For some reason, the Big Bad who employs a Master of Illusion never worries that he himself might be enthralled or under their control. Interestingly, the Master of Illusion will very rarely turn out to be the Big Bad - this is because they're far less interested in ruling people than they are in just screwing with them. how would you know? Could you ever really be sure that you defeated the Master of Illusion and escaped? Why is Schrödinger's Butterfly flapping nearby? Once the villain is destroyed, the world they create usually dissolves into nothingness - provided the defeat or death of the Master of Illusion wasn't part of the illusion itself.Īnd really, as a hero. Of course, this could-and usually does - give the heroes the time and/or chance to think up a way to counter the Master of Illusion's powers, or leave clues that they are in an illusion in the first place, such as a Blank Book. But again, what would be the fun in doing something as simple as that? Masters of Illusion, having Trickster personalities by the very nature of their powers, will usually not be able to resist playing with their prey. It would be easy enough, after all, to trick an enemy into killing himself: use some variant of the " This Is Not a Floor" trick destroy a spaceship by having its crewmembers press the wrong buttons and steer it into the nearest star kill the heroes by having them confuse each other for enemies and fatally attack each other. Masters of Illusion really needn't bother with such elaborate setups. This gives the Master of Illusion the chance to screw with the hero's mind (and body, depending on how far the writers let things go.)
In more insidious cases, the Master of Illusion will appear to the hero as a romantic interest, either one the hero knows, or one that's been created whole cloth out of the hero's own memories and desires. If the Master of Illusion traps a hero in a Lotus-Eater Machine,-or in a simulation of their ordinary, everyday life-they'll frequently appear as an ally of the hero, using this form to distract the hero from discovering their true whereabouts, or as part of a ruse to trick the hero into revealing some important confidential information.
Most Masters of Illusion aren't content to just let their VR deathtrap program play out by itself - what would be the fun in that after all? So they'll frequently appear in the simulation, usually as a cackling, monstrous tormentor who plays cat and mouse games with the hero and who mocks their every step. Of course, death or injury in the simulation will usually mean death or injury in real life, so any hero thus ensnared will have to be careful.
A common variant is for the Master of Illusion to trap the hero in a virtual reality simulation over which the villain has complete control. Despite lacking obvious means of attack like with Pyrokinesis and Telekinesis, they can use a Faux Flame to burn, though resolute heroes may resist, or making a gaping hole seem like an even floor. Such powers are usually psychic in origin, although they can also be technological as well, creating Holograms which can be especially dangerous when they can make them solid (holograms also carry the bonus of being able to fool electronic surveillance). Instead, they will hone it into a fine art form milking it for as much trickery, espionage, and/or personal pleasure as they can derive from it. Most villains (and the occasional hero, but this is largely a villain power), if given the chance, will employ magic or mechanisms to confuse their enemies and render them vulnerable, but a Master of Illusion will go beyond merely using such trickery as a tool.
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