Master

"Very few Vampires are cunning enough to live as long as I."

- The Master

Heinrich Joseph Nest, or more popularly The Master, was an ancient and powerful vampire, who was also named the "King of Vampires". He was leader of the Order of Aurelius, a vampire cult that worshiped the Old Ones, and also the sire of Darla, inadvertently leading to a long legacy of notable vampires. For centuries he sought to bring about the end of the world until he was stopped in 1997 by the Slayer, Buffy Summers.

The Old World


In the 12th Century The Master was very powerful and enslaved by the Seed of Wonder. By 1609, he had already lived past the 'curse' of human features, becoming much more demonic in appearance than other vampires. At this time, The Master (posing as a priest) came to the Virginia Colony and sired a prostitute who was dying of syphilis. About a hundred years after she was born, he would nickname her "Darla", meaning "Dear One/Loved One". In a sewer in London, England in 1760, The Master met Angelus, Darla's progeny after they had returned from Yorkshire, England. Angelus, mocking The Master's appearance and the Order's severe dogmas of underground dwelling, was pummeled into the ground after the Master lost his temper during their confrontation. Although, even then, Angelus showed the Master no respect and mocked his aged visage. Darla, preferring Angelus' offer of pleasure and adventure, left with the "stallion" after her offended Master beat him to a bloody pulp. His most treasured disciple is Darla, whom he views as a daughter. When Darla chooses to abandon The Master to pursue her love affair with Angelus, he respects her decision to leave and orders his henchmen to let them pass, but estimated that the couple would last no more than a century before they separated. Despite the fact that Angelus insulted and offended the master, he was nonetheless impressed with his viciousness and once commented on missing him, and even stated he desired for Angelus to return, with the intent of making him his right hand. Of course, he had no way of knowing that Angelus would later became a great champion of good later on.

Around 1801, The Master fought a Japanese Slayer by the name of Yuki Makimura and sired her.

Around 1880, The Master welcomed Darla back to the Order after she and Angelus had a fight. However, she soon returned to the arms of her lover.

After 1900, Darla returned to The Master for good.

Imprisonment
"There was an earthquake that swallowed about half the town. And him too"

- Willow Rosenberg

By 1937, The Master, moved to the New World with the hopes of opening the Hellmouth located in Sunnydale and bringing about the end of the world by releasing the Old Ones. However, an earthquake hit town in the middle of the ritual, swallowing half the town, including the church in which The Master was performing the ritual. As the ritual had already commenced, The Master was trapped within a mystical prison, like a cork in a bottle. Now all he had to do to open the Hellmouth was to break through the prison which he didn't have the power to do. Some time around that event, the Master came into contact with the Slayer, India Cohen.

In 1997, after a 60 year sleep in a pool of blood, The Master arose again and used the acolytes of his Order of Aurelius to escape his prison within the Hellmouth. This involved the Harvest, a single night occurring each century where the Master could draw power from one of his minions (named "the Vessel") each time it fed, hoping to gather enough power for him to escape. Such Vessel was Luke who drank from several patrons from the Bronze nightclub until he was killed by the current Slayer, Buffy Summers, who had just moved to Sunnydale from Los Angeles, disrupting the Master's plan. She further upset him by killing some of his cherished minions, such as Zachary. Tired of her meddling, the Master sent the Three to assassinate her but they failed so he had them killed as penance.

Worst of all, The Master became visibly distraught and nearly lost the will to carry out his plans after Darla's death at an ensouled Angel's hand. Nevertheless, words of encouragement from his right-hand child, the Anointed One, strengthened his resolve to continue making preparations for his ascension.

When Billy Palmer, a human boy who was beaten into a coma, astral projected and the Hellmouth in response caused people's nightmares to manifest in reality, the Master was briefly released from his prison since it was what Buffy feared. On the surface, the Master confronted Buffy at a magically conjured cemetery where he pushed her into a coffin space and buried her alive, before she rose again as a vampire. Having the Master free, being buried alive and becoming a vampire was three of Buffy's own fears that he perpetrated in that single first encounter. When Billy awakened from his coma, stopping everyone's nightmares coming true, the Master was presumably returned to his mystical prison.

Release
"You tried. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything. You're the one that sets me free. If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Think about that."

- The Master, before killing Buffy

Even though the Pergamum Codex prophesied that the Master would inevitably rise from his prison and kill her, Buffy resolved to fight him after signs of the upcoming apocalypse. She confronted him in the latter's prison brandishing a crossbow, but was quickly defeated due to the Master's hypnosis. Holding an incapacitated Buffy, the Master informed her that if it weren't for Buffy's attempt to kill him then he wouldn't have been able to leave, thus fulfilling the prophecy. The Master bit her, drinking only a small amount of blood, and left her to drown in a pool, the Slayer's blood imbuing him with so much power he wasted no time in breaking the mystical barrier that kept him prisoner and escaped, however, he commented positively on her prom dress just before dumping her body into the water.

Death
Fortunately, Angel and Xander Harris arrived in time to revive her, and Buffy confronted the Master just as he ascended to the Sunnydale High roof, above the library where Hellmouth was located directly below. He made another attempt at her with his hypnosis but she somehow resisted and the two began hand-to-hand fighting. As a creature from the Hellmouth rose and attacked Buffy's friends, the Master remarked on how Buffy would still be making jibes while his hell was raining on earth. Buffy grabbed the Master by the neck and said if he was so excited about hell, he should go there. She then ultimately defeated him by throwing him through the skylight and impaling him on a large piece of wood. Unlike most vampires, who turn completely to dust upon their death, The Master left behind a skeleton. His remains were then buried in the Sunnydale Cemetery and consecrated with holy water to prevent vampires from retrieving him.

Legacy
Months later, having assumed leadership of the Order, the Anointed One attempted to resurrect the Master via a revivification ritual. He forced his minions to dig up the Master's bones despite the holy water burning their hands and kidnapped Rupert Giles, Jenny Calendar, Willow Rosenberg and Cordelia Chase, all of whom where in the vicinity of the Master when he died as the ritual required. Buffy, having suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as result of her death, became mean and malicious to others and it was only when she discovered that her friends had been kidnapped, due to her impulsively falling into a trap, that she decided to think straight again. She, along with Angel and Xander, intervened and killed all of the remaining minions present before crushing the Master's bones to dust with a sledgehammer, ending his threat permanently and allowing her to move on with her life.

Weeks after the event, the Order decided that whoever would be successful in killing the Slayer would take the Master's place as leader of the Order. Spike, a member of the Master's bloodline, elected to prove himself by killing the Slayer his way on the Night of Saint Vigeous. His plan having failed, costing the Order several minions and ruining the Night of Saint Vigoreus by impatiently launching his attack before the event, Spike dusted the Anointed One and took over the factory they inhabited after the Master's death. It was then that Spike announced that there would be a little less ritual, and little more fun in Sunnydale, contrasting to the Master's near unshakable traditionalist world view.

Six years later, the First Evil took the Master's shape to taunt Spike.

Reappearance
"Kids. They only visit when they need something."

- The Master

Following Buffy and Angel's rejection of their roles as the creators of a new universe and their releasing of thousands of new demons, Spike revealed that the Seed of Wonder, which was the thing from which everything came, was what they needed to end this. Based on information Spike acquired from the Las Vegas branch of Wolfram &amp; Hart, he explained that the Seed had been there all along. The seed was not made by Angel and Buffy, but rather its existence even preceded The First and it was considered the beginning of everything. It had been specifically kept in Sunnydale in the church where The Master was trapped after his original attempt to open the Hellmouth, and that the Slayer Organization needed to collect it in order to avert a demonic invasion. However, the seed was guarded by a protector in the form of the Master, returned to life via intervention of the Seed who chose him as the Seed's protector and restored him to "life."

As a result of the battle, Willow overtook the power of the Seed, abandoning the Master in the church. When Buffy and a possessed Angel arrived, Angel shattered the Master's head with a single punch, dusting him once again.

Appearance
"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you."

- Buffy Summers commenting on the Master's appearance



The Master possessed a more ghoulish appearance than regular vampires which was apparently permanent, preventing him from assuming a human visage, a likely effect of his old age. His features somewhat resembled Count Orlok from Nosferatu. He had white pale skin, a bald head with pointed ears and long, talon-like nails. His face had the basic vampire brow ridge, wrinkles and fangs except with blood red eyes instead of yellow and a snub, bat-like nose. He also had a distinctive red stain on his nose down to his mouth which Buffy refered to as "fruit punch mouth".

At least since the late 20th century, the Master was always seen wearing a black leather trench coat with a belt and matching pants and boots. In the 17th century when he sired Darla, the Master disguised himself as priest, using a dark robe with its hood covering his face. Later in the 18th century while meeting Angelus, the Master wore a black leathery vest with long, quilted sleeves.

Personality
"Nobody died...what's the fun in burying someone who's already dead?"

- The Master

The Master was a ruthless overlord who expected total devotion from his followers. Minions who failed to carry out their objectives were brutalized by the Master himself or called upon to mutilate themselves in an act of penance. An example of this was Claw, who cut off his own arm after displeasing the Master. The Master was also personally offended when Darla offered him Jesse McNally as food, a human she feed off beforehand which the Master considered to be scraps.

However, the Master did consider the taking of a life (of course not a human one) to be a serious matter and not to be taken for personal joy. He also believed the Order of Aurelius was more a family than a religious order, considering his minions as his own children and that providing them with the responsibility to preform executions was for their own learning, even initially denying Darla the chance to kill Buffy because her desire to do so was based mainly for her own self-interest rather than for the good of the Order.

The Master was a strong traditionalist who viewed human culture and life above ground as "pestilence", forbidding his minions from living on the surface, only allowing them to leave when hunting, however, he seemed change this view when rising from the church after being freed, admiring the surface after decades of isolation where it he forgot what it was like.

The Master also held a belief in demonic superiority, living in tribute to the Old Ones and claiming that vampires were undeniably the superior race in the Wishverse. The Master himself also claimed that his objectives were for the "common good".

Despite his cold-hearted nature, the Master was prone to favoritism. His most treasured disciple was Darla, whom he viewed as a daughter, and nearly lost the will to continue his plans when she was staked by Angel.

Additionally, the Master was fairly charismatic and had a dry sense of humor, asking the Anointed One if the earthquake that preceded the oncoming apocalypse was "5.1" on the Richter scale after making a an overzealous performance to accompany it, blatantly remarking that Buffy's sarcastic comment about his lair's water leakage as "the feeble banter portion of the fight" (which seemed to be an on-going feature in her slaying) and even taking the time to compliment Buffy's dress as he finally escaped his lair, pitifully remarking "And by the way. I like your dress"

Powers and Abilities
"You're way out of your league, kid. The Master'll kill you before you can breathe -- if you're lucky."

- Angel

Vampire abilities: Because of his extremely advanced age as the oldest vampire ever recorded, the Master possessed superhuman strength, speed, reflexes and endurance far beyond those of any other vampires. He clearly demonstrated this by defeating many Slayers throughout history, including Yuki Makimura and Buffy Summers. The Master once effortlessly lifted a minion of his by the throat with a single arm and threw him into a stack of church benches. He also displayed a higher resistance to crosses, when he was able to look at a large cross (though with disgust and anguish) and touch it, the cross causing visible emitting smoke as it burned his hand but not harming him as he had no fear of it.

Hypnosis: The Master had adept hypnotic abilities which allowed him to control their motor functions with the wave of his hand, thus taking control of their bodies and rendering them unable to move, but still conscious of what was being done to them. Not even the Slayer was capable of resisting it.

Magic: The Master would've at least possessed some knowledge of sorcery and magic when he attempted to open the Hellmouth.

Razor-sharp fingernails: The Master has demonstrated having extremely sharp fingernails; once when poking his finger into the eye of one of his minions and the other when in mid-fight with Buffy where he caused her to bleed visibly after scratching her.

Gallery

 * See The Master/Gallery

Behind the Scenes

 * He was portrayed by Mark Metcalf. He was also played by David Boreanaz in a flashback sequence in "When She Was Bad" and voiced by D.C Douglas in 2003 Xbox video game Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
 * Joss Whedon's notes for "Welcome to the Hellmouth" indicated that The Master's real name was Heinrich Joseph Nest and his age was 600 years. However, the flashback to 1609 in "Darla" shows The Master already with his bat-like demonic visage, meaning he was far older than just 600 years by 1997, as this would have made The Master over 300 by 1609, and he wouldn't look like that, as shown with Darla who is over 400 years old.


 * The Master was originally supposed to have a beard and long hair. Mark Metcalf came up with the bald, more demonic look as a homage to Nosferatu.
 * The Master's appearance and the events of "Prophecy Girl" parallel some of the themes in the 1922 German horror classic Nosferatu. The fact that it was prophesied that Buffy would have to die fighting the Master is similar to how Ellen Hutter had to let Count Orlock feed off her in order for him to be distracted until the sun comes up. The victimization of the young woman to the monstrous male figure symbolizes male dominance and the drinking of blood carries themes of rape (shown by the Master's powerful reaction after biting Buffy). Buffy the Vampire Slayer in turn offers a feminist subversion where Buffy, the female victim, defeats her male aggressor. The Master in general is representitive of traditional monsters of the horror genre with Buffy playing as a subversion of the typical, helpless female victim common among horror films, the Master's traditionalist, patriarchal disposition going in contrast with Buffy's modern and witty character.


 * The Master is the only vampire in the series to leave behind skeletal remains.


 * The Master was indirectly responsible for The Whirlwind: The Master sired Darla, who sired Angelus, who sired Drusilla, who sired Spike. On an interesting note, that indirect action brought forth two of the worst known vampires (Angelus and Spike), who had an even worse reputation than The Master. It also left the Master responsible for his own demise and the end of the Order of Aurelius, due to Angel's pivotal role in his death, and Spike's murder of the Anointed One.

Expanded Universe



 * In the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer video game, The Master returns as a phantom and, with the help of a trio of demons known as the Dreamers, possesses Angel to regain a physical presence. Ultimately Willow Rosenberg banishes him from Angel, the Scoobies subsequently using a spell to make him temporarily corporeal once again. With Buffy now able to stake the Master once he regains a solid form, Giles states that Buffy's destruction of The Master's body in this manner also destroyed his spirit. In the game the Master also possesses other abilities such as teleportation, telekinesis and switching between corporeal and uncorporeal form for a limited time.


 * In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comics Issue #38 False Memories, we learn moments before his final death, the Master was able to move his essence to the astral plane, where he would remain until he could return into a new body. An attempt to bring him back to the land of the living by his congregation, the Eidu, was nearly successful. Using the Eidu Amulet, which is a bridge to the spirit world, the Eidu kidnapped Xander and planned to use his body as the vessel for the Master's astral essence to inhabit. Before the Master could enter the body, Willow and Tara cast a spell to temporarily keep the Master's spirit from possessing Xander. During the ritual, the Master's essence was destroyed after he was struck with a vapor blade by Buffy's sister, Dawn.

Buffy Season Eight

 * Last Gleaming