Marie Kessler

Marie Kessler is a fictional librarian and a minor, yet vital character featured in the NBC supernatural crime drama series Grimm. Played by actress Kate Burton, she was introduced in the pilot episode of the show. She also appeared in the second episode season one, "Bears Will Be Bears".

Biography
Marie Kessler was a librarian as well as a member of a supernatural legacy of hunters known as the Grimms. As a Grimm, Marie had a unique ability to perceive members of the shape-shifting Wesen in their true forms. Over the years, Marie developed quite a reputation among the Wesen for being a thorough and sometimes ruthless hunter. Despite this however, she concentrated her efforts towards hunting down only the "bad ones" - savage killers who prey upon the weak. Over the years, Marie Kessler amassed a sizeable armory as well as a book chronicling the culture and history of the Wesen.

Some time ago, Marie developed terminal cancer and she knew that her time was short. She also knew that her nephew, Nick Burkhardt - a homicide detective with the Portland Police Bureau - was the next in line to become a Grimm. She traveled to Portland, Oregon to meet with him, but before she could explain his new calling, the two were attacked by a Hässlich named Hulda. Despite her illness, Marie held her own fairly well against creature, and even managed to stab it in the back. Nick finished it off with a few shots from his firearm. The battle proved overly taxing for her however and she was taken to Spruce Medical Center where she lapsed into a coma.

While in the hospital, Marie came out of her coma, but faded in and out of consciousness. She finally explained to Nick that he was one of the last of the Grimms, and gave him a key as well as access to her trailer, armory and Book of Grimms. She instructed him to hunt down the bad ones and to protect her trailer and weapons at all costs.

Under instruction from PPB captain Sean Renard, a Hexenbiest named Adalind Schade infiltrated the hospital's staff with the intent of killing Kessler before she could reveal too much of Nick's Grimm heritage to him. Nick prevented her from poisoning Marie with a syringe, but Adalind managed to escape.

Nick asked Captain Renard to put armed surveillance on Marie Kessler until the blonde-haired murderess could be found, but Renard told Nick that he could not risk the public scrutiny of providing preferential treatment to a cop's family. Desperate to protect her, Nick asked for assistance from a very unlikely source - a werewolf blutbaden named Eddie Monroe. Monroe had no love for Grimms, but nevertheless agreed to keep an eye on Aunt Marie while Nick busied himself with police work. Believing her unconscious, Eddie told Marie exactly what he thought of her her. Kessler opened her eyes and with a stoic expression said, "Take your best shot, blutbad". Monroe was taken aback, but did nothing.

Several assassins entered the hospital on a mission to take Kessler out, but Monroe identified them and dismembered them in the basement of the hospital. When Renard learned of this, he sent in a Reaper to finish the job. Marie rose from her hospital bed and fought against the Reaper, ultimately killing him. The strain of the fight proved too much for her however and she died minutes later.

Appearances

 * "Pilot"
 * "Bears Will Be Bears"
 * "The End"