Powers
Immortality: Like all Elders Grandmaster has been bared from Death's realm
Invulnerabilities: Class 1000 resistance vs Heat, Cold, Electricity, Radiation Toxins and Diseases
Power Primordial: Shift-X
- Shift-X Energy or Force Blast
- Forcefield Projection: Unearthly
- Death-Power: Victim must make a Shift-X Endurance FEAT or begin losing Endurance
- Transform molecular structure of matter at Unearthly ability.
- Teleport: Shift-X distances
- Bestow permanent powers up to Unearthly
- Resurrect dead up to 29.5 hour after death, this does not work on Immortals
- Bestow Death or Resurrection power on mortals for 5 minutes.
- Levitation: Incredible
- Cosmic Awareness: Monstrous
Talents
Games, Mathematics
Contacts
Other Elders of the Universe
History
As is the case with all of the Elders of the Universe, the Grandmaster's origin is lost in the early history of the universe. It is known that he is one of the oldest living beings in the universe. Like the other Elders, he is the survivor of one of the intelligent races that evolved in one of the first galaxies to form after the 'Big Bang', the cataclysmic event in which the universe was created. Although his race became extinct and even his native galaxy died as the ages passed, the Grandmaster, like the other Elders, lived on, having become virtually immortal. As the relatively few survivors of the earliest period of the universe, the Elders regard themselves as figuratively being brothers.
The Grandmaster has spent his extraordinarily long life in pursuit of amusement through the playing of games. He has traveled throughout the known universe, studying many civilizations' forms of games and play to the point of mastering them. He then began to devise his own types of tournaments and contests, challenging various opponents to games of skill and chance for high stakes.
Capable of traversing space, time, and the dimensions, the Grandmaster once journeyed to the alternate Earth inhabited by the Squadron Supreme to stage a contest of champions with the time-traveling Scarlet Centurion. The Grandmaster's standard method of playing games was to choose a team of champions to do combat with another team selected by his opponent. The Grandmaster used the Squadron as pawns for his games, while the Centurion assembled various of the Squadron's enemies as the Institute of Evil. Winning the contest, the Grandmaster determined to create his own Squadron, since the original Squadron was unwilling to participate in further games.
He returned to his own universe and transformed three Earthmen into counterparts of Squadron members Nighthawk, Dr. Spectrum, and the Whizzer. He also created a counterpart to Squadron member Hyperion out of non-living extradimensional matter and invested it with consciousness and artificial memories. These four counterparts became the criminal team known as the Squadron Sinister.
Having done this, the Grandmaster journeyed to the time period of Kang the Conqueror (a temporal counterpart of the Scarlet Centurion) and engaged him in a game. After Kang's champions, the Avengers, defeated the Squadron Sinister, the Grandmaster drafted the World War II heroes, the Invaders. If Kang won, the Grandmaster would briefly grant him the power of either life or death; if Kang lost, the Grandmaster would destroy the Earth. Fortunately, Kang's champions, the Avengers, triumphed.
Later, having returned to the 20th century, the Grandmaster used Daredevil and the Defenders as his pawns in a game against the Prime Mover, a robotic computer created by Doctor Doom.
Upon winning this match, the Grandmaster decided to take control of the Earth as a breeding ground for superhumanly powered pawns for his games, but gave up the Earth after losing a bet with Daredevil.
Although the Grandmaster can resurrect most living beings after their deaths, he cannot do so with virtually immortal beings like himself who are killed. Therefore, the Grandmaster was unable to resurrect his brother Elder, the Collector, after the latter had been murdered. Greatly distraught over the Collector's death, the Grandmaster challenged Death itself to a game. If the Grandmaster won, then the Collector would live; if he lost, then the Grandmaster too would die. The Grandmaster and Death each selected teams from among Earth's superhumans, and sent each team to find and do battle over possessing sections of a 'golden globe of life.'
The Grandmaster pledged that if his team won, he would never use Earth people as pawns in his games again. The Grandmaster's team indeed won, but then Death revealed that in order to use the golden globe to resurrect the Collector, the Grandmaster would have to forfeit his own life. Compelled by his sense of gamesmanship to see the game through to its conclusion, the Grandmaster died, and the Collector returned to life.
The Collector eventually played a game of his own with Death, pitting the East Coast and West Coast Avengers against each other. The battle acted as a diversion so that the Grandmaster could absorb Death's powers, but he was later distracted by Hawkeye and Death was freed.
Since that time the Grandmaster has allied with the other Elders in a scheme to kill Galactus. Due to the interference of the Silver Surfer, the plan failed.
Having done this, the Grandmaster journeyed to the time period of Kang the Conqueror (a temporal counterpart of the Scarlet Centurion) and engaged him in a game. After Kang's champions, the Avengers, defeated the Squadron Sinister, the Grandmaster drafted the World War II heroes, the Invaders. If Kang won, the Grandmaster would briefly grant him the power of either life or death; if Kang lost, the Grandmaster would destroy the Earth. Fortunately, Kang's champions, the Avengers, triumphed.
Later, having returned to the 20th century, the Grandmaster used Daredevil and the Defenders as his pawns in a game against the Prime Mover, a robotic computer created by Doctor Doom.
Upon winning this match, the Grandmaster decided to take control of the Earth as a breeding ground for superhumanly powered pawns for his games, but gave up the Earth after losing a bet with Daredevil.
Although the Grandmaster can resurrect most living beings after their deaths, he cannot do so with virtually immortal beings like himself who are killed. Therefore, the Grandmaster was unable to resurrect his brother Elder, the Collector, after the latter had been murdered. Greatly distraught over the Collector's death, the Grandmaster challenged Death itself to a game. If the Grandmaster won, then the Collector would live; if he lost, then the Grandmaster too would die. The Grandmaster and Death each selected teams from among Earth's superhumans, and sent each team to find and do battle over possessing sections of a 'golden globe of life.' The Grandmaster pledged that if his team won, he would never use Earth people as pawns in his games again. The Grandmaster's team indeed won, but then Death revealed that in order to use the golden globe to resurrect the Collector, the Grandmaster would have to forfeit his own life. Compelled by his sense of gamesmanship to see the game through to its conclusion, the Grandmaster died, and the Collector returned to life.
The Collector eventually played a game of his own with Death, pitting the East Coast and West Coast Avengers against each other. The battle acted as a diversion so that the Grandmaster could absorb Death's powers, but he was later distracted by Hawkeye and Death was freed.
Since that time the Grandmaster has allied with the other Elders in a scheme to kill Galactus. Due to the interference of the Silver Surfer, the plan failed.
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