Marie
Marie Curie Kjelstad is the daughter of Peter and Lillian Kjelstad. Taking after her mother, she is a striking young woman. Marie completed high school several years ahead of schedule and immediately proceeded to university-level studies. At 21 years of age, she has completed advanced studies in several sciences. Her father encouraged her wandering interests, while her mother encouraged she settle down and pick a focus. XCOM: Gray Dawn
Family relations
Despite her academic bent, Marie's father was always very close to her, and spent a lot of time with her when she was younger, teaching her to shoot and hunt a bit (figuring she ought to have some skill in playing outside). She is very much a daddy's girl. Marie's relationship with her mother appears to be strained at times. To see Marie's Bio, click here
So Pretty, Yet So, So Damaged
Marie is socially awkward, and often speaks her mind with little forethought to the consequences of her words. In high school, her good looks and maturity caught the eye of one of her classmates, Daniel Pershing, a senior who mistakenly thought she was close to his age (because she was in one of his classes). When he hit on her one time, she (none too quietly) informed him that she was only thirteen. The embarrassment and shame heaped upon him by his peers caused him, over time, to target Marie for later persecution. In recent years, he has been stalking her, blaming her for becoming a social pariah. The experience of having a stalker from a young age has led Marie to develop a kind of social anxiety; people tend not to like her because of her inadvertently abrasive nature, but at the same time, she doesn't like to be alone because that is when the cowardly Daniel Pershing is most apt to torment her.
Through no fault of her own, Marie has grown up into a beautiful young woman, which likely vexes the hell out of plenty of women. The majority of the Elma Resistance's initial batch of eggheads were accidentally recruited by Marie solely because of her looks. Much to the collective dismay of the scientists and engineers, this has not gotten any of them into her pants; it just got the lot of them out of Seattle.
Marie also has a tendency toward pacifism and conflict-avoidance, which regularly puts her at odds with her teammates who would sometimes prefer a high-velocity approach to problem solving. They haven't complained too much about this aspect of her personality, however; they probably cut her some slack because she is young and naive, and sometimes it is good to have a different perspective on things.
Ooh, Shinies!
She has recently developed an interest in astrophysics and astronomy, and as such, has made the acquaintance of Doug Wilson. She is currently studying with him, and he is providing her with a steady supply of not being alone and afraid of her tormentor. This has led some to believe they have some kind of intimate relationship going, but this has not been confirmed. UPDATE: In a fit of...something or other (related to Doug being in danger) Marie blurted out "I love you!" to Doug, though after this slip, she quickly pretended it didn't happen.
Easter Eggs
On Marie's character sheet, page 2 under the heading for clothing, the description is listed as "usually."
In the motivations section on how she feels about people, the description is listed as "People are weird, but I am strangely dependent on them."
Her ethnicity is listed as "Scandahoovian."
Marie is the only PC to have a 10 in any single stat (INT). UPDATE: She is now the only PC to have a 10 in two stats. If only she wasn't so pathetic in all the other ones...
For all her pacifism and avoiding combat, Marie was the first PC to accidentally kill an NPC (She got a super-duper critical while attempting covering fire and fatally shot her opponent in the arm).
Marie is the youngest of the PCs.
Marie is the first of the PCs to beat up an alien in hand-to-hand combat (she played crack the whip with a snakeman and...whipped him).
Marie evidently had a brief job as a Shutterstock model.
