Marlin

Marlin is the protagonist of Finding Nemo and a major character of its sequel Finding Dory. He is Nemo's father who journeys to Sydney to rescue his son with some help from Dory.

Biography
{| cellpadding="2" border="0" After losing his wife and family to the ocean, Marlin is left alone to raise his only surviving child, Nemo. He struggles with his inability to let go of Nemo as his son begins school. When Nemo is suddenly taken away by scuba divers, Marlin must try to find in himself the courage, wisdom, and faith needed to search the unpredictable ocean to bring his boy home — the very characteristics he needs to allow his son to learn and grow. Only then will he truly find Nemo.

Finding Nemo
At the beginning of the film, Marlin and his wife Coral are expecting 400 children, which are due to hatch soon. The two are discussing names for their children, when a barracuda attacks. While Coral disappeared and most of the eggs perished after the barracuda attack, Marlin, and one slightly damaged egg survive. Marlin chooses to name his remaining child Nemo, a name Coral had liked.

As Nemo grows, Marlin becomes very overprotective of him, in part due to Nemo's unusually small right fin, which was a result of the earlier attack. One day, Marlin reluctantly sends Nemo to school. At one point, Nemo swims out into the open ocean to touch a boat as a result of a dare, much to the horror of Marlin. Nemo is captured by a diver. However, the diver drops a mask which bears his address, though Marlin can't read it.

Marlin is able to obtain the help of Dory, who is able to read the address but has short-term memory loss, and learns that Nemo has been taken to Sydney, Australia. Marlin, along with Dory, sets out for Sydney in an attempt to rescue his son. At one point on their journey, Dory is injured by jellyfish. Marlin swims through the jellyfish and is able to rescue her. (He explains that since he lives in an anemone, he is resistant to stings.) Marlin soon passes out, and awakens on the back of a sea turtle named Crush, who is riding the East Australian Current (EAC). After Marlin shares his story with some young sea turtles, word of mouth soon reaches Sydney and eventually, Nemo.

Marlin eventually reaches Sydney's harbor by way of a whale, after becoming lost in the polluted water. Nigel, a pelican who has heard of Marlin and knows Nemo, takes Marlin and Dory to a dentist's office where Nemo was taken. There, they find Nemo, apparently dead (Nemo was actually faking it in an attempt to escape). Saddened, Marlin leaves for home, leaving Dory behind despite her claims that her memory is better with him. Later, Dory meets Nemo, and after remembering Marlin's goal, returns Nemo to Marlin, who becomes overjoyed upon reuniting with his son. However, their heartfelt reunion is cut short when Dory is caught in a fishing net along with thousands of other fish. Marlin, out of fear of losing him again, is initially reluctant to let Nemo go with his plan to save Dory, but upon seeing the determination in Nemo, allows him to do so. Marlin then orders the captured fish to swim down, and eventually, his message is relayed through the fish, who then pull down on the net until the net breaks, freeing them along with Dory and Nemo. Nemo tells his father he doesn't hate him, to which Marlin apologizes to him for his overprotectiveness.

At the end of the film, Marlin and Nemo express their mutual love for each other. After letting go of his son, allowing him to go have an adventure, Marlin, with Dory by his side, proudly watches as Nemo goes off to school.

Thomas & Friends

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