The Master: Difference between revisions

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home era= [[Doctor Era]]|
home era= [[Doctor Era]]|
appearances= [[The Master - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]] |
appearances= [[The Master - List of Appearances|Full List of Appearances]] |
actor= [[David Tennant]], [[David Tennant]], [[David Tennant]], [[Jesus]], [[Christopher Eccleston]]}}
actor= [[William Hartnal]], [[David Tennant]], [[David Tennant]], [[Jesus]], [[Christopher Eccleston]]}}


'''The Master''', once known as '''Koschei''' or '''Magnusop''', and also by [[Aliases of the Master|various temporary aliases and pseudonyms]], is a renegade [[Chipmunk]], who [[the Doctor]] opposed many times. On at least one occasion, he threatened the existence of the [[universe]] itself. He was once called "''one of the most evil and corrupt beings the Time Lord race ever produced''" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'').
'''The Master''', once known as '''Koschei''' or '''Magnusop''', and also by [[Aliases of the Master|various temporary aliases and pseudonyms]], is a renegade [[Chipmunk]], who [[the Doctor]] opposed many times. On at least one sagaragapingpongtingtongbingbongkingkong, he threatened the existence of the [[universe]] itself. He was once called "''one of the most evil and corrupt beings the Time Lord race ever produced''" ([[DW]]: ''[[The Five Doctors]]'').
 
==Biography==
===Early life===
He had none.
 
===Vendetta against the Doctor===
The Master then sought to defeat the [[Third Doctor|newly regenerated]] Doctor on [[Earth]] and in doing so came up against him, [[Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart]] and the rest of [[UNIT]].
 
:''For details on this period of his life, see [[The Master (UNIT years)|separate article]].''
 
===Degeneration===
After [[Susan Foreman]] set off an explosion at it him, the Master exhausted his remaining [[regeneration]]s recuperating. ([[EDA]]: ''[[Legacy of the Daleks]]'') [[Chancellor]] [[Goth]] found the Master on the [[planet]] [[Tersurus]] and returned him to [[Gallifrey]] where he tried to acquire the [[Eye of Harmony]] and using its energy reserves to renew himself. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Deadly Assassin]]'') He failed, but escaped to [[Traken]], the center of the [[Traken Union]], where he tried to steal [[the Source]] ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'')
 
:''For a longer account of this period of his life, see [[The Master (Tersurus)|separate article]].''
 
At last, he managed to arrest his degeneration by taking over the body of [[Tremas]], father of [[Nyssa]], who would later join the Doctor in his travels. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Keeper of Traken]]'')
 
===Usurpation===
In his renewed body and now resembling [[Tremas]], the Master continued his campaign of evil. ([[DW]]: ''[[Logopolis (TV story)|Logopolis]]'' onwards)
 
:''See [[The Master (Tremas)|separate article]].''
 
===New Regenerative Cycle===
The Master was able to teleport from the [[Cheetah World]] to [[1953]] Earth where he constructed himself an identity as Major Kreer. He made a deal with the [[Tzun]] to restore his corrupted Time Lord DNA, which his physical merger with the [[Trakenite]], [[Tremas]] had caused to happen. This was a success, and he was able to regenerate into a new body. ([[NA]]: ''[[First Frontier]]'')
 
The Master later attempted to seize control of a powerful artifact known as the [[Warp Core]]. This plan backfired and due to his exposure to the device the Master's body reverted to a state similar to his degenerated form. For a while he persisted in trying to acquire the Core. During that time he habitually wore a mask and adopted the alias Mr. Seta. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Dust Breeding]]'')
 
:''Note: [[Dust Breeding]] occurs before [[First Frontier]] for the Doctor and Ace.''
 
===Doctor John Smith===
[[Seventh Doctor|The Doctor]] related a story of how he made a deal with Death whereby the Master would have ten years of peace and sanity, at the end of which the Doctor must kill him. The still-scarred Master had become a physician with no memory of his past, and took the name [[Doctor John Smith]]. He was still somehow deeply aware of his dark nature and troubled by it. The Master had in the meantime become emotionally involved with a woman named [[Jaqueline Schaeffer]] during this time.
 
At the end of the ten years the Doctor duly arrived but strove to avoid fulfilling his side of the bargain. The Master became aware of the Doctor's role in pledging him to Death as her servant but forgave him for it. Death herself was present then, disguised as the Master's maid. She manipulated events so that it would appear inevitable that the John Smith persona would crumble and the true Master become dominant once more. ([[BFA]]: ''[[Master (audio story)|Master]]'')
 
===Glory===
Eventually, he was tried, executed and physically destroyed by the Daleks on [[Skaro]] as part of a Time Lord-Dalek treaty. However, his essence survived in a [[Deathworm|fluid-like form]]; his "last wish" was for the Doctor to transport his remains to Gallifrey, which allowed him the opportunity to escape during temporal transit and find a new body. He was able to take over the body of [[Bruce]], a Paramedic on Earth.
 
At the end of his battle with the recently regenerated [[Eighth Doctor|Doctor]], the Master fell into the [[Eye of Harmony]], and he appeared to be destroyed. The Doctor claimed that he had been eaten by the [[TARDIS]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)]]'')
 
[[Image:TippleMaster.png|thumb||The Master awaiting his execution at the hands of the Daleks. ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)]]'')]]
 
However, the Master was rescued from the Time Vortex by a being named [[Esterath]], the then-controller of the [[Glory]], the focal point of reality. It would soon be time for the Glory to gain another controller, but the power had to be fought for. Of course, the Master assumed the battle would be between himself and his greatest foe.
 
Given a new body, the Master trailed the Doctor for some time without his enemy suspecting - even after they had met face to face. He was present in London during the crisis resulting from [[Grace Holloway]]'s attempt to merge Human and Time Lord [[DNA]] (the alien DNA was in fact that of a [[morphant]] from [[Skaro]]). He killed an [[MI6]] agent with the [[TCE]] at this time, but fortunately the Doctor departed before the Master's trademark was discovered. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Fallen]]'')
 
The Master later made contact with [[Sato Katsura]], a Japanese samurai unwillingly rendered immortal as a result of his involvement in the Doctor's adventures. The embittered warrior became the Master's follower. At his behest, Sato adopted the identity of Cardinal Morningstar and became leader of the [[Church of the Glorious Dead]], instigator of a holy war that altered the history of Earth and led to it becoming known as Dhakan. Passing through the Eye had given the Master the ability to influence the flight of the TARDIS, which he used to send the craft to times and places which would weaken the Doctor's self-belief and confidence. This done, the two fought for the Glory, with the Master apparently triumphant.
 
However, the Master was mistaken: the true battle was between his companion, Sato, and the Doctor's, the [[Cyberman]] [[Kroton (Cyberman)|Kroton]]. Kroton was the ultimate winner of this contest, and amongst his first acts as controller of the Glory were to cleanse the TARDIS of the Master's influence, and to banish the Master himself to parts unknown. The Master declared he would survive and return. ([[DWM]]: ''[[The Glorious Dead]]'')
 
One account tells of how he later escaped from the Eye and possessed the body of a Human native of [[1906]]. ([[ST]]: ''[[The Forgotten]]'')
 
===Return===
During the [[Last Great Time War]], the Time Lords themselves brought the Master back from oblivion and gave him a new set of regenerations, wanting to use him as a weapon in defence of Gallifrey order to use him as a weapon in a [[Time War]]. However, the sheer scale of the conflict frightened even the Master, and he deserted the instant the [[Dalek Emperor]] took control of the [[Cruciform]]. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'')
 
: ''It is not known whether any regenerations occurred between his resurrection and his later transformation into Yana.''
He fled to the end of the universe and used a [[Chameleon Arch]] to become [[Human]], remaining in the guise of the elderly [[Professor Yana]] (an acronym of "You Are Not Alone", the [[Face of Boe]]'s last message to the Doctor ([[DW]]: ''[[Gridlock]]'')). As the Master later observed, this disguise was so perfect that he forgot who he was, although Yana was plagued by half-remembered fragments of his former life and terrible headaches (in which he heard the beat of drums). The Doctor, when he used the Arch, similarly lost his original identity into that of [[John Smith]] and likewise experienced fragments of memory, but without any apparent discomfort ([[DW]]: ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'') perhaps because he does not hear the drumming sound the Master does. Yana retained the Master's brilliant intellect and ultimately became responsible for sending the remnants of Humanity to [[Utopia (planet)|Utopia]].
 
However, [[Martha Jones]] made the Professor suspicious of a watch in his possession, so 'Yana' activated the device and thus returned to his true identity. He was shot by his assistant, [[Chantho]] as he was destroying their work. He then slew Chantho, (the last of the Malmooth species) with an electric wire, and there fore he killed the '''entire'''  [[Malmooth]] species. As he was shot he was forced to regenerate. He commandeered [[the Doctor's TARDIS]], leaving the Doctor and his companions trapped at the end of the universe with a rampaging horde of [[Futurekind]] on the verge of breaking down the door. ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'')
 
He came to early 21st century [[Britain]], where he called himself [[Harold Saxon]] and successfully ran for the position of [[Prime Minister]].  This was achieved through the Archangel Network in the form of a subtle mind manipulation system that rang the drumming beat the Master heard in his head into the subconscious of every person on the planet, giving him the trust of the world.  The Master then faked a first contact with the [[Toclafane]], a race pretending to be aliens but actually the humans from Yana's time that cannibalised themselves into a race of childlike, psychotic cyborgs after discovering there was no Utopia.  Using the TARDIS, the Master built a [[paradox machine]] to facilitate the [[Toclafane Invasion]], taking over the world.  At the same time, the Master used a [[Laser screwdriver]] to turn the Doctor into an elderly man, capturing both him, [[Jack Harkness]] and the Jones family including [[Francine Jones|Francine]] ,[[Clive Jones|Clive]] and [[Tish Jones|Tish]] though [[Martha Jones]] escaped. 
 
A year later, the Master was planning to unleash the Toclafane upon the universe using a countdown through the [[Archangel Network]].  However, the return of Martha Jones and the rumours of a gun capable of killing a Time Lord permanently threatened his plans.  The Master captured Martha though found out the gun was a ruse: Martha had instead told the world of the Doctor and to think his name at the end of Archangel's countdown, which the Doctor has spent the year telepathically infiltrating while the Master's prisoner.  This empowered the Doctor massively and led to the Master's plans being foiled as Jack Harkness destroyed the paradox machine, reversing time back to the point of the takeover of Earth, undoing most of the Master's destruction during "[[The Year That Never Was]]".
 
:''For more details, see [[Harold Saxon]].''
 
[[Image:Ring.png|thumb|The Master's Ring in his pyre.]]
At the conclusion of this, the Master then died at the hands of [[Lucy Saxon]], though a resurrection seems possible as an unknown person took the Master's ring and the Master's voice could be heard suggesting his consciousness is inside the ring.
 
==Companions==
Unlike the Doctor, the Master was most often encountered working and travelling alone. On rare occasions, he had been seen with companions. Examples include [[Chang Lee]], a young human who the Master met in [[San Francisco]] ([[DW]]: ''[[Doctor Who (1996)]]''); [[Chantho]], a female assistant and companion to the Master during his Professor Yana identity (although she was unaware of his true nature) ([[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]''); and [[Lucy Saxon]], his wife, who was described as having travelled with the Master in the [[TARDIS]] in the same fashion as the Doctor and his companions. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]''/''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'') [[The Rani]] may have also travelled with the Master for a time, likely under duress. ([[DW]]: ''[[The Mark of the Rani]]'')
 
==Other versions of the Master==
* Following graduation from the Time Lord Academy, the Master, using the name Koschei, pursued a career as Magistrate for the [[High Council]]. In this capacity, his devotion to justice and discipline in time devolved into an obsession with order which marked the beginning of his descent into darkness. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Infinity Doctors]]'')
 
:''It is not known if this event occurred before the Master had left Gallifrey, in an alternative timeline or after he had reformed and returned to Gallifrey.''
 
* While helping UNIT stop an invasion by the parallel Earth, the Master met that alternate reality's version of himself, still using the name Koschei, imprisoned and vivisected by order of that reality's version of the Doctor. The Master killed his other self, claiming this was an act of mercy. ([[PDA]]: ''[[The Face of the Enemy]]'')
 
* In an apparent alternate time line, a version of the Master existed as an android companion to the [[Ninth Doctor (Scream of the Shalka)|Alternative Ninth Doctor]]. ([[WC]]: ''[[Scream of the Shalka]]'')
 
==Behind the Scenes==
*When conceiving the character, the production team had originally considered the idea of the Doctor having a female, rather than male, arch-nemesis.
* The [[Wikipedia:FASA|FASA]] ''[[Doctor Who Roleplaying Game]]'' and the charity publication fan novel ''[[Time's Champion]]'' identify [[the Monk]] and the [[War Chief]] as earlier incarnations of the Master (although ''Time's Champion'' only identifies the War Chief as such).
* During [[Anthony Ainley]]'s tenure as the Master, anagrams of the actor's name were often used in the credits for the Master's disguises, such as Neil Toynay for [[the Portreeve]] in [[DW]]: ''[[Castrovalva (TV story) |Castrovalva]]''.  [[Tremas]] is itself an anagram of Master. At the same time, in [[Series 3 (Doctor Who)|Series 3]] (season 29),  the Master takes on two new identities: Professor Yana in [[DW]]: ''[[Utopia (TV story) | Utopia]]'', and Mr. Harold Saxon in [[DW]]: ''[[The Sound of Drums]]'' and [[DW]]: ''[[Last of the Time Lords]]'' (as it happens, "Mister Saxon" is an (unintentional) anagram of "Master No. Six" as "Sam Tyler" is an anagram of "masterly").
*The regeneration of the Master as depicted in non-televised media is, as with most things, of uncertain canonicity. However, the fact another actor other than Ainley is shown (briefly) playing the Master at the time of his "execution" by the Daleks in the TV movie, leaves an opening for more incarnations of the Master to exist beyond the Ainley version.
 
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[[Category:The Master|*]]

Revision as of 11:21, 20 October 2008

This article is about the renegade Chipmunk known as "The Master." For other uses of the term "Master" in the Doctor Who Universe, see Master (disambiguation).

The Master, once known as Koschei or Magnusop, and also by various temporary aliases and pseudonyms, is a renegade Chipmunk, who the Doctor opposed many times. On at least one sagaragapingpongtingtongbingbongkingkong, he threatened the existence of the universe itself. He was once called "one of the most evil and corrupt beings the Time Lord race ever produced" (DW: The Five Doctors).