Ringmaster (comics)

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caption=The Ringmaster.
Art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=The Ringmaster
real_name=Maynard Tiboldt
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="The Incredible Hulk " #3 (September 1962)
creators=Stan Lee
Steve Ditko
alliance_color=background:#c0c0ff
status=Active
alliances=
previous_alliances=Circus of Crime
aliases=Circus Master of Ceremonies; Mr. Thraller
powers=Hypnotic mind controlThe Ringmaster (real name Maynard Tiboldt) is a fictional supervillain who is featured in Marvel Comics. Since his first appearance in "Hulk" #3, he has turned up as a somewhat pathetic and luckless opponent for virtually every hero in the Marvel universe, ranging from Spider-Man to Howard the Duck.

He is a tall thin man who sports a Fu Manchu moustache and dresses in a green variation on the traditional circus ringmaster costume. Having acquired a hypnosis-wave generator originally created by the Red Skull and mounted said device in his costume's top hat, the Ringmaster's usual scheme is to lead the self-titled "Circus of Crime" into a community and rob the local citizenry as they attend his circus. Nearly every appearance of the Ringmaster ends with him being thrown back into jail, having been defeated by his current foe.

Fictional character biography

Maynard Tiboldt was born in Vienna, Austria.

The Ringmaster is a powerless man with a unique hat which is designed to hypnotise people, thus allowing him to take complete control over their actions. He originally travelled across America with his "Circus of Crime"; The Human Cannonball, The Clown, Bruto the Strongman, The Great Gambonnos (acrobats and gymnasts) and Princess Python, the Snake Charmer. During their show, he would hypnotise the crowd and send his lackies out to steal any valuables on the victim's person. This has, obviously, brought him into conflict with many heroes, such as She-Hulk and Howard the Duck. The super-hero capable of causing him the most grief is Daredevil, as the hero's blindness prevents Ringmaster from hypnotising him. Although he once attempted to reform by aiding Doc Samson in the therapy that created the Merged Hulk personality for Bruce Banner when his MPD was causing him serious psychological damage, the Ringmaster has remained a consistent villain.

The Ringmaster got a surgical-upgrade of his eyes, allowing him to use them to hypnotize people, from surgeons working for Devlin DeAngelo, which he used to hypnotize Bruce Banner [Hulk vol. 2, #249, written by Joe Casey] . As "Martin Thraller", the Ringmaster used his hypnotic eyes while running for president of the United States (and manages to hypnotize Nick Fury into forgetting his own identity) until stopped by the Jack Truman incarnation of Deathlok. [Deathlok vol. 3, written by Joe Casey] .

Recently, the Ringmaster travelled to Tibet and stole a ring that had once been created for the Mandarin shortly before his apparent demise. Made from a piece of a shattered Cosmic Cube, the ring allows him to manipulate reality within a fifteen foot radius. Attacking New York for 'practice', he clashes with various superheroes, including Spider-Man and Moon Knight. The action comes to a head in "Marvel Teamup" #10 (Sept. 2005). Moon Knight and Spider-Man are both given heart attacks, but then Daredevil joins the scene. Moments before the Ringmaster is about to fire them out of cannons, at the ground about one foot below, the Punisher shoots off his finger.

The Cosmic Ring is confiscated by Captain America, who encourages the grouping of heroes to get the shot-off finger to the ambulance personnel for reattachment. Curtis Doyle later uses the ring as the hero Freedom Ring until his death at the hands of Iron Maniac.

Civil War

Ringmaster was visible among an army of super-villains organized by Hammerhead that was captured by Iron Man and SHIELD agents. [Civil War: War Crimes]

Powers and abilities

The Ringmaster originally had no inherent superhuman powers.

The Ringmaster's principal weapon is the powerful portable mind-control device which he carried concealed in his unique top hat. The hat has a swirling disk in the front which can send out a hypnotic beam and give him control of the minds of others. Tiboldt eventually had special hypnotic disks surgically grafted into his eyes. These implants allow him to mentally dominate individuals, but he still requires his hat to control large crowds.

With the Cosmic Ring, Tiboldt gained the ability to alter reality in a 15 foot radius around him.

Fritz Tiboldt

A villain known as the Ringmaster of Death appeared in "Captain America Comics" #5 (Aug 1941) as a Nazi agent, whose circus was a cover for murdering US government officials. Following the introduction of Maynard Tiboldt, this character was revealed to be the later Ringmaster's father, Fritz Tiboldt. issue

Other Media

Television

* Ringmaster appeared in The Incredible Hulk segment of The Marvel Superheroes.
* Ringmaster appeared in the 1980s "Spider-Man" cartoon in "Carnival of Crime".
* Ringmaster appeared in "" episode "Comes a Swordsman".

Video Games

* Ringmaster has appeared in a computer game, a Spider-Man interactive fiction game for various 8-bit computers in the 1980s.

References