The Master (trope)



"The Master: I like it when you use my name. The Doctor: You chose it... psychiatrist's field day."

- Doctor Who

Beware of any character whose name is simply "The Master." They're often in charge of things (duh) but most often these things include a reclusive mansion in the middle of nowhere, or a castle, or a laboratory, or all three! If they don't rule in the periphery of civilization like an old-school noble, they may rule right under our noses in civilized society. Whatever they're up to, expect them to have a big mustache, a great dining hall, and any number of Evil Plans.

Note that characters who have a name to go with "Master" are exempted from this--for example, Master So-and-So who teaches martial arts. Often a student will simply refer to their teacher as "Master," but that's also an exemption.

See also Names to Run Away From Really Fast, Spell My Name with a "The", Just the First Citizen.

The reason for this trope may have to do with Bondage Is Bad.

Not to be confused with the film by Paul Thomas Anderson of the same name.

Anime and Manga

 * Code Geass: Lelouch has a theme called "THE MASTER" for his most ominous, overlordly, badass scenes.
 * In Ranma ½ Genma and Soun refer to Happosai as The Master; he is less a villain than a sociopathic, Jerkass, sexual molester.
 * Maison Ikkoku: The bartender at the ChaChaMaru is known as "Master." Suppose this may double as Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep", but he DOES fit with the big mustache and the great dining hall. As for evil plans, well, he has a crush on his boozy redhead slacker alcoholic waitress, so he's got that going for him. "Master" is actually what Japanese people call bartenders in general; you can see it in a few other series, like Kimagure Orange Road.
 * Master Asia of G Gundam, also known as The Undefeated of The East. When Domon tries to get his attention, he usually shouts "MASTEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!" To clarify why he's called Master, the man can destroy Gundams with his bare hands.

Comic Books

 * The Alpha Flight villain later known as the Master of the World.
 * Not the exact name, but The Leader has pretty much the same vibe.
 * And in his appearance in the Dan Slott She Hulk series, he was drawn as Roger Delgado with hydrocephalus.
 * In the Batman Elsewords story "The Master of the Future", a turn-of-the-century Batman battled the so-called "Master", Alexandre LeRoi(very likely inspired by the Jules Verne example in Literature below), who attempted to destroy the Gotham City World's Fair Exposition from his airship, via a solar cannon composed of an array of lenses that concentrated sunlight into a cohesive beam.
 * In the late 1980s revival of The Shadow, the Shadow's agents frequently referred to him by this title.

Film

 * ThE mAsTeR wOuLd NoT aPpRoVe BeInG oVeRlOoKeD fRoM tHiS lIsT. nO, tHe MaStEr WoUlD nOt ApPrOve.
 * Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: A character called Master was one half of Master Blaster in the film. He was played by Angelo Rossitto, co-founder of the Little People Society of America and star of Freaks.
 * Barry Gordy's The Last Dragon: Sho'Nuff, The Shogun of Harlem insisted everyone call him "The Master".
 * In Knocked Up, Martin can only get out of the dirty man challenge by explicitly referring to Jason as The Master
 * The Brave Little Toaster: The owner of the titular character.
 * Tron gives us a digital example in the Master Control Program (MCP)

Literature

 * The Master and Margarita: One of the eponymous characters from M. Bulgakov's novel -- though this Master is not a villain, but one of the most good and kind-hearted characters in the book. He was a writer, but after his book was banned, he went out of his mind, and started to call himself "the Master" (an important note: in Russian "master" means not "lord", but something like "maestro"). He was actually given the name by his lover (that would be Margarita) who was devoted to him and his novel. His real name is never revealed, but it's implied that his skill is so great that Master is the more fitting name anyway.
 * Despite not being a villain, he's still pretty scary in his own way, when you consider that the devil himself comes to Earth just to find him, and he seems to be channeling the consciousness of a biblical figure who's been dead for 2,000 years...
 * In The Master of the World by Jules Verne, the titular character is the inventor/pilot of the speedboat/submarine/automobile/aircraft called "The Terror" (it was 1904, folks).
 * One of the titles of Gerridon from the Chronicles of the Kencyrath is "The Master of Knorth", usually shortened to just "the Master".
 * The Stone Dance of the Chameleon features an entire race of people called the Masters, and they are terrifying.
 * The villain from Garth Nix's story "Hope Chest" is called The Master. He's a Hitler-like character in an alternate America.
 * A "stale beer with a martini olive" Spy Fiction series by William Garner featured a British intelligence chief who was referred to and occasionally addressed only as the Master. The main character had been one of his agents before the series began, and sometimes wound up reluctantly working for him again.
 * The Strain has an ancient evil vampire simply called The Master.
 * That's revealed to be a pseudonym, and his true name is
 * The race of aliens in The Tripods are called the Masters. Guess what they're like.

Live Action TV

 * The recurring villain from Doctor Who, THE MASTER!
 * On the rare occasions anyone's asked what he's the master of, his response has been that he's "the master of all matter" or simply "The Master of All." By the same token, the Doctor is "a doctor of many things" or "The Doctor of Everything" plus a couple of less-used versions referring to time-travel.
 * Doctor Who also had "The Master of the Land of Fiction" from The Mind Robber, who was usually called the Master for short. He wasn't a villain, though. However, he was controlled by a computer called the MASTER Brain.
 * On at least two occasions in the Second Doctor's run, the Doctor is told that "The Master" wants to see him (on one occasion it's the Master of the Land of Fiction, and on the other it's Professor Maxtible). In each case he reacts with alarm. Since the Master proper hadn't been invented then, his misgivings can only be down to his knowledge of this trope (in-universe, in the character's debut story, "Terror of the Autons", a Time Lord informs that the Doctor that the Master has taken to referring to himself by that title; though the Doctor knew the character before this, he is apparently unaware of the change in his moniker). After the Master proper had already been established, the Fifth Doctor, while playing cricket, was informed he played as well as "the Master", and got progressively more nervous until the other man clarified that he was talking about "the other Doctor -- W. G. Grace".
 * He's also a very interesting foil of the Doctor himself.
 * Going by this name so amused The Master that even when he went incognito he often chose a paper-thin-disguise alias based on its meaning (Mister Magister, Professor Thascalos, etc.).
 * The season 1 villain for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a vampire ancient enough to have outgrown human features, who wanted to open the Hellmouth and bring about The End of the World as We Know It.
 * Occasionally, fanfics will make both Masters the same guy. Sadly, there appears to be no team ups (or fights) between the two. I guess it would be too confusing.
 * He shows up again in Season 8.
 * The Master is the name of the Sealed Evil in a Can of Power Rangers Mystic Force.
 * The Master of Lonsdale College in the Inspector Morse episode "Death is Now My Neighbour" is a very nasty piece of work.
 * In Midsomer Murders, Death in Disguise the Master is actually a very nice guy who wants to look after people and help them.
 * Aversion: Even though Lee Van Cleef was "The Bad", his titular character in the TV series The Master (a.k.a. Master Ninja to Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans) was a good guy.
 * In Bones the Serial Killer Gormogon apparently preferred to be called The Master, though admittedly the only people who did so were his apprentices.
 * In Legend of the Seeker, the male confessor son of Darken Rahl in the final episode of season 1 was referred to as The Master.
 * This seems to be a side effect of confessor powers, as female confessors are usually referred to as "Mistress" by those they've confessed.
 * On Red Dwarf, the Master is the title given to the monster from Terrorform..

Music

 * In the world of the metal band GWAR, "The Master" is a giant pair of buttocks.
 * The Rammstein song "Der Meister" (=The Master) is about the apocalypse.

Radio

 * The Navy Lark had its own recurring villain, The Master, played with gusto and a surprisingly-for-the-usually-over-the-top-show-restrained Chinese accent by Jon Pertwee -- who at the same time was also portraying on television the mortal foe of a completely different Master.

Video Games

 * The Master (formerly Richard Grey) from Fallout 1.
 * Paper Mario: The Bonus Boss and most powerful enemy in the original game is known simply as The Master. He's the guy in charge at a martial arts dojo, so its clearly a translation of "Sensei" or something of that nature.
 * In Mega Man ZX Advent "Master" is given as the title to the members of the Sage Trinity.
 * Mega Man Legends 2 has "The Master"
 * In Assassin's Creed, the leader of the assassins is named Al Mualim, literally 'The Master'.
 * Act Raiser subverts convention. You are the Master and you're not at all evil.
 * That is, in the Western version. In the Japanese version, the Master is known as God.
 * The villain from Evil Twin Cypriens Chronicles is known as simply "The Master".
 * Ditto for Heart of Darkness.
 * The Master Hand from the Super Smash Brothers series

Web Original

 * Fansadox #37 has the titular psycho tattooed on his back the word 'Master' in Japanese (or so he says), and he likes (read: forces girls he rapes) to be called this. This becomes a plot point Prime example of Bondage Is Bad.
 * In Dark Dream Chronicle, Slendy is referred to as "the Master" except by a few Rebels.
 * Unsurprisingly very common, along with its Distaff Counterpart 'The Mistress', in stories on The Erotic Mind Control Story Archive.

Real Life

 * Subverted by the not-at-all evil and thoroughly fabulous Noel Coward, nicknamed "The Master".
 * The Enigma machine theft involved 'an unnamed buyer in India, referred to as "The Master"'.