Mastermind

Real Name
Jason Wyngarde

Occupation
Former carnival mentalist, former subversive

Citizenship
Citizenship unknown with no criminal record as yet

Place of Birth
Unknown

Known Relatives
Regan Wyngarde (Lady Mastermind, daughter), Martinique Jason (Mastermind, daughter)

Group Affiliation
Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants, Factor Three, rejected applicant to the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club

Education
Unrevealed

Height
5'10" (6'2", during his involvement with the Hellfire Club)

Weight
140 lbs. (190 lbs., during his involvement with the Hellfire Club)

Eyes
Black (Gray, during his involvement with the Hellfire Club)

Hair
Gray-black (Brown, during his involvement with the Hellfire Club)

Powers
Mastermind is a mutant with the power of illusion-casting. He can psionically cause other people to see, hear, touch, smell, and/or taste things which do not actually exist: for example, he can seem to make a solid wall appear in an empty space. He can also cause people to see, hear, touch, smell, and/or taste real things in ways that they would not do naturally: for example, he can make himself look and sound like a different person, or look and feel like a wall, or even seem invisible. Without artificial aids, Mastermind cannot cause only one person among many who are present to see his illusions; everyone within the range of his power, which can extend over an entire city (as when he helped Magneto capture Latin American nation of Santo Marco), will see his illusions. Since his power only affects the mind, his illusions cannot be recorded on film or tape or by other means. However, his power works so strongly on the mind that even if his victim or victims know they are being subjected to an illusion, they will still react to the illusion as if it were real unless they can rid themselves of all suspicions that it is unreal. Hence, if Mastermind creates the illusion of a wall, most people, even if they know it is an illusion, will still be unable to walk through it. Invariably Mastermind’s illusions are so skillful that most people are unable to help having the feeling, at least subconsciously, that they are real.

Abilities
Mastermind is below-average athlete with no knowledge of hand-to-hand combat

Other Info
Nothing is known about Mastermind’s life before the time when, while working as a carnival mentalist, he was enlisted by Magneto as a member in his Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. With Mastermind's help, the Brotherhood was able to take over a South American country, with an illusion of thousands of soldiers. As a member of the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, he aided Magneto in repeated clashes with the X-Men. After the Brotherhood's defeat by the X-Men, the group attempted to lure the Stranger to their cause. The Stranger, being an enigmatic cosmic entity, instead of a mutant, temporarily turned Mastermind into stone. (Click on the highlighted characters and/or teams above to learn more about them.)

After the spell wore off, Jason joined Factor Three (an organization that attempted to conquer the Earth). Factor Three eventually disbanded when their leader turned out to be an alien, instead of a mutant. They actually teamed up with the X-Men to defeat the alien Mutant Master. (To learn about the above highlighted character and/or team, click on their names.)

Later, Mastermind was then captured by Sentinels, but freed by the X-Men. Former members of Factor Three (Blob and Unus) joined with Jason to reform the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. This new Brotherhood was looking for new recruits. Mastermind attempted to recruit Beast to his group, but ultimately failed and wound up battling him instead. (To learn about the above highlighted characters, just click on their names.)

At one point, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost (the mutants who lead the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club) invited Mastermind to test for admission to the Inner Circle as part of their ongoing program of recruiting super-powered mutants for their organization. To prove his worth, Mastermind (using both his natural powers and artificial means) psionically altered the personality of Jean Grey, so that she willingly became the Inner Circle’s new Black Queen. However, in doing so, Mastermind unintentionally triggered Jean’s transformation into the insane Dark Phoenix. Jean broke free of Mastermind’s control, and opened his mind to all the various psionic sense impression that she herself received from the cosmos as Dark Phoenix, impressions which no ordinary person or even any ordinary psionic ever receives. Mastermind, on being given such awareness all at once without any training in how to cope with it, immediately fell into a catatonic state. So, to say the least, the Inner Circle rejected his application for membership. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn more about the characters and/or group. Note: Beware of Jean Grey's skin-tight outfit on her bio page, and watch out for multiple pictures of very revealing and/or skin-tight outfits on Emma Frost's bio page. And beware of the multiple women in revealing outfits on the Hellfire Club bio page.)

When Mastermind was finally able to regain his sanity, he sought revenge on everyone that caused him pain. He gave the final nudge to Rogue towards leaving Mystique for the X-Men through subtly manipulating Rogue's rapidly deteriorating mental state, while at the same time inflicting nightmares on Mystique. He interfered with the engagement of Cyclops and Madelyne Pryor by manipulating the X-Men into thinking Madelyne was the Dark Phoenix. Mastermind also ruined the wedding of Wolverine and Mariko Yashida by psionically compelling her to reject Wolverine. (To learn about the highlighted characters above, just click on their names. Note: Beware of Cyclops' bio page due to Emma Frost in a skin-tight outfit. Also, beware of Madelyne Pryor's bio page due to her in a very revealing outfit. And watch out for Mystique's revealing outfits as well on her bio page.)

Later on, Mastermind died of the Legacy Virus, but before he succumbed, he asked Jean Grey's forgiveness for what he had done to her. She did forgive him, and he died at peace. (To learn more about the Legacy Virus, click on its name above.)

Mastermind's name and powers still live on through his daughters: Martinique Jason (aka Mastermind) and Regan Wyngarde (aka Lady Mastermind). (To learn more about Mastermind's daughters, click on their highlighted names.)

To learn more about Mastermind, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Mastermind_%28Jason_Wyngarde%29. (Note: Beware of the woman in revealing corset on the Mastermind's bio page.)

In the films X2 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we see a character that is loosely based on Mastermind. In the movies, Jason is the son of William Stryker (In the comics, Mastermind and William Stryker are not related). In X2, we see Jason in a wheelchair using his powers on Professor X. And in the credits of that movie, he is named "Jason 143." In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, we just see Jason's face enclosed in ice, as a child. In both movies, Jason has two different colored eyes (blue and green). This seems to be just something they made-up for the movies. (The two different Jasons from the movies are in the second picture posted above.)