The MASTER of the HUNT
The MASTER of the HUNT
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-93060/ "Ultraverse") mutate
Occupation: Hunter;
previous occupation unrevealed
Group Membership: Associated with Biotex
Affiliations: Brief semi-collaborative interaction with the San Francisco Police Department, notably Captain Jacob Rome;
formerly the Bloodhounds
Enemies: Death-Angel/Lost Angel, Freex (Anything/Lewis Phillips, Boom Boy/Ray Golic, Plug/Michael Rafani, Pressure/Valerie Sharp, Sweet-Face/Angela Salazar), Ruby;
Known Relatives: None (see comments)
Aliases: None revealed
Base of Operations: San Francisco, California (Earth-93060)
First Appearance: Freex#3 (September, 1993);
(identified) Freex#4 (October, 1993)
Powers/Abilities: The Master of the Hunt has superhuman senses (especially ophthalmic/vision and acoustic/hearing) and tracking (presumably a combination of enhanced olfactory sense (smelling) and skill/experience); he considers himself to be able to hear, see, and track better than any man on Earth.
He apparently regularly took handfuls of medications to maintain his physical condition and/or mental state.
He carries a handgun that he can load with various pellets/capsules, such as ones containing anesthetic or other types of gas, or others that discharge a powerful electric charge on impact (three of these were used to take down the rock-hard-skinned Ray/Boom Boy). He presumably carries other such pellets in his belt pouches or bandoleer.
The Master of the Hunt is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, able to take down superhuman beings, albeit less-experienced/aggressive ones. He will use whatever is within reach to his advantage in combat.
He is a highly skilled marksman and an experienced equestrian. He has
access to horses for himself and his Bloodhounds as needed.
Having previously suffered severe burns, he fears being burned again, although he was willing and able to remain within a burning building and to use flaming pieces of wood to his own advantage.
He previously used the Bloodhounds as his agents, but his willingness to sacrifice them to save himself led them to turn against him.
Height:
Unrevealed (he's not clearly shown in a standing comparison to someone
of known height, but he looked to be at least a foot taller than the
5'2" Sweetface, so perhaps 6'2"-6'4")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 225 lbs.)
Eyes: Apparently brown (sometimes shown with a reddish-tinge or even occasionally as solid red)
Hair: Gray (more white on back and sides); presumably brown or black in youth
History:
(Freex#5 (fb) - BTS) - The engineers of Biotex plucked the badly burned man who who would become the Master of the Hunt from a laboratory fire and remade him to hear, see, and track better than any man on Earth.
(Freex#5
(fb) - BTS)
- The engineers of Biotex combined man, dog, and technology to create
the Bloodhounds, who possessed heightened senses, iron limbs, steel
jaws, and acid teeth.
(Freex#4
(fb) - BTS)
- The Master of the Hunt described himself as a skeleton kept alive by
American science, a deformed half-man in service of those who rebuilt
him. He apparently regularly took handfuls of medications to maintain
his physical condition and/or mental state.
(Freex#4 (fb) - BTS) - The Master of the Hunt had some past experiences with the being known as Lost Angel (or Death-Angel to him), and he felt like he knew the angel's tricks.
(Freex#3 (fb) - BTS) - After Pressure/Valerie aided Rush in destroying a Biotex laboratory, Biotex sent the Master of the Hunt and his Bloodhounds to take down the Freex.
(Freex#3 - BTS) - The San Francisco Police Department's Captain Jacob Rome (Rush's father, although Jacob didn't know it at the time) was given orders to stand down.
(Freex#3) - The Master of the Hunt and his Bloodhounds met with Rome, assuring him they would clean up the biological accident quickly and instructing him to leave he and his agents to their work.
Seeing shadowy figures approaching, Rush prepared to confront them to "show 'em what we can do," but Plug (occupying a robot) stopped him, saving him from a number of darts fired by the Master.
As Plug,
Pressure, and Rush fled, the malleable Anything slipped under the
Master and Bloodhound's feet, tripping them up while Boom Boy/Ray and
Sweetface/Angela pulled their allies into a tree. The Master then sent his
Bloodhounds to locate their targets, and Rush parted ways with the
Freex.
(Freex#4) - As his hounds sought the Freex's scent in the wet grass, the Master considered their fear and despair. Resenting his own condition and service to those who rebuilt him, the Master mocked the Freex's desire to be left alone. He and his hounds located the Freex while Plug's mind was in cyberspace.
Hearing the Bloodhounds' baying, Pressure rushed to engage them, but she was swiftly struck down a blast, presumably from the Master of the Hunt. As a Bloodhound picked up Plug's robot body, Ray rushed to engage them one of the Bloodhounds bit him in the neck, instilling toxin even though his stone-like skin.
Sweetface pulled that Bloodhound away with a tendril, which the Bloodhound subsequently tore in half. With Angela in pain, Ray punched down that Bloodhound, but then passed out from the bite. Anything pulled Ray back to the others, and they elected to flee, leaving Plug's robotic body in the Master of the Hunt's hands.
As a Bloodhound rubbed its injured jaw, the Master of the Hunt acknowledged that Ray was strong and would have killed 10 humans with a punch like that. He continued that while the punch had injured the Bloodhound, it had still brought him what he needed. Connecting Plug's robot form to a power line, he heard Michael's form communicating with an "angel" in a "garden." Recognizing this as the Death-Angel, the Master vowed that Death-Angel wouldn't get these and they were his.
As Plug returned his consciousness to the robot, the Master had his Bloodhounds restrain the robotic form, taking it away from the tower; the Master taunted Plug that he had been learning so much about them and asked if he wouldn't like to know what he hadn't learned.
After the other Freex were taken in by Ruby, the Master of the Hunt ambushed them in Ruby's home, shooting her; another Bloodhound carried Plug's inert robot form.
(Freex#5) - As one of the Bloodhounds held Angela by the neck, the Master of the Hunt taunted to them to use their powers more quickly than a Bloodhound's claw. Telling the others to let Ruby die, he advised them that they and he were masterpieces of bioengineering, invincible when they were useful to the powers that be and dangerous when they were not. When Plug's robot body broke in, the Master tore it apart, after which he noted his own origins and those of the Freex and consumed another handful of pills. When Angela asked if Biotex could make them normal, the Master mocked her, noting that being normal would get them killed, as it was a world of animals, with the big ones eating the little ones.
Expelling the gas from his form,
Anything confronted the Master again as Ruby's apartment burst into
flames. Noting his dislike of the flames, the Master nonetheless
smashed a burning board over Anything's head and then instructed a
Bloodhound to go for his brain. Seeking to help his friend, Ray
battered the Bloodhounds until the Master fired a three pellets into
his back that incapacitated him with an electrical discharge. Comments: Created by Gerard Jones, Ben Herrera, and Mike Christian.
In Freex#3, the Master of the Hunt noted that he and his Bloodhounds knew their work and that most accidents were cleaned up in minutes. But the, he dramatically added, "although a few...can take sixteen years." That implied to me that he had a 16 year-old child, and I thought it was hinted that it was one of the Freex (like Pressure), but I don't see anything along those lines covered in reviewing the issues.
Pressure (Valerie Sharp) was supposed to have steam powers, but she was frequently shown causing fires and fiery explosions.
This profile was completed 5/31/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Master of the Hunt should be distinguished from:
Freex#3, pg. 14, panel 6 (entrance; distant);
pg. 15, panel 2 (cloaked face);
pg. 18, panel 4 (uncloaked, upper body, with Bloodhounds)
#4, last page (full body);
#5, pg. 2, panel 5 (throwing down Plug/Michael's robot body);
pg. 8, panel 4 (firing gas pellet from gun);
pg. 22, panel 1 (burnt);
pg. 23, panel 2 (attacked by Bloodhound, in flames)
Appearances:
Freex#3 (September, 1993) - Gerard Jones (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Mike Christian (inker), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#4 (October, 1993) - Gerard Jones (writer), David Williams (penciler), Michael Christian (inker), Hank Kanalz (editor)
Freex#5 (December, 1993) - Gerard Jones (writer), Ben Herrera (penciler), Larry Welch (inker), Hank Kanalz (editor)
First posted: 09/30/2021
Last updated: 09/29/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!