MASTERMIND
Earth-92131

Real Name: Jason Wyngarde

Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-92131) human mutant

Occupation: Illusionist, criminal

Group Membership: Unrevealed, presumably still a member of the Inner Circle of the Circle Club (Black Bishop/Harry Leland, Black King/Sebastian Shaw, White Bishop/Donald Pierce, White Queen/Emma Frost)

Affiliations: Gamesmaster, Gremlin (Kondrati Topolov), Jean Grey, Karma (Xi'an Coy Manh), Mesmero (Vincent), Moondragon (Heather Douglas), Oracle (Sybil), Professor X (Charles Xavier), Psylocke (Betsy Braddock), Revanche (Kwannon), Shadow King (Amahl Farouk), Stryfe of Earth-13393, Rachel Summers of Earth-13393, Typhoid Mary (Mary Walker)

Enemies: Apocalypse of Earth-13393 (En Sabah Nur), Horsemen of the Apocalypse CA 1200 BC, Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr), Mister Sinister (Nathaniel Essex), Mystique (Raven Darkholme), Sabretooth (Victor Creed)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Circle Club, New York City

First Appearance: X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "The Phoenix Saga - Part IV: The Starjammers" (September 8, 1994)

Powers/Abilities: Jason Wyngarde is a mutant with the ability to create highly realistic illusions that can manipulate all five senses, altering a person's perception of reality. This power allows him to deceive and control others by making them see, hear, feel, smell, and taste things that aren't actually there. His illusions can be so convincing that they can cause psychological and emotional distress, making him a powerful and dangerous adversary.

Height: 5'8" (presumably same as his 616 counterpart)
Weight: 140 lbs. (presumably same as his 616 counterpart)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Grey

History:

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" - BTS) - Joining the prestigious Circle Club, a society for the ultrarich, Jason Wyngarde was among a select number of mutants admitted into the Inner Circle. This already influential cabal worked to gain even more power through various less than legal ways. Using the moniker of Mastermind and posing as an idealized version of himself, Wyngarde worked alongside Black King (Sebastian Shaw), Black Bishop (Harry Leland), White Bishop (Donald Pierce) and the White Queen (Emma Frost).

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" (fb) - BTS) - Frost and other members of the Inner Circle sworn allegiances to the Circle Club and vowed to not turn on one another.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "The Phoenix Saga - Part IV: The Starjammers") - Mastermind, Sebastian Shaw and Emma Frost were about to have a meeting when the White Queen was hit by the psychic backlash as the Phoenix left Earth to rescue the galaxy from Shi'ar emperor D'Ken. Other powerful beings that sensed the Phoenix departure were Doctor Strange and Captain Britain.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" (fb) - BTS) - Eager to know more about the Phoenix, Frost successfully infiltrated Xavier's computer learning that the primordial force inhabited the body of the X-Man Jean Grey. Frost believed it was well within her reach to obtain such a source of limitless power to be used by the Hellfire Club all while furthering her own position within the Inner Circle. Together with the illusion caster Jason Wyngarde she prepared a plan to achieve their goal.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled") - Accompanied by Frost, Wyngarde went to see and inform the other members of the Inner Circle of their plan to get the powerful Phoenix under their control. Intrigued by their proposal, Circle's leader Sebastian Shaw asked how they would achieve such a feat, prompting Wyngarde to explain that the Phoenix was only as strong as the mind that controlled her, as he would attack her mind. Their plans were approved by the Black King.

    That very evening Wyngarde and Frost worked together as Frost used her telepathic abilities to infiltrate Jean's fragile mind while she was asleep. This allowed Wyngarde to use his power of illusion to create an elaborate 18th century reality in Jean's mind. Plunged into this new reality, Jean believed she was rescued out in the open ocean by the charismatic Jason Wyngarde with whom she then kissed. Sensing someone began to intrude in Jean's mind (Jean and Scott's psychic rapport), Frost quickly cut the connection less their plan fail.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" - BTS) - Awakened from her dream and uncertain which reality was real the Phoenix Force lead Jean to a New York club where Cyclops watched the mutant Dazzler perform. In reality he was present to make certain she wasn't harassed by the Circle Club again.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled") - Frost used her psychic powers to track Jean which lead her and Wyngarde to the same club. Inside, Dazzler embraced and kissed Scott Summers, Jean was in such a shock she was pulled right back into Wyngarde's illusion, accepting it as her true reality. Moments later Jean passionately kissed Wyngarde, much to Scott's surprise (who was as surprised when Dazzler attempted to kiss him). Grey, now fully under Wyngarde's control was brought back to the Circle Club while two of their guards dealt with Cyclops.

    Determined to permanently bind the Phoenix Force to the Circle Club a fake wedding was staged between Grey and Wyngarde but moments later the full force of the X-Men arrived to save their friend which lead to an all-out battle between the mutants. Mastermind helped Frost up on her when she was struck down by Gambit after which they watched as Leland used his powers to plummet Wolverine down to the Club's sewers. In the end the X-Men were defeated by their own Jean who was now fully under Wyngarde's influence. Both the Inner Circle and the X-Men failed to realize that the Phoenix Force inhabiting Jean's body was thoroughly enjoying all new sensations and was hungry for more.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part II: The Inner Circle" - BTS) - With the X-Men (with exception of Wolverine) defeated, the Inner Circle had them outfitted with power-dampening collars to prevent them from using their mutant abilities.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part II: The Inner Circle") - While Frost used her telepathic abilities to keep Xavier at bay, Wyngarde and the Inner Circle celebrated their victory while enjoying diner and wine until Frost sensed Cyclops using his psychic rapport with Jean and quickly warned Wyngarde to intervene.

    Wyngarde fought Cyclops in his mindscape until the Phoenix appeared. Aching for new sensations and destruction, Cyclops was seemingly killed but when his body was still alive Frost went to check on the X-Man and found him still psychically connected to Jean Grey. Having had enough of the ordeal, Sebastian Shaw ordered the Phoenix to destroy her friends. Still struggling in her own psyche, the Phoenix Force took full control of Jean's body. However, before the Phoenix could follow Shaw's orders, Wolverine suddenly arrived and was struck down by the Phoenix. While Wolverine was down, Wyngarde boosted himself, determined his actions warranted his ascension to become the Inner Circle's new leader. Enraged, Shaw scolded Wyngarde, however, Leland, Pierce and Frost all turned against Shaw. Feeling betrayed, Shaw vowed to destroy all of them.

    Preoccupied with each other, the Inner Circle failed to realize Jean temporarily regained her senses, horrified of her actions. It was then that Frost felt Wyngarde had lost his hold over her after which Jean was consumed by the Phoenix Force thirsty for power she flew off through the building's ceiling. The Phoenix's departure also caused the X-Men to be freed, who immediately attacked the Inner Circle. Once again, Mastermind stood aside while the Inner Circle fought the X-Men. Just as Beast and Cyclops forced Mastermind into a wall the Circle guards arrived, allowing Mastermind to escape.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part II: The Inner Circle" - BTS) - Assured he could still control Jean, Wyngarde followed Jean to the roof of the Circle Club. Wyngarde attempted to create another illusion but was struck down by Phoenix revealing that he had opened her eyes after which she shattered Wyngarde's illusion revealing his true identity of Mastermind. She then revealed to Mastermind who the Phoenix truly was, unable to comprehend all which he witnessed, Mastermind was rendered catatonic. She then transformed into the Dark Phoenix.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "The Dark Phoenix Saga - Part III: The Dark Phoenix" - BTS) - While Mastermind had been rendered catatonic, Frost, Leland and Shaw stood outside of the Circle Club witnessing the ascension of the Dark Phoenix as she traveled into outer space where she destroyed an uninhabited star system. Others who sensed her departure included Doctor Strange, Thor and Uatu the Watcher.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil - Part III" - BTS) - Apocalypse of the ravaged future of Earth-13393 had obtained access to the Axis of Time and prepared to kidnap the world's most powerful psychics of Earth-92131 and use their simultaneous death to unleash sufficient psychic energy to stop time and break the elemental balance between good and evil. As all of existence would end except for the actuality inside the Axis of Time, Apocalypse could recreate the universe in his own image.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil - Part III" - BTS) - Mastermind was captured by Apocalypse's lackeys and taken to the Axis of Time where the unconscious psychic was placed in a glass-like canister next to Mesmero.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil - Part III") - Mastermind was seen, imprisoned between Moondragon and Mesmero's canisters, when Apocalypse summoned Mystique to his side. Not long after, Apocalypse successfully tricked the X-Men after which he acquired the last of the psychics, Charles Xavier.

(X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil - Part IV") - Ready to put his plan in motion, Apocalypse activated the process which caused the psychic's, still stuck in the canister, were forced to float, circling the Axis of Time. Apocalypse, however, was unaware that time-traveler Bishop was already near the Axis, guided by Immortus, posing as "Bender" the crazy caretaker of the timelines.

    Unbeknownst to the psychics, Magneto and Mystique turned on Apocalypse upon learning his true plan and freed the X-Man Wolverine who'd also been imprisoned inside the Axis. Shortly thereafter, Cable arrived as well just as the psychic's combined power began to affect the timelines. In the end it was Bishop who decided to get involved and shot one of the canisters, freeing Psylocke, who immediately ordered the time-lost Bishop to continue shooting at the remaining canisters. When several other psychics were released, Apocalypse knew he was in danger of failing. He sent his Horsemen to kill Bishop and Psylocke, but they failed. When they returned to the Axis of Time, the strain of the events caused the structure to collapse. Apocalypse and his Horsemen fought Magneto, Wolverine and Cable until the freed Mastermind and other psychics joined their powers to stop Apocalypse. With their combined powers, the psychics removed Apocalypse and all others from the Axis of Time. Since his Lazarus chamber had been destroyed in the past, Apocalypse simply ceased to exist in the present. Mastermind and the freed psychics presumably returned to their proper homes.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Paul Reinman;
    adapted by Mark Edens and AKOM Productions. (see Appearances list for full list of artists)

Mastermind was voiced by Nigel Bennett.

In this reality, the Hellfire Club was named the Circle Club. Although unrevealed Hellfire presumably wasn't deemed appreciated for a children's cartoon show.

Beyond Good and Evil was intended to be the series finale and was originally going to end with the X-Men disbanding after the final conflict with Apocalypse. However, the series was given a last minute reprise by Fox when they ordered six more episodes to close out the season. To cut costs, Korean animation giant Saban produced these in-house rather than buy a few more episodes at the last minute. As such, the final six episodes have a different animation style. To save money, Saban produced the final episodes of the series in-house rather than calling on Graz Entertainment which had done all of the series. Instead, Saban hired a studio in the Philippines (simply called the Philippine Animation Studio, which also worked on the second season of the 1994 Fantastic Four series) which explains why these episodes had a different animation style.

The psychics captured by Apocalypse were: Gamesmaster, Gremlin, Jean Grey, Karma, Mastermind, Mesmero, Moondragon, Oracle, Professor X, Psylocke, Revanche, Shadow King, Stryfe, Rachel Summers, Typhoid Mary, the White Queen and two unidentified characters who appear be a Guardian of the Universe from DC's Green Lantern and the midget Gwildor from He-Man. Because they are unidentified they are not listed under Mastermind's affiliations but will receive subprofiles in the future profile of Apocalypse of Earth-13393. We've listed Magneto, Mister Sinister, Mystique, Sabretooth under his enemies as they were Apocalypse's loyal servant charged with kidnapping the psychics, Mastermind would've considered them his enemies.

When, in 2015's Secret Wars, the Multiverse was destroyed following the incursions of planets it appeared as if Reality-92131 was drafted onto Battleworld as the Westchester domain. However, this has since been debunked. As such the reality seen in the two volumes of X-Men '92 (2015 and 2016-2017) now have their own reality-designation of Earth-15730. The X-Men '92: House of XCII (2022) series was inspired by both the animated series and Hickman's House of X run but is its own separate reality. The limited series X-Men '97 (2024), however, is Reality-92131 and bridges the gap between the original X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon and the new X-Men '97: The Animated Series cartoon.

Profile by MarvellousLuke

CLARIFICATIONS:
Mastermind has no known connections to

• Mastermind, the original this version was based on--X-Men I#4
• or any other alternative Mastermind

images: (without ads)
X-Men The Art and Making of The Animated Series book, p175 (main image, digitally colored by MarvellousLuke)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" (part of the Circle Club)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" (kissing Jean Grey)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part II: Inner Circle" (real face)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil - Part III" (imprisoned by Apocalypse)

Appearances:
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "The Phoenix Saga - Part IV: The Starjammers" (September 8, 1994) - Mark Edens (writer), Frank Brunner, Mark Lewis (model design), Darrel Bowen, Russell Chong, Mark Lewis, Steve Olds, Frank Squillace (prop design), Cesar Magsombol, Frank Squillace, Wayne Schulz, Zhaoping Wei (layout design), Trish Mendelson (color key), Philip Kim, Dennis Venizelos (color backgrounds), Patrick Archibald, Francis Barrios, Romeo Francisco, Curt Geda, Greg Garcia, Adrian Gonzales, Rick Hoberg, Larry Houston, Jim Janes, Dough Murphy, Tom Nesbitt, Frank Squillace, Michael Swanigan, Dan Veesenmeyer (storyboards), AKOM Animation (animation), Sharon Janis (editor)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part I: Dazzled" (November 12, 1994) - Jan Strand (writer), Bob Harras (story consultant), Frank Brunner, Mark Lewis (model design), Darrel Bowen, Russell Chong, Mark Lewis, Steve Olds, Frank Squillace (prop design), Cesar Magsombol, Frank Squillace, Wayne Schulz, Zhaoping Wei (layout design), Trish Mendelson (color key), Philip Kim, Dennis Venizelos (color backgrounds), Patrick Archibald, Francis Barrios, Romeo Francisco, Curt Geda, Greg Garcia, Adrian Gonzales, Rick Hoberg, Larry Houston, Jim Janes, Dough Murphy, Tom Nesbitt, Frank Squillace, Michael Swanigan, Dan Veesenmeyer (storyboards), Patricio Aganasin, Abel Laxamana, Mark Lewis, Romeo Lopez, Tec Manalac, Andre Nieves, Phil Stapleton (storyboard cleanup), Philippine Animation Studio, Inc. (animation), Sharon Janis (editor)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Dark Phoenix - Part II: Inner Circle" (November 12, 1994) - Steven Levi (writer), Bob Harras (story consultant), Frank Brunner, Mark Lewis (model design), Darrel Bowen, Russell Chong, Mark Lewis, Steve Olds, Frank Squillace (prop design), Cesar Magsombol, Frank Squillace, Wayne Schulz, Zhaoping Wei (layout design), Trish Mendelson (color key), Philip Kim, Dennis Venizelos (color backgrounds), Patrick Archibald, Francis Barrios, Romeo Francisco, Curt Geda, Greg Garcia, Adrian Gonzales, Rick Hoberg, Larry Houston, Jim Janes, Dough Murphy, Tom Nesbitt, Frank Squillace, Michael Swanigan, Dan Veesenmeyer (storyboards), Patricio Aganasin, Abel Laxamana, Mark Lewis, Romeo Lopez, Tec Manalac, Andre Nieves, Phil Stapleton (storyboard cleanup), Philippine Animation Studio, Inc. (animation), Sharon Janis (editor)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - "Beyond Good and Evil, Part III" (November 18, 1995) - Michael Edens (writer), Frank Brunner (character design), Mark Lewis (character design, prop design, storyboard cleanup), Darrel Bowen, Warren Greenwood, Andre Nieves, Steve Olds, Shayne Poindexter (prop design), Claude Denis (prop design, layout design), Marcos Borregales (prop design, storyboard cleanup), Cesar Magsombol, Zhaoping Wei (layout design), Terry Henson (layout design, storyboards, storyboard cleanup), Frank Squillance (layout design, storyboards), Patricio Agnasin (layout design, storyboard cleanup), Helga Vanden Berge (ink & paint), Jerry Acerno, Troy D. Adomitis, Patrick Archibald, Dell Barras, Francisco Barrios, Armando Carrillo, Romeo Francisco, Greg Garcia, Rick Hoberg, Tom Nesbitt, David Simons, Keith Tucker, Dan Veesenmeyer (storyboards), Michael Sosnowski (storyboards, storyboard cleanup), Gerald Forton, Ernie G. Guanlao, Abel Laxamana, Romeo Lopez, Tec Manalac (storyboard cleanup), Akom Production Company (animation studio), Larry Houston (director, producer), J.K. Kim, Sue Peters (animation directors), Eric Lewald (developer for television, story editor), Sharon Janis (editor)
X-Men: The Animated Series cartoon - Beyond Good and Evil, Part IV" (November 25, 1995) - Dean Stefan (writer), Frank Brunner (character design), Mark Lewis (character design, prop design, storyboard cleanup), Darrel Brown, Warren Greenwood, Andre Nieves, Steve Olds, Shayne Poindexter (prop design), Marcos Borregals (prop design, storyboard cleanup), Claude Denis, (prop design, layout design), Cesar Magsombol, Zhaoping Wei (layout design), Tenny Henson (layout design, storyboards, storyboard cleanup), Frank Squillance (layout design, storyboards), Patricio Agnasin (layout design, storyboard cleanup), Helga Vanden Berge (ink & paint), Jerry Acerno, Troy D. Adomitis, Patrick Archibald, Dell Barras, Francisco Barrios, Armando Carrillo, Romeo Francisco, Greg Garcia, Rick Hoberg, Tom Nesbitt, David Simons, Keith Tucker, Dan Veesenmeyer (storyboards), Michael Sosnowski (storyboards, storyboard cleanup), Gerald Forton, Ernie G. Guanlao, Abel Laxamana, Romeo Lopez, Tec Manalac (storyboard cleanup), Akom Production Company (animation studio), J.K. Kim, Sue Peters (animation directors), Eric Lewald (developer for television, story editor), Sharon Janis (editor)

First Posted: 06/29/2024
Last Updated: 06/30/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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