Mason Verger

Mason R. Verger
Hannibal Lecter character
Gary Oldman as Mason Verger in the 2001 film Hannibal
Created by	Thomas Harris
Portrayed by	Gary Oldman (Hannibal) Michael Pitt (Hannibal; season 2) Joe Anderson (Hannibal; season 3)
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	CEO of Verger Meat Packing
Relatives	Margot Verger (sister) Molson Verger (father, deceased)
Religion	Southern Baptist Convention
Nationality	American

Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris's 1999 novel Hannibal, as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series Hannibal. In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Oldman, while in the TV series he is portrayed by Michael Pitt and Joe Anderson.

Character overview

Mason Verger is introduced in the novel Hannibal as a wealthy,

In Red Dragon, Will Graham mentions that Hannibal Lecter has nine known murder victims, while two other victims survived, one of whom is "on a respirator at a hospital in Baltimore." This is the earliest reference to Mason, though he is not named or further detailed until Hannibal.

Hannibal

Mason Verger is the scion of one of

Seven years after Lecter's escape in The Silence of the Lambs, Mason pays Lecter's former guard, Barney Matthews, for information leading to his capture.

When detective Rinaldo Pazzi spots Lecter in

Lecter learns of Mason's plot, and kills Pazzi as he flees to the United States. Mason's men eventually capture Lecter, and Mason prepares to enjoy his long-awaited revenge. However, Lecter escapes his bonds, with help from Starling.

Mason is finally killed by his sister Margot, to whom Lecter promised to take the blame. Margot sodomizes Mason with a

In the 2001 film, Hannibal, Mason is portrayed by Gary Oldman. The film's characterization of Mason Verger follows close to the novel, except for three key aspects: 1) the character of Margot Verger is omitted; 2) Mason is not completely bedridden, does not require a ventilator to breathe, and as he is able to move his right hand, he is partially ambulatory through the use of a motorized wheelchair; and 3) the manner of Mason's death is changed. Instead of Margot, Mason dies at the hands of his physician, Cordell Doemling (Željko Ivanek), who at Lecter's suggestion pushes his hated boss into the pig pen in which Lecter was intended to die, where he is devoured by the pack of wild boars he had bred for killing Lecter.

TV series

Mason Verger appears in the

Mason sexually assaults his sister Margot (Katharine Isabelle), who then tries to kill him. He sends her to therapy with Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen).^[3] Mason meets with Lecter to discuss Margot's treatment, and agrees to enter therapy with Lecter to find out what his sister is saying about him.^[4][5] Lecter takes an immediate dislike to Mason, considering him "discourteous".^[6]

Mason tells Margot that he wants them to have a "Verger baby", the implication being that he wants to father his own sister's child. He threatens to cut her off financially if she disobeys him.^[5] Desperate, Margot has sex with another of Lecter's patients, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and becomes pregnant with his child. After Lecter tells him what Margot is trying to do, Mason causes Margot to get into a car accident and has her womb surgically removed so that only he can father an heir and inherit the family fortune. A furious Graham confronts Mason and warns him that Lecter is manipulating them both.^[7]

Mason eventually grows suspicious of Lecter and has him kidnapped along with Graham, intending to feed them both to his prize pigs. However, Lecter escapes with Graham's help and takes Mason as a captive to Graham's house. Lecter gives Mason a hallucinogenic drug cocktail and convinces him to cut his own face off and feed the pieces to Graham's dogs. Mason does so, and also obeys Lecter's command to cut off his own nose and eat it. Lecter then breaks Mason's neck with his bare hands. Mason survives, but is paralyzed, confined to a respirator and forced to wear a neck brace and a facial mask. He tells FBI Agent-in-Charge Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) that he sustained his injuries after falling into a pig pen; he intends to keep Lecter out of the FBI's hands so he can torture and kill Lecter himself. Mason is then left alone with a vengeful Margot, who promises him she will "take care of you just as you took care of me."^[6]

Season 3

After Lecter flees to Europe following the discovery of his crimes, Mason puts a $3 million bounty on him.

Italian police detective Rinaldo Pazzi (Fortunato Cerlino) makes a deal with Mason to bring Lecter in, but Lecter kills Pazzi instead.[10] Mason then hires other corrupt Italian police detectives to apprehend Lecter and Graham and bring them to his country estate, Muskrat Farm.^[11] He orders his physician Cordell Doemling (Glenn Fleshler) to slowly mutilate Lecter to death and prepare gourmet cuisine from his flesh. Mason also tells Doemling to put him under anesthesia for a special surgery: Doemling will cut off Graham's face and graft it onto Mason's. Before the procedure can take place, however, Lecter escapes captivity, kills Doemling, and helps Margot 'milk' the unconscious Mason's prostate with a cattle prod for the sperm she needs to conceive a child. When Mason awakes, Margot tells him that she will have a baby of her own and inherit their father's estate. She kills Mason by holding him underwater in his eel tank, where his pet moray eel swims down his throat and suffocates him.^[9]

References