Marathon

Marathon (also referred to as Marathong or Schlong) was a December 2002 nation, and a member of the old guard. Marathon was famous for being both an active RPer and a political Generalite. He was also a member of the NCA.

In the Role Play arena around the time of his deletion, he generally did a lot more criticism of RP than actually roleplay. He seemed to have a bit of a reputation among RP old guard as being a neutral observer, that is to say, he hated everything equally, and this made him immensely popular with many.

In the General forum, he tended to rant on about politics, claiming to be a Republican, although often viewed as being a mental ten year old with the aim of being offensive. Even so, he was often successful at putting opponents new to the forum in their places in the General forum, just by weighing in on debates as if he were the ultimate authority on everything.

He was indeed, not just convinced that he was somebody important, but a mod in all but name, and soon to be a mod any day now. His supporters believed that, and he managed to collect nations around him who hoped to carry influence with the mod to be by supporting him and enduring his abuse.

His opponents on the other hand hated him as much as he hated them (and hated his supporters for that matter), and were sincerely terrified that he might become a mod.

Marathon was given several warnings for flaming, indeed the mods started that had he not been so famous they would have deleted him long before they finally did. He had, in fact, been deleted and then resurrected. When they deleted him, it was a decision made by almost all of the mods, and he was IP-banned as well when [violet] woke up.

Post-DEAT

Upon learning of his deletion, Marathon's fans jumped into action, along with several of the old guard of the time who were not huge supporters, but feared the same fate. They insistted that because of his seniority, and fame, he should be immune from prosecution and conviction. The mods, however stood firmly by their "no."

Shortly after his IP-ban he posted an article on his website insulting the mods and wishing cancer on The SLAGLands's girlfriend. The insults that he lavished on the mods were seen as speaking truth to corrupted power by many of the old guard, many of whom elevated him to the level of saint, idol, and martyr. On the other hand, his death wish to Slaggy's girlfriend over a game convinced his enemies that he really was ten years old, and turned the dislike against him by his enemies to downright detestment.

Marathons Ghost

Shortly after Marathon's deletion, a nation called "Marathons Ghost" appeared. on the forums. Arguing that Marathon's deletion was unjust he rallied Marathon's supporters who were soon calling for blood to demand the deletion of the British player Philandrea. Philandrea defied the stereotype of British niceness by being not at all polite to Nazis. Having flamed Parratoga, he had made an enemy of the Nazis already. Philandrea was also one of Marathon's lead detractors, and was not at all sympathetic on the day of his deletion. The day after Marathon was deleted, Philandrea was deleted as well. The mods claimed that it was coincidental as a result of investigation of several old offenses, but many players doubted that.

The Cult of Marathon

For a long time afterwards NS was split into pro-Philandrea and pro-Marathon camps, then pro and anti-Marathon camps, and finally returned to normal, except for a group of Marathonian disciples. One fan of Marathon, though not a disciple, the very same Parratoga created a puppet called "The Cult of Marathon" to point out the absurdity of the movement.

As time passed, the canonized Marathon's history was revised by his disciples, and movements were started by some of his worshippers to get him unbanned and modified. Several mods threatened resignation if this happened, and it was likely never seriously considered.

Today Marathon's name remains in NS as a cult figure for the new players, and a figure of intense dispute for the old guard.

Marathon later became a moderator of the "NS hell" forum FUA (along with Beeker and Parratoga), and after FUA disbanded he more or less left the nationstates scene.