# Ras Thavas — The Master Mind of Mars character guide > Ras Thavas in The Master Mind of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Thavas, old Ras Thavas, the master surgeon **First appearance:** 0001-the-master-mind-of-mars ## Snapshot Barsoom's most gifted surgeon, a thousand-year-old genius who swaps brains between bodies and trusts no one whose mind he can read. ## Who they are Ras Thavas rules a remote tower where he buys, trades, and transplants living bodies with the calm of a man changing coats. He keeps his own thoughts sealed like one of his blood jars, and he chooses the Earthman Ulysses Paxton as his apprentice precisely because Paxton's alien mind stays unreadable. His cold rationality collides with Paxton's sentimentality, and his refusal to die drives every bargain he makes. ## Relationships ### [Valla Dia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/valla_dia) _psychological_ Ras Thavas is obsessed with Valla Dia, using her as a subject for his brain-transplant experiments. ### [Gor Hajus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/gor_hajus) _professional_ Gor Hajus has a tense professional relationship with Ras Thavas, often needing his surgical skills. ### [Yamdor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/yamdor) _professional_ Ras Thavas employs Yamdor as his assistant and henchman in his surgical experiments. ### [Hovan Du](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/hovan_du) _professional_ Hovan Du interacts with Ras Thavas primarily for medical and surgical purposes. ### [Xaxa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/xaxa) _professional_ Ras Thavas serves Xaxa as a skilled surgeon, though he is morally detached from her cruelty. ### [Dar Tarus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/dar_tarus) _professional_ Dar Tarus reluctantly relies on Ras Thavas for his surgical expertise to save Valla Dia. ### [Xaxa](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/xaxa) _professional_ Ras Thavas serves Xaxa as a skilled surgeon, though he is morally detached from her cruelty. ### [Gor Hajus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/gor_hajus) _professional_ Gor Hajus has a tense professional relationship with Ras Thavas, often needing his surgical skills. ### [Yamdor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/yamdor) _professional_ Ras Thavas employs Yamdor as his assistant and henchman in his surgical experiments. ### [Valla Dia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/valla_dia) _psychological_ Ras Thavas is obsessed with Valla Dia, using her as a subject for his brain-transplant experiments. ### [Hovan Du](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/hovan_du) _professional_ Hovan Du interacts with Ras Thavas primarily for medical and surgical purposes. ### [Dar Tarus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/dar_tarus) _professional_ Dar Tarus reluctantly relies on Ras Thavas for his surgical expertise to save Valla Dia. ## In the story ### [The Master Mind of Mars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/the-master-mind-of-mars) Introduced as the master surgeon of Barsoom, a genius whose skill in brain transfer and surgery defines the chapter's central conflict. ### [The House of the Dead](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/i-the-house-of-the-dead) The withered old surgeon who performs the brain transplant; initially appears as a mysterious, irritable figure. ### [Preferment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/ii-preferment) The old surgeon of Toonol; trains Vad Varo in his laboratory; explains his scientific, unsentimental worldview; reveals the identity of Xaxa and the story of the resurrected slave. ### [Valla Dia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/iii-valla-dia) The master surgeon who views Valla Dia as merely a scientific subject. He revives her against the narrator's wishes and later takes him to observe two experimental cases in the vaults. ### [The Compact](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/iv-the-compact) Trains the narrator in surgery, proposes the compact for brain transfer, and agrees to restore Valla Dia's body. ### [Danger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/v-danger) Awakens in a new, beautiful body with his cold, thousand-year-old brain; plots to destroy Valla Dia and orders Yamdor to stage a cover-up. ### [Suspicions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/vi-suspicions) Suspicious of Vad Varo, he orders espionage and confronts him about Valla Dia's disappearance, but denies involvement. ### [XIV: John Carter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/chapters/xiv-john-carter) Arrives seeking aid against Toonol, agrees to reform his scientific work. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters/ras_thavas - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_master_mind_of_mars_se/characters