| Psyche Master | |
| Gender | Male |
| Race | Smurf |
| Nationality | Originally Smurf Village, unknown clan |
| Occupation | Leader of Psychelia |
| Alignment | Unknown |
| Marital Status | Unknown, possibly separated |
| Known Relations | Psyche Mother (lover, separated) Psyches ("children") |
| Residence | Psychelia |
| Voice Actor | Rick D. Wasserman, Corey Burton, and LaMonica Garrett (Desired) |
| First Appearance | Empath: The Luckiest Smurf (novel) |
| Universe | Empath: The Luckiest Smurf |
| Gallery | |
"The Psyches are my children, and I do not wish to see my children become polluted with the ways of savage beings."
The Psyche Master is a character that appears in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series.
History[]
Originally a Smurf who possessed the same type of telepathic and telekinetic abilities that Empath himself possesses, he left the Smurf Village centuries prior to Empath's birth to create his own race of beings called the Psyches. According to what was revealed in Smurf history records, he tried to take over the entire village, but his fellow Smurfs resisted him and thus he was exiled from the village so that he would no longer pose a threat to anyone.
The Psyche Master learned of Empath's abilities when Papa Smurf brought him to Psychelia some time after his birth and told the father that he could train the child, but Empath had to be left in Psychelia in order to do so. Not willing to take no for an answer, the Psyche Master coerced Papa Smurf through a painful demonstration of his power to leave Empath, which resulted in the young child crying out to his father being etched into his memory. The Psyche Master subjected Empath to a painful procedure that erased all of Empath's memory except for Papa Smurf leaving him, then placed him in the care of the Psyche Mother until sometime before his "day of emergence", when he was placed inside a gestation chamber and programmed with what the Psyche Master wanted him to know. Empath would then along with his fellow Psyches, as they require only a year to reach the state of a young child. With the Psyches trained to believe that beings like the Smurfs were savage creatures, any knowledge that Empath was a Smurf was suppressed by the Psyche Master, so the Psyches were only led to believe that Empath was simply a prototype Psyche -- a thought that Empath had also shared of himself, which made him wonder why he was so different.
Around Empath's 70th birthday, the Psyche Master allowed Papa Smurf to see the child in his chambers, which made the elder Smurf upset when he realized that Empath now saw him as a "savage being". Though reluctant at first with the idea, the Psyche Master allowed Papa Smurf to have Empath visit the Smurf for a single year so that he could learn all there was about being a Smurf, as long as what Empath learns doesn't interfere with his studies in Psychelia. This would be the first of several visits every ten years that the Psyche Master allowed Empath to go on, after which he would be subjected to a procedure that would suppress everything Empath had learned in the Smurf Village so no other Psyche would know from Empath's thoughts who he really was. However, one of the Psyches, Polaris, would learn over time that his partner Empath was a Smurf, but he used that knowledge to help Empath maintain his mental and emotional control in Psychelia.
Over the years, though, the accumulation of what Empath learned about himself as a Smurf began to affect him to the point where the Psyche Master had to use strong methods to keep the young Smurf under control, particularly with thoughts of leaving Psychelia. By the time of Empath's 150th birthday, according to the arrangement he had made with Papa Smurf, the Psyche Master had Empath permanently exiled from Psychelia and returned to the Smurf Village for good, stating that Empath's mind was so clouded with thoughts and feelings that didn't belong to a true Psyche. After Empath's departure, the Psyche Master tried to erase everything Polaris knew about Empath from his mind, as the other Psyches were programmed to now treat Empath as an outsider. However, the erasure procedures had failed, and Polaris was more attracted to leaving Psychelia to see the Smurf Village for himself so he could be with his friend Empath.
A year after Empath's departure, Polaris fled from Psychelia, only to bring the Psychelian Guard Elite after him. Empath fought off the Guard Elite and brought Polaris to the Smurf Village to help him recover, but the Psyche Master sent more of the Guard Elite to the village to force the Smurfs to surrender Polaris. Empath and the Smurfs tried to fight off the Guard Elite, but were overmatched. Realizing that the Psyche Master could potentially destroy them, Empath decided he would return to Psychelia with Polaris to negotiate for his release. The Psyche Master, however, was not willing to do so, and with Polaris more willing to die than be subject to the Psyche Master again, the Psyche Master proceeded to use the full might of his power to kill his underling. Empath stepped in to protect Polaris by using his mindlink power to repel the Psyche Master's energy discharge, then threatened to reveal to the Psyches who the Psyche Master really was unless Polaris was released. Realizing that Empath now had the power to make good on his threat, the Psyche Master decided to permanently exile Polaris from Psychelia, making sure nobody among the Psyches knew that their master was a Smurf.
Much of the Psyche Master's history remains unknown at this point, but sometime in the future he had one last moment of contact with Empath before he passed away, bequeathing Empath with such power that was passed onto his great-grandson Polaris, who eventually became the Smurf known as Traveler.
Personality[]
The Psyche Master has a somewhat megalomaniacal personality about him, always believing that he alone knows what's best for everybody and that he alone has the solutions that can make things better for all living creatures. He tends to speak in a very omnipotent tone, insisting on his right to be heard regardless of what the other person he has a conversation with thinks, and has very little patience dealing with those who are antagonistic. He uses his abilities to the end of controlling his people in Psychelia as mindless drones and can be very brutal in punishing those that resist his will. Around Empath, the Psyche Master has a more fatherly influence as he is the only other Smurf that exists among a group of people totally different from his own, though he does not coddle his charge, nor does he permit Empath to ever wear a Smurf hat in Psychelia because he sees it as an offensive symbol.
Despite his deep-seated hatred for his own original race, the Psyche Master refuses to annihilate the Smurfs and will actively prevent the Psyches from doing so under their own volition. He would rather see the Smurfs indoctrinated to Psychelian beliefs than utterly destroy them. And despite Empath's status as being an exile of Psychelia, the Psyche Master still watches over him in the hopes that Empath would someday forsake the way of the Smurfs and take his place as the successor to the Psyche Master. He even offered to raise Empath's daughter Psycheliana so that she would not have to face the discrimination of being treated differently for being a telepath, but Empath adamantly refused, and so the Psyche Master simply lets Empath and Smurfette have full control over their daughter's upbringing without any interference from him.
Appearance[]
In his normal Smurf appearance, he wears a long white beard and a sky blue robe with glowing highlights. He chooses to appear only in the form of a humanoid head within a column of rainbow-colored light in his interactions with other beings, including the Psyches.
Possible Voice Actor[]
The Psyche Master would probably be voiced by Rick D. Wasserman, who was the voice actor of the Arishok in the Dragon Age II videogame. Another possibility would be Corey Burton, who was the voice of the Master Control Program in Kingdom Hearts II. A third alternative would be LaMonica Garrett, who played Mar Novu, the Monitor, in the CW Network's Crisis On Infinite Earths TV crossover mini-series.
Notes[]
- The Psyche Master is modeled after the Master Control Program (or MCP) from Walt Disney's TRON.