It turns out that one of Marcus’s sons, Charlie Kane, was also a survivor of Needles’ massacre, seemingly forgotten by Needles due to his fury over Sophie’s escape. Charlie believes he was deliberately spared that night, and digs up Sophie’s grave to recover his father’s mask, believing that his father purposely kept him alive to continue his work after his death.
Trivia[]
General[]
- As seen in his Twisted Metal 2 and Head-On endings, he thinks that the Twisted Metal contest is a dream. In Twisted Metal 2, he is vaguely presented as "waking up" from a crash-induced coma, implying the entirity of Twisted Metal was merely a product of Marcus' coma-induced mind, though the final scene implies this might not entirely be the case. In Head-On, the story is instead presented as Marcus' struggling with both his perceptions of reality and an increasingly aggressive case of split personality due to sharing a body with Needles Kane, driver of Sweet Tooth.
- In Twisted Metal: Black, his loading screen messages further hint toward being the split personality of Needles Kane. This is later revealed in Marcus Kane's ending in Twisted Metal: Head-On.
- There is another character (besides Needles) who shares the same surname with him, known as Charlie Kane. In Twisted Metal 1, and 2 and Black, he is Marcus' father. However, in the 2012 game, he is instead Marcus' son.
- Since Marcus is no longer the dominant personality (Needles is), it is likely that he is only dominant when Needles sleeps which may explain why Marcus always feels like he's in a dream. In Twisted Metal: Black, Sweet Tooth suffers from insomnia, which may be the reason Marcus must speak in code and disguise himself as Minion in that universe.
- If Marcus is dominant when Needles sleeps, it can cause a strong reaction, bringing both Marcus and Needles together. They are both connected, but it seems that Needles is taking over Marcus; Needles gets stronger, Marcus gets weaker.
- Death Race 2 has a character named Markus Kane, while the 2008 movie seems to be referenced in Twisted Metal (2012) by Death Warrant, Kamikaze, and Juggernaut as nods to Frankenstein's "Monster", 14K's car & the Dreadnaught respectively.
- It is interesting to note that Marcus was born in Alabama, the same place where David Jaffe, the creator of the Twisted Metal series was born. This is likely intentional, since Marcus convinces that the Twisted Metal tournament is all just a dream in his head.
Twisted Metal 2[]
- Marcus replaces Capt. Spears as the driver of Roadkill from the first game.
- In earlier versions of the game, Marcus' name was "J.D.". This was presumably shorthand for "John Doe", a name assigned to people whose true identities are unknown or meant to be concealed, which would fit with his unique place within the story. The name John Doe would later be used for another character in the series.
Twisted Metal III[]
- Twisted Metal III entirely drops the metaphysical nature of Marcus' story from the previous game, instead presenting him as a legitimately insane homeless bum who is seemingly motivated by aliens beaming messages into his brain.
- Marcus has dirty blonde hair in Twisted Metal III, rather than the black hair he's seen with in Twisted Metal 2 and Head-On.
Twisted Metal: Head-On[]
- Unlike Twisted Metal 2, Marcus is no longer explicitly identified as a homeless bum, appearing much cleaner and well off than he did before.
- In an early version of the game when it was still known as Twisted Metal: Rage, the address of the characters was also shown in the driver's info. Marcus' is simply "NO ADDRESS", referencing his homeless nature from Twisted Metal 2.
- Twisted Metal: Head-On seems to overlap with the storyline of Twisted Metal: Black. In Black, Marcus reveals that it is all a dream; in Head-On, Marcus thinks that it is STILL a dream. Additionally, Marcus' ending in Twisted Metal Black reveals Needles speaking of another world, presumably the world of Twisted Metal Black in his own mind.
- Marcus is confused that Calypso had called him Needles, which proves that Marcus cannot tell why he is even competing in Twisted Metal at all. He says: "Are you saying that I have to do with all this death and destruction?" In a state of combined confusion and rage, Marcus basically asks that things become normal once and for all so that he can keep his sanity and feel relaxed.
Quotes[]
Twisted Metal 2[]
- "They all call me crazy. They all say I'm insane. But I'm not! I know this isn't real! None of it is! I know it's all a dream! Please, Calypso! Help me!"
- "These people... They all look so familiar! I've seen them before! FOUGHT them before! But where? I can't remember..."
Twisted Metal: Head-On[]
- "I know none of this is real, is it?"
- "Wait! I don't understand! Are you saying I have something to do with all this death and destruction?"
- "Stop-STOP IT! You're confusing me!"
- "Enough of this! I wish this horrible nightmare would end, ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
- "What did he call me?"
- "Where am I?"
- "This...looks like...a nightmare."
- "I've seen this monster before..."
- "Who...Who are you?"
- "Don't you drive Sweet Tooth?"
- "I don't know why, but I believe you."
- "Is this a dream? It feels like a dream. It feels like I've been here before."
- "What is this place?! Why are we here?! What is that thing?"
Gallery[]
