Ringmaster (comics)

The Ringmaster is the name of two characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Ringmaster, Fritz Tiboldt, first appeared in Captain America Comics #5 (August 1941). The second incarnation, Maynard Tiboldt, debuted in Incredible Hulk #3 (July 1962).^[2]

Publication history

Fritz Tiboldt debuted as the Ringmaster of Death in Captain America Comics #5 (August 1941).^[3] He appeared in Captain America #112 in a flashback (April 1969).

Maynard Tiboldt debuted as the Ringmaster in Incredible Hulk #3 (July 1962). He has turned up as a somewhat pathetic and luckless opponent for virtually every hero in the Marvel universe since his first appearance, ranging from

Fictional character biography

Fritz Tiboldt

The Ringmaster is a

Later on Fritz, along with his wife, were killed by the Nazis for their defeat at the hands of Captain America.[5] Following the introduction of Maynard Tiboldt, this character was revealed to be the later Ringmaster's father.^[6]

Maynard Tiboldt

Maynard Tiboldt was born in

The Ringmaster is a powerless man with a unique hat which is designed to hypnotize people, thus allowing him to take complete control over their actions. He originally traveled across America as the manager, director, and ringmaster of his small traveling circus, which was actually a front for his "

Bringing this act to New York, he fought Spider-Man and Daredevil, whose blindness prevents Ringmaster from hypnotizing him, for the first time, though he was briefly able to place Spider-Man under his control.^[7]

After this failure, he briefly abandoned the Circus of Crime, who became the Masters of Menace (a name Princess Python thought up) led by the Clown. He came back to steal their loot after their capture by Spider-Man, but was captured by the police instead along with the rest.^[8]

The Ringmaster next attempted to enlist recent

The Ringmaster later gets 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.[22] 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.^[23]

The Ringmaster traveled 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. 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 ring finger.^[24]

The Cosmic Ring is confiscated by

During the Civil War storyline, Ringmaster (alongside Clown and Great Gambonnos) was visible among an army of super-villains organized by Hammerhead that was captured by Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.^[27]

Later, Ringmaster enacts a plot to hypnotize the elderly into stealing for him, though this is foiled by Howard the Duck, and Talos the Untamed.^[28][29]

During the "Opening Salvo" part of the Secret Empire storyline, Ringmaster (along with the Circus of Crime) is recruited by Baron Zemo to join his Army of Evil.^[30]

During the "

The Ringmaster's principal weapon is the powerful portable mind-control device which he carried concealed in his unique top hat. This device is a portable version of the nullatron, which was originally designed by scientists in Nazi-occupied lands during World War II and used by the Red Skull against the Invaders in 1942.^[volume & issue needed] The version in the Ringmaster's hat has been specially modified by him for his own uses. 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, amplifying his natural hypnotic talent. The disk can be used on its own as a handheld device that can be kept in a pocket as desired when the entire hat would otherwise be too obvious on occasion, and Tiboldt eventually had special hypnotic disks surgically grafted into his eyes.^{[volume & issue needed]} These implants allow him to mentally dominate individuals, but he still requires his hat to mesmerize large crowds of people simultaneously. Sufficiently strong-willed individuals are able to resist the Ringmaster's hypnotism if they cannot see the whirling pattern on his hat and the reflective stars on his costume. Others like Doc Samson have access to special glasses designed to neutralize the Ringmaster's technology.^{[volume & issue needed]}

With the Cosmic Ring, Tiboldt gained the ability to alter reality in a 15-foot (4.6 m) radius around him.^[34]

In other media

Television

• The Ringmaster appears in the "Incredible Hulk" segment of The Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Rod Coneybeare.^[35]
• The Ringmaster appears in the Spider-Man episode "Carnival of Crime", voiced by G. Stanley Jones.^[36]
• The Ringmaster appears in The Avengers: United They Stand episode "Comes a Swordsman," voiced by Normand Bissonnette.^[37]
• The Ringmaster appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Carlos Alazraqui.^[38] This version is a member of Doctor Doom's Lethal Legion.
• The Ringmaster appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Crime and Circuses," voiced by Fred Tatasciore.^[39] This version wields flamethrower gloves in addition to his top hat and can vanish in a cloud of smoke.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

• Maynard Tiboldt / Ringmaster appears in the
  Jessica Jones and try to unlock buried memories of her time as an IGH patient.^[41]