diff --git a/cmd/chroma/main.go b/cmd/chroma/main.go
index ee554d6..a180604 100644
--- a/cmd/chroma/main.go
+++ b/cmd/chroma/main.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ func main() {
 		pprof.StartCPUProfile(f)
 		defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
 	}
+	w := bufio.NewWriterSize(os.Stdout, 16384)
+	defer w.Flush()
 	formatter := formatters.Console(formatters.DefaultConsoleTheme)
 	for _, filename := range *filesArgs {
 		lexers := lexers.Registry.Match(filename)
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@ func main() {
 				fmt.Println(token)
 			}
 		} else {
-			formatter.Format(os.Stdout, tokens)
+			formatter.Format(w, tokens)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/formatters/console.go b/formatters/console.go
index 12d5041..0d4afdc 100644
--- a/formatters/console.go
+++ b/formatters/console.go
@@ -1,18 +1,19 @@
 package formatters
 
 import (
-	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
 	. "github.com/alecthomas/chroma" // nolint
-	"github.com/alecthomas/colour"
 )
 
 var DefaultConsoleTheme = map[TokenType]string{
-	Number:  "^B^3",
-	Comment: "^5",
-	String:  "^B^5",
-	Keyword: "^B^7",
+	Number:            "\033[1m\033[33m",
+	Comment:           "\033[36m",
+	String:            "\033[1m\033[36m",
+	Keyword:           "\033[1m\033[37m",
+	GenericHeading:    "\033[1m",
+	GenericSubheading: "\033[1m",
 }
 
 // Console formatter.
@@ -27,8 +28,6 @@ type consoleFormatter struct {
 }
 
 func (c *consoleFormatter) Format(w io.Writer, tokens []Token) error {
-	bw := bufio.NewWriterSize(w, 1024)
-	printer := colour.Colour(bw)
 	for _, token := range tokens {
 		clr, ok := c.theme[token.Type]
 		if !ok {
@@ -36,12 +35,12 @@ func (c *consoleFormatter) Format(w io.Writer, tokens []Token) error {
 			if !ok {
 				clr, ok = c.theme[token.Type.Category()]
 				if !ok {
-					clr = "^R"
+					clr = "\033[0m"
 				}
 			}
 		}
-		printer.Printf(clr+"%s", token.Value)
+		fmt.Fprint(w, clr)
+		fmt.Fprint(w, token.Value)
 	}
-	bw.Flush()
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/lexer.go b/lexer.go
index 62590ba..4c0fdaa 100644
--- a/lexer.go
+++ b/lexer.go
@@ -80,10 +80,10 @@ type EmitterFunc func(groups []string) []Token
 func (e EmitterFunc) Emit(groups []string) []Token { return e(groups) }
 
 // ByGroups emits a token for each matching group in the rule's regex.
-func ByGroups(types ...TokenType) Emitter {
+func ByGroups(emitters ...Emitter) Emitter {
 	return EmitterFunc(func(groups []string) (out []Token) {
 		for i, group := range groups[1:] {
-			out = append(out, Token{types[i], group})
+			out = append(out, emitters[i].Emit([]string{group})...)
 		}
 		return
 	})
diff --git a/lexers/go.go b/lexers/go.go
index fa92592..23796c3 100644
--- a/lexers/go.go
+++ b/lexers/go.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ var Go = Register(NewLexer(
 		Aliases:   []string{"go", "golang"},
 		MimeTypes: []string{"text/x-gosrc"},
 	},
+	// TODO: Convert this Lexer to use text/scanner
 	Rules{
 		`root`: []Rule{
 			{`\n`, Text, nil},
diff --git a/lexers/markdown.go b/lexers/markdown.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99916e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lexers/markdown.go
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+package lexers
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/alecthomas/chroma" // nolint
+)
+
+// Markdown lexer.
+var Markdown = Register(NewLexer(
+	&Config{
+		Name:      "markdown",
+		Aliases:   []string{"md"},
+		Filenames: []string{"*.md"},
+		MimeTypes: []string{"text/x-markdown"},
+	},
+	map[string][]Rule{
+		"root": []Rule{
+			// heading with pound prefix
+			{`^(#)([^#].+\n)`, ByGroups(GenericHeading, Text), nil},
+			{`^(#{2,6})(.+\n)`, ByGroups(GenericSubheading, Text), nil},
+			// task list
+			{`^(\s*)([*-] )(\[[ xX]\])( .+\n)`,
+				// ByGroups(Text, Keyword, Keyword, using(this, state='inline')), nil},
+				ByGroups(Text, Keyword, Keyword, Text), nil},
+			// bulleted lists
+			{`^(\s*)([*-])(\s)(.+\n)`,
+				// ByGroups(Text, Keyword, Text, using(this, state='inline')), nil},
+				ByGroups(Text, Keyword, Text, Text), nil},
+			// numbered lists
+			{`^(\s*)([0-9]+\.)( .+\n)`,
+				// ByGroups(Text, Keyword, using(this, state='inline')), nil},
+				ByGroups(Text, Keyword, Text), nil},
+			// quote
+			{`^(\s*>\s)(.+\n)`, ByGroups(Keyword, GenericEmph), nil},
+			// text block
+			{"^(```\n)([\\w\\W]*?)(^```$)", ByGroups(String, Text, String), nil},
+			// code block with language
+			{"^(```)(\\w+)(\n)([\\w\\W]*?)(^```$)", EmitterFunc(HandleCodeblock), nil},
+			Include(`inline`),
+		},
+		`inline`: []Rule{
+			// escape
+			{`\\.`, Text, nil},
+			// italics
+			{`(\s)([*_][^*_]+[*_])(\W|\n)`, ByGroups(Text, GenericEmph, Text), nil},
+			// bold
+			// warning: the following rule eats internal tags. eg. **foo _bar_ baz** bar is not italics
+			{`(\s)(\*\*.*\*\*)`, ByGroups(Text, GenericStrong), nil},
+			// strikethrough
+			{`(\s)(~~[^~]+~~)`, ByGroups(Text, GenericDeleted), nil},
+			// inline code
+			{"`[^`]+`", StringBacktick, nil},
+			// mentions and topics (twitter and github stuff)
+			{`[@#][\w/:]+`, NameEntity, nil},
+			// (image?) links eg: ![Image of Yaktocat](https://octodex.github.com/images/yaktocat.png)
+			{`(!?\[)([^]]+)(\])(\()([^)]+)(\))`, ByGroups(Text, NameTag, Text, Text, NameAttribute, Text), nil},
+
+			// general text, must come last!
+			{`[^\\\s]+`, Text, nil},
+			{`.`, Text, nil},
+		},
+	},
+))
+
+func HandleCodeblock(groups []string) []Token {
+	out := []Token{
+		{String, groups[1]},
+		{String, groups[2]},
+		{Text, groups[3]},
+	}
+	code := groups[4]
+	lexer := Registry.Get(groups[2])
+	tokens, err := lexer.Tokenise(code)
+	if err == nil {
+		out = append(out, tokens...)
+	} else {
+		out = append(out, Token{Error, code})
+	}
+	out = append(out, Token{String, groups[5]})
+	return out
+
+}
diff --git a/lexers/registry.go b/lexers/registry.go
index e80368f..9d57ac4 100644
--- a/lexers/registry.go
+++ b/lexers/registry.go
@@ -37,7 +37,11 @@ func (r *registry) Names(withAliases bool) []string {
 
 // Get a Lexer by name.
 func (r *registry) Get(name string) chroma.Lexer {
-	return r.byName[name]
+	lexer, ok := r.byName[name]
+	if ok {
+		return lexer
+	}
+	return Default
 }
 
 // Match returns all lexers matching filename.