Samuel Marcus

Technical Officer Third Class Samuel N. Marcus (Service Number 18827-318209-M), often simply called Sam, was a UNSC Naval technician who served aboard the in 2552. Prior to his death, he assisted in waking up John-117 in the ship's Cryo B.

Early life and career
Samuel Marcus went to an academy, where he met Thom Shephard, who he would also later serve alongside. During his career, Sam had over two hundred combat cruises, and managed to clock under seventy-two hours in cryostasis.

He had married a woman named Ellen, who he had children with. Sometime around to 2549, Samuel had last seen his wife during his shore leave on Earth. The Human-Covenant War did not allow him the time to visit her, leaving Sam to only be able to look at her in a photo.

In 2552, despite not being a cryo expert, he had cross-checked the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's cryo systems.

Fall of Reach
On August 30, Samuel Marcus was among those who escaped the Fall of Reach aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. During the slipspace journey away from the planet, the ship was running on a skeleton crew, and under orders of Captain Jacob Keyes the technical crews, which included Samuel, was put on triple shifts. During his first sleep cycle in thirty-six hours, Sam only got three hours sleep.

Waking John-117 and death
On September 19 at 0103 hours, Sam was woken up by then Tech Chief Thom Shephard and was tasked with assisting him reviving John-117 from his cryo sleep before the Pillar of Autumn's crash-landing on Installation 04.

After John-117 was woken up, Sam and Thom proceeded to give the Spartan Mjolnir calibration checks, Sam even left the self the self-diagnostics running for the Spartan to use if the Spartan wanted to calibrate stuff himself. Thom then proceeded to order Sam to join his evac group, in which Sam proceeded to go and reset the computer before he left. Sam however could hear Covenant soldiers just outside the control room and called for security.

Thom and John-117 could only watch as the door exploded and an alien warrior entered the control room. Sam issued a cry of "Oh, God!", before getting hit by a plasma bolt in the chest from a Major Sangheili. Lying on the floor, he tried to reach a photo of his wife, Ellen. The Sangheili Major then walked forward and pinned Marcus's arm to the floor with its foot and examined the picture. Helpless, Marcus could barely hear Thom yell out his name, and was executed when the Sangheili shot him in the head with its plasma rifle.

Trivia

 * He is the first character seen killed in the Halo video games.
 * Just like Thom, if the player restarts the level multiple times in Halo: Combat Evolved, they will notice his face and/or uniform alternate in appearance; however, his voice remains the same.
 * If one is able to make their way onto the walkways, it can be seen that Sam's mouth doesn't move when he talks.
 * In the game, he screams when he is shot and seems to die instantly. However, in Halo: The Flood, it said that the plasma bolt "didn't hurt" and seemed to take effect much longer.
 * In the game, instead of saying, "Intruders in Cryo B", as the room is designated in the signage, he says, "Intruders in Cryo 2".

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary