Keith Mars

Infobox character | colour = #7DC622
name = Keith Mars
other_names =


caption = Enrico Colantoni as Keith Mars
portrayer = Enrico Colantoni
creator = Rob Thomas
species =
gender = Male
first = Pilot
cause =
age = 47
occupation = Private Investigator/Sheriff
title =
family =
spouse = Lianne Mars (Ex-wife)
Alicia Fennel (Ex-girlfriend)
Rebecca James (Ex-girlfriend)
children = Veronica Mars
relatives =
footnotes =

Keith Mars is a fictional character on The CW television series "Veronica Mars", which debuted during the fall 2004 season on UPN. He is portrayed by Enrico Colantoni.

Keith is the father of Veronica Mars. They have a very close relationship, and he is very protective of her. Keith was formerly the sheriff of the fictional Balboa County, and later operated as a private investigator.

Background

After going after popular billionaire Jake Kane for the murder of his daughter Lilly, an emergency recall election removed him from office. His credibility was hurt even more after Abel Koontz confessed to the crime. Shortly thereafter, his daughter Veronica became a social outcast for siding with her dad and his wife Lianne left them. However, he refused to leave town and instead became a private investigator under the name "Mars Investigations". Veronica does most of her sleuthing through Keith's numerous contacts and resources.

At the end of "Like a Virgin," Abel Koontz implied that Veronica was the biological daughter of Jake Kane. Veronica had a chance to find out who her father was in the next episode, "Drinking the Kool-Aid," but she shredded the paternity test. In "Hot Dogs," Keith sent in his own paternity test, which proved that Veronica is his biological daughter.

Since Veronica's mother, Lianne Mars, left the family, Keith has been in three romantic relationships, one with Veronica's guidance counselor Rebecca James, one with Wallace Fennel's mother, Alicia Fennel, and one with a client, Harmony Chase. His relationship with Rebecca was shortlived because Veronica was uncomfortable with her father's dating. He dated Alicia for several months, but they broke up in "Blast from the Past" after he confronted her about her lying to Wallace about his biological father, and in the ensuing argument Alicia questioned Keith's parenting skills. Keith began an affair with Harmony Chase after she hired him to find out whether her husband was cheating on her. Though Keith had strong feelings for Harmony, Veronica convinced Keith that it was a huge moral failing to be involved with a married woman, and Keith ended the affair in "Of Vice and Men."

After the revelation at the end of Season 1 that Aaron Echolls murdered Lilly, he ran for Sheriff against incumbent Don Lamb in Season 2. He lost by a narrow margin after Lamb accused Keith of being indirectly responsible for the bus crash that killed several Neptune High students. Several years earlier Keith had pulled bus driver Ed Doyle for DUI, but had not charged him. Ed Doyle was the driver of the bus that had crashed and killed several students, and it was then believed that Ed Doyle had intentionally crashed the bus in order to commit suicide. He says after the election that "we'll get em' in 2010," so barring another recall election Lamb's position appeared safe for another four years. After Sheriff Lamb's death in "Mars, Bars", he is asked by the County Commissioner to return as Sheriff.

Interests

Keith enjoys Italian food, spending time with Veronica, jazz music and "noir flicks". His favorite musicians are The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Aretha Franklin, The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers, Blue Öyster Cult and Fleetwood Mac. His favorite films are "The Big Chill", "Slap Shot", "Rear Window" and "Blazing Saddles". He enjoys watching anything on the Food Network, "Austin City Limits" and "Charlie Rose". His favorite book is his own "“Big Murder, Small Town”" and his heroes are his daughter and Humphrey Bogart [http://www.myspace.com/vmarskeith] . He also is quite fond of sports, especially baseball.

Appearances

Keith has appeared in every "Veronica Mars" episode to date, and is the only character aside from Veronica to do so.

Notable skills

As a private investigator and former sheriff Keith possesses certain sleuth skills which include:
* Surveillance
* Photography
* Tailing cars
* Trained in handgun usage
* Tracking/Bounty Hunting
* Performing thorough background checks

Trivia

*Keith got a 97 on his private investigator test.

Quotes

*"You know what, this is important. You remember this: I used to be cool."

*"Sorry, sweetheart. You can't buy love. Bored wives of the wealthy, however, can."

*"Did you watch House of Wax again? You know that Hilton girl gives you nightmares."

*"And Veronica, when you go after Jake Kane, you take Backup."

*"Honey, it's fine. Chicks dig scars."

*"Part of me is proud...and let's just leave it at that."

*"Who's your daddy ?"

References

* "Veronica Mars: The Complete First Season", Warner Home Video, 2005, UPC 01256972774.