Marcus Manticore

Marcus Constantine Manticore is a Darnussian politician who has served as the Premier of Darnussia since 3 March 2028. He is also the founder of the Darnussian National Front (DNF), the present ruling party in Darnussia, having split from the now-dissolved National Liberal Party (NLP).

Early life and political career
Manticore was born and raised in Torchvan in Narikaton province to a lower-middle class family. He later attended the University of Östermark before working as a clerk for a manufacturing company.

He joined the NLP aged 15 whilst still at school, and by the time he had left university was their regional organiser for southern Narikaton. He had always strongly identified with the party's hard-right tendency, and was deeply mistrustful of the more centrist wing.

He was first elected as a delegate to the Parliament of Darnussia aged 29 in the 2012 general election. He was a frequent critic of his leader Marcus Ruben, although he was initially enthusiastic about the NLP's ill-fated coalition with the right-wing Republican People's Party (RPP).

National prominence
He first came to national attention over his whistle-blowing about corruption among the NLP's leadership in the early 2020's. He quickly became a high-profile member of the party's far-right and was a powerful critic of the NLP's increasingly unpopular centrist leaders. When the NLP began to disintegrate in early 2026, Manticore's fame and charisma resulted in him becoming the unofficial leader of the right-wing grassroots, propelling him to nationwide popularity.

On 29 June 2026 at the NLP's conference in Merenbürg, Manticore led a walkout of the NLP's right-wing delegates and members, taking 44 of the NLP's 66 parliamentary delegates, destroying the NLP in the process. Manticore subsequently merged his rebels with the RPP to form a new hard-right political party, the DNF.

Premier
Manticore led the DNF to a parliamentary majority in the 2028 snap general election upon the premature collapse of the Socialist-led government, and he became Premier. His administration had been characterised by increasing ethnic tensions between ethnic Kozers and Narikis, particularly due to the clear voting divisions displayed at the 2028 election, with an increasingly left-wing Kozer electorate and a right-wing Nariki one. Manticore has been accused of stoking ethnic tensions in order to shore up his support among working-class Narikis, who are his core voting base.