Marlow Roderick

Marlow Roderick is the main antagonist of the 2007 film 30 Days of Night. He was played by actor Danny Huston.

Biography
Marlow Roderick was a vampire in service to an elder named Vicente. In 2002, Marlow learned about an isolated region known as Barrow in the US state of Alaska. For thirty days out of every year from November 18th to December 17th, the entire town is plunged into a month-long frigid, endless night with no sun. Such an environment was perfect hunting ground for any vampire. Vicente was intrigued to learn about this and ordered Marlow to take his brood and go to Barrow ahead of him. Marlow found a human stranger to aide him in his cause. Through this agent, Marlow as able to keep Barrow completely cut off from the outside world by sabotaging their transportation and communication systems. Once this was achieved, Roderick and his brood descended upon the town and began feeding indiscriminately. The stranger had hoped that Marlow would repay him by turning him into a vampire, but instead, Marlow simply killed him. One of the residents that Marlow personally killed was Adam Colletta. Adam tried to defend himself by shooting Marlow, but the shot proved ineffective. The vampire repaid him by pinning him against a wall and impaling him with a hot fire poker.

By day 7, the human population of Barrow was virtually non-existent and finding prey proved more difficult. Marlow and several of his lieutenants captured a young woman named Kirsten Toomey and used her as bait to draw out other possible survivors. When this tactic failed, Kirsten broke down crying, praying to God. Marlow told her that there was "no God" and began slashing at her face. His crony, Arvin, finished her off.

Marlow's next failure came three weeks later. Sheriff Eben Oleson, one of the survivors, managed to escape the onslaught and made it back to his mother's house. Marlow and another vampire named Iris followed him and prepared to raid the home. When the door opened however, Eben shined a sun lamp at them, severely injuring Iris. Marlow drew her back, but seeing that she was now "broken" decided to end her existence.

On Day 27 of the sunless winter, Marlow Roderick decided that he had his fill of Barrow and made preparations to leave. Under his orders, the vampires opened up an oil pipeline and set it afire with the intent of burning the entire town to the ground. Sheriff Oleson believed that the only way to stop a vampire was with another vampire. He injected himself with vampire blood hoping that he could stave off the bloodlust effects long enough to stop Roderick. Now benefitting from a vampire's strength and endurance, he went out into the snow and challenged Roderick. Marlow was a very old vampire however and his long years of experience gave him a tactical edge over Oleson. Eben got in one lucky, fatal shot however when he plunged his fist through Marlow's face and out the back side of his head. With their leader gone, the surviving vampires quickly abandoned Barrow, Alaska.

Notes & Trivia

 * The character of Marlow Roderick was created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.
 * Marlow's surname is revealed in the 30 Days of Night comic book series by IDW Publishing. In the film he is referred to only as Marlow.
 * The 2007 film does not address the character of Vicente from the graphic novels. The film merges the two characters together.