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| “ | I just, I gotta say... I'm proud of you all. This revolution has been a huge success. Yay us! Pat-pat on the back. Pat on the back, come on. No? Me too, because I've been a big part of it. Can't have a revolution without somebody overthrown. So, uh, you're welcome. And, uh, it's a tie. | „ |
| ~ The Grandmaster after being overthrown by the rebels. |
The Grandmaster is the secondary antagonist of the 2017 Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: Ragnarok. Variants of him also serve as minor characters in What If..?. He returns in Season 2 as the titular main antagonist of “What If…? Iron Man Crashed Into The Grandmaster?”
He is the ruler of the planet Sakaar who enjoys putting life-forms into gladiatorial fights for his own amusement.
He was portrayed by Jeff Goldblum.
His Evil Ranking[]
His Villainous Deeds[]
Background[]
- At some point, before the events the film, he became obsessed with manipulating life-forms into fighting each other nearly to death.
- He became the ruler of the planet Sakaar and became a tyrant. He presided over the Contest of Champions, a gladiatorial event held in an arena where slaves would be subject to battle. Grandmaster would at some point take under his wing one of the Valkyries after their massacre by Hela. Scrapper 142 became not only the servant of Grandmaster but also his bodyguard alongside Topaz.
Thor: Ragnarok[]
- When Thor and Loki end up being banished from Asgard by Hela, they end up crash-landing on Sakaar, where Thor is enslaved and becomes a gladiator while Loki manages to win the Grandmaster's favor and becomes an ally of his.
- He executes his own cousin with a melt stick. Prior to that he says he's "officially pardoned...from life". While his cousin committed treason, it was still extreme and even Thor was horrified by it. Though he didn't take pleasure in killing him, he later complains and is more disgusted at stepping in the muddle of organic matter. This shows he has no familial loyalty and is willing to sacrifice anyone to maintain his power. When asking Topaz what it smells like, he snickers when she responds "burnt toast".
- He and Loki arrange a fight between Thor and the Hulk, where the Grandmaster informs Thor that he will grant his freedom if he defeats the Hulk.
- While he initially promised that Thor would leave if Sakaar, he secretly rigs and sabotages the fight by activating the Obedience Disk, a paralysing chip in Thor's neck.
- Throughout the plot involving Sakaar, the device produces extreme electrical shocks to the person it is attached to, causing them great pain and incapacitating them and has been used on several prisoners to keep them.
- Though, Thor and Loki call him a lunatic, they are 100% justified given his eccentric nature and enslavement of other beings
- Ordered a celebration of his champion to hopefully draw him out.
- Sends Loki and Valykrie to hunt down Thor and the Hulk, when the two of are trying to escape Sakaar.
- Though he was rightly upset with Loki and Valkyrie when Thor and Hulk tried to escape Sakaar because Loki had been tasked with keeping an eye on Thor and Hulk, and Valkyrie was supposed to assist the Grandmaster's rule, he also says the good thing about being upset is "having someone to blame".
- Although he is surprised Topaz gave him the melt stick, it is mainly because she did it just after Loki interrupted him mid-sentence rather than out of morality. He also reminds Topaz that it wasn't a "capital violation".
- He is indirectly responsible for Loki and Valyrie later teaming with Thor and Hulk. After coming to blows with Loki and reliving the deaths of her fellow Valkyries (thanks to Loki's magic), 142 decides to help Thor in defeating Hela, even capturing Loki to prove her goodwill.
- Him changing his mind about a public execution is also pragamtic especially when Loki and Valkyrie challenge each other to see who reaches Thor and Hulk-Loki says he could do it 12 hrs while Valkyrie plans to do in 2.
- Using a holographic projection, Grandmaster announced that Thor had escaped and ordered the people and his bodyguards to not let him leave the planet.
- His influence causes Loki to betray Thor again and turn him over to the Grandmaster, but Thor anticipates this and paralyses Loki with the Obedince Disk. Thor then calls out Loki for his predictability while the latter is paralysed.
- Despite being overthrown and rebels defeating his forces, he attempts to appease them by taking credit for the revolution and claiming that a revolution cannot be had without having someone to overthrow, declaring the revolution "a tie".
- Though not a horrible boss to his subordinates, his association with Topaz and the Sakaaran Guards is professional, as he uses them to enforce his rule on Sakaar and and it's unknown if he cares for them beyond their loyalty and usefulness.
- His friendships with Loki and Valkyrie, though initially genuine is subverted. Despite harboring no animosity, he turns against them when they help Thor and Hulk leave Sakaar.
- While Hela and Surtur do worse than him, they are far more powerful and dangerous. Hela has more screen time, more personal villainy towards Thor, Loki and Valkyrie and similar or more resources which she uses on a larger scale. Her ambition threatens both Asgard and Nine Realms. Surtur, despite having the least screen time and resources destroyed Asgard to fulfil Ragnarok, a prosphecy that dooms Asgard and Thor and Loki needed him to finally beat Hela. However, the Grandmaster stands apart given his vast technology, use of control disks and hosting gladiatorial combat.
- Despite the MCU featuring several cosmic threats and tyrants, his deadly combat games allow him to stand apart despite his lesser power.
- He is the only major villain alive at the end of the film and hardly faces any punishment for his actions.
Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]
- Although he passes the baseline due to his tyrannical rule over Sakaar, enslaving other life forms and forcing them into gladiator contests which he runs for personal gain and amusement, he fails the MCU's high heinous standards to several villains such as Loki (who attempting to destroy Jotunheim, invaded Earth and attacked New York with an alien army), Ronan (who tried to destroy the planet Xander), Ultron (who nearly destroyed Sokovia in an attempt at wiping out humanity), Thanos (who massacred multiple planets and wanted to wipe out half the universe), Odin (who, prior to his redemption, massacred multiple planets across the Nine Realms), Supreme Intelligence (who tried to expand its empire across the universe and lead a genocidal crusade against the Skrulls and Xandarians), and Malekith (who sacrifice swarm of his men and tried to destroy the Nine Realms with similar resources).
- He is constantly played for laughs and has several comedic moments such as his interactions with Thor, Loki and Valkyrie, calling Asgard as "Ass-place! and "Ass-berg", repeatedly calling Thor the "Lord of Thunder", disliking the world slaves and preferring the term "prisoners with jobs" and being surprised when Topaz gave him the melt stick even though Loki merely interrupted him. Therefore, he is too comedic to be Near Pure Evil.
- He's genuinely affable to anyone he greets. Loki even described him as "a lunatic, but amenable".
- He has standards as he immediately berates Topaz for handing him the melt stick after Loki simply interrputed him. While he was rightly annoyed at Loki for interrupting him mid-sentence, he still found her reaction too extreme and disproportionate. However, given that he used it on his own cousin and the scene is played for humour, this is a minor prevention.
Trivia[]
- Unlike most of the traditional villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Grandmaster (alongside the Collector) is considered to be a unique type of villain as he had shown no hatred or animosity towards Thor, 142, Loki or Hulk/Bruce Banner (the same action that was shown by the Collector towards the Guardians of the Galaxy), had a sense of humor as well as eccentric qualities and mannerisms. Despite his villainous motivations he can't be considered a major threat.
- The Grandmaster is believed to be the main antagonist of Thor: Ragarok, being the main threat of Thor's escape from Sakaar. But he is absent from the film's climax, with Hela taking over the role as the antagonist.
External Links[]
- Grandmaster on the Villains Wiki
- Grandmaster on the Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
- Grandmaster on the Disney Wiki
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 Villainous Benchmarks
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