Portrait of a Character – Marisol Castillo
Marisol Castillo comes from an older character of mine, Marisol of Castile.
Origins
I wanted a Star Trek fanfiction character who would be a femme fatale. From the very beginning, Marisol was meant to be a villain.
Portrayal
Marisol is played by actress Vanessa Marcil. I like the actress’s air of practicality, or at least that how I see her. Maybe I’m wrong.
Vanessa Marcil as Marisol Castillo (image is for educational purposes)
Marisol is ruthlessly efficient and has few feelings. Why not?
‘Cause she’s a psychopath.
With no qualms against taking what she needs, the actress’s air of practicality works for the character.
Personality
Brilliant and beautiful, Marisol should have it all. But there’s something a little bit off about her, and Carmen does not initially want to hire her. Instead, Carmen looks to hire Helen Walker to be the time traveling doctor on the team. When Walker is apparently killed, Carmen turns to her second choice, Marisol, particularly because Boris Yarin is pushing for her to be hired.
Efficient, but with little bedside manner, Marisol even jokes about disabling Polly Porter while Porter is undergoing surgery. Of course this horrifies Boris, and so she does nothing. But he begins to have some doubts.
When the Perfectionists need for her to be an assassin, she eagerly does her job, or tries to, consequences be damned. A major timeline change even occurs, during You Mixed-Up Siciliano, because she is too busy wreaking havoc that she does not bother to protect the timeline. For Marisol, that’s a job for someone other than her.
Relationships
Boris Yarin
Boris is less of a relationship than he is a job for her to do. Marisol already works for the Perfectionists, and so her task is to seduce Boris. This she does at a medical conference. Soon enough, he’s wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is allude to the idea of sleeping with him and he’ll come running. Despite his marriage, he does not care about anyone else.
As for Marisol, she behaves a lot more like a hooker and does not care for Boris one whit. Her mistake, as she blackmails him, is telling him so. And he makes sure that that’s the last mistake she ever makes.
Theme Music
Marisol’s theme is Venus. There is every reason why, one of the first times she shows up, you hear Shocking Blue‘s version. And one of the last times she shows up, you hear Bananarama’s version.
Mirror Universe
Mirror Marisol (Vanessa Marcil)
There are no impediments to Marisol’s existence on the other side of a proverbial pond.
I like to think that she could find a way to be and do good. She would be smart enough to have a life and a career beyond pleasing men, and would be independent enough to maybe even make it.
Marisol in the mirror, I feel, could be like Doug – one of the few people to really have a conscience and a soul.
Quote
“That timeline is tyrannical, all we ever do is follow it. What if it isn’t the correct one, after all?”
Upshot
Stories need bad guys, and Marisol can provide quite a wallop in that area. She’s even restored to life in He Stays a Stranger, although she ends up in custody. Will she be back? Not unless it’s in something earlier than that story.
