DAMNED (app)
Name/Handle: Laura
Age: 21
Gender: Female
Timezone: British Summer Time (GMT+1)
Personal LJ: sunrisecandy
E-Mail: pink.sherlock[at]gmail.com
AIM/other: hasRAZZMATAZZ
Is English your primary language?: Yes
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Series: Doctor Who
Series' Medium: Primarily a TV show, although there's also a made-for-TV movie, novels and audio dramas.
Character: (the) Master
Age: Unknown; over 900, at any rate. Looks to be about 37.
Sex/Gender: Male
Canon Role: Antagonist
"Real" Name: Harold Saxon
How long have you roleplayed your character, if at all?: In games, approximately six months. Otherwise, I started playing him about nine months ago.
Where have you roleplayed in general and/or with this specific character?: I played this character most extensively at discedo, although I recently dropped the game. Aside from playing the Master at Discedo, I played a couple of other characters there over the two years I played at the game.
I also played the Master at wonderlandwars before the game closed a short while after opening, and very briefly at somarium before realising that the light-hearted nature of the game wasn't a good fit for the character.
Are you personally familiar with your character's canon?: When I was growing up, repeats of the classic series were often shown on a Sunday morning and I tended to watch those, and then when the series was revived in 2005, I began watching that on a weekly basis. I have all of the released boxsets of the revived series and have watched many episodes multiple times and I've seen the made-for-TV movie a several times.
I've also read a number of the BBC (and other) novels, and listened to a fair few of the audio dramas.
Please give us a personal history of your character's life and explain to us in detail how they grow and develop over the course of their canon:
I am using expanded universe (novel and audio drama) canon within my history and portrayal alongside TV canon.
The Master, known as Koschei as a child, belonged to the House of Oakdown; it was evidently a respectable house -- his father owned "estates, with pastures of red grass" located near Mount Perdition. He and Theta Sigma (the Doctor) played in the fields nearby.
As a child, both Koschei and Theta were tormented by an older boy. One afternoon when they were playing by the river, the boy bullied them again, and as he was holding Koschei face down into the river, Theta, in an attempt to save his friend, hit the bully over the head. Instead of simply hurting him, or knocking him out, it is revealed that Theta killed him. Death then visits Theta with the intention of making him her champion, but Theta, who was rather understandably freaking out over having killed someone, tells Death to take Koschei as her disciple. And she does. Along with the drums retroactively implanted into his head by the Time Lords, this is one explanation given for why Koschei became evil.
At the age of eight, he -- like other novices -- was taken to look into the Time Vortex itself, through the Untempered Schism. It's later stated that "some would be inspired, some would run away, and others would go mad" upon viewing the Vortex. It's implied that the Master is one of those that went insane and that after looking into the Vortex, first heard the drums that would plague him -- apparently -- for the rest of his life. The drums were, in fact, a method of linking the past and 'present' of the Time Lord High Council trapped within the final few days of the Last Great Time War as way to free themselves from the Time Lock and ascend to a higher plane of existence.
After the initiation ceremony at the Untempered Schism, Koschei entered the Prydonian Academy. The Prydon Chapter's Academy, as each Chapter has its own, was a Chapter known for producing devious and cunning Time Lords and, of course, renegade Time Lords, as in the case of the Master (Koschei), the Doctor (Theta), the Rani (Ushas) and various others. The generation including these three was particularly well-known for producing renegades. Koschei, Theta and Ushas were also members of an 'elite' group of ten students known as the Deca. These ten students were the best in their class.
Whilst at the Academy, Koschei was known to be a good friend of Theta, and the two would, amongst other pranks, often disrupt each other's time experiments with time flow analogues. Of the two, Koschei would consistently receive better marks and was, at one point, described as being a better TARDIS mechanic than Theta. He excelled at Cosmic Science. It's not implied that Koschei had a greater intellect than Theta as such, simply that Theta wasn't interested in applying himself to his academics. At a far later point, the Master admits that the Doctor is the 'closest' he has to an equal. It's mentioned that Theta frequently receives the praise and recognition that the Koschei desires, and he later claims that 'envy is the cause of true greatness'.
As a student, Koschei hypnotises people for fun, and teaches Theta how to do the same. It's later established that Koschei has 'always been sort of hypnotic' and that he has a greater talent for it. Despite frequently helping to cause trouble, Koschei often manages to avoid punishment for his actions, whereas Theta is considered to be reckless.
Koschei later developed an interest in politics, and he hopes to become a member of the High Council, and it was widely considered that he would become Lord President of Gallifrey at some point in his future. However, it is later revealed that the Time Lords had concerns about his mental stability and his obsession with order.
He begins working as a 'truant officer', and is responsible for dealing with all criminal activities conducted by Time Lords. Meanwhile, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey, claiming to be bored with the conformity of life on Gallifrey and angry at the corruption of the High Council. However, Koschei had also often been seen to have similar views on life on Gallifrey and shortly after the Doctor steals a TARDIS and leaves Gallifrey, so does Koschei.
The Time Lady Ailla is placed on Earth in the 28th Century by the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) so that she can become Koschei's 'human' companion. (Side note: this is clearly before the revelation in the television series that Time Lords can 'sense' one another, regardless of incarnation. It could be argued that she masked her biodata somehow.)
Koschei and Ailla travel for a time, and unknown to Koschei, Ailla reports back to Gallifrey regarding Koschei's mental stability. The two travel to investigate the Darkheart and come across the Doctor. The Doctor, naturally, is wary of Koschei due to the former's renegade status and stolen TARDIS, but Koschei informs him that he won't be reporting the latter's whereabouts to the Time Lords.
However, in the debacle that is the investigation into the Darkheart, Ailla is shot and killed. Unbeknownst to Koschei, the Doctor takes Ailla aboard his TARDIS and awaits her regeneration, as he'd realised she was a Time Lady. Koschei, meanwhile, still believing her to be human, decides to set about a series of events that would bring her back to life (and also destroy a planet, but that's by-the-by).
Just as this plan is set in motion, the newly regenerated Ailla reveals herself in an attempt to stop Koschei from continuing. However, Koschei claims that she has betrayed him, and that 'Koschei' is dead and that now, he is 'the Master'. He plans on using the Darkheart to harness the power of the Time Vortex, effectively making him into an all knowing and all powerful vengeful god; from this, he would make a peaceful and ordered universe. The Doctor, however, succeeds in tricking the Master, and traps him in the Darkheart.
The Master inevitably escapes, however -- he once makes a comment along the lines of how the universe is nothing without him -- and after he does so, he sneaks onto Gallifrey and steals several files from the Matrix including the Doomsday Weapons File. He's later captured by the Time Lords and imprisoned on an asteroid, and his title of Time Lord is revoked. Regardless of this, he steals a type-40 TARDIS, which he uses to make his way to Earth, the Doctor's place of exile, and infiltrates UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce, a military organisation operating under the UN that deals with extraterrestrial threats to Earth).
At first, he steals a Nestene energy unit and reactivates it, before taking over a small plastic factory and using it to create Autons with the Nestene Consciousness as part of his plan to destroy humanity. However, when the Doctor is investigating into the Master's appearance, he steals the dematerialisation circuit from the Master's TARDIS, an event which proceeds to strand the Master on Earth alongside the Doctor.
Under the pseudonym of 'Emil Keller', the Master claims to have built a machine that extracts negative emotions from individuals and can be used in the successful rehabilitation of criminals. The Doctor is invited to a demonstration, and it's no surprise that the device doesn't do as is described. It's later revealed to be a machine that can fill an individual's mind with that which fears them the most. After it becomes evident that the Master is posing as Emil Keller, the Master takes some time to regroup and informs the Doctor that he intends on using the machine to further his aims of plunging the Earth into war. The Doctor's ruse to prevent the Master achieving his aims succeeds to an extent, however the Master does succeed in recovering his stolen dematerialisation circuit which he uses to repair his TARDIS.
UNIT eventually manage to capture the Master, and they imprison him on island with a facility especially built for the purpose. However, it's not long before the Master exerts control over his jailer -- despite his claims of reformation -- and almost succeeds in causing war between humanity and the Sea Devils. He uses the ensuing chaos to escape.
After coming close to death several times and with a rapidly decreasing regenerative cycle, the Master attempts to gain a new regenerative cycle with the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey, however, true to form, the Doctor stops him. He escapes to Traken, where he takes over the body of a Trakenite named 'Tremas'.
In his new body, the Master continues with his various attempts for universal domination and destruction. On the planet Logopolis, the Master interferes with the Block Transfer Computations being carried out before holding the planet to ransom resulting in a wave of entropy that, if left unchecked, would destroy the universe. The Master effectively lies with his agreement to work with the Doctor to stop this, instead holding the universe to ransom (more-or-less), saying that he would stop the wave of entropy only if they agreed to live in a universe ruled by him. However, the Doctor succeeds in stopping his plans, and the Master escapes.
Eventually, both the Master and the Doctor arrive in a small mining village which has been experiencing odd outbreaks of violence and the Master soon discovers that these are due to the actions of the Rani. The Rani doesn't particularly care for the Master's actions, nor the Doctor's, but agrees to team up with the Master as he points out that the Doctor will inevitably discover her experiment and its unfortunate side-effects and will attempt to stop her. It's during this that the Rani comments on the Master's obsession with the Doctor and that all of his actions seem to revolve around the Doctor. For his part, the Master tries to deny this, claiming that it's simply because the Doctor gets in the way.
The Master ultimately finds himself on the Cheetah World and despite having hoped to have used circumstances to his advantage, finds his body being taken over by Cheetah DNA as the planet itself dies. However, he is able to transport from the Cheetah World to Earth and, after regenerating he's once again captured by UNIT. It's not clear how these events lead into the events of the movie, but:
He's eventually captured by the Daleks, tried, and sentenced to death. His final wish was to have his remains transported back to Gallifrey, which is agreed to by both the Daleks and the Doctor. In doing so, however, the Doctor unwittingly helps the Master restore himself to life; taking the form of a Morphant (basically a goo snake), the Master sabotages the Doctor's TARDIS, forcing it to crash on Earth, San Francisco circa 1999.
The crash leads to the Doctor being shot and after a ambulance arrives to transport the Doctor to a hospital, the Master, still in his Morphant form, also hitches a ride before taking over the body of Bruce, the ambulance driver. However, due to the nature of the possession, the body is incapable of surviving for any length of time, and after having "trouble with the walking and talking", the Master aims to take the Doctor's body and steal his remaining regenerations at the same time.
As part of this plan, the Master opens the Eye of Harmony located in the Doctor's TARDIS, however this backfires rather spectacularly on the Master when, during his confrontation with the Doctor, he is pushed into it and apparently either: trapped, killed, or even eaten (if the Doctor is to be taken at face value).
Nevertheless, we next meet the Master at the end of the universe, on the planet Malcassairo. However, at this point, he's not actually the Master -- nor is he, in fact, Koschei; he's a kindly old man, an apparent genius with a penchant for Edwardian clothing and a fob watch by the name of 'Yana' -- a professor, too, although he admits that it's more of an affectation than anything else, as any method of obtaining a doctorate is long gone. It's also revealed that Professor Yana has some degree of amnesia; he claims he was simply found one day, with the only one belonging of note: his fob watch.
It is with this fob watch that Professor Yana's true identity is both revealed and restored to him. Martha Jones, the Doctor's companion at this point, comments on the Professor's fob watch. He claims that it is, and always has been, broken, although Martha continues to question him on it for a short while before realising that it may not, actually, be such a great idea -- despite the fact that it appears to be a Chameleon Arch.
Soon after, Martha relates her observations of the fob watch to the Doctor. Professor Yana, of course, continues to study the fob watch, the perception filter placed on the fob watch to decrease interest in the object broken. Upon opening the fob watch, the Chameleon Arch is broken, the Yana's memories and lives restored to him, and he once again becomes the Master.
For his part, the Doctor had quickly realised the true identity of Yana upon hearing Martha's comments, and he rushes back to Professor Yana's laboratory where the Master has killed Professor Yana's companion -- Chan Tho, although not before she had managed to shoot him, mortally so. Retreating into the Doctor's TARDIS, the Master locks himself inside while he regenerates, claiming that if the Doctor could be younger, so could he. It is this incarnation that steals the Doctor's TARDIS, leaving the Doctor and companions stranded on Malcassairo.
However, the Doctor had managed to fuse the coordinates of the TARDIS, allowing it to only travel between certain points. As such, the Master ends up on Earth, some time between 2005 and 2006.
On Earth, he appears to be 'Harold Saxon', a famous novelist-turned-government official; he rises through the government ranks to become Minister of Defence, and helps defend Earth from alien invasions (such as the Racnoss), whilst at the same time warning Martha Jones' family of the Doctor as, in their timeline, she's only just started travelling with the Doctor.
As Minister of Defence, the Master sets up the 'Archangel Network', a global satellite network through which he amplifies his natural hypnocity and broadcasts a message to the peoples of Earth: to trust him. Thus, 'Harold Saxon' becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In a television broadcast, the Master claims that he's going to enact first contact with an alien race named the Toclafane (which the Doctor scoffs at upon hearing: the Toclafane were a made-up race, a bogeyman for Gallifreyan children which, in turn, leads to the Doctor wondering what, exactly, the Toclafane are and what the Master plans on using them for).
The Master then proceeds to add a small message onto the end of his broadcast directed at the Doctor and his companions and they realise that a bomb had been placed on the back of Martha's TV and they escape with only moments to spare. Martha then gets in touch with her family, who are still surrounded by various government workers of the Master's and they attempt to lure Martha to them in order to capture the Doctor. It doesn't work.
The Master then gets in touch with Martha and the Doctor, and during the Doctor's and the Master's conversation, the Master reveals that after his last apparent death, the Time Lords had brought him back to life to fight in the Time War as he would be the 'perfect warrior'. (Note: It's not elaborated upon, but considering the nature of the Time War and the purpose for which he was resurrected, it would stand to reason that the Master's regenerations were also restored to him. The Time Lord High Council are known to have this power, after all). He also reveals that he was present when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform and that he was 'so scared' and so he 'ran to the end of the universe' where he made use of the Chameleon Arch. It's worth noting that whilst the Master enjoys humiliating and lording over the Doctor, he's still capable of willingly revealing his weaknesses to him. In this scenario, it may be due in part to the fact that the Doctor had caused the destruction of Gallifrey and that they were, for all intents and purposes, the last two Time Lords.
During his time on Earth, the Master has also succeeded in gaining a wife, Lucy Saxon née Cole, the daughter of an aristocrat. Whilst she's 'not very bright' (she admits this herself in End of Time part one), at this point in time, she seems to take the same kind of sadistic delight in death and destruction that her husband does. It's revealed that he took her to the end of the universe in the Doctor's TARDIS and that the sight there made her wonder what the point was in the way that humanity strived towards the stars and everything else. She remains by the Master's side for the entirety of the time that he's on Earth -- despite the fact that he later takes to abusing her -- and refers to him as 'Harry', rather than '(the) Master'. It seems reasonable to assume, therefore, that whilst it's unlikely that the Master cared for her in a traditional sense, he did at least have some degree of feelings towards her. The role that Lucy plays and the Master's treatment of her could be held up against Ailla, and the end of that relationship and the impact it had on the Master.
During the "Year that Never Was" -- a year in existence only due to the creation of a Paradox Machine the Master had created from the Doctor's TARDIS, wherein he brings the Toclafane to Earth to decimate humanity (they were revealed to be humans from the far future), and keeps the Doctor as something of a pet -- the Master grows bored with his control over Earth, seeming to prefer the battles he'd had with the Doctor previous.
It's from this point that I'm taking the Master.
What point in time are you taking your character from when he/she appears at Landel's and why?: Part-way through Last of the Time Lords, just prior to the Doctor becoming tinkerbell linking himself with the Archangel network and defeating him, and before he recaptures Martha. I'm taking him from this point in time as I feel it would allow for a large degree of development and exploration with regards to his character.
Please give us a detailed description of your character's personality:
The Master, as the name might suggest, thinks of himself very highly. As with all Time Lords, the name he goes by is not his real one, it's more of a title, chosen by himself and accepted by other Time Lords. The Master views himself highly not just as an individual, but as a Time Lord, a race of people who 'watch over' Time and the universe itself.
The arrogance of Time Lords seems somewhat innate; each and every Time Lord to make an appearance in Doctor Who has some degree of arrogance owed to who and what they are -- a kind of institutionalised arrogance, if you will, that is far from discouraged. Races apart from the Time Lords and Time Aware races are referred to as 'lesser species' and this has undoubtedly contributed to the way in which the Master looks down on all other forms of life, holding himself up as superior.
As far as the individual goes, the Master is incredibly gifted, and has been since he was young boy. As a result of this and when combined with the other facets of his personality, there is no-one that the Master will place before himself. Despite the fact that he has died several times, sometimes seemingly irreversibly so, he has been brought back to life and has gone so far to imply that this, and his continued existence is a universal constant. He considers himself and his actions to be inherently 'right' and that he is above being reproached. In Last of the Time Lords, the Doctor remarks on how his actions will change the history of the universe and the Master replies with "I'm a Time Lord, it's my right."
On top of this, he even seems to consider himself as something of a god-like figure, which he enjoys flaunting to over-the-top proportions ("...and so it came to pass that the Human race fell. And I looked down, upon my new dominion as Master of All and I thought it good"). In short, therefore, he is vain and egotistical, and a megalomaniac.
Despite his intelligence and awareness of the universe and of science, he's far from mentally stable. This is a condition that has been evident from his days at the Academy and throughout each of his incarnations with the Time Lord High Council aware of what could happen. In his younger days, this instability manifested itself as an obsession with order, with correcting the chaos of the universe. He has always, evidently, had grand designs of creating a universe that is, in his eyes 'perfect', with him at the centre, as its architect. Originally, he offered the Doctor the same -- that they could govern the universe together and ensure that there was no war, no injustice, no chaos.
However, over the years, as the Doctor has rebuked and defeated him and as the Master's own sanity seems to have decreased, he has grown, it would appear, less interested in correcting the chaos of the universe and instead admits that he will create his own order, built upon an entirely different kind of destruction -- such as in Last of the Time Lords where he creates a paradox of cannibalised humans from the future decimate humans from the twenty-first century and on the eve of Earth's destruction, he announces how he's going to create a 'new empire'.
In his current incarnation, his actions are markedly more overt and manic than those of previous incarnations and he mentions the 'sound of drums', drums that call him to war and from which he can get no respite. It at first appeared that these drums were a symptom of his madness, rather than a contributing cause, however it's later revealed that the latter is true. His feelings on the drums are mixed: he seems to desire the recognition of their existence and yet acts as if he's pleased when the Doctor denies their existence, as if this very fact makes him special, better than the Doctor. This could be described as a metaphor for his current existence -- he's aware of, to an extent, his madness and whilst he enjoys what he does and how he does it, he's also aware that it's as much of a hindrance as it is anything else. This appears to be supported by the later episodes, End of Time, parts one and two, where the Doctor realises the existence of the drums and the Master rejoices and scoffs at the Doctor with a derisory comment of 'and you thought I was mad' -- he hates not being taken seriously, of being ridiculed and pitied.
Speaking of the Doctor, the Doctor is the one individual that the Master considers close to an equal. In an earlier incarnation, the Master commented that he 'missed' each of the rivals that he'd beaten and killed and that he'd miss the Doctor most of all. He considers the Doctor a worthy match of intellect and wit, and relishes their battles. In fact, it appears that the Master constantly seeks him out in each of his incarnations, enjoying the battle that the Doctor inevitably provides him with (in Last of the Time Lords, the Master appears to grow bored once he's in control of the Earth and has the Doctor kept akin to a pet), and fellow Time Lord, the Rani, comments on the manner in which the Master's plans inevitably involve the Doctor, whereas the Time Lord High Council refer to theirs as the 'enmity of ages'. However, whilst the Master enjoys and actively seeks to humiliate the Doctor, he never seems able to bring himself to entirely defeat him, which once again seems to return to the fact that the Master can't envision enjoying doing what he does without the Doctor there to witness it -- or try and stop him.
At the same time, however, the idea of an all-powerful Doctor, godlike and laughing at him, has been shown to be the Master's greatest fear. Whilst the Master is obsessed with humiliating the Doctor and proving his superiority, the reverse is what he fears most, even above his own death. This would be one explanation for the end of Last of the Time Lords, where a god-like Doctor gives the Master his forgiveness and proceeds to claim that he 'knows' the Master, and that the one thing that he could never do is 'kill himself'. Whilst this would be true in most situations -- the Master's main aim, beyond universal domination, is his continued existence -- when faced with a triumphant and god-like Doctor, his very idea of a nightmare, of Hell, if you will, he would prefer to die. It's worth noting, though, that the Doctor wasn't intrinsically wrong; the Master didn't kill himself, he was shot. He did, however, have the ability to save himself by regenerating but he chose not to and chose death. Despite the fact that I'm taking him from before this event, it is something that plays into his personality.
In this incarnation, the Master takes a sadistic and almost childish delight in the suffering he causes, laughing and clapping at the death of a woman who had figured out his true identity before he outed himself, and dancing with his wife as the Toclafane decimated the population of Earth. He loves extravagant actions; he gasses his cabinet after becoming Prime Minister simply because he can, and gives an aide the thumbs up as he chokes to death, exclaiming that '[he's] insane'.
Whilst he is sadistic, vain and in possession of a completely terrible personality, he can be incredibly charming when he wishes to be; he is perfectly aware of what are good manners and of how one should act in certain social situations. He did, after all, succeed in becoming a prominent member of the government and then, later, elected. However, he only employs these when they're necessary -- he'll drop them as soon as he deems fit. Furthermore, he takes great delight in annoying and frustrating those he deems unworthy of respect -- for example, his first meeting with the POTUS devolves into the Master childishly zipping his mouth shut, only to unzip it when the President makes a comment that requires a verbal answer. He doesn't consider the President worthy of his time, even as Prime Minister, and he's not particularly interested in how a human might perceive him; at this point in time, the only thing that interests him is his own entertainment.
Furthermore, this incarnation of the Master appears to have a great love for popular culture -- he dances to the Rogue Traders as he orders the slaughter of humanity, he sings the Scissor Sisters to an aged and decrepit Doctor and he enjoys watching the Teletubbies (however, it appears he believes the Teletubbies to actually exist and makes an offhand remark on how fantastic evolution is, as they've got 'TV in their stomachs'. In an earlier incarnation, he believed the Clangers to be a real species as well). So, whilst he enjoys popular culture, he's not always particularly adept at telling fact from fiction.
The Master is also almost laughably stubborn. Despite the fact that his schemes often follow very similar plans (pseudonym, the presentation of false aims and then an inevitable betrayal), they all fall apart towards the middle and end. The Master's short-term planning and actions are remarkable and his long-term aims are also impressive, if nothing else. It's simply the middle point that needs a little more work.
And by 'a little', I mean 'rather a lot'.
Despite this, though, he appears quite content to repeat this method until he gets it right, and in fairness, he almost does on several occasion, most notably with this incarnation and his designs with the Paradox Machine. However, his pride and his arrogance were his downfalls: he underestimated humanity and their power as a united front, and he overlooked the fact that they might be able to use the Archangel Network against him, reversing its purpose to frighten and intimidate into one that provided hope and ultimately, saved them.
He's also remarkably skilled at overlooking all the times that he's been defeated. Every time that he's died, every time that he's failed -- none of these have had an impact on his, frankly, quite remarkable ego.
However, that's not to say that he doesn't learn a little. Incarnations of old would often, when confronted by the Doctor, delight in telling the Doctor exactly how he planned on achieving his aims. This, unsurprisingly, would quite often give the Doctor something of an advantage and would aid in his defeat. This Master, however, is aware that this was something of a fault and says that he really, really doesn't plan on telling the Doctor everything -- instead, he later seems to take great delight in watching the Doctor work it all out, and in his inevitable dismay as it all slides into place.
Finally, whilst the Master has a great love for death and destruction, there are limits to what he can cope with. Although he appears to be envious of the fact that the Doctor caused destruction on such a grand scale so as to end the Last Great Time War and destroy Gallifrey -- permanently -- he admits that when he was resurrected for the purposes of the Time War, he 'was scared, so scared' and that it led to him escaping from the war, running to the end of the universe to hide as human.
Please give us a physical description of your character:
The Master stands at about 5'10 and he has a head of short, brown hair. His eyes are also brown, and his face is quite expressive and he's not above (in fact, he's quite fond of) pulling a variety of expressions to emphasise his point, which is something that plays into this regneration's delight in being OTT. He's not exceptionally well built and leans towards the 'skinny' side of 'slim', but when most of what you do involves either shooting people with lasers, shrinking them, or hypnotising them, you can probably afford to be on the less than impressive physical side of things -- despite this, however, he is quite physically robust, but this is more to do with being a Time Lord than anything else. Such a fact would probably turn out to be a little surprising based on appearances alone.
He's often found wearing a black suit (with the white shirt/black tie combo). In fact, he's quite fond of the 'timeless black suit' as he's worn variations of it throughout each of his incarnations -- it's easy to say, therefore, that he takes pride in his appearance and likes to appear smart and well-dressed.
What kinds of otherwordly abilities does your character have, if any?:
Gallifreyans, externally, look exactly the same as humans, however they are also in the possession of: two hearts -- which beat at about 170 bpm, a respiratory bypass system (which effectively enables them to survive strangulation). In relation to their two hearts, some Time Lords have the ability to consciously stop their two hearts creating the appearance of death. They can also survive for far longer than an average human without oxygen.
Gallifreyans can also enter a trance-like state which helps with rapid healing and lowers the need for oxygen, however it also leaves them incredibly vulnerable. Their internal body temperature is about 15℃, however when they enter this healing state their body temperature drops to below freezing. Even outside of this healing trance, they recover from wounds quicker than a human.
The biggest difference between Time Lords and humans is, of course, a Time Lord's ability to regenerate: if a Time Lord is mortally wounded or if his or her body is wearing out due to old age or general wear-and-tear (the former of which is, of course, far older for a Time Lord than for a human), they can regenerate which effectively means they grow a new body. In a sense. They replace the old with the new.
As well as replacing their physical form -- it's not known if it's possible for a Time Lord to change genders with regeneration -- their personality also undergoes several changes. Whilst the underlying individual and fundamental personality remains the same and has the same memories as the former incarnation, there are aspects that change. For example, one incarnation might be calmer and more introverted, whereas another might be louder and more extroverted, one might have a fondness for technobabble and another might prefer, say, Jelly Babies. However, at the core, they're the same person.
The senses of a Time Lord are also greater than that of a human's: they can see better in the dark and across long distances; they can hear sounds that are further away and outside the human hearing range; they can use taste to identify objects, blood types and chemical compositions. They can also use their sense of smell to identify where and when they are. And, whilst not strictly an ability, they require very little sleep compared to a human and can last days without sleep.
Furthermore, Time Lords also have several 'telepathic' abilities. Telepathic communication is possible via various methods, such as if the individuals have some form of contact (...or headbutting is involved). With this, they can share thoughts and memories. Hypnosis is also possible. The Master, in particular, is described as a gifted hypnotist and it's a gift he's developed since his days in the Academy. Its effectiveness does vary, however.
Röntgen radiation is entirely harmless to Gallifreyans, with Gallifreyan children playing with radioactive toys. They can also absorb Röntgen radiation into their body and expel it in a form that is harmless to humans.
Finally, Time Lords also have time- and spatial-related senses; Time Lords can perceive all possible timelines (past, present and future), they can sense distortions in time and can resist slow fields of time. They are also able to sense other Time Lords and who that Time Lord is (if they know them, of course), regardless of regeneration. In light of the episodes 'End of Time', Time Lords can also smell each other.
In the Eighth Doctor Adventures series of novels, it's revealed that their awareness of Time and Space is linked to their second heart and that the removal of their second heart, whilst it wouldn't kill them, would take away this ability. They can, however, regrow their second heart.
...They're also deathly allergic to aspirin. This isn't an ability, no, but all the same, the Master's really going to want to avoid aspirin.
-- Finally finally, because I almost forgot to mention this, Time Lords also have a linguistic ability that is once referred to as 'the Time Lord gift'. It basically means that they understand and can speak more or less every language ever. It's linked, presumably, to their exceptional intelligence but it's still not something that's exactly humanly possible (and since it's referred to as a 'Time Lord gift', I think it fits in this section better than the 'non-otherwordly abilities' section.
If present, how do you plan to tweak these powers to make your character appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?:
The vast majority of the Master's abilities are either inherent biological abilities (respiratory bypass function, a decreased need for sleep) and as such, I don't think that they should be restricted. I would class the ability to regenerate amongst these, however it's not one that I would like to come into play at all as doing so would veer off into AU territory, particularly as the Master hasn't regenerated from this form in canon. So, I'd prefer to consider it null-and-void.
Also, the ability to enter a healing trance is one that will be restricted as well. Whilst I imagine it would still be effective to a degree, it would be to a much smaller degree, and take a longer amount of time. I also expect that the amount of time that it takes him to recover from normal wounds (wounds that wouldn't require a healing trance at all) to be longer as well.
Telepathic ability will be decreased as well -- to the point that it is only possible via physical contact with the other individual. In the case of the Master, his hypnotic abilities will be removed entirely.
His senses -- including those relating to Time -- I'd like to remain as they are as they're passive abilities. The same stands for the amount of sleep he'll need. However, as Time Lords can regrow their second heart, I will be completely open to that being an option (albeit temporary) at some point. (Of course, if you'd prefer he weren't in possession of time/spatial-related senses, that's entirely fine.)
His ability to understand and speak languages would also remain the same.
Does your character have any non-otherworldy abilities/training that surpass the norm?:
The Master is a genius by human standards -- he has a vast array of knowledge on scientific and mathematical subjects, greatly surpassing that of the modern day. He's also an exceptionally gifted mechanic, particularly with TARDISes. To be quite honest, the show tends not to elaborate on the technical, scientific or mechanical side of anything, preferring instead to make it up, ignore continuity and simply have weaknesses and strengths pop up, disappear and be conveniently forgotten as the plot needs (Doctor Who: being cheesy, camp and nonsensical since 1963!).
So, yes, the Master has a really rather impressive knowledge of science, maths, technical, linguistic and cosmic stuff, although the boundaries are never really established. However, it is known that at the Academy, the Master would have studied a variety of subjects including, but not limited to: cosmic science (his speciality), telepathy, history (...yeah), stellar cartography, stellar engineering, cybernetics, temporal engineering, time flow mechanics and a whole host of other things.
In general terms, Time Lords are described as being incredibly skilled at: mathematics, biology, xenobiology, chemistry and physics.
What do you see your character doing in the scope of the game and how do you plan to use the setting of Landel's Institute to develop them and affect their psychology in a unique, interesting way?:
The Master, regardless of where he is and who he has tends to have three grand aims and they are as follows:
(one) Ensure survival (two) Gain control (small scale/grand scale) (three) Humiliate and defeat the Doctor
If (one) is jeopardised in any manner, (two) and (three) can be bent and ignored as desired. For example, if he's placed in a situation where his death appears imminent, he is not above allying with the Doctor. As such, (three) would take a temporary backseat -- he will always, inevitably, betray those he allies himself with, linking back to (two), which is only postponed until the situation lends itself to his success.
If (one) is ensured, he will proceed with (two) and (three), often simultaneously.
In all seriousness, the Master will first, ensure that his safety and survival is assured (or at least not endangered, although it will inevitably become as much because the Master sucks at staying alive). He'll attempt to gain some degree of control over the Institute because That's What He Does (and he'll be very disappointed to find that he doesn't have his hypnotism).
With regards to this -- attempting to take control -- he'd most likely adopt a route similar to each and every time he's attempted a plan before. That is:
1: PSEUDONYM!
2: Persona! (Generally a scientist, government official or politician seeking the betterment of where ever he happens to be). 3: Hypnotism! 4: In the event of the failure of (3), other methods are to be employed. This is where his technological and mechanical prowess appears and he'll undoubtedly build a kind of handheld weapon, be it offensive or one with the aim of exerting influence over others. 5: Power! Or so he would hope. This is where he'd reveal his true colours.
Within Landel's, he will try this method at least once (he's nothing if not stubborn). When that fails, as it inevitably will, he will stop with the pseudonyms and personas and stick with being himself and being a nuisance.
I think it'll be interesting to see how he copes with being genuinely trapped in a place where he has (comparatively speaking) very little power and very little control and how this will affect his attitude and plans in the long run.
Whilst he's quite used to losing to the Doctor, he's less used to losing in the long run; the ongoing battle between the Master and the Doctor is almost something of a game, and this will be something entirely new and different and I do think it'll be interesting to see how that will affect him once he's exhausted his usual approaches.
Given that this RP takes place in an unsettling and outright horrific environment, how do you justify your character as being appropriate in both body and mind for this kind of setting?:
The Master is used to a variety of horrific situations, some entirely of his own causing. As such, whilst the setting of this RP may come as something of a shock to him, it won't affect him much beyond a strong desire to get out and leave (which is something he'd have regardless of where he was). Physically, the Master is fit and mentally, whilst he's not what one would call 'sound', he wouldn't be incapable of coping -- and, of course, he did put up with some of the Time War (how much of it isn't known as very few details of the Time War have been revealed in canon; he could have been involved for a while or hardly any time at all). Admittedly, he did end up running from it, but from what has been revealed in canon, it's supposed to be one of the most horrendous wars ever.
As such, whilst the Master isn't as hardened as he would sometimes like to pretend he is (End of Time, I'm looking at you), he's had to put up with worse at various points in his life (admittedly for shorter amounts of time and generally as a result of his own actions, but there we have it) -- and at the end of the day, he could probably do with being brought down a peg or two.
[SAMPLES REMOVED.]
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Age: 21
Gender: Female
Timezone: British Summer Time (GMT+1)
Personal LJ: sunrisecandy
E-Mail: pink.sherlock[at]gmail.com
AIM/other: hasRAZZMATAZZ
Is English your primary language?: Yes
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Series: Doctor Who
Series' Medium: Primarily a TV show, although there's also a made-for-TV movie, novels and audio dramas.
Character: (the) Master
Age: Unknown; over 900, at any rate. Looks to be about 37.
Sex/Gender: Male
Canon Role: Antagonist
"Real" Name: Harold Saxon
How long have you roleplayed your character, if at all?: In games, approximately six months. Otherwise, I started playing him about nine months ago.
Where have you roleplayed in general and/or with this specific character?: I played this character most extensively at discedo, although I recently dropped the game. Aside from playing the Master at Discedo, I played a couple of other characters there over the two years I played at the game.
I also played the Master at wonderlandwars before the game closed a short while after opening, and very briefly at somarium before realising that the light-hearted nature of the game wasn't a good fit for the character.
Are you personally familiar with your character's canon?: When I was growing up, repeats of the classic series were often shown on a Sunday morning and I tended to watch those, and then when the series was revived in 2005, I began watching that on a weekly basis. I have all of the released boxsets of the revived series and have watched many episodes multiple times and I've seen the made-for-TV movie a several times.
I've also read a number of the BBC (and other) novels, and listened to a fair few of the audio dramas.
Please give us a personal history of your character's life and explain to us in detail how they grow and develop over the course of their canon:
I am using expanded universe (novel and audio drama) canon within my history and portrayal alongside TV canon.
The Master, known as Koschei as a child, belonged to the House of Oakdown; it was evidently a respectable house -- his father owned "estates, with pastures of red grass" located near Mount Perdition. He and Theta Sigma (the Doctor) played in the fields nearby.
As a child, both Koschei and Theta were tormented by an older boy. One afternoon when they were playing by the river, the boy bullied them again, and as he was holding Koschei face down into the river, Theta, in an attempt to save his friend, hit the bully over the head. Instead of simply hurting him, or knocking him out, it is revealed that Theta killed him. Death then visits Theta with the intention of making him her champion, but Theta, who was rather understandably freaking out over having killed someone, tells Death to take Koschei as her disciple. And she does. Along with the drums retroactively implanted into his head by the Time Lords, this is one explanation given for why Koschei became evil.
At the age of eight, he -- like other novices -- was taken to look into the Time Vortex itself, through the Untempered Schism. It's later stated that "some would be inspired, some would run away, and others would go mad" upon viewing the Vortex. It's implied that the Master is one of those that went insane and that after looking into the Vortex, first heard the drums that would plague him -- apparently -- for the rest of his life. The drums were, in fact, a method of linking the past and 'present' of the Time Lord High Council trapped within the final few days of the Last Great Time War as way to free themselves from the Time Lock and ascend to a higher plane of existence.
After the initiation ceremony at the Untempered Schism, Koschei entered the Prydonian Academy. The Prydon Chapter's Academy, as each Chapter has its own, was a Chapter known for producing devious and cunning Time Lords and, of course, renegade Time Lords, as in the case of the Master (Koschei), the Doctor (Theta), the Rani (Ushas) and various others. The generation including these three was particularly well-known for producing renegades. Koschei, Theta and Ushas were also members of an 'elite' group of ten students known as the Deca. These ten students were the best in their class.
Whilst at the Academy, Koschei was known to be a good friend of Theta, and the two would, amongst other pranks, often disrupt each other's time experiments with time flow analogues. Of the two, Koschei would consistently receive better marks and was, at one point, described as being a better TARDIS mechanic than Theta. He excelled at Cosmic Science. It's not implied that Koschei had a greater intellect than Theta as such, simply that Theta wasn't interested in applying himself to his academics. At a far later point, the Master admits that the Doctor is the 'closest' he has to an equal. It's mentioned that Theta frequently receives the praise and recognition that the Koschei desires, and he later claims that 'envy is the cause of true greatness'.
As a student, Koschei hypnotises people for fun, and teaches Theta how to do the same. It's later established that Koschei has 'always been sort of hypnotic' and that he has a greater talent for it. Despite frequently helping to cause trouble, Koschei often manages to avoid punishment for his actions, whereas Theta is considered to be reckless.
Koschei later developed an interest in politics, and he hopes to become a member of the High Council, and it was widely considered that he would become Lord President of Gallifrey at some point in his future. However, it is later revealed that the Time Lords had concerns about his mental stability and his obsession with order.
He begins working as a 'truant officer', and is responsible for dealing with all criminal activities conducted by Time Lords. Meanwhile, the Doctor leaves Gallifrey, claiming to be bored with the conformity of life on Gallifrey and angry at the corruption of the High Council. However, Koschei had also often been seen to have similar views on life on Gallifrey and shortly after the Doctor steals a TARDIS and leaves Gallifrey, so does Koschei.
The Time Lady Ailla is placed on Earth in the 28th Century by the CIA (Celestial Intervention Agency) so that she can become Koschei's 'human' companion. (Side note: this is clearly before the revelation in the television series that Time Lords can 'sense' one another, regardless of incarnation. It could be argued that she masked her biodata somehow.)
Koschei and Ailla travel for a time, and unknown to Koschei, Ailla reports back to Gallifrey regarding Koschei's mental stability. The two travel to investigate the Darkheart and come across the Doctor. The Doctor, naturally, is wary of Koschei due to the former's renegade status and stolen TARDIS, but Koschei informs him that he won't be reporting the latter's whereabouts to the Time Lords.
However, in the debacle that is the investigation into the Darkheart, Ailla is shot and killed. Unbeknownst to Koschei, the Doctor takes Ailla aboard his TARDIS and awaits her regeneration, as he'd realised she was a Time Lady. Koschei, meanwhile, still believing her to be human, decides to set about a series of events that would bring her back to life (and also destroy a planet, but that's by-the-by).
Just as this plan is set in motion, the newly regenerated Ailla reveals herself in an attempt to stop Koschei from continuing. However, Koschei claims that she has betrayed him, and that 'Koschei' is dead and that now, he is 'the Master'. He plans on using the Darkheart to harness the power of the Time Vortex, effectively making him into an all knowing and all powerful vengeful god; from this, he would make a peaceful and ordered universe. The Doctor, however, succeeds in tricking the Master, and traps him in the Darkheart.
The Master inevitably escapes, however -- he once makes a comment along the lines of how the universe is nothing without him -- and after he does so, he sneaks onto Gallifrey and steals several files from the Matrix including the Doomsday Weapons File. He's later captured by the Time Lords and imprisoned on an asteroid, and his title of Time Lord is revoked. Regardless of this, he steals a type-40 TARDIS, which he uses to make his way to Earth, the Doctor's place of exile, and infiltrates UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce, a military organisation operating under the UN that deals with extraterrestrial threats to Earth).
At first, he steals a Nestene energy unit and reactivates it, before taking over a small plastic factory and using it to create Autons with the Nestene Consciousness as part of his plan to destroy humanity. However, when the Doctor is investigating into the Master's appearance, he steals the dematerialisation circuit from the Master's TARDIS, an event which proceeds to strand the Master on Earth alongside the Doctor.
Under the pseudonym of 'Emil Keller', the Master claims to have built a machine that extracts negative emotions from individuals and can be used in the successful rehabilitation of criminals. The Doctor is invited to a demonstration, and it's no surprise that the device doesn't do as is described. It's later revealed to be a machine that can fill an individual's mind with that which fears them the most. After it becomes evident that the Master is posing as Emil Keller, the Master takes some time to regroup and informs the Doctor that he intends on using the machine to further his aims of plunging the Earth into war. The Doctor's ruse to prevent the Master achieving his aims succeeds to an extent, however the Master does succeed in recovering his stolen dematerialisation circuit which he uses to repair his TARDIS.
UNIT eventually manage to capture the Master, and they imprison him on island with a facility especially built for the purpose. However, it's not long before the Master exerts control over his jailer -- despite his claims of reformation -- and almost succeeds in causing war between humanity and the Sea Devils. He uses the ensuing chaos to escape.
After coming close to death several times and with a rapidly decreasing regenerative cycle, the Master attempts to gain a new regenerative cycle with the Eye of Harmony on Gallifrey, however, true to form, the Doctor stops him. He escapes to Traken, where he takes over the body of a Trakenite named 'Tremas'.
In his new body, the Master continues with his various attempts for universal domination and destruction. On the planet Logopolis, the Master interferes with the Block Transfer Computations being carried out before holding the planet to ransom resulting in a wave of entropy that, if left unchecked, would destroy the universe. The Master effectively lies with his agreement to work with the Doctor to stop this, instead holding the universe to ransom (more-or-less), saying that he would stop the wave of entropy only if they agreed to live in a universe ruled by him. However, the Doctor succeeds in stopping his plans, and the Master escapes.
Eventually, both the Master and the Doctor arrive in a small mining village which has been experiencing odd outbreaks of violence and the Master soon discovers that these are due to the actions of the Rani. The Rani doesn't particularly care for the Master's actions, nor the Doctor's, but agrees to team up with the Master as he points out that the Doctor will inevitably discover her experiment and its unfortunate side-effects and will attempt to stop her. It's during this that the Rani comments on the Master's obsession with the Doctor and that all of his actions seem to revolve around the Doctor. For his part, the Master tries to deny this, claiming that it's simply because the Doctor gets in the way.
The Master ultimately finds himself on the Cheetah World and despite having hoped to have used circumstances to his advantage, finds his body being taken over by Cheetah DNA as the planet itself dies. However, he is able to transport from the Cheetah World to Earth and, after regenerating he's once again captured by UNIT. It's not clear how these events lead into the events of the movie, but:
He's eventually captured by the Daleks, tried, and sentenced to death. His final wish was to have his remains transported back to Gallifrey, which is agreed to by both the Daleks and the Doctor. In doing so, however, the Doctor unwittingly helps the Master restore himself to life; taking the form of a Morphant (basically a goo snake), the Master sabotages the Doctor's TARDIS, forcing it to crash on Earth, San Francisco circa 1999.
The crash leads to the Doctor being shot and after a ambulance arrives to transport the Doctor to a hospital, the Master, still in his Morphant form, also hitches a ride before taking over the body of Bruce, the ambulance driver. However, due to the nature of the possession, the body is incapable of surviving for any length of time, and after having "trouble with the walking and talking", the Master aims to take the Doctor's body and steal his remaining regenerations at the same time.
As part of this plan, the Master opens the Eye of Harmony located in the Doctor's TARDIS, however this backfires rather spectacularly on the Master when, during his confrontation with the Doctor, he is pushed into it and apparently either: trapped, killed, or even eaten (if the Doctor is to be taken at face value).
Nevertheless, we next meet the Master at the end of the universe, on the planet Malcassairo. However, at this point, he's not actually the Master -- nor is he, in fact, Koschei; he's a kindly old man, an apparent genius with a penchant for Edwardian clothing and a fob watch by the name of 'Yana' -- a professor, too, although he admits that it's more of an affectation than anything else, as any method of obtaining a doctorate is long gone. It's also revealed that Professor Yana has some degree of amnesia; he claims he was simply found one day, with the only one belonging of note: his fob watch.
It is with this fob watch that Professor Yana's true identity is both revealed and restored to him. Martha Jones, the Doctor's companion at this point, comments on the Professor's fob watch. He claims that it is, and always has been, broken, although Martha continues to question him on it for a short while before realising that it may not, actually, be such a great idea -- despite the fact that it appears to be a Chameleon Arch.
Soon after, Martha relates her observations of the fob watch to the Doctor. Professor Yana, of course, continues to study the fob watch, the perception filter placed on the fob watch to decrease interest in the object broken. Upon opening the fob watch, the Chameleon Arch is broken, the Yana's memories and lives restored to him, and he once again becomes the Master.
For his part, the Doctor had quickly realised the true identity of Yana upon hearing Martha's comments, and he rushes back to Professor Yana's laboratory where the Master has killed Professor Yana's companion -- Chan Tho, although not before she had managed to shoot him, mortally so. Retreating into the Doctor's TARDIS, the Master locks himself inside while he regenerates, claiming that if the Doctor could be younger, so could he. It is this incarnation that steals the Doctor's TARDIS, leaving the Doctor and companions stranded on Malcassairo.
However, the Doctor had managed to fuse the coordinates of the TARDIS, allowing it to only travel between certain points. As such, the Master ends up on Earth, some time between 2005 and 2006.
On Earth, he appears to be 'Harold Saxon', a famous novelist-turned-government official; he rises through the government ranks to become Minister of Defence, and helps defend Earth from alien invasions (such as the Racnoss), whilst at the same time warning Martha Jones' family of the Doctor as, in their timeline, she's only just started travelling with the Doctor.
As Minister of Defence, the Master sets up the 'Archangel Network', a global satellite network through which he amplifies his natural hypnocity and broadcasts a message to the peoples of Earth: to trust him. Thus, 'Harold Saxon' becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
In a television broadcast, the Master claims that he's going to enact first contact with an alien race named the Toclafane (which the Doctor scoffs at upon hearing: the Toclafane were a made-up race, a bogeyman for Gallifreyan children which, in turn, leads to the Doctor wondering what, exactly, the Toclafane are and what the Master plans on using them for).
The Master then proceeds to add a small message onto the end of his broadcast directed at the Doctor and his companions and they realise that a bomb had been placed on the back of Martha's TV and they escape with only moments to spare. Martha then gets in touch with her family, who are still surrounded by various government workers of the Master's and they attempt to lure Martha to them in order to capture the Doctor. It doesn't work.
The Master then gets in touch with Martha and the Doctor, and during the Doctor's and the Master's conversation, the Master reveals that after his last apparent death, the Time Lords had brought him back to life to fight in the Time War as he would be the 'perfect warrior'. (Note: It's not elaborated upon, but considering the nature of the Time War and the purpose for which he was resurrected, it would stand to reason that the Master's regenerations were also restored to him. The Time Lord High Council are known to have this power, after all). He also reveals that he was present when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform and that he was 'so scared' and so he 'ran to the end of the universe' where he made use of the Chameleon Arch. It's worth noting that whilst the Master enjoys humiliating and lording over the Doctor, he's still capable of willingly revealing his weaknesses to him. In this scenario, it may be due in part to the fact that the Doctor had caused the destruction of Gallifrey and that they were, for all intents and purposes, the last two Time Lords.
During his time on Earth, the Master has also succeeded in gaining a wife, Lucy Saxon née Cole, the daughter of an aristocrat. Whilst she's 'not very bright' (she admits this herself in End of Time part one), at this point in time, she seems to take the same kind of sadistic delight in death and destruction that her husband does. It's revealed that he took her to the end of the universe in the Doctor's TARDIS and that the sight there made her wonder what the point was in the way that humanity strived towards the stars and everything else. She remains by the Master's side for the entirety of the time that he's on Earth -- despite the fact that he later takes to abusing her -- and refers to him as 'Harry', rather than '(the) Master'. It seems reasonable to assume, therefore, that whilst it's unlikely that the Master cared for her in a traditional sense, he did at least have some degree of feelings towards her. The role that Lucy plays and the Master's treatment of her could be held up against Ailla, and the end of that relationship and the impact it had on the Master.
During the "Year that Never Was" -- a year in existence only due to the creation of a Paradox Machine the Master had created from the Doctor's TARDIS, wherein he brings the Toclafane to Earth to decimate humanity (they were revealed to be humans from the far future), and keeps the Doctor as something of a pet -- the Master grows bored with his control over Earth, seeming to prefer the battles he'd had with the Doctor previous.
It's from this point that I'm taking the Master.
What point in time are you taking your character from when he/she appears at Landel's and why?: Part-way through Last of the Time Lords, just prior to the Doctor becoming tinkerbell linking himself with the Archangel network and defeating him, and before he recaptures Martha. I'm taking him from this point in time as I feel it would allow for a large degree of development and exploration with regards to his character.
Please give us a detailed description of your character's personality:
The Master, as the name might suggest, thinks of himself very highly. As with all Time Lords, the name he goes by is not his real one, it's more of a title, chosen by himself and accepted by other Time Lords. The Master views himself highly not just as an individual, but as a Time Lord, a race of people who 'watch over' Time and the universe itself.
The arrogance of Time Lords seems somewhat innate; each and every Time Lord to make an appearance in Doctor Who has some degree of arrogance owed to who and what they are -- a kind of institutionalised arrogance, if you will, that is far from discouraged. Races apart from the Time Lords and Time Aware races are referred to as 'lesser species' and this has undoubtedly contributed to the way in which the Master looks down on all other forms of life, holding himself up as superior.
As far as the individual goes, the Master is incredibly gifted, and has been since he was young boy. As a result of this and when combined with the other facets of his personality, there is no-one that the Master will place before himself. Despite the fact that he has died several times, sometimes seemingly irreversibly so, he has been brought back to life and has gone so far to imply that this, and his continued existence is a universal constant. He considers himself and his actions to be inherently 'right' and that he is above being reproached. In Last of the Time Lords, the Doctor remarks on how his actions will change the history of the universe and the Master replies with "I'm a Time Lord, it's my right."
On top of this, he even seems to consider himself as something of a god-like figure, which he enjoys flaunting to over-the-top proportions ("...and so it came to pass that the Human race fell. And I looked down, upon my new dominion as Master of All and I thought it good"). In short, therefore, he is vain and egotistical, and a megalomaniac.
Despite his intelligence and awareness of the universe and of science, he's far from mentally stable. This is a condition that has been evident from his days at the Academy and throughout each of his incarnations with the Time Lord High Council aware of what could happen. In his younger days, this instability manifested itself as an obsession with order, with correcting the chaos of the universe. He has always, evidently, had grand designs of creating a universe that is, in his eyes 'perfect', with him at the centre, as its architect. Originally, he offered the Doctor the same -- that they could govern the universe together and ensure that there was no war, no injustice, no chaos.
However, over the years, as the Doctor has rebuked and defeated him and as the Master's own sanity seems to have decreased, he has grown, it would appear, less interested in correcting the chaos of the universe and instead admits that he will create his own order, built upon an entirely different kind of destruction -- such as in Last of the Time Lords where he creates a paradox of cannibalised humans from the future decimate humans from the twenty-first century and on the eve of Earth's destruction, he announces how he's going to create a 'new empire'.
In his current incarnation, his actions are markedly more overt and manic than those of previous incarnations and he mentions the 'sound of drums', drums that call him to war and from which he can get no respite. It at first appeared that these drums were a symptom of his madness, rather than a contributing cause, however it's later revealed that the latter is true. His feelings on the drums are mixed: he seems to desire the recognition of their existence and yet acts as if he's pleased when the Doctor denies their existence, as if this very fact makes him special, better than the Doctor. This could be described as a metaphor for his current existence -- he's aware of, to an extent, his madness and whilst he enjoys what he does and how he does it, he's also aware that it's as much of a hindrance as it is anything else. This appears to be supported by the later episodes, End of Time, parts one and two, where the Doctor realises the existence of the drums and the Master rejoices and scoffs at the Doctor with a derisory comment of 'and you thought I was mad' -- he hates not being taken seriously, of being ridiculed and pitied.
Speaking of the Doctor, the Doctor is the one individual that the Master considers close to an equal. In an earlier incarnation, the Master commented that he 'missed' each of the rivals that he'd beaten and killed and that he'd miss the Doctor most of all. He considers the Doctor a worthy match of intellect and wit, and relishes their battles. In fact, it appears that the Master constantly seeks him out in each of his incarnations, enjoying the battle that the Doctor inevitably provides him with (in Last of the Time Lords, the Master appears to grow bored once he's in control of the Earth and has the Doctor kept akin to a pet), and fellow Time Lord, the Rani, comments on the manner in which the Master's plans inevitably involve the Doctor, whereas the Time Lord High Council refer to theirs as the 'enmity of ages'. However, whilst the Master enjoys and actively seeks to humiliate the Doctor, he never seems able to bring himself to entirely defeat him, which once again seems to return to the fact that the Master can't envision enjoying doing what he does without the Doctor there to witness it -- or try and stop him.
At the same time, however, the idea of an all-powerful Doctor, godlike and laughing at him, has been shown to be the Master's greatest fear. Whilst the Master is obsessed with humiliating the Doctor and proving his superiority, the reverse is what he fears most, even above his own death. This would be one explanation for the end of Last of the Time Lords, where a god-like Doctor gives the Master his forgiveness and proceeds to claim that he 'knows' the Master, and that the one thing that he could never do is 'kill himself'. Whilst this would be true in most situations -- the Master's main aim, beyond universal domination, is his continued existence -- when faced with a triumphant and god-like Doctor, his very idea of a nightmare, of Hell, if you will, he would prefer to die. It's worth noting, though, that the Doctor wasn't intrinsically wrong; the Master didn't kill himself, he was shot. He did, however, have the ability to save himself by regenerating but he chose not to and chose death. Despite the fact that I'm taking him from before this event, it is something that plays into his personality.
In this incarnation, the Master takes a sadistic and almost childish delight in the suffering he causes, laughing and clapping at the death of a woman who had figured out his true identity before he outed himself, and dancing with his wife as the Toclafane decimated the population of Earth. He loves extravagant actions; he gasses his cabinet after becoming Prime Minister simply because he can, and gives an aide the thumbs up as he chokes to death, exclaiming that '[he's] insane'.
Whilst he is sadistic, vain and in possession of a completely terrible personality, he can be incredibly charming when he wishes to be; he is perfectly aware of what are good manners and of how one should act in certain social situations. He did, after all, succeed in becoming a prominent member of the government and then, later, elected. However, he only employs these when they're necessary -- he'll drop them as soon as he deems fit. Furthermore, he takes great delight in annoying and frustrating those he deems unworthy of respect -- for example, his first meeting with the POTUS devolves into the Master childishly zipping his mouth shut, only to unzip it when the President makes a comment that requires a verbal answer. He doesn't consider the President worthy of his time, even as Prime Minister, and he's not particularly interested in how a human might perceive him; at this point in time, the only thing that interests him is his own entertainment.
Furthermore, this incarnation of the Master appears to have a great love for popular culture -- he dances to the Rogue Traders as he orders the slaughter of humanity, he sings the Scissor Sisters to an aged and decrepit Doctor and he enjoys watching the Teletubbies (however, it appears he believes the Teletubbies to actually exist and makes an offhand remark on how fantastic evolution is, as they've got 'TV in their stomachs'. In an earlier incarnation, he believed the Clangers to be a real species as well). So, whilst he enjoys popular culture, he's not always particularly adept at telling fact from fiction.
The Master is also almost laughably stubborn. Despite the fact that his schemes often follow very similar plans (pseudonym, the presentation of false aims and then an inevitable betrayal), they all fall apart towards the middle and end. The Master's short-term planning and actions are remarkable and his long-term aims are also impressive, if nothing else. It's simply the middle point that needs a little more work.
And by 'a little', I mean 'rather a lot'.
Despite this, though, he appears quite content to repeat this method until he gets it right, and in fairness, he almost does on several occasion, most notably with this incarnation and his designs with the Paradox Machine. However, his pride and his arrogance were his downfalls: he underestimated humanity and their power as a united front, and he overlooked the fact that they might be able to use the Archangel Network against him, reversing its purpose to frighten and intimidate into one that provided hope and ultimately, saved them.
He's also remarkably skilled at overlooking all the times that he's been defeated. Every time that he's died, every time that he's failed -- none of these have had an impact on his, frankly, quite remarkable ego.
However, that's not to say that he doesn't learn a little. Incarnations of old would often, when confronted by the Doctor, delight in telling the Doctor exactly how he planned on achieving his aims. This, unsurprisingly, would quite often give the Doctor something of an advantage and would aid in his defeat. This Master, however, is aware that this was something of a fault and says that he really, really doesn't plan on telling the Doctor everything -- instead, he later seems to take great delight in watching the Doctor work it all out, and in his inevitable dismay as it all slides into place.
Finally, whilst the Master has a great love for death and destruction, there are limits to what he can cope with. Although he appears to be envious of the fact that the Doctor caused destruction on such a grand scale so as to end the Last Great Time War and destroy Gallifrey -- permanently -- he admits that when he was resurrected for the purposes of the Time War, he 'was scared, so scared' and that it led to him escaping from the war, running to the end of the universe to hide as human.
Please give us a physical description of your character:
The Master stands at about 5'10 and he has a head of short, brown hair. His eyes are also brown, and his face is quite expressive and he's not above (in fact, he's quite fond of) pulling a variety of expressions to emphasise his point, which is something that plays into this regneration's delight in being OTT. He's not exceptionally well built and leans towards the 'skinny' side of 'slim', but when most of what you do involves either shooting people with lasers, shrinking them, or hypnotising them, you can probably afford to be on the less than impressive physical side of things -- despite this, however, he is quite physically robust, but this is more to do with being a Time Lord than anything else. Such a fact would probably turn out to be a little surprising based on appearances alone.
He's often found wearing a black suit (with the white shirt/black tie combo). In fact, he's quite fond of the 'timeless black suit' as he's worn variations of it throughout each of his incarnations -- it's easy to say, therefore, that he takes pride in his appearance and likes to appear smart and well-dressed.
What kinds of otherwordly abilities does your character have, if any?:
Gallifreyans, externally, look exactly the same as humans, however they are also in the possession of: two hearts -- which beat at about 170 bpm, a respiratory bypass system (which effectively enables them to survive strangulation). In relation to their two hearts, some Time Lords have the ability to consciously stop their two hearts creating the appearance of death. They can also survive for far longer than an average human without oxygen.
Gallifreyans can also enter a trance-like state which helps with rapid healing and lowers the need for oxygen, however it also leaves them incredibly vulnerable. Their internal body temperature is about 15℃, however when they enter this healing state their body temperature drops to below freezing. Even outside of this healing trance, they recover from wounds quicker than a human.
The biggest difference between Time Lords and humans is, of course, a Time Lord's ability to regenerate: if a Time Lord is mortally wounded or if his or her body is wearing out due to old age or general wear-and-tear (the former of which is, of course, far older for a Time Lord than for a human), they can regenerate which effectively means they grow a new body. In a sense. They replace the old with the new.
As well as replacing their physical form -- it's not known if it's possible for a Time Lord to change genders with regeneration -- their personality also undergoes several changes. Whilst the underlying individual and fundamental personality remains the same and has the same memories as the former incarnation, there are aspects that change. For example, one incarnation might be calmer and more introverted, whereas another might be louder and more extroverted, one might have a fondness for technobabble and another might prefer, say, Jelly Babies. However, at the core, they're the same person.
The senses of a Time Lord are also greater than that of a human's: they can see better in the dark and across long distances; they can hear sounds that are further away and outside the human hearing range; they can use taste to identify objects, blood types and chemical compositions. They can also use their sense of smell to identify where and when they are. And, whilst not strictly an ability, they require very little sleep compared to a human and can last days without sleep.
Furthermore, Time Lords also have several 'telepathic' abilities. Telepathic communication is possible via various methods, such as if the individuals have some form of contact (...or headbutting is involved). With this, they can share thoughts and memories. Hypnosis is also possible. The Master, in particular, is described as a gifted hypnotist and it's a gift he's developed since his days in the Academy. Its effectiveness does vary, however.
Röntgen radiation is entirely harmless to Gallifreyans, with Gallifreyan children playing with radioactive toys. They can also absorb Röntgen radiation into their body and expel it in a form that is harmless to humans.
Finally, Time Lords also have time- and spatial-related senses; Time Lords can perceive all possible timelines (past, present and future), they can sense distortions in time and can resist slow fields of time. They are also able to sense other Time Lords and who that Time Lord is (if they know them, of course), regardless of regeneration. In light of the episodes 'End of Time', Time Lords can also smell each other.
In the Eighth Doctor Adventures series of novels, it's revealed that their awareness of Time and Space is linked to their second heart and that the removal of their second heart, whilst it wouldn't kill them, would take away this ability. They can, however, regrow their second heart.
...They're also deathly allergic to aspirin. This isn't an ability, no, but all the same, the Master's really going to want to avoid aspirin.
-- Finally finally, because I almost forgot to mention this, Time Lords also have a linguistic ability that is once referred to as 'the Time Lord gift'. It basically means that they understand and can speak more or less every language ever. It's linked, presumably, to their exceptional intelligence but it's still not something that's exactly humanly possible (and since it's referred to as a 'Time Lord gift', I think it fits in this section better than the 'non-otherwordly abilities' section.
If present, how do you plan to tweak these powers to make your character appropriately hindered in the setting of Landel's?:
The vast majority of the Master's abilities are either inherent biological abilities (respiratory bypass function, a decreased need for sleep) and as such, I don't think that they should be restricted. I would class the ability to regenerate amongst these, however it's not one that I would like to come into play at all as doing so would veer off into AU territory, particularly as the Master hasn't regenerated from this form in canon. So, I'd prefer to consider it null-and-void.
Also, the ability to enter a healing trance is one that will be restricted as well. Whilst I imagine it would still be effective to a degree, it would be to a much smaller degree, and take a longer amount of time. I also expect that the amount of time that it takes him to recover from normal wounds (wounds that wouldn't require a healing trance at all) to be longer as well.
Telepathic ability will be decreased as well -- to the point that it is only possible via physical contact with the other individual. In the case of the Master, his hypnotic abilities will be removed entirely.
His senses -- including those relating to Time -- I'd like to remain as they are as they're passive abilities. The same stands for the amount of sleep he'll need. However, as Time Lords can regrow their second heart, I will be completely open to that being an option (albeit temporary) at some point. (Of course, if you'd prefer he weren't in possession of time/spatial-related senses, that's entirely fine.)
His ability to understand and speak languages would also remain the same.
Does your character have any non-otherworldy abilities/training that surpass the norm?:
The Master is a genius by human standards -- he has a vast array of knowledge on scientific and mathematical subjects, greatly surpassing that of the modern day. He's also an exceptionally gifted mechanic, particularly with TARDISes. To be quite honest, the show tends not to elaborate on the technical, scientific or mechanical side of anything, preferring instead to make it up, ignore continuity and simply have weaknesses and strengths pop up, disappear and be conveniently forgotten as the plot needs (Doctor Who: being cheesy, camp and nonsensical since 1963!).
So, yes, the Master has a really rather impressive knowledge of science, maths, technical, linguistic and cosmic stuff, although the boundaries are never really established. However, it is known that at the Academy, the Master would have studied a variety of subjects including, but not limited to: cosmic science (his speciality), telepathy, history (...yeah), stellar cartography, stellar engineering, cybernetics, temporal engineering, time flow mechanics and a whole host of other things.
In general terms, Time Lords are described as being incredibly skilled at: mathematics, biology, xenobiology, chemistry and physics.
What do you see your character doing in the scope of the game and how do you plan to use the setting of Landel's Institute to develop them and affect their psychology in a unique, interesting way?:
The Master, regardless of where he is and who he has tends to have three grand aims and they are as follows:
If (one) is jeopardised in any manner, (two) and (three) can be bent and ignored as desired. For example, if he's placed in a situation where his death appears imminent, he is not above allying with the Doctor. As such, (three) would take a temporary backseat -- he will always, inevitably, betray those he allies himself with, linking back to (two), which is only postponed until the situation lends itself to his success.
If (one) is ensured, he will proceed with (two) and (three), often simultaneously.
In all seriousness, the Master will first, ensure that his safety and survival is assured (or at least not endangered, although it will inevitably become as much because the Master sucks at staying alive). He'll attempt to gain some degree of control over the Institute because That's What He Does (and he'll be very disappointed to find that he doesn't have his hypnotism).
With regards to this -- attempting to take control -- he'd most likely adopt a route similar to each and every time he's attempted a plan before. That is:
Within Landel's, he will try this method at least once (he's nothing if not stubborn). When that fails, as it inevitably will, he will stop with the pseudonyms and personas and stick with being himself and being a nuisance.
I think it'll be interesting to see how he copes with being genuinely trapped in a place where he has (comparatively speaking) very little power and very little control and how this will affect his attitude and plans in the long run.
Whilst he's quite used to losing to the Doctor, he's less used to losing in the long run; the ongoing battle between the Master and the Doctor is almost something of a game, and this will be something entirely new and different and I do think it'll be interesting to see how that will affect him once he's exhausted his usual approaches.
Given that this RP takes place in an unsettling and outright horrific environment, how do you justify your character as being appropriate in both body and mind for this kind of setting?:
The Master is used to a variety of horrific situations, some entirely of his own causing. As such, whilst the setting of this RP may come as something of a shock to him, it won't affect him much beyond a strong desire to get out and leave (which is something he'd have regardless of where he was). Physically, the Master is fit and mentally, whilst he's not what one would call 'sound', he wouldn't be incapable of coping -- and, of course, he did put up with some of the Time War (how much of it isn't known as very few details of the Time War have been revealed in canon; he could have been involved for a while or hardly any time at all). Admittedly, he did end up running from it, but from what has been revealed in canon, it's supposed to be one of the most horrendous wars ever.
As such, whilst the Master isn't as hardened as he would sometimes like to pretend he is (End of Time, I'm looking at you), he's had to put up with worse at various points in his life (admittedly for shorter amounts of time and generally as a result of his own actions, but there we have it) -- and at the end of the day, he could probably do with being brought down a peg or two.
[SAMPLES REMOVED.]
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