Doctor Who: The Master's Timeline

One of the greatest aspects about Doctor Who is that it is a show that can last forever. Over the course of its history, Doctor Who developed some fascinating concepts that have given it this privilege. One of these concepts is regeneration. What happens when your lead actor can no longer hold the position of the main character? Typically you’d just replace the character, but what if you could just replace the actor. Thus the concept of regeneration was created. The Doctor can essentially be played by an infinite number of actors, one story arc said that a time lord can regenerate 12 times having a total of 13 incarnations but the show can easily find its way around this plot point. One character who has demonstrated this is one of The Doctor’s greatest enemies, The Master. The Master is a fellow rouge Time Lord who has taken up a darker path. The Master has run out of regenerations ages ago, yet still appears on the show today.

One of the most avid debates in the Doctor Who fandom right now is what incarnation numbers are Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi (it’s very simple, Smith is 11 and Capaldi is 12, the amount of regenerations that occur does not change what number the Doctor decides to call himself). This debate to a lesser degree applies to the Master as well. Fans have been trying to number The Master’s incarnations but it has proven difficult without a proper timeline.

As such this article will try to piece together a proper timeline of The Master, based on episodes, audios, comics, novels, fan theories, and my own thoughts on the subject. I say this as a warning to any casual reader or fan, this article will delve heavily into Doctor Who lore and may be confusing to anyone who hasn’t read up on that material. This article is also just a timeline of the different incarnations of The Master and how he moved from form to form and not an episode by episode look at the character. Now without further delay, here is the unofficial timeline of The Master.

The First Master? – William Hughes

The possibly first incarnation of The Master was depicted briefly in flashback by child actor William Hughes. I assume this is the first incarnation of The Master since he is supposed to be 8 years old in this flashback, but we have seen children regenerate before. We also know that Time Lord children are born with the ability to regenerate.

The properties of regeneration energy are not something the series has heavily gone over, and I doubt it’s something we would like to know more about (see Midichlorians in the Force). Assuming that regeneration is a biological function of Time Lords, we can infer that whatever part of their body allows them to regenerate also moderates their ability to store the energy for 12 separate regenerations. It can also be assumed that Time Lord society was a bit loose on regenerations, such as Romana regenerating just to have a new appearance. Thus we cannot know for sure whether or not this is the first incarnation of The Master, all we know is that this is the form The Master was in when he went through the Time Lord initiation ceremony and gazed into the time vortex, possibly driving him mad.

After this point we know little of his early life, only that he went to school with The Doctor and scored higher than him academically. The Master chose to become a renegade Time Lord just like the Doctor. Some information says he left after but I believe he left before as the Third Doctor refers to him as being a long time nuisance to the Time Lords.

The Final Master? – Roger Delgado

The first time the audience meets The Master he appears in this incarnation portrayed by Roger Delgado. The true rivalry between The Doctor and The Master started here as The 3^rd Doctor was exiled to Earth and the Master set his eyes upon conquering it. Slowly but surely this want to conquer Earth transformed into a bitter grudge against The Doctor as The Master’s schemes were regularly foiled by him. Many believe that Delgado’s Master may have been the 13^th and final incarnation as the next form of the Master to appear is highly decomposed with no regenerations left, but I don’t believe that to be the case. After this form The Master continues his schemes to become ruler of all time, but his main goal is the pursuit of more regenerations which was something never brought up by Delgado’s Master. Why would The Master waste his final life on Earth of all places? I personally believe that The Master is probably somewhere between his 4^th and 7^th regeneration in this form.

Delgado’s Master perishes in the story Legacy of the Daleks. In the novel, The Master kidnaps The Doctor’s granddaughter Susan and steals a Dalek super weapon known as a matter transmuter. Susan managed to break free from The Master and stole his classic weapon, the Tissue Compression Eliminator or TCE. Susan attacks The Master with the TCE while he is holding the matter transmuter. The resulting explosion is what caused this version of The Master to die. I don’t believe he was in his final incarnation, I believe that the energies from the Dalek super weapon combined with the TCE may have damaged The Master’s biological function to regenerate. Whatever regenerative energies survived the explosion possibly saved The Master’s life and allowed him to partially regenerate into his next form.

The Decayed Master – Peter Pratt

The Master was saved by a Time Lord, Chancellor Goth, who was seeking power, power that only The Master could provide him with. Pratt’s Master was in a massive state of decay and very close to death, but even in his dying form he was still able to manipulate the Chancellor into doing his bidding. The Master was desperate to find a way to fully regenerate; he managed to get a hold of various artifacts of Rassilon which he believed would fill him with the energies needed to allow regeneration to occur. The Doctor eventually put a end to The Master’s scheme stopping him from absorbing all the energies of the artifacts. The end of the story notes that The Master could have possibly absorbed enough of the energies to at least regenerate once, ending on a very ominous note. I believe that the Master did absorb enough energy to allow him to at least partially regenerate into his next incarnation.

The Decaying Master – Geoffrey Beevers

Many fans believe that Beevers and Pratt’s Masters are both versions of Delgado’s Master but as I’ve let on, I do believe that they are different incarnations altogether. This version of The Master was also in a state of decay like the Pratt version, but was far more stable, meaning he could continue to exist for a much longer time without worrying about death. Beevers’ Master started delving into higher powers, to not only increase his own abilities but to also gain vengeance on The Doctor for leaving him in this state. Whatever rivalry they had before transformed into a burning hatred for his nemesis.

Beevers’ Master first appears on the show in the story The Keeper of Traken which was this versions final tale. I believe Beevers’ Master began to reach Pratt’s level of decay and desperately needed to regenerate again. The Master went to the planet Traken whose people held a massive power known as The Source. The Master fused with The Source in the hopes of fully regenerating but The Doctor once more prevented him from fully absorbing the energies there. Partially fuelled with the powers of The Source, The Master fused his body with a Trakenite known as Tremas allowing him to take up his next form.

The Tremas Master – Anthony Ainley

Ainley’s Master was in a completely stable body, but still without any regenerations. This version split his time between enacting schemes against the Doctor, attempting plans to take over all of time, and pursuing more regenerations. This is also the form where we learn that the Time Lord Council has the ability to grant new regeneration cycles to other Time Lords. The Council would at times offer this to The Master in order to gain his cooperation in a story, but due to The Master betrayals during these tales, would regularly refuse to grant him the regenerations in the end. 

 

Ainley’s Master would continue on for the remainder of the classic Doctor Who series run, plaguing Doctor’s 4 through 7, meaning The Master retained this form for a very long time. As this is the form that ended with the series, this Master’s death occurs off screen and unfortunately in multiple contradicting stories. However, most of these stories seem to agree that this form of The Master underwent a process that forcibly separated his Time Lord DNA from the Trakenite DNA. Thus The Master degenerated back into his Beevers form.

The Deformed Master – Geoffrey Beevers

The Master returned back to the form he held before combining with Tremas. I believe that this form was not in a state of decay but heavily scarred and deformed often utilizing a mask to hide his deformations. Very little is known about the fate of this version of The Master, only that by the time he appears in the 1996 film he has taken up a new form.

The Old Master – Gordon Tipple

How did this form come to be? How did he become captured by the Daleks and set up for execution? These are questions often asked but never answered. This was but a brief appearance by a Master we will probably never know and just a set up to the story of the film. What we do know is that this Master escaped his execution by possessing a native creature known as a Deathworm Morphant. If The Master had the worm on him it would make sense that it survived the execution. A native creature of the Daleks' home planet of Skaro would have to evolve to survive in the heavily irradiated atmosphere, thus probably being able to survive the energies used in the execution. This would make sense as to why the worm was locked up with The Master’s remains when it came into the hands of The Doctor. Either way, The Master was able to escape the Doctor, leaving the form of the worm and possessed the body of a human ambulance driver named Bruce.

The Bruce Master – Eric Roberts

As human bodies are unable to contain the soul of a Time Lord, The Master’s new human body begins to rapidly decay. The Master attempts to use the Eye of Harmony to steal The Doctor’s remaining regenerations. He of course fails in this plan and is ultimately sucked into the Eye of Harmony’s well of power and becomes a part of The Doctor’s TARDIS. Before moving on I’d like to briefly discuss the controversy that came up in the film where both The Doctor and The Master believe that The Doctor is half human. In the story The Doctor had just freshly regenerated and The Master was in a rapidly decaying form. I believe that the two of them were both madly out of their minds at the time and could easily make mistakes, let’s leave it at that.

The Mirror Master - ?

This form appears only in comics and novels. This Master briefly escaped The Doctor’s TARDIS and fought over a new power called the Glory before ultimately ending up trapped in The Doctor’s TARDIS again. I call him the Mirror Master as this incarnation had a tendency to taunt The Doctor by appearing in various mirrors in the TARDIS itself as he was trapped there. I’m half certain this Master could be a returned Tipple Master but we can’t know for sure. Eventually the Master escaped from his captivity once more existing as little more than a ghost.

The Ghost Master – Geoffrey Beevers

I’m not entirely sure why or how but The Master regresses entirely back into the Beevers form in this incarnation. This could mean that his last few forms (Ainley, Tipple, and Roberts) have all just been the Beevers incarnation leeching off of bodies utilizing the powers he gained from The Source. Either way, this Master was trapped on Earth in the year 1906. Not being able to survive in a human body for very long, The Master had to move from body to body through the decades before finally reaching UNIT’s Vault in the 21^st century, where one of his TARDISes was unknowingly being kept.  The Master then escaped Earth for adventures unknown.

The Renewed Master – Alex MacQueen

We don’t know what the situation was but The Master was rescued from a predicament by the Time Lords. The Time Lords were preparing for something (possibly the Time War) and decided to bring The Master back into the fold in anticipation for this event. Thus The Master finally received what he had been yearning for a very long time, a whole new regeneration cycle. Though it is unclear whether the Time Lords gave him his current form or if he had it before.  As this is the form that is currently being written in the 8^th Doctor Adventures it can be assumed that it is this incarnation of The Master that entered the Time War.

 

Warning – Spoiler Alert

I leave this warning now to all readers, everything after this point deals with the modern era of the Doctor Who show. If you do not want these events spoiled for you then I suggest you discontinue here. If you don’t care, have seen the show, or are already aware of the events that occur then please enjoy.

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Are we ready to continue?

Okay

 

The Yana Master – Derek Jacobi

It is entirely possible that the Master took up different forms between now and the MacQueen version, but I highly doubt it and even if they did exist the events of the Time War will probably never be covered by Doctor Who. What we do know is that this is the form The Master took when he became scared of the war and ran to the ends of the universe. The Master then transformed himself into a human with no knowledge of his past life and re-named himself Professor Yana. After encountering the 10^th Doctor, Yana regained his memories as well as his Time Lord essence and became The Master once more. This version was ultimately mortally wounded by Professor Yana’s former lab assistant and The Master chose to regenerate into a younger form like the one The Doctor had currently.

The Saxon Master – John Simm

In a new youthful body, The Master decided to take over Earth in a massive revenge plot against The Doctor, taking up the persona of Harold Saxon and eventually becoming Prime Minister of the UK. This Master was far more insane than previous incarnations, mentioning a constant drumming that was continuously going off inside his head that possibly started with the Jacobi Master. The Master appeared to be victorious in his world domination scheme, but was eventually defeated by The Doctor once more. Instead of being held in the captivity of The Doctor for all eternity, The Master finally allowed himself to die from a gunshot wound….OR DID HE? He didn’t.

The Undead Master – John Simm

The Master’s next appearance showed him coming back from death through an elaborate ritual by his followers which was interrupted, thus The Master came back only half formed constantly switching between his regular form (though now blond) and an electrified skeletal form. This Master also held a tremendous hunger that could not be sated. Eventually it was revealed that the constant drumming in his head was actually a signal placed there by the Time Lords in the hopes of escaping the Great Time War. The Master, immensely angry about this fact, jumped back into the Time War in order to gain vengeance.

Before moving on I would like to address the drumming. The story suggests that the drumming was planted inside The Master’s head when he went through the vortex ceremony as a child and that this was what drove him mad for his entire life. I don’t think that’s true, mostly because it is never mentioned before or after this story arc. I think that the drumming was actually planted within the new regeneration cycle as a failsafe. My theory is that the Time Lords foresaw The Master being a great asset or at the very least surviving the Time War, as the Master has always escaped impossible situations before. Thus when they granted him a new body and a new regeneration cycle, the drumming didn’t start until after he started to regenerate again. The Time Lords probably believed that if The Master was near death he would escape the war and regenerate, allowing them to have a beacon outside the limits of the war. This is just a theory but I feel like it works.

The Missy Master – Michelle Gomez

The latest incarnation of The Master is the first onscreen version that is female, taking on the name Mistress or Missy for short. This new Master still has a high level of insanity but the level headed mastermind is making a return as well. Many questions arise with this new form, which I fear will go unanswered. How The Master escaped the Great Time War is not my concern as The Master escaping certain death is one of the character’s main features. What really concerns me is how this new form came to be. Did The Master figure out how to cure the drumming? It’s never mention with this new form so I’m going to assume that it is gone. When the Simm Master was only half resurrected, did he lose all of his other regenerations or was he using up the life force of his current form? Little else can be determined without future stories as this is the current form.

Conclusion

Determining how many incarnations The Master has had is a near impossible task as we have never actually been given a number to any of his forms. Even worse the number also depends on what you count and what you don’t as The Master has also possessed a great number of other people's bodies. Do we count the people he has possessed or do we just list them under victims? Here is what we can assume. The Master got a new lease on life with his Alex MacQueen form due to the Time Lords prepping him for the war. If The Master still retains that new regeneration cycle, then Missy is the 4^th form in his new cycle. I assume MacQueen was a new body they gave him then they refilled his regenerations, so that should mean that The Master has about 9 more regenerations on him currently. As The Doctor currently has 11 more, I believe we won’t have to worry about a regeneration shortage any time soon. Thank you for reading this character study of The Master and have a Merry Christmas.

Let's Talk: Luke Cage

Hello and welcome back to the Guide to Geekdom. Today I wanted to discuss with you the power man, the hero for hire, the strongest man to ever wear a tiara: Luke Cage. I think it was time that one of Marvel’s recent rising stars should get the analytical treatment (and it was a request). So let’s talk about Luke Cage.

History

I wouldn’t say that Luke Cage is one of Marvel better known superheroes, so I will go into the details of his origins. Carl Lucas was a normal man who was framed for a crime he didn’t commit. In order to try and get out of jail early he agreed to take part in a scientific experiment. Just before the experiment, a dirty cop sabotaged the process in the hope that it would kill Lucas. Instead the changes to the experiment actually granted Lucas immense strength and invulnerability, and caused that section of the building to explode. Realizing he would probably be blamed for the deaths of the scientists and the cop, Lucas escaped and went into hiding. Lucas then decided to use his new powers to start up a superhero detective agency called Hero for Hire, as well as changing his name to Luke Cage and using the code name Power Man. Eventually he was able to prove his innocence in these crimes and became an Avenger.

It’s interesting to discuss Luke Cage, because he hadn’t really gained heavy popularity and recognition until relatively recently. The reason why Luke Cage starting getting popular was due to Brian Michael Bendis creating a superhero detective series starring Jessica Jones (his own creation). The book was incredibly popular, though the reason I bring this up is that Luke Cage was a supporting cast member and eventually become Jessica Jones’ husband. It was this key act that brought Luke Cage into the public eye again after having relatively nothing important happening for the character over the course of several years.

The Character

Luke Cage’s detective agency eventually got more members, with Cage usually being the leader of the team. Cage is a strong leader within superhero teams; this is something that has carried over to his time with the New Avengers. When Luke Cage first joined the New Avengers he acted as just the side character that was really strong, but when the superhuman registration act was enacted, it was Luke Cage that took over as team leader and successfully led his team through that dark time. Who would have thought that Luke Cage could be as strong a leader of the Avengers as Iron Man or Captain America?

Luke Cage is a very compassionate man. He feels for other people’s problems, it’s one of the reasons why he is such a good hero. On many occasions he has refused the money offered to him by his clients because he felt bad for their conditions. Cage has gone through hard times, and this has caused him to gain empathy toward the down trodden. Luke Cage will always fight for the oppressed because he doesn’t want anyone forced into the situation he found himself in before his transformation. The helpless need someone to defend them, and Cage is just the hero to do that.

Villains

Luke Cage suffers from a similar problem that a lot of lesser known heroes from Marvel suffer from: he has no well established Rogues Gallery. It’s sad but true. Marvel doesn’t put in the time and effort to make well established villains for new upcoming superheroes (I covered this in my Abused Super Villains post. Read that for more information). This is a major problem for setting up film franchises as film makers usually try to write the film around the concept of a main villain and what they mean to the hero. Without a well established archenemy to depend upon, a new superhero franchise could be impossible to establish, which is really a shame because I have been hoping for a Luke Cage film forever.

 If Luke Cage does have a recurring villain it is the Purple Man. In the previously mentioned Jessica Jones series, Jones was kidnapped and tortured by the Purple Man for months before being rescued by Luke Cage. She recovered from the traumatic events, but the Purple Man has been a returning threat for both Jones and her new family with Cage. The Purple Man on a regular basis threatens their family, but Cage has always had something up his sleeve to stop his mind control powers. Cage was manipulated once, and he will be damned before he or his family is manipulated again by some crazed psychopath.  

Supporting Cast

If there is one person that should be mentioned in this section, it’s not Jessica Jones, it’s Iron Fist. This superhero relationship is played down so much by Marvel, but personally I think that these two are one of the greatest Dynamic Duos in comic book lore. Marvel usually just puts them together because they’ve always been a team, but that is exactly the point. These two have been a team forever, and they should be recognized for it. They operate like brothers in arms, being constant partners who always watches the other’s back. It was their close friendship that allowed the two of them to break free of their mind control when Norman Osborn had captured them. These two heroes have both risen to social prominence due to their inclusions in the Avengers; I only hope that someday they can get their own book again.

Jessica Jones is a fairly interesting character. She has gone from superhero, to private investigator, to stay at home mom, and back to superhero all within a small timeframe. Her character has evolved from the love and support given to her by Luke Cage. It was a love that was recently written, but is incredibly strong. Everyone can feel the love and admiration Luke Cage feels for his wife and child. It’s amazing how truly well handled this relationship has been knowing the track record Marvel has for ruining good romantic relations between characters. I sincerely hope that no future writer tries to destroy this love for sales; it is one of the best relationships in comics right now.

One last thing I want to mention about Cage’s supporting cast is how he is a part of most other superhero’s supporting casts. Luke Cage has been everywhere (it happens when you’ve been a background character for too long). He has good relations with a lot of the street level heroes like Spider-Man and Daredevil, as well as being a helping hand in training new heroes like the latest White Tiger or the recent incarnation of the Thunderbolts. Luke Cage is an ally to everybody. If you’re in a jam expect Luke Cage to be somewhere right behind you, supporting you all the way.

What Doesn’t Work

What doesn’t work is the original comic. Like I mentioned, it does a poor job at establishing the key elements necessary for long lasting superheroes. He never had a well established archenemy or any recurring villains for that matter. He didn’t have any real supporting cast members (mind you Iron Fist didn’t become his partner until a later time period. Why, he didn’t even have an Aunt May. A well rounded superhero builds up these key concepts. Why do you think most of Spider-Man’s supporting cast is well known? I’m pretty sure most average fans could tell me that Flash Thompson was Spider-Man’s high school bully, and why, because his supporting cast was well established straight from the get go. Luke Cage had to have these things eventually added into his story and that is exactly where the problem lies, with the treatment of his character. The only thing that hasn’t been added in yet is a strong villain, sure Purple Man is a good one, but he feels more like a Jessica Jones villain than a Luke Cage one.

Another problem with Luke Cage is his costume. I’m not talking about the disco yellow with the tiara; they ditched that costume forever ago. The problem is Luke Cage has never had a costume stay for too long. He keeps shifting between what he fights crime in. Sometimes it’s his regular street clothes, sometimes it’s a yellow t-shirt with black pants, and other times it’s a yellow shirt with street clothes with a bunch of chains all over that have his name on them.  As I stated, the problem is in having a well-established hero story, part of that includes the iconic costume they fight in, when you can’t even decide what he wears to fight crime in on a regular weekly basis, you have a problem.

What Can Be Done

Luke Cage needs a major overhaul. As I have stated his story is something that isn’t especially well rounded or established. If Marvel wants to make Purple Man be a major recurring villain for Luke Cage then they should actually establish him as a real threat for Cage to face, so that actual encounters between the two aren’t incredibly one sided. If this is not done, maybe they should establish a new villain or a past villain and work that character into having a strong rivalry with Cage.

Other than that, I actually really like what Marvel is doing with Luke Cage right now. They took one of their more relatively unknown characters and have transformed him into an incredibly strong character who is the leader of multiple super teams. This is exactly how you bring the obscure out of the shadows and make them relevant with today’s comic book readers. I never would have heard of Luke Cage if it weren’t for his inclusion on the New Avengers, and ever since then he has become one of my favorite characters.

In Conclusion

Luke Cage suffers from a lack of establishment that could ultimately cause him to fall back into the unknown recesses of the Marvel Universe. Luke Cage has the potential to be one of Marvel’s greatest superheroes. A little more time taken to round out his personal character arc could change everything for him. Hopefully someday this great character will get the proper treatment a superhero deserves.

Let's Talk: Jean Grey

Welcome once more to the Guide to Geekdom. Today I wanted to talk about Jean Grey, the pinnacle in comic book death and resurrection. Seriously, is there any character in comic book lore that has died and come back more than Jean Grey? (…..besides Mr. Immortal).

 

The truth is that there is a lot more to her character than being a constant martyr for her teammates, which is why I wanted to discuss her with you.

History

 

Jean Grey was one of the original X-Men members, she has vast telekinetic mutant abilities, she has a loving relationship with Cyclops, Wolverine tries to have a relationship with her every so often, and she has a horrible knack for becoming the avatar for a benevolent god known as the Phoenix that uses her body to kill all life which is shortly followed by her sacrificing herself in order to protect all life from the Phoenix which is shortly followed by her resurrection which is shortly followed by her re-possession by the Phoenix which is shortly followed by her sacrifice which REPEATS THE PROCESS AGAIN. HERE IS A SHORT LIST DETAILING HER LIFE: POSSESSION – SACRIFICE – RESURRECTION – REPEAT.

The Character

 

You can’t really talk about Jean Grey without talking about the X-Men. The X-Men are one of the largest superhero teams in comic books, but mostly they act as one big family. Where does Jean Grey fit within this family? Jean Grey is the heart of the X-Men. She helps the various members of the team with their personal issues. It’s obvious why both Cyclops and Wolverine fell in love with Jean, it’s because they are the most troubled of all the members.

 

Cyclops has spent a good portion of his life trying to contain the massive force of nature he wields just by starring at something. Cyclops has disciplined himself to have a strict control of his every move so that he doesn’t slip up and hurt somebody (it’s why he is such a good leader), but this act of self control has stopped him from being free with himself, this is where Jean comes in. Jean forces Cyclops to come out of his shell and actually live life to the fullest. When it comes to Jean, Scott can finely enjoy life again and realize his powers don’t have to define him.

 

With Wolverine, it’s all about his humanity. Logan had been ferociously abused by Weapon X and was force to become an unemotional assassin. With his freedom, Logan is finding it hard to reconnect himself to his humanity when he can’t even remember who he is. Jean Grey helps him by trying to help him reconnect with the past and to try and build a strong friendship with him so that he has someone he can depend on. She was being one of the first people to ever be kind to him in ages; Logan instantly attaches himself to her love and care. He finds in himself compassion for another person and in turn this helps him care for others on the team and to rekindle his lost humanity.

Villains

What happens when the greatest problem you face is yourself? Now I could spend this time talking about how the Brotherhood is her greatest villain but the Brotherhood is more of the X-Men’s greatest nemesis and not hers solely (as a side note, multiple X-Men have had their own arch Nemesis over the years not dealing with the Brotherhood). Jean Grey’s greatest problem is the Phoenix. You can’t stop an all powerful god from taking over your body and forcing you to do bad things.

 As a frame of reference to how powerful Phoenix is, Phoenix managed to defeat Galactus in direct combat

(If you don’t know who Galactus is…… that’s another story for another day).

In complete honesty, you can only hope that the Phoenix simply doesn’t care. Jean Grey, at most times, can use a fraction of the Phoenix’s power for good, when she is fighting alongside the X-Men. Unfortunately, when the Phoenix has a set goal in its mind it will take control and force Jean into doing her bidding. Jean mostly resolves this problem by sacrificing herself in order to save reality; this hasn’t really worked so far.

Supporting Cast

Once again Jean is a member of the X-Men and I’ve already discussed what her key position on the team is. What I want to use this section for is to describe what is going on without her. Jean Grey has been dead for a few years now and the X-Men have basically carried on with their lives and their goals again. The position of Jean Grey has been mostly replaced by Emma Frost.

Emma Frost is now the current telepath of the team and is the love interest of Cyclops. Unfortunately, I am thoroughly against this relationship. Writers have a tendency to just kind of force Emma Frost into this position. She is not Jean Grey and she is not the heart of the team. Emma Frost is her very own character who can exist without Cyclops. She represents a masterful mutant who does have the skill to teach new mutants how to best use their abilities. She was converted to the side of good by the X-Men and for the current generation, has represented a teacher who is cold in her teaching but has a deep passion for those she cares about. The relationship between her and Cyclops should not exist for the very reason that the second Jean Grey comes back to life, Cyclops will dump Emma and go straight back to Jean. Every writer accepts this fact and shows it everywhere. WHY IS EMMA STILL WITH HIM WHEN SHE CLEARLY REALIZES SHE IS JUST A HOLDING SPOT FOR JEAN GREY?!?

During Jean Grey’s absence, the X-Men have currently split themselves up between Cyclops and Wolverine. It may seem a bit backwards how Cyclops’ group is the more gun-ho activist group who is seeking to militaristically train all new mutants to fight against mutant protestors, while Wolverine is going back to Westchester to start up a new school to act as a haven for young mutants, but really think about Jean Grey in this decision. Without Jean Cyclops has reverted back into an incredibly strict person who only sees the wrongs in the world that needs trained mutants to help fight against it. He has effectively lost his ability to enjoy life. Wolverine on the other hand wishes to continue the work Jean had done with him and the other X-Men: be the support they need. He has set up a school in her name in order to house young mutants who have nowhere else to turn to.

What Doesn’t Work

(I think I may have already started this in the previous section).

In her lifetime, Jean Grey had that one amazing storyline, where she was possessed by a god and sacrificed herself in order to save everyone. It was an incredibly successful storyline and Marvel has been trying to duplicate it ever since. This constant repetition has completely taken over her character. Jean Grey can’t exist for very long without Marvel thinking they can squeeze out more money from us if they show the Phoenix to us again and have her die again. It’s sad, but this is almost a comic book form of type casting. Marvel will constantly have her relive her one successful story arc so long as they think they can get cash for it. Honestly, there is no other excuse besides the search for more money to abuse a comic book character to this extent.

{At this point I will briefly touch upon X-Men 3. If you are trying to blot this horrible film from your memories, please skip ahead to the next section.}

The Phoenix storyline was the main focus of the third X-Men film. This was done horribly. I understand that we have to change certain aspects of comic book characters in order to make them seem more realistic for the film, but they simply changed too much. The Phoenix is a benevolent force, not some deep metal issues. The X2 perfectly set it up so that the Phoenix could represent the evolution of mutant kind, but X3 changed it to say the Professor X accidentally cause a second personally in Jean to emerge and be a vicious killer. This was a horrible mistake, but the absolute truth is: SUPERMAN RETURNS RUINED X3! SUPERMAN RETURNS STOLE BOTH THE DIRECTOR OF THE FIRST TWO FILMS AND THE ACTOR WHO PLAYED CYCLOPS! THIS FORCED THE STUDEO TO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO DIRECT AND TO KILL OFF CYCLOPS EARLIER IN THE FILM AND FORCE WOLVERINE INTO THE LEADERSHIP POSTION WHICH IS NOT WHERE HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE! IF BRYAN SINGER HAD BEEN THERE TO DIRECT X3 IT WOULD HAVE BEEN UNGODLY AWESOME! INSTEAD WE HAD TO SIT THROUGH A BAD ENDING TO THE X-MEN TRILOGY AND A BAD SUPERMAN FILM! SUPERMAN RETURNS RUINED X3!!!

‘cough’

………that is all

What Can Be Done

Having Jean Grey remain dead is a bad idea, but continuing her on the same path doesn’t help either. She represents a key part of the X-Men that has been seriously lacking since her recent death. The X-Men have lost the ability to actually connect with us. I honestly can’t connect anymore with a group of people who now live on an island, cut off from the rest of society. Jean Grey was a character who brought the more….. let’s call it elaborate parts of the X-Men’s storylines back down to Earth. She is a very basic character who is incredibly easy to connect to due to her passion for others.

The true issue is the Phoenix. I want to see an incredibly elaborate storyline where the Phoenix God, through years of watching Jean Grey sacrifice herself in order to stop the destruction of everything, has finally come to understand why her avatar fights her so willingly. A big threat will represent itself and Jean Grey will think that she needs to sacrifice herself again in order to save everyone, but in reality the choice will fall to the Phoenix. Will it allow Jean Grey to kill herself again for the betterment of all, eventually coming back to life and doing this all over again, or will it finally sacrifice itself for the greater good, saving Jean Grey in the process and proving that it could be a force for good after all? This is the story I want Marvel to produce. We can finally see Jean Grey free of her servitude to the Phoenix and finally bring an end to this incredibly long character arc.

In Conclusion

I am quite certain that Jean Grey will be returning to comics soon enough. Personally I believe that the X-Men need her. She represents a specific part of them that is needed to keep them together. Jean Grey should be able to finally move on from her greatest story arc and go into unknown territory that will allow her character to grow, ultimately allowing for better story telling that the same story over and over again.

Thanks for reading
- The Guide

{As a side note that I wanted to mention, this character analysis was a request. I am willing to take in more requests. If you want me to do a specific review, character analysis, top 10, or examine a trend in the industry today, just let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Happy Thanksgiving.}