# The Master — Short Fiction character guide

> The Master in Short Fiction by Robert E. Howard.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0037-iii-the-master-of-doom

## Snapshot

A crime lord whose touch is everywhere and whose face is nowhere, devising disguises so crafty that a man in an ape-skin passes for a beast.

## Who they are

The Master works through proxies, gauntlets, and staged clues, leaving no real trace of his hand while others wear the guilt. The narrator, once his ally, moves through the night in a grotesque ape costume, testing a driver's dry shoes for betrayal and wondering whether Gordon will believe a dope-crazed stranger's word. The Master's genius for misdirection is the engine of the early arc, turning every ally into a possible instrument and every clue into a lie.

## Relationships

### [John Gordon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se/characters/john_gordon)

_rivalry_

John Gordon opposes the sinister entity known as The Master in a battle of wills.

### [John Gordon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se/characters/john_gordon)

_rivalry_

John Gordon opposes the sinister entity known as The Master in a battle of wills.

### [John Gordon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se/characters/john_gordon)

_rivalry_

John Gordon opposes the sinister entity known as The Master in a battle of wills.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se/characters/the_master
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_47_se/characters