Mara's your everyday local, fanged (yeah, she has those cute fangs), unfriendly, trouble causing, mean and nasty demoness who's just out for a good day of mischief making. Drawn from Nordic mythology (although other sources also state that there are Maras in all other sorts of religions such as Buddhism), Mara is one of the bad guys of Ah! My Goddess, although there are humans more evil and devious than she is.

As her job is to be a demoness, Mara's goal on Earth is divided into several sections. First, she wants to cause as much trouble as possible for the Goddesses and if possible, to have them sealed up forever or returned to heaven. (Asgaard) Secondly, she wants to destroy the world. Just your typical everyday evil-doing kind of demon. But Mara's another kind in Ah! My Goddess. While she does seem to enjoy causing trouble for the others and does her best to do her job well, it seems Mara isn't all full of evil-intent. Not like someone else...... (Just who are you talking about? - Everyone)

You'll notice that Mara sometimes attributes the reason to her actions as being part of her job, revealing perhaps that she doesn't really like some of the things she does. She did announce to the world that she would treat the Goddesses as her enemies in her first appearance, but apparently she does have some hesitation when it comes to Urd (Former friend) and Belldandy (The only one who cares for Mara). Skuld, well.... she's another matter. (Hey! I resent that! -Skuld) In Mara's heart it could be that she might not do certain things had it not been her calling to do so. So at least in this sense we know that Mara doesn't have all that bad a heart.

But, when it does come to the parts of the job she likes, watch out for Mara! She'll gladly do everything in her power to ruin your day and make it hers. She has no regard for the things that she creates except for their uses, and once those have been expended, she couldn't care less for them. She's somewhat selfish and won't hesitate to run from a fight if she knows she's going to lose, she lies a lot (Of course I lie! I'm a demoness! -Mara), and likes resorting to underhanded tactics to get her way. Then again, everything she does is generally underhanded. But she has some common sense.When she knows that nothing she alone does is enough to stop something, she'll swallow her pride and seek the Goddess' help. But that's only when there is the risk of her dying as well. She's also quick to claim credit for anything that goes right and push the blame to others when things don't. Mara pretty much has most of the vices we'd expect of her, although in the manga it only serves to make her character fun and likeable. (Although you'll be singing a different tune if you're on the recieving end in real life. heh heh. -Mara)
She likes to flaunt her title a lot as well, trying to convince the Goddesses that fighting against her is futile and useless, claiming that her level of power is at least on a par, if not better than, the Goddesses. It might be true, at least when it comes to the amount of energy available to her, but her powers are useless if they're not constructive.

Mara is also fairly intelligent. Her plans are normally well planned and her greater access to energy allows her to thwart some of the Goddess' efforts. Although she can only win at the start because of sheer power, her greed is her greatest own enemy. Think of what would happen if someone offered Mara power in return for mutual co-operation. She'd agree without thinking about the strings attached. What a waste of brains.

However, Mara has another side of her that appears twisted by her job requirements. Originally, she and Urd were the best of friends before their blood calling made them go their seperate ways. It seems that Mara still retains some fond memories of those days and seeks to win Urd over to her side by any means possible. It could be that Mara still misses Urd's friendship, and is trying to lure Urd over to the other side so they can be together again. But.... the methods she uses, well..... are questionable at best. It might be that eventually Mara might truly succeed, or she might go over to the Goddesses, although I can't see that possibility happening... just yet. But until then, Mara can wait....

It also appears that Mara has a certain attitude when acting towards members of the same sex..... she appears to be lesbian.  But I won't go into that. It's a little sensitive to cover on Geocities.

Anyway, like any demoness you can expect from the creator of this series, Mara is wacky but serious. She's a nice enough demoness though, at least she hasn't considered killing anyone yet. (Not in my job description. -Mara) What do you all wish for her? ^_^U

Other info I picked up about Mara :
Okay, so this one's not Norse Mythology, it's Buddhist and Hindu. Apparently, "the character was obviously based on a combination of the Mara of Buddhist religion (sometimes called the Buddhist Satan) and Mara, the "arch-tempter" of Hindu mythology... The Hindu Mara (also known as God of Illusion) has three daughters--Rati (Desire), Raga (Pleasure), Tanha (Restlessness) who also attempted to dissuade Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, from attaining his enlightenment. The Buddhist Mara leads an army of demons depicted in Buddhist art as hideous monsters similar to the devils that torment the damned in medieval European portrayals of hell."
Source : www.studioproteus.com , Oh! My Goddess and Norse Mythology

Another origin for the name of the Demoness Mara can be found (or so I'm told) in the book of Mormon. Apparently there was another fall of angels, one taking the name of Mara. It was never said whether Mara was male or female, which may account for the confusion of Mara's gender in the manga.
Source : Oh! My Goddess and Norse Mythology