Steven

Biodata

Background / History

Origin

Steven emerged when Mark’s mind buckled under his mother’s abuse following his younger brother’s death. His mother blamed Mark for the tragedy and subjected him to repeated accusations and drunken beatings. Steven would emerge during Mark’s emotional suffering 396.

Steven’s memories differ sharply from Mark’s: he believes his mother has always loved him, that they call each other daily, and that they exchange goodnights. Mark knows their mother died from alcoholism two months earlier without forgiving him 396.

Museum Life

Steven works at a museum gift shop, although his enthusiasm for Egyptian history frequently draws him into explaining exhibits rather than selling merchandise. His supervisor, Donna, reprimands him for acting like a tour guide and routinely leaves him to organize the storeroom after his shift 362 363.

At home, Steven wakes with recurring, unexplained soreness despite sleeping with an ankle restraint attached to his bed. One morning, severe cramps leave him unable to stand. His neighbor Cyno breaks through his locked door, and Tighnari relieves the cramps with a massage. Steven thanks them but only later realizes that his neighbor called him “Mark” 361.

Steven meets Lin Ze and Paimon during a dispute over littering in a pyramid display. He explains Egyptian burial beliefs, including Aaru, the Field of Reeds, without knowing that Paimon recognizes Aaru as a village in Sumeru. Later, he recommends Taweret hippo plush toys as a wedding gift. Lin Ze buys the entire stock, filling five trucks; Donna abruptly praises Steven and allows him to leave on time 362 363.

The Sacred Scarab and Tony’s Wedding

After sleeping, Steven awakens on an unfamiliar lawn with a dislocated jaw. Arataki Itto finds him near monsters and mistakes his attempts to ask for help for choking. Itto performs the Heimlich maneuver, inadvertently relocating Steven’s jaw 363 364.

Unconvinced by Itto’s account of Tony Stark’s wedding and the armed attackers nearby, Steven gives him the Golden Sacred Scarab as a wedding present, hoping to rid himself of a troublesome object. An unseen voice angrily demands that he retrieve it. Steven instead enters a nearby town, where Harrow identifies him as a mercenary and demands the Scarab 364 365 366.

Harrow forces Steven to accompany his followers to the wedding estate. Steven apologizes to Tony and asks for the Scarab back, offering to replace it with a better gift. He is mortified to discover that Lin Ze and Paimon’s newlywed friends are Tony and Pepper—and that the familiar hippo decorations came from his own sale 368 369.

After recovering the Scarab, Steven tries to surrender it to Harrow, but his hand refuses to open and his legs carry him away against his wishes. His behavior then changes abruptly from panicked flight to skilled combat. When Steven next becomes aware of his surroundings, he is driving a speeding car with blood on his hands and cannot remember the intervening events 369 370.

Distracted while retrieving the Scarab from beneath the driver’s seat, Steven drives off the road. Tony’s armored suits stop the falling car and extract him. Barbara subsequently heals his injuries, including a concussion, fractured ribs, a punctured kidney, and active bleeding 370.

In a lounge at the estate, Steven hears Mark’s voice and encounters his speaking reflection. A subsequent attack by a figure resembling Steven is revealed to be a prank by the Mirror Spirit, whom Lin Ze reprimands 370 371.

Desert Journey and Duat

During a later desert journey with Cyno and Neuvillette, Steven takes control and Mark’s white battle suit disappears. Exhausted, dehydrated, and nearly a day and a half without food, he collapses. Neuvillette supplies water, Cyno offers a Charcoal-Baked Coconut Cake, and Ned later brings bottled water and hamburgers before the group continues to the Bent Pyramid 385 386.

Steven supports seeking Anubis’s help but becomes frightened when Cyno must undergo judgment. He worries that the scales could be inaccurate or malfunctioning, then feels relieved when Cyno’s heart balances the feather almost immediately 389.

In a psychiatric-hospital setting, Mark searches desperately for Steven. They reunite as separate individuals, an arrangement neither understands. Steven is delighted to see Mark and relieved not to remain trapped in a coffin. Later, he recognizes Duat as the Egyptian underworld and identifies Taweret when she appears 392 393 394 396.

Appearance

• Hair: Slightly tousled, wavy black hair 361.
• Clothing: Wears a staff badge at the museum and a hooded jacket during his encounter with Harrow’s followers 362 365.
• Resemblance to Mark: When they appear separately, their identical faces confuse Paimon. She distinguishes Steven by his shirt and Mark by his hospital gown 394.

Personality

Steven is courteous, bashful, and quick to apologize. He repeatedly thanks Cyno and Tighnari for helping him, declines compensation for his broken door, and becomes embarrassed when Tighnari massages his cramped muscles. Even when Donna belittles him, he responds weakly rather than confronting her 361 363.

His enthusiasm for Egyptian culture makes him a patient explainer, despite his job being sales rather than guiding tours. He is also skeptical of extraordinary claims: he initially dismisses the voice in his head as an auditory hallucination and refuses to believe Itto’s account of the wedding and attackers 362 363 365.

Steven wants to avoid conflict with both Harrow and the superheroes, but remains concerned for others. He tries to prevent a confrontation at Tony’s wedding, worries about Cyno’s judgment, and is visibly relieved to find Lin Ze and Paimon safe after hearing that Ammit has taken someone 369 371 389.

Abilities & Skills

Egyptian Cultural Knowledge

Steven’s clearest demonstrated skill is his knowledge of Egyptian beliefs and traditions.

• Explains mummification, the heart’s role in judgment, and Aaru as an afterlife destination 362.
• Recommends a Taweret plush because of the goddess’s association with protecting happy families 363.
• Recognizes the proper judgment ritual performed by Anubis and distinguishes it from Ammit’s lesser version 389.
• Identifies Duat and recognizes Taweret as the goddess who protects women and children 396.

Shared Body and Involuntary Control

Steven does not consistently control the body he shares with Mark.

• Experiences unexplained soreness and gaps in his memory 361 370.
• Is unable to open his hand or stop his legs while attempting to give Harrow the Scarab 369.
• Loses awareness around an abrupt shift into skilled combat; those combat abilities are not established as Steven’s own 369 370.
• Does not retain Mark’s white battle suit or Khonshu-provided strength when he takes control in the desert 385.

Equipment / Items

• Museum staff badge — Identifies him as an employee and displays the name he repeatedly asks Donna to use correctly 362 363.
• Ankle restraint — A strap around his right ankle connected by rope to his bedpost; finding it still secured reassures him upon waking 361.
• Door safeguards — Three locks and tape around the door gap, all breached when Cyno comes to help him 361.
• Golden Sacred Scarab — A temporary possession sought by Harrow and the voice in Steven’s head. Steven gives it to Itto as a wedding gift, later retrieves it, and finds himself unable to surrender it voluntarily 364 365 366 369.

Relationships

• Marc Spector / Mark — The personality with whom Steven shares a body. Steven initially does not understand the name “Mark”; their later reunion as separate individuals is emotional and bewildering for both 361 370 393 396.
• Khonshu — Provides strength to Mark but mocks Steven’s weakness when Steven takes over during the desert journey 385.
• Donna — His supervisor. She belittles him, calls him the wrong name, and assigns unpaid extra work, but temporarily changes her attitude after his enormous plush-toy sale 362 363.
• Lin Ze / Aether and Paimon — Museum visitors who become friendly acquaintances. Their purchase transforms his workday; they later reassure him at the wedding estate and help during his desert journey 362 363 369 371 386.
• Cyno and Tighnari — Rescue him from incapacitating muscle cramps at home. Cyno later travels with him in the desert and shares food 361 385.
• Arataki Itto — Finds Steven near monsters and accidentally fixes his jaw while treating him for choking. Steven entrusts him with the Scarab as a wedding gift while doubting his account of events 363 364 365.
• Harrow — Pursues the Sacred Scarab, mistakes Steven for a mercenary, threatens him with armed followers, and forces him to lead them to Tony’s wedding estate 366 368 369.
• Tony Stark and Pepper Potts — Recipients of the Taweret plush toys Steven recommends and the Scarab he passes along through Itto. Tony later rescues Steven from his car crash 363 365 369 370.
• Barbara — Heals Steven’s crash injuries through a singing performance, leaving him astonished at his complete recovery 370.
• Neuvillette and Ned — Provide water and food when Steven is weakened by the desert journey 385 386.

Notable Quotes

“I'm not a mercenary. Really, I just have one of those faces. You must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm Steven. Steven Grant.” 366

“Mate, I swear I'm really trying to give it to youuu, but my body won't let me!!!” 369