History Characters / DoctorWhoMasters

Apart from [[Characters/DoctorWhoDaleks the Daleks]], {{the Master}} is ''Series/DoctorWho''[='s=] most persistent individual enemy. The villain is another renegade [[Characters/DoctorWhoTimeLords Time Lord]] from Gallifrey, conceived as the Moriarty to [[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors the Doctor]]'s [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Holmes]]. [[WeUsedToBeFriends The Master was the Doctor's friend ([[FoeRomanceSubtext or maybe more]]) when they were students at the Academy]], and the Doctor still hopes they'll reconcile again someday. The Master, on the other hand, can never quite decide between wanting to kill the Doctor or wanting to spend as much time with them as possible -- or, occasionally, ''both''. The one thing all Masters can agree on is that if anyone ''else'' tries to kill the Doctor, then [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou all bets are off as to that person's continued existence]] because, when they do defeat the Doctor, ''they'' are going to have the pleasure of doing it and no-one else is. This does, of course, lead to the Master frequently betraying their allies when they get too close to killing the Doctor.

Apart from [[Characters/DoctorWhoDaleks the Daleks]], {{the Master}} is ''Series/DoctorWho''[='s=] most persistent individual enemy. The villain is another renegade [[Characters/DoctorWhoTimeLords Time Lord]] from Gallifrey, conceived as the Moriarty to [[Characters/DoctorWhoDoctors the Doctor]]'s [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Holmes]]. The Master was the Doctor's friend ([[FoeRomanceSubtext or maybe more]]) when they were students at the Academy, and the Doctor still hopes they'll reconcile again someday. The Master, on the other hand, can never quite decide between wanting to kill the Doctor or wanting to spend as much time with them as possible -- or, occasionally, ''both''. The one thing all Masters can agree on is that if anyone ''else'' tries to kill the Doctor, then [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou all bets are off as to that person's continued existence]] because, when they do defeat the Doctor, ''they'' are going to have the pleasure of doing it and no-one else is. This does, of course, lead to the Master frequently betraying their allies when they get too close to killing the Doctor.

* EvilGenius: As a [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Time Lord]], every Master is capable of far more advanced scientific feats that the smartest human. A line in their debut states the Master achieved a higher educational degree than the Doctor.

* EvilOverlord: Proves to be a tyrant every time he gets the chance to rule something.

* ForTheEvulz: Across all incarnations, the Master tends to implusively and callously inflict death and suffering on anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path, sometimes without any warning at all, their reasoning for these random acts of wanton cruelty usually being no more complex than because they were bored, because they wanted to, or simply because they could.

* PracticallyJoker: Post-Time War, the Masters become laughing and giddy maniacs who cause chaos and destruction for the hell of it, and oftentimes try to drag others, usually the Doctor, down to their level, much like modern incarnations of the Joker. Missy and O even wear purple suits.

* ReturningBigBad: The character was put on hiatus following Roger Delgado's untimely demise, during which the Daleks and the Sontarans took the role of the Doctor's most prominent adversaries. The Master would return in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin The Deadly Assassin]]" and become the most prominent enemy of the Doctor following the "Return of the Master" trilogy of serials.

* RuleOfTwo: The Master lacks a consistent [[TheDragon Dragon]], but in almost every appearance he makes he'll have at least one henchman or patsy he's using to carry out his plans.

* TerminalTransformation: In the classic series, The Master has weaponized this trope through his specialized weapon, the Tissue Compression Eliminator. It essentially shrinks the victim down to the size of a doll and kills them due to the SquareCubeLaw, conveniently making it very easy for the Master to hide the body.

** Anthony Ainley once said that he was ''not'' a ham... because a ham could be cured.
* EvilLaugh: Comes with being a CardCarryingVillain.

* CardCarryingVillain: He has fun with it.

** Roberts' Master always ''drezzzed'' for the occasion. He also un-ironically wore a leather jacket complete with sunglasses. Also, he starts out as a snake made of goo.

* AmbiguousStartOfDarkness: The drumming in their head that vexed Simm's incarnation. It supposedly drove the Master mad and it's known to have been in their head since they were eight, but wasn't mentioned until the Revival Series. It's unclear if this is an out-of-universe {{Retcon}} and the root cause of their villainy, one of several contributing factors (the Expanded Universe had a few other explanations for why the Master is evil), or an in-universe CosmicRetcon caused by the Time War that merely made an already evil person [[SanitySlippage even crazier]].

* TheDreaded: Not at first, but eventually.

* {{Leitmotif}}: A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6a-QWuwVGM&t=164s really terrifying one]].

* [[Leitmotif]]: A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6a-QWuwVGM&t=164s really terrifying one].

* DependingOnTheWriter: Like with the Doctor, regeneration can be used to explain their changing personality between incarnations, but the whole of the Classic series uses a single incarnation of the Master (stealing various bodies after the deaths of his old ones) -- the Pratt/Beevers, Ainley and Roberts incarnations are (at least, according to some sources) supposed to be the same incarnation as the initial Delgado character. Even so, their personality, goals, humour level and power sets vary wildly, significantly more than the Doctor's do between their incarnations. It borders on SameCharacterButDifferent in many cases.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: Has played around with this a bit during the revival series. The last interaction between him and the Tenth Doctor had them pull a brief EnemyMine against Rasilon ending with the two seemingly making peace with each other as he [[HeroicSacrifice willfully returned to the soon to be destroyed Gallifrey.]] When she reappeared as Missy she was over this and as much a monster as ever, but then as the Twelfth Doctor Era went on she became a FriendlyEnemy, then a TokenEvilTeammate, then finally attempted an actual HeelFaceTurn before seemingly being KilledOffForReal. [[HistoryRepeats Then in the Thirteenth Doctor era they returned again in a new body and as big a monster as ever.]]

* RivalTurnedEvil: It's established that the Master and the Doctor were at school together.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: While the Master has never been sane to begin with, it's implied that what he discovered about the Time Lords drove him even further over the edge. Not because [[Joe thought it was unethical EvenEvilHasStandards]], [[ItsAllAboutMe but finding out that his worst enemy was the source of his people’s greatest gift was a tremendous blow to ego.]]

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: While the Master has never been sane to begin with, it's implied that what he discovered about the Time Lords drove him even further over the edge.

* HairTriggerTemper: Possibly the most easily-angered portrayal of the Master to date. He lampshades this when he says that the bomb he had planted on the plane has a short fuse before mentioning he can relate to that.

* SealedEvilInACan: The Master's malicious personality was sealed in his fob watch as a result of the Chameleon Arch, leaving him in a new identity as Professor Yana