US Marshal



A federal law enforcement officer, charged with apprehending fugitives from federal law, protecting the federal courts and ensuring the smooth function of the court system.

The United States Marshals Service was the first federal law enforcement agency created in the young U.S.A., in 1789. While its primary duty was to the judicial system, the Service also acted as the local-level representative of federal laws. For example, the Marshals took the census every ten years until 1870.

Marshals have the ability to deputize ordinary citizens (but not military personnel) at need, popularly known as "forming a Posse." In films and television, many marshals' deputies are clueless, which will inevitably exasperate the marshal when he finds out. Sturgeons Law strongly suggests that this happened in Real Life as well.

Since a marshal is directly responsible to the federal government, they're not as likely to be influenced by local politics as The Sheriff or a police chief. That said, many U.S. marshals have also been sheriffs or town marshals before or after their federal service.

Note that the difference between something like the FBI and the US Marshals is that the marshals are expected to go off into the wilderness, usually alone, take into custody and bring back to justice whoever they are sent after. It pretty much requires that you be a total Badass. So while an FBI agent might or might not be a Badass, a US Marshal always is - even if he looks like a nerd. Big duties assigned to the Marshals Service today include Witness Protection and prisoner transport across state lines. They are not, however, the Air Marshals assigned to flights to counter hijackings, which is a separate service entirely.

Comic Books

 * Carrie Stetko from the Whiteout comics and movie. (In Real Life, U.S. Marshals actually do have jurisdiction in Antarctica, although as of 2008, none are permanently stationed there.)
 * Several U.S. Marshals appear in the "Apokolips Road" story arc of Birds of Prey escorting metahuman prisoners. They do pretty well, considering they're way out of their weight class on Apokolips.
 * Wynonna Earp from the comic book of the same title. Wynonna is a descendant of the famous lawman Wyatt Earp, and she's the top special agent for a special unit known within the US Marshals known as The Monster Squad.
 * In The DCU, the 21st century 'Pow-Wow' Smith, descendant of the 19th century lawman of the same name, is a US Marshal.
 * J.D. Hart from Jonah Hex.

Film

 * Sam Gerard from The Fugitive movie and its sequel US Marshals.
 * Clint Eastwood's character in Hang 'em High.
 * Artemus Gordon in Wild Wild West.
 * Karen Sisco from Out of Sight. She gets her man, in more ways than one.
 * Outland. The protagonist played by Sean Connery is a Federal Marshal, though his character resembles more The Sheriff in this Space Western inspired by High Noon.
 * Marshall Strickland in Back to The Future Part III.
 * Who looks almost exactly like Wild Bill Hickok.
 * Stockburn of the Clint Eastwood Western film Pale Rider is a corrupt, villainous variant.
 * Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, which is Truth in Television. He was supposed to serve warrants for the cowboys who killed his brother Morgan, but it proved to be legal cover for his Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser, working on the Witness Protection program.

Literature

 * In the later Anita Blake novels Anita, Edward (Or rather his legal identity, Ted Forrester) and other licensed vampire slayers are granted federal marshal status, mainly to take care of the legal hassles of a slayer chasing a vamp over state lines. Actually one of her more plausible upgrades.
 * Morgan Kane, protagonist of the most commercially successful Norwegian book series to date, is a US marshal for most of his career.
 * Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule in Shutter Island (and its film adaptation).
 * Elmore Leonard has written several prominent Marshal characters, many of whom have appeared in other media, including Raylan Givens, Karen Sisco and her father Marshall (retired, and yes, he was "Marshal Marshall Sisco.")
 * Rooster Cogburn from True Grit and its two adaptations, "the meanest one, double-tough, knowing no fear".
 * Deputy Marshal Custis "Longarm" Long, of the long-running Longarm paperback series. The Marshal himself in the stories is William Vail, and sometimes lends a hand.
 * In the Waco series by JT Edson, Waco - having held a variety of law enforcement positions - ends his career as a U.S. Marshal.
 * Deputy U.S. Marshal Solomon Wisdom 'Solly' Cole appears a supporting character in several of Edson's novels.

Live Action TV

 * Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke.
 * Frank Ragan of The Dakotas is a US Marshal. He has three deputies.
 * Jack Carter was a US Marshal before he became Sheriff of Eureka.
 * The Red Shirt traveling with Kate in Lost, Marshal Edward Mars as portrayed by Fredric Lehne.
 * Mary Shannon and Marshall Mann of In Plain Sight.
 * First Sam Cain and then Teaspoon Hunter of The Young Riders. They had a habit of deputizing the entire cast, which meant they could have a lot more action plots than if the express riders had stuck to delivering the mail.
 * Raylan Givens of Justified. He basically thinks he's a modern-day Wyatt Earp and actually pulls it off very well.
 * A&E has Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force a documentary show about the Joint Fugitive Task Force of New York/New Jersey.
 * The title character of Karen Sisco and her father Marshall, a retired Marshal.
 * Breakout Kings
 * The Adventures of Brisco County Jr: Brisco County, Sr. was a US Marshal.
 * Chase
 * In Time Trax, Lambert's cover in present day was as a U.S. Marshal, as it is the role of that office to apprehend fugitives.
 * Eagle Heart

Manhwa

 * Coburn of Priest, who represents a completely secular neutral third party in a setting where fallen angels, a demon-possessed priest, and superhuman foot soldiers of a Corrupt Church wreak havoc on the frontier.

Radio

 * Matt Dillon of Dodge City in Gunsmoke - who described himself in the radio episodes as "the first man they look for, and the last they wanna meet. It's a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful - and a little lonely."
 * James Whipple of Lightning Jim and his deputy marshal Whitey Larsson.

Tabletop Games

 * An option for player characters (detailed in the Law Dogs source book) in Deadlands.

Video Games

 * Jake Marshall takes Cowboy Cop to new levels in Ace Attorney and actually dresses up as a stereotypical Western federal marshal.
 * Marshal Johnson in Red Dead Redemption.

Western Animation
"50 Cent: I'll stop these terrorists, or die tryin'!"
 * Even though it is a Space Western, this is pretty much the Galaxy Rangers' job description.
 * Starring 50 Cent as Air Marshal 50 Cent.

Famous Real Life Marshals

 * Frederick Douglass. Yes, that Frederick Douglass.
 * Dallas Stoudenmire (1845-1882), successful City Marshal who tamed and controlled the remote, wild and violent town of El Paso, Texas; became U.S. Marshal serving West Texas and New Mexico Territory just before his death.
 * Virgil and Wyatt Earp, Deputy Marshals for the Arizona Territory (Virgil first, Wyatt after his brother's death.) Virgil was also the town marshal for Tombstone.
 * James "Wild Bill" Hickok, Deputy Marshal of Fort Riley, Kansas.
 * Bat Masterson, later in life, was appointed a Deputy of for the Southern district of New York by Theodore Roosevelt.