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"And so for me its destiny to be the maestro of villainy! Yes, I'm the Music Meister, and I'm here to settle the score!"
―Music Meister[src]

History

Origin

Music Meister claims he sang in choir. But he soon discovered that when he sang higher that he could hypnotize people. He thus uses his newly discovered talents to control the people that had bullied him and plans to "settle the score". As he sang during his first song "Bullies used to pick on me because I sang in choir, but something very strange occurred as I kept singing higher, the ruffians around me quickly fell into a trance, and it was then with wicked glee I made those puppets dance!".

"Mayhem of the Music Meister"

He uses his powers to get Black Canary, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Black Manta, Gorilla Grodd and Clock King to hijack a United Nations' communications satellite, launching it into space after they install a device for him. When Batman intervenes, he orders them to attack the hero, which they do in a dance style reminiscent of West Side Story. His plan successful, the Meister frustrates Batman once more, escaping by forcing his captives to "kick into that blast", making the hero rescue them rather than apprehend the villain.

Meister escapes to an empty opera house where, in a parody of Phantom of the Opera he plays the organ to a cardboard audience. Batman tries to capture him on a cross-town chase while he sings "Drives us Bats" (where he makes references to the Batusi and Shark Repellent from the 1960s Batman series), eventually releasing prison inmates (including villains such as Catwoman and The Joker seen from past episodes) to attack the heroes. Having heard Black Canary sing, he also has fallen for her, but not enough to give up villainy, and she rejects him. Meister manages to capture Batman and Black Canary and put them in a death trap. They escape as Music Meister hypnotizes the world with his music (with help of the satellite). When Black Canary becomes his slave, Batman gets the satellite to transmit her sonic scream which breaks Music Meister's mind control and frees everyone. Batman then finally gets his hands on the Meister, decking him with a single punch to the jaw.

"Duet"

The Music Meister appeared on the CW network shows The Flash and Supergirl, played by Darren Criss. Duet featured a very different version of the character, an extra-dimensional being much like the show's Mr. Mxyzptlk. He places The Flash and Supergirl in a musical coma and causes them to play out a musical, in hopes to repair their relationships with Iris West and Mon-El.

"It's a Swamp Thing"

The Music Meister appeared on the HBO Max original series "Harley Quinn" voiced by Larry Owens. Once again a vastly different take on the character this version is African American and focuses more so on R&B music. He works as a therapist to help Batman and Catwomen work through issues in their relationship by forcing them to sing.

Powers and Abilities

The Meister's main power is his singing voice, which creates a pitch so high that it hypnotizes people. In their state of hypnosis, it causes his victims to sing and dance too. He has a rod (roughly shaped like a conductor's baton) that can fire energy blasts shaped like music scores. He is also seen riding on a motorcycle shaped like a paired eighth notes; at one point, the cycle splits into a pair of Segway-like scooters, now resembling separate notes (he and Batman race across telephone wires, like notes in the song being sung during the chase). He also seems to have the uncanny ability to change his outfits befitting different eras in music history extremely quickly, such as Cab Calloway's zoot suit and Elvis's disco suit (as seen multiple times throughout the episode, its colors also reference Marvin from Super Friends ). Other costumes reference Liberace, The Music Man, Hair, Amadeus, country/western music and Wagnerian opera. The building he holds Canary and Batman in is known as "TB&TB". This is a reference to the now defunct punk rock bar CB-GB's; it is also the initials of the series.

Music Meister shares many similar characteristics with the Music Master, a villain from an alternate universe seen in the Justice League episode, "Legends", in which he served as a nemesis of that world's heroic team, the Justice Guild of America.

Quotes

"Bullies used to pick on me because I sang in choir,
But something very strange occurred when I kept singing higher!

The ruffians around me quickly fell into a trance,
And it was then with wicked glee I made those puppets dance!
"

"The Music Meister sings the song that the world wants to hear"

Popularity

Because of the episode's success, Music Meister has amassed quite a large fan-base. He also appears in the video game (a movie theater playing a movie called "It'll Drive You Bats", starring the Music Meister, can be seen in the Wii version, and his bio can be unlocked in the DS version. He couldn't appear as a boss because at the time, Neil Patrick Harris was busy voicing Spider-Man in the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, which, surprisingly enough, was released on the same day as Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame).

In a Later Episode; Aquaman sings a song about Heroism, where he dresses as the Music Meister during one scene.

In the series finale of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Mitefall, the Music Meister is seen in a silence role playing on a piano the song "If Only". He is also seen in the comic book Batman: The Brave and The Bold issue 16 summon by Bat-Mite to impress Batgirl with two other villains The Fiddler and The Pied Piper attacking Batman Music Meister comes in singing to control Bat-Mite, but was knocked out by Batgirl with one punch.

He was seen in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham not as a main character but as extra to unlock for players and fans to play him after completing the story mode of the game.

Many fans have written fan fictions of the Maestro of Villainy and drawn fan-art of him, showing how popular he was and still is to this day. Many fans hope to see him again in comic books, television and video games, and hopefully in movies both live and animated.

Their hopes were answered when the CW announced a Supergirl/ Flash Musical Crossover episode named Duet. The episode aired on March 21st. The role was played by actor and singer/songwriter Darren Criss. However, some fans were disappointed in Criss's portrayal, which was unlike the original Music Meister. The original Music Meister would later appear in 2018 in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Scooby Doo crossover movie, to the delight of his fans.

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