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800px-Masked Marauder Dark Ball

The Iron-Masked Marauder (Japanese: ビシャス Vicious) is the main antagonist of Celebi: The Voice of the Forest. He is an Elite Officer of Team Rocket.

In the movies[]

The Iron-Masked Marauder was first seen accosting an old Pokémon poacher for information about a Celebi he had pursued decades ago. After the poacher refused to talk, the Iron-Masked Marauder decided to show him the power of his Dark Balls by using one on a captured Tyranitar. When the corrupted Tyranitar began destroying the hunter's camp, he showed the Iron-Masked Marauder where he found the Celebi.

Using the poacher's information, the Iron-Masked Marauder set out for the Lake of Life in a large, spider-like mecha. He eventually came upon Ash, Misty, Brock, Sam, and an injured Celebi. His attempt to capture the Pokémon failed when the Team Rocket trio intervened, but they quickly offered to join him after they recognized him.

He later sent out his Sneasel and Scizor to pursue the group while he followed in his mecha. Eventually, he discovered his Pokémon tied to a rock, at which point he laughed and noted that "those kids" were tougher than they looked. Declaring that the situation had become "interesting", the Marauder and his allies carried on, leaving his Pokémon behind.

Despite searching for the rest of the day, the Marauder failed to find Celebi. However, he quickly formulated a new plan, ambushing the group as they attempted to return to Arborville, with Jessie, James, and Meowth blocking their escape route. Destroying a few trees to distract the group, the Marauder finally managed to grab Celebi with his mecha's claws, brutally electrocuting it before capturing it in a Dark Ball. Before the villain could properly relish his victory, Ash attempted to retrieve Celebi with the help of a flock of wild Pidgey. Although the resulting struggle toppled the Marauder's mecha, he quickly reclaimed his Dark Ball by stepping on Ash's hands until the boy passed out.

Surrounded by angry wild Pokémon, the Iron-Masked Marauder decided to demonstrate the corrupted Celebi's power on them, sending it to attack the wild Pokémon and devastate the forest. Impressed by the resulting display, the Marauder ordered Celebi to absorb the surrounding debris, creating a spiked sphere that he proceeded to ride deeper into the forest. Along the way, he discovered that Jessie had been accidentally sucked into the construct, but welcomed her presence, stating that he needed her to witness Celebi's power and relay the information to their boss. With that, the Marauder had Celebi transform its construct into a nightmarish monster that began laying waste to the forest and the Lake of Life, revealing his intentions to usurp Giovanni as leader of Team Rocket and conquer Team Rocket and the world. The Marauder unmasked When Ash and his friends arrived to try and save Celebi, the Iron-Masked Marauder directed the corrupted Pokémon's attacks against them. Ash, Pikachu, and Sam were narrowly saved from one blast by the arrival of Suicune, prompting the Marauder to send out his Tyranitar to try and defeat it. Although the corrupted Armor Pokémon was beaten by Suicune and Brock's Onix, the Marauder remained confident as he sent Celebi to destroy them. He watched Celebi trap and torture Suicune with dark energy, but consequently missed Ash, Pikachu, and Sam's infiltration of the construct. When the electric torture paused due to Celebi fighting the Dark Ball's control, the Marauder attempted to keep Celebi on his side, reminding it that the heroes were its enemies. Ultimately, Ash and Sam's pleas won out and Celebi snapped out of its trance, destroying the Marauder's Dark Ball and knocking him into the lake when the construct collapsed.

The Iron-Masked Marauder made one final attempt to capture Celebi after its recovery, bursting out of the Lake of Life when the Pokémon flew over his hiding place. He attempted to escape with his jetpack, but Ash and Pikachu managed to grab onto his leg. While trying to kick Ash off, the Marauder was electrocuted by Pikachu's Thunderbolt, destroying his jetpack and sending all three of them plummeting. Celebi saved Ash and Pikachu with its powers, but the Marauder was left to fall into the forest. Although he survived his fall, his mask was knocked off and his remaining Dark Balls were missing. He was last seen being tied up by a collection of forest Pokémon and berated by Diana's grandmother. It is likely that he was arrested afterwards.

He briefly reappeared in a montage in The Rise of Darkrai, which chronicled the preceding nine movies.

Character[]

The Iron-Masked Marauder holding a Dark Ball The Iron-Masked Marauder is a villain with absolutely no redeeming qualities. He is malicious, dishonest, and a downright egocentric person. He values his own life above that of others, whether out of cowardice or selfishness, and has no qualms about harming others, be it humans or Pokémon, for the sake of reaching his own goals.

He has quite a reputation within Team Rocket, as Jessie, James, and Meowth instantly recognized him and immediately started kowtowing shamelessly. The Iron-Masked Maruader is also shown to be ambitious — although he makes pretence of capturing the Mythical Pokémon Celebi to present it to Giovanni, his true intentions are to use its power to overthrow his boss and rule Team Rocket himself. To achieve his aims, he will gladly sacrifice everything and anything, including his allies and his own Pokémon. Though this later proved to be his undoing, as abandoning his Pokémon left him helpless against the angry forest Pokémon and he was finally defeated.

The Iron-Masked Marauder is skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but does not have the best balance. His primary advantages are his Dark Balls. He also uses a jetpack concealed under his cloak, and a large, four-legged mecha for transport. The mecha can generate a dark barrier to protect it from attacks, and is armed with a pair of strong tentacles tipped with jagged claws which can electrify themselves.

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