A marionette is a puppet controlled from above by strings or wires running to a handheld control bar, giving it full-body movement no other puppet form can match.
The trade it makes
A marionette can walk, sit, dance, stumble and shift its weight convincingly. What it cannot do is talk. The mouth barely moves, if it moves at all. So marionette performance is built on the body — posture, gesture, rhythm — where a hand-and-rod puppetA hand-and-rod puppet is operated with one hand inside the h... is built on the face.
The control bar
The standard is an airplane control: a horizontal bar with a second bar crossing it, strings running down to the head, shoulders, hands, knees and back. Tilting the bar shifts weight. Rocking it walks the figure. Individual strings are plucked for specific gestures.
Stringing is the whole craft
Where each string attaches, and how long it is, determines whether the puppet hangs believably at rest. A marionette strung slightly wrong will never walk right no matter how well it is performed — the fault is in the rigging, not the hands.
Weight matters more than beginners expect
Too light and the figure floats, drifting after every movement instead of settling. Too heavy and it goes unresponsive and tires the performer within minutes. Traditional carved hardwood bodies were heavy for a reason.
The walk is the test
It is the hardest thing in puppetry to fake, because an audience knows exactly what walking looks like. Weight onto one foot, the other swings, weight transfers. Rush it and the figure skates.
The hack: string a simple figure before you build a beautiful one. Everything you learn about balance transfers; nothing you learn about carving does.