Master

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

- The Master

The Master was an ancient and powerful vampire, the leader of the Order of Aurelius, a vampire cult that worshiped the Old Ones, and also the sire of Darla. For centuries he sought to bring about the end of the world until he was stopped by 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".

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". 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.

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.

The New World
"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. But before the earthquake The Master killed a Slayer and drained her of blood.

As the leader of the Order of Aurelius, The Master is a ruthless overlord who expects total devotion from his followers. Minions who fail to carry out their objectives are brutalized by the Master himself or called upon to mutilate themselves in an act of penance. Despite his cold-hearted nature, the Master is prone to favoritism. His most treasured disciple is Darla, whom he views as a daughter.

The Return
"My ascension is at hand! My time is come! Glory! Glory!"

- The Master



In 1997, The Master used the acolytes of his Order of Aurelius to escape his prison within the Hellmouth. However, several of the acolytes (such as Luke and Zachary) were being killed by Buffy Summers (the current Slayer), disrupting The Master's plan and escape. Worst, The Master became visibly distraught and nearly loses the will to carry out his plans after Darla's death at Angel's hands. Nevertheless, words of encouragement from his right-hand child, the Anointed One, strengthen his resolve to continue making preparations for his ascension.

Buffy confronts The Master in the latter's prison, but is quickly defeated due to The Master's hypnosis. She is bitten and left to drown by The Master, who wastes no time in escaping, however, he made a comment that he liked Buffy's dress before leaving. Fortunately, Angel and Xander Harris arrive in time to revive her, and Buffy confronts The Master again, ultimately defeating him by throwing him through the Sunnydale High skylight and impaling him on a large piece of wood. Unlike most vampires, who turn completely to dust upon their death, The Master leaves behind a skeleton; the Anointed One later tries to use these bones in a ritual to return the Master to life, but Buffy interrupts the ritual and crushes the skeleton to dust with a sledgehammer, ending his threat permanently.

The First later 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 reveals that The Seed of Wonder, which is the thing from which everything came, is what they need to end this. He explains that's it's been there all along (the seed was not made by Angel and Buffy; it's existence even preceded The First's, and it's considered as the beginning of everything). Currently, it's in Sunnydale, specifically, in the church where The Master was trapped after his original attempt to open the Hellmouth, and that the Slayer Organization must collect it in order to avert the current demonic invasion. However, the seed is currently in the possession of its protector: 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.

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

Because of his extremely advanced age, the Master possessed superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes far beyond those of common vampires (even those as old as The Prince of Lies or Kakistos) and many other supernatural beings. In an alternate timeline created by a vengeance demon, he was shown to successfully fight and slay the slayer with relatively little effort although this Buffy was not trained by giles nor did she have the any passion for life, she is more or less similar to faith. He is also known to have killed several previous slayers (including Buffy - at least temporarily, and the slayer he drained to perform his ritual to open the Hellmouth, and turning one - Yuki Makimura.) The turning of yuki is likely non-canon but there is no denying that the Master is capable of doing such a thing due to his extreme age and strength.

He also possessed psychic powers that allowed him to hypnotize his victims with the wave of a hand, thus taking control of their bodies and rendering them unable to move. Not even The Slayer was capable of resisting it.

The Master also is known to be a very adept sorceror and possessed a great deal of power and skill in both mental abilities (able to send his consciousness to different planes of existance - in order to cheat death, able to sense great phsycic and mystical forces, project his thoughts into victims dreams, aura-reading, and telepathy), as well as vast mystical powers - particularly a speciality in creating portals, opening The Hellmouth, summoning The Old Ones, and various forms of Self-Resurrection spells. He also possesses an intimate knowledge of dark rituals and prophesies - such as The Harvest, the rise of The Annointed, The Pergamum Codex's prediction of Buffy's death and his rise.

Behind the Scenes

 * Joss Whedon's notes for the pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer indicated that The Master's real name was Heinrich Joseph Nest and his age was 600 years. However, the flashback to 1609 in an episode of Angel 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 at, as shown with Angel who is over 240 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 an homage to Nosferatu.
 * 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 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 vapour blade by Buffy's sister, Dawn.

Appearances

 * "Welcome to the Hellmouth"
 * "The Harvest"
 * "Teacher's Pet"
 * "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"
 * "Angel"
 * "Nightmares"
 * "Prophecy Girl"
 * "When She Was Bad"
 * "The Wish" (Only in Wishverse)
 * "Darla"
 * "Lessons"
 * Last Gleaming