Marcus Corvinus (Underworld)

Marcus Corvinus is the first vampire in the Underworld storyline, portrayed by Tony Curran in Underworld: Evolution, in which he is the main antagonist. He also appears in the novelization of the sequel. He is the son of the first immortal and was bitten by a bat, thus turning him into a Vampire.

Background
Markus Corvinus was one of three sons of Helena and Alexander Corvinus. Alexander was a Hungarian warlord who carried a genetic mutation that made him immortal when it interacted with a deadly virus that had wiped out his entire village. Markus and his identical twin brother, William, both inherited this mutation from him. William was bitten by a wolf, making him the first werewolf and Markus was subsequently bitten by a bat, making him the first vampire.

William went on to ravage the countryside of Hungary, infecting the populace with his highly infectious lycanthropy virus. In order to combat the growing werewolf threat, Markus approached Viktor, a dying warlord, to borrow his military genius and army (who became the Death Dealers) in exchange for immortality. Viktor accepted and became one of the Vampire Elders.

In 1202, Viktor led a charge into a Hungarian village which William had recently passed through, leaving dead bodies everywhere in his wake. William's bite was extremely infectious, and the dead villagers began to come back as werewolves, attacking and killing some of the vampires. Death Dealers, including Amelia, subdued and injured William. Marcus pleaded with Viktor for his brother's life and reminded him that he had agreed not to hurt William. Viktor only abstained from killing William because Marcus had told him that, should he die, all vampires would die- and the same held true for William and the werewolves. Viktor locked William away where he could not escape and hid the location of the prison from Markus

After William was captured, the "Chain" was constructed, a system where only one Elder ruled while the other two slumbered. However, the true power was in Viktor's hands, the ruler of the Old World coven. Viktor started to gather more power to himself to become the true leader of the Vampires, going as far as to alter history into naming him as the oldest and strongest of the vampires, and forbade searching into the past. Markus claimed that he enjoyed the company of Andreas Tanis, the Official Historian of the Coven, most likely because Tanis knew that Markus was indeed the original vampire. However, Viktor and Amelia undercut Markus' power, ensuring he would never have the strength to free his brother.

Underworld: Evolution
On the eve of Markus' awakening, a Lycan plot hatched by the then-presumed dead Lucian to combine the bloodlines became evident. While under interrogation, the Lycan scientist Singe divulged the details of the plan to Viktor, who subsequently killed the conspirator. Singe's blood seeped into Markus' tomb, reviving the Elder and mutating him into a hybrid.

Markus beheaded the treacherous Kraven with his talons after learning the regent's memories, and burned down Ordoghaz, the Old World Coven. Determined that the time had come to free William, he sought to find Selene, who held half of the key to William's dungeon. He failed on his first attempt thanks to Michael Corvin, his distant relative. Markus soon learned from Tanis, that the other half was held by his father, who had retrieved it from Viktor's body. Markus attacked the ship his father was living on while Selene and Michael were there, fighting Michael and nearly killing him. Markus then engaged in combat with Selene and managed to drink her blood to find the location of William's prison. After getting the knowledge from Selene's blood, he confronts and attacks his father, and subsequently retrieves the final key from him.

Upon arriving at William's prison, Markus was nearly attacked by his brother but William stopped as he seemed to recognize and remember his brother. Soon after William was released by Markus, Selene and Michael arrive, and a battle is engaged. While Markus battled Selene, Michael managed to kill William by ripping his head off, while Markus was killed when Selene pushed him into the spinning blades of a helicopter.

Abilities
Since Markus is the progenitor of the vampires, he has many of the same weaknesses and strengths depicted in the series by other vampires. This includes a heightened physical strength and speed to that of a human, weakness to ultraviolet radiation found in sunlight, the ability to regenerate cells quickly to heal, and the need to feed on a diet of blood. Additionally, Markus and the other vampires can read the memories of an individual from contact with their live blood. Being the oldest, his abilities extend beyond those of lesser vampires, allowing him to best younger ones, survive short periods in the sun, heal quicker than most, as well as enter a hibernation not unlike a temporary death (an ability he shares with other elders).

As a hybrid, his strength and speed surpass his former peak. In addition to his humanoid form, he can shift into a more feral one complete with bat-like wings, nose, and ears. When in this secondary form, or in an intermediary one, he can use the talons at the ends of his wings offensively.