Makron (Quake)
The Makron is the final boss of the first-person shooter computer game Quake II and Quake 4. It should be noted, however, that the two Makrons are (possibly) different entities, as the title reflects a position rather than a name.
Makron in Quake II
The Makron is the supreme leader of the Strogg, a hostile cybernetic race that invades Earth in the future. Strogg society is ruled by a number of warlords, and the Makron arises from amongst these warlords by a combination of peer selection and brute force. The ultimate goal of Quake II's single-player game is to penetrate the Strogg capital city on their homeworld, and assassinate the Makron. This will cause havoc in the Strogg society, as the remaining warlords (those not killed in the human assault) squabble for power.
The Stroggs are infamous for extensively replacing their body-parts with cybernetic augmentations. The Makron is the most extreme example of this, being nothing more than an organic brain housed inside the chest cavity of a robot-like suit. Although not particularly imposing (being only slightly taller than the average human), the Makron's robotic body is built for extreme combat; he has a railgun for a head, a hyperblaster for his right arm, and a BFG10K for his left arm. The Makron's body is also extremely durable, having approximately 4000 hit points, but it has one weakness in that it can be easily knocked down onto its back by powerful weapons fire, such as from a rocket launcher or railgun. The Makron is also very slow, and it's quite easy to pop in and out of cover and shoot him to death with the rocket launcher or railgun.
Not one to fight fair, the Makron always enters battle riding a cyber-organic Jorg battle-suit, which must be destroyed before the Makron itself can be confronted one-on-one. Oddly, the Makron laughs in it's death throes.
Makron in Quake 4
The Makron in Quake 4 is a different entity, seemingly more powerful and stronger than the original. Built in seemingly an entirely robotic body (with the exception of its face and some organic matter is visible around the human torso on it's stomach), the body is moved around by a series of crablike legs under its body. The beast can hover if these are destroyed. According to the booklet, the Makron was built during the events of Quake 4 instead of competitive fighting like the previous Makron was. However, this is not mentioned in the game so how this Makron came about is unknown.
The first contact with this Makron was by Matthew Kane, during a mission to destroy a key Strogg building. Inflicting minor damage to the beast, Kane is nonetheless captured by the Makron himself and stroggified. It is interesting to note that a player can believe that Kane is accomplishing all his tasks to take revenge on Makron for being the reason he was turned into a Strogg.
The Makron and Kane meet later, while the latter was attacking the central Strogg command center, the Nexus. While attempting to access the center (as Kane alone could enter without triggering the center's security}, Makron prevented him.
The two finally met face-to-face in the core of the Nexus, destroying the Makron's legs and then the rest of its body. He is equipped with a Dark Matter Gun (the BFG of Quake 4) on his right arm and a mechanical claw on his left which sends out beams of dark matter causing major damage. He sends out small grenade-like balls which spawn/teleport various types of Strogg enemies to aid him against the player. The player then fights the Nexus Core, something only the Makron itself had ever seen.
There is a possibility that the Makron is not dead, as the final scene of the game implies that Kane - himself partially Strogg - can hear the Makron laugh.
It is interesting to note that the Makron in Quake 4 has a distinct human-like evil laugh, unlike all the rest of the Stroggs who simply growl in Strogg language in the presence of invaders. The Makron seems to know how to speak English for when it fires it's Dark Matter weapon, it can be heard saying, "Die, human!". This happens in the first encounter with it and also when Kane fights the Makron again.
Phrases that the Makron curse at Kane beside it's laugh sound like (among others):
- "Die, human!"
- "You will fail!"
- "Pitiful!"
- "Don't tell me!" (?)
However, none of the other Strogg have been heard speaking English and not even the Strogg language is translated into English in the presence of Kane with his Strogg modifications besides the announcements in the facilities.