The Grandmaster
Real Name: En Dwi Gast
First Appearance: Avengers 69
Died In: Marvel Super Heroes Contest of Champions 3
Got Better In: West Coast Avengers Annual 2/Avengers Annual 16
What's His Problem? The Grandmaster is an Elder of the Universe, one of a handful of beings who have lived since shortly after the Big Bang and are the last known survivors of their respective races. These beings helped create the universe as we know it. The Elders sustain their lives in part through their monomaniacal obsessions with certain things--in Gast's case, games. The Grandmaster is forever playing games of chance, skill or strategy, often conscripting mortals as his pawns. Once aptly described as a "galactic gambling addict," Gast usually plays his games for absurdly high stakes--everything from the Earth to the universe itself! Given the Grandmaster's vast power, said stakes seldom have a say in the matter...
Powers: As an Elder, Gast has a potentially indefinite life span so long as he sustains the will to live, which he does through his gaming. The Grandmaster, like most Elders, also has the ill-defined ability to manipulate "cosmic energy" for a variety of effects, such as matter restructuring, concussive force and energy constructs. The Grandmaster's cosmic power seems virtually limitless: he can create or destroy worlds at a whim, and is even capable of resurrecting mortals from the dead. Like most Elders, the Grandmaster is currently unable to die since Death (the personification of the abstract force) barred the Elders from her realm after an attempt to overthrow her.
Favorite Quote: "Fate has spoken. I have been defeated. And I must abide by the rules of the game." -- Giant-Size Defenders 3. The Grandmaster, ever the graceful loser, forfeits mastery of the Earth after losing a coin toss to Daredevil.
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: The Grandmaster often employs Earth's heroes as his pawns, and once conscripted every super hero on Earth for a game with Death herself. Heroes he has used in other games include the Avengers, the Defenders and the Squadron Supreme.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Grandmaster is fairly chummy with his fellow Elders, especially the Collector, whom he once resurrected by forfeiting his own life to Death. The Grandmaster has also employed willing pawns on occasion, such as the villainous Squadron Sinister, whom he created in imitation of the Squadron Supreme.
Most Despicable Act: The Grandmaster once lured the Avengers into Death's realm and slew most of them in a torturous battle with his Legion of the Unliving for the fate of the universe, destroying a fifth of reality in the process. He might have destroyed the rest had he not been suckered into a rigged game of chance by Hawkeye--though in actuality, Grandmaster wanted to lose so that Death, his captive, would then banish Grandmaster and the other Elders from her realm for all time lest they threaten her again--thus making the Elders completely immortal. Crafty devil, isn't he?
by Sean McQuaid
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