Mephisto (Burnt Bones)

"Mephisto" was the name used by a sadistic serial killer and master criminal whose crimes caused mass death and destruction. Among Mephisto's obsessions were the search for the Highland Hoard beneath Stonehenge, and tormenting the officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Special External Section. Mephisto also planned and took part in the terrorist attack that derailed the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.Novel imagines terror attack during 2010 Olympics - Andrew Weichel - 24 January 2010 - CTV News BC - Retrieved 22 May 2021
== Biography ==
=== Early Life===
The origins of the man who would come to be known as Mephisto were unknown. Mephisto was either American, or able to speaking in an accent convincing enough to be able to fool Americans.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 322 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 Simultaneously, Mephisto could act with the suavity and sophistication of a European aristocrat.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 246 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door)
As a boy, Mephisto's interest in antiquity led him to an obsession with Ancient Egypt.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 329 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door) Dr. Gill Macbeth speculated that he may have developed malignant narcissism from a childhood trauma.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 53 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 Macbeth was correct; the incident in question was so traumatic it led to Mephisto substituting false memories of his father being an archaeologist.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 140 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 Mephisto's father, an insane and abusive former U.S. Army officer who fought in the Vietnam War and took part in the Mỹ Lai massacre, had finally cracked after years of pressure and locked his wife and son in a makeshift Tiger cage. His mother died in the cage, and the boy who would become Mephisto cannibalised her corpse to survive. He was found and freed after his father decided to murder his neighbours after having flashed back to the war. (PROSE: Red Snow)
In terms of a career, Mephisto was part of a network of art smugglers who was able to satiate the hungry greed of the rich for works they alone could possess and enjoy. (PROSE: Death's Door)
==Personality==
Mephisto was obsessed with the past, resulting in crimes perpetrated around the Highland Hoard and Sleeping Beauty.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 323 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 At the same time, Mephisto considered himself to be a one-man master race and all others to be subhuman.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 324 - Retrieved 24 May 2021Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 327 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 Mephisto also believed that a culling would be necessary to prevent overpopulation.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 328 - Retrieved 24 May 2021Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 65 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door, Red Snow) 
Dr. Gill Macbeth summarised Mephisto as having "a narcissistic personality disorder with psychopathic features, paranoid traits, ego-syntonic aggression, and a complete lack of a conscience." (PROSE: Red Snow) 
Because of a childhood trauma caused by his father,Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 167 - Retrieved 6 June 2021 Mephisto replaced his memories of his early life with false memories in which his father was an adventuring archaelogist. Mephisto believed that, in his youth, his father had brought him to Mato Grosso in Brazil,Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 134 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 in the hopes of finding Colonel Percy Fawcett. (PROSE: Red Snow) 
Mephisto's request for plastic surgery to disguise his face backfired; because his face had already been perfect in his eyes, Mephisto could only perceive his face as a mass of hideous scars.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 260 - Retrieved 6 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow) 
==Weapons and Abilities==
===Inherent Abilities===
*Intelligence: Mephisto possessed a genius-level intellect, able to plot out all manner of eventualities. (PROSE: Death's Door, Red Snow)
===Assets===
*Knowlesge of Botany: Mephisto knew of and was inspired by the carnivorous fungus genus Dactylella.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 63 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow)
*Knowledge of Toxicology: Mephisto knew the specific ingredients to and was capable of brewing curare.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 122 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow)
*Wealth: Mephisto had acquired more than enough money to live out the rest of his life in splendor, and was more than willing to spend hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to pursue his end goals. (PROSE: Death's Door)
**Mephisto owned a 1920s mansion originally owned and commissioned by Rudolph Valentino in the Hollywood Hills.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 370 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door)
**Mephisto kept a red Ferrari at the same mansion. (PROSE: Death's Door)
**Mephisto owned a motor launch, which he had kept at and used to escape Ebbtide Island.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 350 - Retrieved 22 May 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door)
===Skills===
*Engineering: Mephisto was capable of building a variety of implements of death, as well as strategically placing all manner of lethal traps. (PROSE: Red Snow)
**One included the spiked diaphragm used by Scarlett to poison and kill Nick Craven.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 270 - Retrieved 6 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow)
*Mastery of the Culinary Arts: Mephisto claimed to have trained as a chef with Le Cordon Bleu.Death's Door - Michael Slade - Penguin Books - Published 2002 - Page 334 - Retrieved 24 May 2021 (PROSE: Death's Door)
*Mastery of Disguise: Mephisto was an expert at changing his appearance. (PROSE: Death's Door)
**Dr. Gill Macbeth summarised that Mephisto "creates a subjective image of himself and inhabits it so completely that those around him are tricked into responding to his delusion objectively."Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 54 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow)
* Mastery of Head Shrinking: Mephisto knew how to shrink heads with a great degree of skill, leaving the heads easily recognisable. (PROSE: Red Snow)
* Skill with Blow Darts: Mephisto knew how to use a blowgun accurately.Red Snow - Michael Slade - Penguin Canada - Published 2010 - Page 138 - Retrieved 5 June 2021 (PROSE: Red Snow)
==Notes==
*Mephisto was created by Canadian author Michael Slade.
==Appearances==
*Burnt Bones (first appearance)
*Death's Door
*Red Snow (final appearance)
== See also ==
*John Devil
*Professor Moriarty
* Fantômas
* Fu Manchu
*Jack Kressling
* Ernst Stavro Blofeld
==References==
Category:Humans
Category:Villains
Category:Murderers
Category:Mass Murderers
Category:Serial Killers
Category:Cult leaders
Category:Crime Lords
Category:Terrorists
Category:Criminals
Category:Cannibals
Category:Criminals who escaped justice
Category:Literary characters
Category:American characters
Category:Canadian characters
Category:Foes of Special X
Category:Michael Slade characters
Category:Orphaned characters
Category:20th century births