The villain called Professor Mayhem, his real name lost to history, once delved into the unknown and mastered the primordial forces of the universe. The first recorded whereabouts of the mighty sorcerer now known as Professor Mayhem is from ca. 2500 BC, at which time he appeared at the height of his power in the legendary Sumerian empire ruled by the mystical King Gilgamesh. He had already achieved immortality and had nearly conquered the Uruk because no matter how many times Gilgamesh defeated him the Sorcerer would return. It took the combined power of the Seven Sages to banish the Sorcerer to another dimension after Gilgamesh defeated him for the last time.
In the mid-1930s, a madman and aspiring magician named Karl Freder stumbled upon the dimension while researching the occult for Nazi Germany. He managed to open a portal to it but upon his release, the sorcerer destroyed Freder's soul and entered his body. However, though alive on Earth once more, the sorcerer found his powers drastically reduced. He became obsessed with restoring his mystical might and sought out an alliance with the Axis powers in exchange for access to their occult research. Once again he gained a frightening amount of power in a short period time and become one of the Axis most powerful assets. It seemed that victory belonged to the Axis and he began to plot to overthrow his 'Masters' to take the power for himself.
Then the American heroes joined the Allied forces and the fight began to turn against them. Once again the Sorcerer found himself in battle with the descendants of the Seven Sages. The Sorcerer out-classed several of them in mystical might, but together the group was able to bind his spirit to an object. While he could manifest his physical appearance the Sorcerer was rendered useless, but his magical knowledge was invaluable to the organization. The Sorcerer worked tirelessly to turn the sages against each other until he found a kindred spirit in one of them. She was not unlike him when he took the first steps on his path to power, and she came under his tutelage.
He manipulated her into a war against the other Sages until none of them or their descendants remained, except for his only apprentice. She had become the key to his imprisonment, and she had been truly corrupted. She had become the Master in the moment that she killed the last Sage. He could do nothing but silently rage for the next half of a century for he had not taught her his final secret: immortality. The power he had taught her devastated her body over the years and early in the 21st century the last Sage passed on.
In a explosion of magical energy the Sorcerer was released upon the world once again. Once again he found himself weakened beyond comprehension, and he suspected the Sages were to blame. He once again went about restoring his mystical might, and observing the world. He became Professor Mayhem during his rise to power once again, but it was cut short by the arrival of the V'Sori. He finds himself a captive once again!
