Marshall is fascinated by the paranormal, and has absolute faith that mythical creatures such as Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster are real.

Although very few references were made to identify Marshall's birthday, it can be assumed he was in the same school year as best friend and roommate Ted Mosby and then-girlfriend Lily Aldrin.

His relationships with his two older brothers, Marvin, Jr. and Marcus, was depicted in several episodes as involving pranks and brutal fighting matches when they were teenagers.

It was depicted that his brothers were the ones who gave Marshall his very first car, a Pontiac Fiero, which had a cassette single stuck in it containing the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".

In an episode it's shown Marshall starts smoking while still in high school and struggles to stop until his children are born.

Marshall is shown to frequently smoke marijuana, though in the show, Future Ted refers to this as "eating a sandwich" in order to hide their past drug use from his children.

He takes several years off, working in a clothing store, before attending Columbia University Law School to receive his Juris Doctor (J.D.).

Marshall at times is shown to feel left out of the hijinks that Ted and Barney get into without him, going so far as to drive to Philadelphia to have a "legendary" adventure with them.

Marshall is shown to be completely committed in spite of his sadness at being left out of Ted and Barney's "single man" shenanigans.

In "Okay Awesome", Marshall is shown to be jealous of the fun that Barney and Ted have by going out to clubs while Lily wants to have a "grown up" wine and cheese party with other couples.

This period of their relationship ends in the first season finale, "Come On", when Marshall discovers that Lily interviewed for an art fellowship in San Francisco.

When he goes to a New York hotel shown on her credit card bill to confront her and the man that had answered the phone when he had called their room, he discovers that Lily had not returned, but had been a victim of identity fraud.

Marshall begins a "bromance" with his friend and fellow law student, Brad Morris (Joe Manganiello), who had also recently gone through a break-up.

He reveals that he is unhappy with the corporate job he had been working and felt that only his old, beaten car kept him connected with the kind of man that he wanted to be.

He finds out that Lily has massive credit card debt, which negatively affects their ability to get a good interest rate on a mortgage.

Toward the beginning of season 4, it is revealed that Barney has gotten a job for Marshall working the fictional Goliath National Bank (GNB).

During this period of his life, Marshall reveals that he hates living in a small apartment in New York when visiting Ted's fiancee's home in New Jersey.

Marshall realizes that he would like his children to boys, due to some internalized misogyny after recalling how he spoke to and treated girls when he was in high school and various strippers he has seen with Barney.

After the funeral, Marshall temporarily regresses to his teenage personality while staying with his mother under the guise of helping her to emotionally recover from Marvin's death.

Toward the end of Lily's pregnancy, Marshall demonstrates his anxiety about beginning parenthood; he panics about their (perceived) lack of preparation for when the baby comes.

In the show, this is shown to be bad for Marshall's case, but in actuality, would have been detrimental for the pharmaceutical company under the Laws of Civil Procedure disallowing this type of activity.

After he submits his application for a judge position, Lily starts a new career as a fine-arts consultant for Ted's now ex-girlfriend's ex-husband, The Captain.

Marshall was at first supportive, but once Lily started, she began to spend very little time at home and he grew frustrated with feeling like he was handling more than his fair share of the parenting responsibilities.

Marshall's mother then learns from Lily that they are planning to move to Italy and she wants to spend time with her grandson before they leave.

[9] Marshall spent time on the road trying to find his way back to New York City from Minnesota with his new companion Daphne who worked for an oil corporation.

[10] The series finale, "Last Forever", reveals that he worked for another corporate firm after returning to New York, until another judge's seat opened up for him.

Though Marshall does not himself appear in the How I Met Your Father spinoff, it is revealed that by 2022, his, Ted's and Lily's apartment has been sold to Jesse who is roommates with Sid who also own the swords left behind.

[18] Throughout the final season, which takes place over one weekend, Marshall travels with Marvin to the Farhampton Inn, where Robin and Barney are getting married.

Barney has shown himself to be a good friend, however; he gets Marshall an internship,[24] persuades Lily to return to New York from San Francisco,[25] and gets him his job at Goliath National Bank.

When Robin briefly leaves the group in 2016, as portrayed in the series finale, Marshall resents her for it, but nevertheless welcomes her back four years later to celebrate Ted's wedding.