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Marilith is a work by Krazy Krow, the author of Krakow, Spinnerette, and Charliehorse. It is split into two series, which are quite different in art style and tone.

Krakow 2.0 is full of Crosses the Line Twice Black Humor. Marilith Millions is an assassin who plans to get rich by kidnapping a wealthy heiress. But what seems like A Simple Plan soon goes off the rails, and Marilith finds herself the target of not just the police, but also bounty hunters and her own boss.

Marilith is a much darker and more dramatic continuation of the story. Marilith has grown tired of the trade and is looking to retire to Argentina. However, her retirement plans face an obstacle: an old nemesis who will stop at nothing to kill her before she has the chance to slip away.

Read Krakow 2.0 here.
Read Marilith here.


This work contains examples of:

  • Alliterative Name: Marilith Millions (though she admits in Marilith that Millions isn't her real last name).
  • Art Evolution: The art improves dramatically from Krakow 2.0 to Marilith.
  • Bodyguard Betrayal: Stark killing his old boss and joining Valentino
  • The Casanova: Whenever Marshall Hunter appears, there's usually a woman fawning over him
  • Cerebus Syndrome: Marilith, though it has moments of comedy, is on the whole far more dramatic than Krakow 2.0.
  • Church Militant: The Nazi-killing nun from whom Marilith and Christi inherited their guns of choice.
  • Comically Missing the Point: Kimiko's response to Marilith pulling a butterfly knife out of her "pants" and stabbing a guard to death? Pointing out she's wearing a skirt not pants.
  • Cowboy Cop: Mark Wong has a reputation as this, leading his boss to assign Christi to be his partner in the hope she'll rein him in.
  • Girls with Moustaches: Marilith wears a fake beard and moustache as part of her Colonel Sanders disguise during a bank robbery.
  • Glory Hound: Marshall Hunter, head of the Hunter Knights. He thinks of himself as one of the good guys, but he's really in the business for the media attention, and it shows when it drives him to do stupid, dangerous, and illegal things.
  • Gratuitous Japanese: Kimko's outburst of kawaii on meeting Minh, she is Japanese so possibly justified.
  • Hitman with a Heart: Marilith, though she only rarely shows it.
  • Hospital Hottie: Nurse Wendy
  • Ignored Epiphany: Marshall Hunter realizes he's no longer in the business to do the right thing, and has become a "media-whore". He decides to disband his mercenary group and join the police, and encourages his comrades to do the same. Well, at least until ten seconds later when he hears that Marilith is still around, and proceeds to lie, torture, and otherwise break the law in order to bring her down.
  • Improvised Weapon: When she's not using a gun or axe, Valentino can kill with a belt or a pencil. Marilith herself is no slouch with gumballs or baby Jesus. It Makes Sense in Context.
  • In Love with Your Carnage: Valentino to Marilith. Kimiko to Marilith too, for that matter.
  • Interrogated for Nothing: Marshall Hunter's men torture Minh for information of Marilith's whereabouts, which he genuinely doesn't know.
  • It's Personal: Valentino deliberately invokes this to prevent Marilith from running away without a final confrontation. It doesn't work on Marilith, but it does on Kimiko, and Marilith loves her more than she fears death.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Mark Wong has a reputation for this, though he claims he's put those days behind him. This history comes in quite handy when he needs to intimidate [[his corrupt boss]], who is finally convinced and starts spilling the beans when while being forced to dig his own grave he uncovers a skeleton.
  • Jumped at the Call: Kimiko is nothing less that delighted when Marilith shoots some of her teachers and kidnaps her, claiming the teachers were harsh and the students bullied her. Not even losing her arm (hit by a truck when she wouldn't pull it inside the car window) is enough to dampen her spirits, and she continues to try to convince Marilith, Vic, and Dime to let her be an assassin too, stealing guns to play with at every opportunity. She finally gets her wish at the end of Krakow 2.0, when Marilith accepts her as a partner. In Marilith she gets trained in pistols and sniper rifles, and plays a pivotal role in most of Marilith's fights and plans.
  • Laughing Mad: In the flashback to Valentino's childhood, you can see the moment she completely snaps.
  • Les Yay: Kimiko is explicitly in love with Marilith in Krakow 2.0; this is toned down to subtext in Marilith.
  • Lima Syndrome: While Stockholm Syndrome is clearly not the main influence on Kimiko (see Jumped at the Call above), its counterpart Lima Syndrome definitely seems to be in play on Marilith. Over the course of Krakow 2.0 she goes from unceasingly annoyed by her hostage Kimiko to willing to sign on with Valentino if she'll wait long enough for Marilith to get Kimiko's arm fixed, giving up on her dream of retirement. And then when Valentino explains she's just going to kill Kimiko, Marilith flings herself back into the fight despite being down a toe, gushing blood, and armed only with the two halves of baby Jesus (It Makes Sense in Context).
  • Lovely Angels: Marilith and Kimiko.
  • Major Injury Underreaction: In Krakow 2.0, Kimiko's response to having her arm torn off by a truck is to ask a question about Marilith's threat to tear off said arm a few moments before.
  • Mexican Standoff: Occurs several times. Marilith notes her dislike of them.
  • My Fist Forgives You: Well, technically she used her rifle butt.
    Kimiko: Apology accepted.
  • Never Hurt an Innocent: Averted. Marilith charges less to assassinate people she regards as villainous, but she will kill innocents if paid enough. Or if tricked into doing so.
  • No Kill like Overkill: Valentino is sniped in the head and then shot about 15 times. May be justified, since that person survived Kimiko slitting her throat before, and did in fact live long enough to give a few more lines.
  • Nothing Personal: Stark says this when he betrays Krystiyan.
  • Oblivious to Love: Minh is either this or trying to let Aiko down gently, as he's already head-over-heels for Marilith.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Marilith is fond of this, charging less to assassinate evil people.
  • Pre-Mortem One-Liner: To a school shooter attempting to surrender.
    Marilith: Gimme your driver's license. It says here you're an organ donor, Nick. Congratulations, you're going to save a few lives today.
  • Professional Killer: Marilith
  • Psycho for Hire: Valentino
  • Rape as Backstory: Valentino was raped as part of the training to turn her into a perfect assassin.
  • Ridiculously Human Robot: Aiko. Looks just like a human, has nerves in her 'flesh', and appears to be capable of both grudges and infatuation. And goes down when hit by a taser.
  • Shout-Out: Several. Valentino explicitly references the torture scene in Reservoir Dogs, and the church where the final gunfight takes place is identical to the one from episode 5 of Cowboy Bebop.
  • A Simple Plan: A persistent and frequent problem. Really an entire page could be dedicated to this.
    • Kidnap the heir to a major corporation, ransom her back to her father, and use the money to finally retire in Argentina. What could go wrong? Well, the subject could lose her arm in a freak accident, forcing you to take more jobs to buy her a new one. And the time this costs you could result in cops, mercenaries in their employ, and a Psycho for Hire who's In Love with Your Carnage all coming after you and her. And that could cause multiple shoot-outs, Mexican stand-offs, and general drama and chaos, culminating in a climactic series of battles where you get sliced with a fire ax, shot in the stomach, attacked by the hostage's father wielding a katana, and ultimately adopt the hostage and flee for your lives, leaving behind the man who loves you before he can spit it out! Hypothetically speaking.
    • Rob a bank to quickly solve your financial woes? Would have gone off without a hitch, except Marshall Hunter visits that same bank while they're still there, effectively preventing their retreat and actually intervening when a hostage decides now is the ideal time to commit suicide.
    • Contract on an unarmed homeless guy who is nonetheless too sick and twisted to be put into words? Not only was the guy innocent, turns out your employer was actually Valentino, a Psycho for Hire who's In Love with Your Carnage and a firm believer in Join or Die.
    • Take out a contract on a teacher who molests her students? Three teenagers have chosen today to become famous by shooting up the school.
    • One of Marilith's employers is smart or Genre Savvy enough to have contingency plans for this, namely Marilith herself purchased as "insurance". Sure enough, the car-bomb fails to kill the target, and while Marilith is more than capable of finishing the job, she has to shoot through quite a lot of people, including the partner of Christi, who goes on to become a persistent thorn in Marilith's side but eventually also teams up for Enemy Mine, so this one actually worked out okay.
    • It's simple. Rob the head of the local Russian Mafia; you've literally done this before. Except it results in a Mexican Stand Off, and then the guy has a heart attack right in front of you. And he was poor anyways, because Valentino has been taking over the organized crime so as to better hunt you down. This one also results in an Enemy Mine team up against Big Bad Valentino.
    • Rob the Big Bad's armored car. Goes off without a hitch, and the Big Bad even shows some previously unseen Benevolent Boss traits, telling her men not to sacrifice their lives for nothing. Because this is All According to Plan, and she is inside the back of the fucking car, with a machine gun.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Marilith kills without remorse.
  • Start of Darkness: "Chapter Zero" shows Valentino's.
  • Stockholm Syndrome: Most assume Kimiko has this for Marilith, but see Jumped at the Call above. The way Minh's parents fell in love is a straighter example, bonding over "little things" like how she arranged his gruel into a smiley face, but they are in love and happily (and apparently healthily) married decades later, so The Power of Love may be a better explanation.
  • Too Dumb to Live: Kimiko's father claims this runs in the family. His father charged an American army with nothing but a katana. He spent all his time building his company for Kimiko to inherit, rather than being there for her as a father. And Kimiko loves Marilith.
  • Training from Hell: Valentino underwent this.
  • Tyke-Bomb: Valentino was raised from childhood to be an assassin, in a way reminiscent of Naked Weapon, complete with rape and Deadly Graduation. No wonder she turned Psycho for Hire!
  • Villain Protagonist: Marilith, but again, she isn't the most evil character in these comics.
  • World of Action Girls: Marshall does get his share of the spotlight, but Valentino, Marilith, and even the barely-trained Kimiko overshine him.
  • You and What Army?: Aiko demands this of Marshall Hunter. Of course, he calls in the Hunter Knights by way of response.
  • You Have Failed Me: How Marshall Hunter meets his end, after unwisely allying with Valentino and then being unable to deliver. She claims she would have forgiven that, but he also gets cold feet.


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