Mark Temple

"Fate is not without irony. And the past is not without its just dessert."

- Temple in Battlescars

Mark Temple is the leader of the Blues and Reds, a group of Simulation Troopers that are very similar to the Reds and Blues of Blood Gulch. He serves, thus far, as the main antagonist of Season 15.

Early Life
While in high school, Temple befriends a classmate named Biff and the two soon become close friends. Later on, Temple helps Biff talk to a girl named Georgina and the two begin a relationship with each other. Following high school, Temple and Biff enlist into the UNSC, where they are given to Project Freelancer as a part of their early Red and Blue simulation armies, though Temple and Biff remain unaware of Freelancer's intentions. The two are eventually transferred to Desert Gulch on Armada 8 and placed on separate teams, Temple on the Blue Team and Biff on the Red Team. Despite this, Temple and Biff remain close friends.

After a battle, Temple and Biff have a campfire, where Biff tells Temple about his plan to return home via medical discharge in order to be with Georgina. While uncomfortable with Biff leaving, Temple agrees to help him with his plan.

Terrorist Attacks
Several years later, Temple and the rest of the Blues and Reds construct an underwater lair below Desert Gulch and begin a spree of terrorist attacks ten months following the Chorus-Charon War, seemingly in vengeance for the UNSC's actions towards Project Freelancer personnel. The group also begin hunting down and killing ex-Freelancers, with Temple locking down their armor and having them die of thirst and starvation. After an attack on a UNSC outpost, Temple leaves his helmet behind at the crime scene.

The group eventually lead the Reds and Blues, as well as two IDA reporters, to Desert Gulch and confront them. Temple fabricates a story involving the UNSC capturing Church and hunting down Freelancer personnel in order to gain the Reds and Blues' trust when suddenly UNSC aircraft attack both groups. The sim troopers manage to defeat the UNSC soldiers and later bond after a trip to gather supplies for their underwater base. Afterward, the two groups follow a beacon to Wash and Carolina, where Tucker introduces them to the Blues and Reds.

After Temple explains his "story" to the Freelancers, Carolina suggests they have Dylan publicize it, in order to avoid a physical confrontation. Once Temple has Wash and Carolina alone he reveals that he's been killing the ex-Freelancers and proceeds to lock them in their armor. He then explains that he was worried Carolina would recognize his voice before locking the two inside a room with the other Freelancer corpses.

Moments later, Temple threatens Loco to complete work on a large device that he told the Reds and Blues was a cloaking device. After hearing a sound, the two Blues stop talking and discover a doll behind a pile of crates, leading Temple to question Jax of Dylan's whereabouts. He eventually finds Dylan searching through his network computer and takes her and Jax hostage. He then explains his early deployment time on Desert Gulch.

Personality
At first, Temple appears to be a reasonable, somewhat awkward version of Church. However, he later shows himself to be a manipulative and highly sociopathic individual, obsessed with getting revenge on everyone involved with Project Freelancer. His manipulative side is demonstrated when he turns Tucker and the other Reds and Blues against Dylan. He also seems to be very unstable, as shown when he states very passionately he has to "cut the head off" whoever is responsible for what happened to him and the other Simulation Troopers.

Temple was capable of camaraderie, as evidenced by his lifelong friendship with Biff. The two of them were constantly ribbing each other throughout their lives, and when Biff finally asked out Georgina after two years in high school, Temple managed to get the entire cafeteria to initiate a slow clap in response. This shows that despite his homicidal demeanor, that Temple is capable of caring for others and that his intense rage is likely a result of the tragedies that befell himself and his friend.

Skills & Abilities
Temple appears to lack any sort of skill when using the sniper rifle, much like his Blood Gulch counterpart Church. The one time he managed to land a shot, was proceeded by many missed attempts beforehand. As shown in Battlescars when he brings Washington and Carolina to the trophy room and later in Belly of the Beast when he notices Dylan is spying on him and Loco, he tends to switch to his Tactical Magnum to fight closer opponents. He admits his lack of combat skills when trapping Agents Carolina and Washington in his lair, and went around it by locking the Freelancers in their armor and leaving them to die.

Unlike Church, he is an effective leader, as he led several successful raids on UNSC outposts, but he admits to taking the job only because of an absence of legitimate leadership, as Church had before him.

Trivia

 * A temple is a holy place of prayers like the Church which fits the similarities to his counterpart.
 * Temple is the third antagonist with a sadistic nature with Malcolm Hargrove being the first and Felix being the second, although Agent Wyoming had in his first appearance expressed regret at not having time to torture a captive.
 * Temple acts as the opposite of Church as the series goes by.
 * He presents himself as a kind individual while Church presents himself as a jerk, but deep down Temple sees his men as expendable while Church does actually care for his team.
 * Church lets go of his desire for revenge against Project Freelancer, while Temple never did.