Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, portrayed by Jason Segel. Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca.
Character overview The series revolves around the adventures of the five main characters: Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his best friend Marshall, his friend and Marshall's girlfriend (later fiancee and wife) Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan), friend Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) and friend (and future love interest and wife to Barney Stinson) Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders).
Marshall met Ted and Lily during their freshman year at Wesleyan University in 1996 (though in Season 4, the diploma in Marshall's office at Goliath National Bank says Ohio Wesleyan University), and they moved into an apartment in New York City together after graduation. In the show's pilot episode, he proposes to Lily, inspiring Ted to start looking for the love of his life.
Marshall is fascinated by the paranormal, and has absolute faith that mythical creatures such as Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster are real. He has even discovered a paranormal event himself: a bizarre creature he names "the cockamouse". He is also a huge fan of the Minnesota Vikings, much like his father. He is a fan of the Minnesota Twins and New York Mets.
Although very few references were made to identify Marshall's birthday, it can be assumed he was in the same school year as best friend and roommate Ted Mosby and then-girlfriend Lily Aldrin. In "The Yips" Marshall says he is 29. This episode aired in November 2007. This confirms Marshall's birth year to be either 1977 or 1978. Ted turned 30 on April 25, 2008 in "The Goat". The dialogue in this episode implies that Lily, Marshall and Robin have not yet reached this milestone. In "Glitter", Lily says Marshall is 384 months old, thus 32 years, 1 week, 1 day and 21 hours old. Since the episode plays somewhere between November 9 (the date the previous episode played in) and November 24, 2010 (the date the next episode plays in) it can only be concluded that he was born between November 2 and November 14, 1978.
Life before first episode Marshall was born and raised in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the youngest of three brothers. His last name, the fact that he is from Minnesota and his references to lutefisk suggests that he might be a Scandinavian American. He has been shown to be extremely close to his family, particularly his father, Marvin (Bill Fagerbakke). His relationships with his two older brothers, Marvin, Jr. and Marcus, was depicted in several episodes as involving pranks and brutal fighting matches when they were teenagers. By the time the series begins, both of his brothers are married and have started families. It was depicted that his brothers were the ones who gave Marshall his very first car, a Pontiac Fiero, which had a cassette single stuck in it containing the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".
In an episode it's shown Marshall starts smoking while still in high school and struggles to stop until his children are born.
After graduating from Tarkenton St. Cloud high school (as seen in Desperation Day), Marshall attended and received his B.A. from Wesleyan University. He met both Lily and Ted during the move-in process. Ted was his first roommate in college. Marshall is shown to frequently smoke marijuana, though in the show, Future Ted refers to this as "eating a sandwich" in order to hide their past drug use from his children. In fact, Marshall is shown to have smoked marijuana before initially meeting Ted and confuses him for the dean of the school. Marshall is also shown to enjoy drinking to the point of intoxication in college. One of those times, he is involved in a hazing where he becomes so drunk that he streaks and proclaims himself "Beercules" following the drinking game "Edward 40-Hands", a reference to the film Edward Scissorhands, but instead of scissors for hands, the participant tapes 40 fl. oz. drinks to their hands.
Marshall and Ted became good friends after this. During a break during school, Marshall plans to drive back to Minnesota in his Fiero. Marshall offers Ted a ride to his own home in Shaker Heights saying that it is on the way, which Ted eventually accepts. They bond during a blizzard and over the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". Ted's friendship with Marshall is shown to help strengthen Lily and Marshall's early relationship, by him inviting her into their first roommate photo, Ted encouraging Marshall to commit to Lily, despite Marshall not having much prior relationship experience. Ted and Marshall would also take frequent roadtrips to Chicago to get pizza from their favorite shop. They also begin their tradition of watching the original Star Wars trilogy while in school together.
Marshall met Lily during the move-in process, when Lily was determined to meet him and found his room. She asked him to install her stereo for her and they were in love at first sight. They exclusively date through college, even when she studies abroad in Paris. Their nicknames for each other are "Lily-pad" and "Marsh-mallow".
After graduating, Marshall and Ted move in together into the apartment in New York. Marshall is initially terrified of living in a large city, though he eventually overcomes his fear. He takes several years off, working in a clothing store, before attending Columbia University Law School to receive his Juris Doctor (J.D.).
How I Met Your Mother During the pilot episode, Marshall proposes to Lily. Throughout the series, his relationship with Lily progresses through their engagement, their break up when she decides to move to San Francisco for an art fellowship, Lily's eventual return to New York City and their attempt at a friendship outside of a romantic relationship, their reconciliation and re-engagement, their wedding, and finally their marriage.
Initial engagement Marshall and Lily are initially engaged during the first season. Their engagement is what initially prompts Ted to begin pursuing marriage for himself.
Marshall at times is shown to feel left out of the hijinks that Ted and Barney get into without him, going so far as to drive to Philadelphia to have a "legendary" adventure with them.
Marshall is shown to be completely committed in spite of his sadness at being left out of Ted and Barney's "single man" shenanigans. In Best Prom Ever, he sneaks into a high school prom in order to provide Lily with sheet music for the song they want to dance to at their wedding, "Good Feeling" from the Violent Femmes album.
During this period, the couple is generally happy, but the instability of their engagement and relationship is foreshadowed in several episodes. In "Okay Awesome", Marshall is shown to be jealous of the fun that Barney and Ted have by going out to clubs while Lily wants to have a "grown up" wine and cheese party with other couples. In "Belly Full of Turkey", the couple go to Minnesota to visit Marshall's family for Thanksgiving. There, Lily vocalizes that she does not want to change her name, that she is hesitant about starting a family with Marshall, and that the couple are not on the same page about where they would raise their family if they chose to have children. In "Zip, Zip, Zip", Marshall and Lily are trapped in the apartment bathroom and openly discuss that they are sad about no longer having new milestones. This period of their relationship ends in the first season finale, "Come On", when Marshall discovers that Lily interviewed for an art fellowship in San Francisco. They have a fight, during which Lily claims that she was never going to actually take the fellowship, but due to Marshall's comments during the fight, she decides that she needed to take a break from the relationship in order to pursue her dream as an artist.
During this time, it was demonstrated that Marshall and Lily have a psychic connection and are able to communicate with each other through thought.
Break-up and Lily's return to New York The second season begins with Marshall dealing with the break-up of his long-term relationship and engagement. He was shown to be extremely depressed during the first few months post-break-up. He becomes obsessed with credit card bills that are still sent to their apartment. This obsession leads him to believe that Lily returned to New York and didn't tell him, causing him to believe that she does not want to get back together. When he goes to a New York hotel shown on her credit card bill to confront her and the man that had answered the phone when he had called their room, he discovers that Lily had not returned, but had been a victim of identity fraud. This allows him to let go of the relationship.
He eventually tries dating, though most of his attempts are stymied by his friend Barney Stinson, who is later revealed to be intentionally sabotaging these attempts in order to ensure the reunification of Marshall and Lily.
Marshall, while single, misses parts of being in a relationship, such as having someone to attend concerts with and going to brunch, which his friends tell him is something that can only be done when in a couple. Marshall begins a "bromance" with his friend and fellow law student, Brad Morris (Joe Manganiello), who had also recently gone through a break-up. Marshall thinks that Brad is becoming too romantic for the relationship, which culminates in Marshall reluctantly agreeing to attend a wedding with him, only to arrive in front of Brad's apartment to see him with flowers. Marshall assumes that the flowers are for him and panics, but Brad reveals that he had gotten back together with his recent break-up.
When Marshall encountered Lily after her return to New York City, Lily proposed they get back together, saying that leaving him was a mistake and that she still loves him. Marshall refused and said that he also needed time to discover who he is outside the relationship.
Marshall managed to date one woman, a barista, who his friends claimed has "crazy eyes". She tells him several outlandish stories, which are revealed to be true and caused by Lily, who is still obsessed with Marshall. At the end of their date, it is revealed that Lily had broken into the apartment to sabotage the date with a picture of Marshall and Lily together. This culminates with them making up and getting back together.
Second engagement and wedding After reconciling, Marshall and Lily decide to elope in Atlantic City in order to avoid the judgment of Marshall's family for Lily having left him. They decide not to go through with it at the last moment and want to instead have a celebration with their families and friends present.
Marshall's friendship are further explored during this time in the episode "Slap Bet". Marshall agrees to a bet with Barney about the reason Robin doesn't like malls. Marshall, being from Minnesota, believes that Robin doesn't like malls because she was married in one, as some people had done in the Mall of America. This results in Marshall being given several slaps which he inflict upon Barney throughout the series, because, although Robin was not married at a mall, Barney was incorrect that she had been in a pornographic film.
During this time, Marshall's first car dies. He reminisces with his friends about the times that they all shared in the car and is reluctant to scrap the vehicle. He reveals that he is unhappy with the corporate job he had been working and felt that only his old, beaten car kept him connected with the kind of man that he wanted to be.
Toward the end of the second season, before the wedding, when Ted is planning to move in with his girlfriend, Robin, it is shown that most of the possessions in the apartment belonged to Ted. Marshall and Lily, while still wanting to get married, learn that they are somewhat dependent on Ted. The couple is relieved when Ted ultimately decides not to move in with Robin and returns to the apartment.