| “ | I only need two things. Your submission and your obedience to MY WILL! | „ |
| ~ The Master |
The Master is a major and arguably main antagonist in the Doctor Who franchise. He is a member of the Time Lord race and is the childhood friend turned archenemy of the Doctor. An insane megalomaniac, the Master's choice of name comes from his ultimate ambition, to conquer and reign supreme over the universe.
The Master has been portrayed by various actors, originally by the late Roger Delgado followed by Peter Pratt, Geoffrey Beevers (in the same incarnation), the late Anthony Ainley, Gordon Tipple (in the same incarination), Eric Roberts, Derek Jacobi, John Simm and most recently Michelle Gomez as a female incarnation known as Missy (short for Mistress).
The late William Hughes also played a child version of the Master in flashbacks shown in the third series. Many voice actors have also voiced The Master in the Big Finish audio stories (i.e Alex Maqueen, Derek Jacobi and others).
Variations
- Classic Who Master- The Master from the 1963-1989; 1996 series.
- Modern Who Master- The Master from the 2005 revival show.
- "Saxon" Incarnation- The Master from the revival show portrayed by John Simm; the 18th incarnation.
Personality
The Master is deeply megalomaniacal and shows signs of psychopathic behavior as his greatest fear in the universe is being outdone by the Doctor - leading him to becoming obsessed with ruining everything the Doctor stands for. This has served to make the Master one of the Doctor's greatest and most recurring opponents and also the one that has caused the most emotional pain to the Doctor during the decades long feud between the two characters. Like every Time Lord, the Master changes his looks and personality slightly every time he regenerates to escape death. The Master is also extremely narcissistic - he seldom, if at all, did anything for others but himself, and heralded himself constantly. He is also extremely intelligent in terms of science, manipulation, technology, strategy and negotiation: his only intellectual rival is, of course, the Doctor.
