This page is for the third Mastermind, Martinique Jason
- For the original Mastermind, see Jason Wyngarde
- For the second Mastermind, see Mastermind
- For the Fourth Mastermind, see Lady Mastermind
Origin
Martinique Jason, daughter of the original Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), was originally hired by Arcade amidst a string of murders in London. The victims were all killed by what appeared to be Wolverine‘s claws. One of the victims, Alexandra Davies, was an old friend of Gambit, who had come to London to investigate her death. Using her powers, Martinique nearly caused the two X-Men to kill each other. In the end, Martinique found out that she was being used as a pawn in Arcade’s twisted plan; he had killed his assistant Miss Locke, convinced himself that the real murderer was Wolverine, and declared revenge on him using the powers of Mastermind. Disgusted, Martinique left London, but not before she implanted a recurring nightmare into Arcade’s mind — an elevator full of Lockes with Arcade himself as the elevator operator.
Creation
Martinique Jason was created by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. She first appeared in Wolverine/Gambit: Victims #2 in September 1995.
Character Evolution
Martinique was next seen in the services of Mystique‘s reformed Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. She was involved in the assassination plot of Senator Kelly, but was apprehended and placed under the control of a virtual reality helmet. However, her time in prison did not last long when Madrox broke her out in order for her to help Banshee‘s X-Corps, a paramilitary group he formed to control the European mutant population.
She was drugged, placed in a tank, and used to keep the villains on the team in control by telepathically broadcasting pain into their brains whenever they acted out of line. Her old teammate, Mystique, soon infiltrated the team and rescued her and the other villains.
Major Story Arcs
“The Goddess”
In Uncanny X-Men story arc, Divided, Martinique was found on the streets of San Francisco by a group of hippies, lying unconscious after M-Day. After tapping into the thoughts of the hippies, particularly the one known as Eli, Martinique began to use her illusion powers to transform San Francisco back to what it was like in the 1960s (specifically 1969), also known as the age of love. After Angel notices something off in San Francisco, he calls Cyclops and Emma Frost, both of whom are vacationing in the Savage Land. Angel continues to fly through the city, searching for the origin of the disturbance, until he gets himself caught in Martinique’s illusion. Emma and Cyclops soon head for San Francisco, and once there, Emma hides them from the view of the people already caught in the illusion by creating an illusion of her own, that causes them to appear in clothing similar to the style of the 60’s era. She then uses her telepathy to discover that either a very powerful mutant or one who has lost complete control of their powers, is causing this distortion.
Although Emma attempts to locate the source of the illusion, she is unable to do so, as Martinique uses her power to shut Emma out. Martinique, who clearly has no idea who she is, now believes that she is a Goddess thanks to the encouragement of the hippies who found her. After learning of the X-Men from Emma’s telepathic intrusion, she asks the one known as Eli who the X-Men are, and he in turn, replies that they are very bad people, causing Martinique to send the police trapped in her illusion after them, although the two X-Men manage to escape.
Martinique then remembers her real name and she attempts to lead Emma and Cyclops into a trap by letting Emma follow her mind. Cyclops and Emma are aware that this is a trap, but follow the trail anyway. When the two arrive at Martinique’s location, they discover a hippie version of the X-Men; Warpath (Hippie Name: “Rising Sun”), Iceman (Hippy Name: “Frosty”), Angel (Hippie Name: “Angel”) and Hepzibah (Hippie Name: “Lady Kitten”) all of whom have been trapped under the illusion and are ready to battle. After being defeated, and the illusion broken by Emma, Martinique escapes and manages to leave San Fransisco undetected.
Sisterhood of Evil Mutants
Martinique is then recruited to join the Red Queen’s Sisterhood of Evil Mutant along with Chimera, Spiral, Lady Deathstrike, and her sister,Lady Mastermind, whom she despises. After using her powers to help resurrect the Psylocke’s original body, she and the rest of the Sisterhood attack the X-Men’s headquarters. After the Red Queen is defeated, Spiral teleports the remaining members of the Sisterhood to safety, including Martinique.
Pixie’s Sister
She is next seen in Pixie Strikes Back, as Pixie‘s mother is attempting to find her daughter again. Mrs Gwynn claims Jason Wyngarde fathered Pixie, thus making her the third Mastermind daughter.
Powers and Abilities
Telepathically Illusions
Like her father and sister, Martinique has the power to create elaborate psionic illusions. Although, like her sister, Martinique also possesses minor telepathic capabilities which she uses to make her illusions all the more accurate and convincing. It was only recently revealed, just how powerful Martinique’s illusions actually are, when she created an illusion over the entirety of down town San Francisco, turning it into the “Decade of Love”. During this time, she was also able to protect herself from Emma’s telepathy.
Characteristics
- Known Relatives: Jason Wyngarde aka Mastermind (father, deceased), Regan Wyngarde aka Lady Mastermind (half-sister) , Megan Gwynn aka Pixie (half-sister).
- Citizenship: U.K.
- Marital Status: Single
- Occupation: Mercenary
- Education: Unrevealed
- Place of Birth: Wimbledon Village, London, England
- Hair: Brown
- Eyes: Blue
- Height: 5’10”
- Weight: 130 lbs.
- Gender: Female
Other Versions
X-Men: The End
Martinique, along with her sister, is an ally of Mr. Sinister and works with Regan to trap various X-Men within illusions.