Grandmaster is the unofficial term given to the various multiversal entities that host the Grand Battles.
Summary[]
The only hard requirement to being a Grandmaster is the ability to teleport entities across the multiverse, and as such the kinds of entities that comprise the Grandmasters is extremely varied. Most Grandmasters have a title that fits the format of 'The ___' and denotes some important aspect of them. Some have other names as well, but it is not a necessity.
The term can also imply a specific level of power and a collective social group. Many of the canon Grandmasters are in some way peers, familiar with one another enough to visit each others realms or sometimes intercede on each others Battles.
It is sometimes considered that Grandmasters are representative of their creators. Some of their actions can be interpreted as direct analogies to real world circumstances (i.e. One grandmaster seizing control of a battle can be viewed this way due to the real life departure of the first grandmaster's author).
Many Grandmasters that run battles are assisted by Gentlemen. Sometimes the distinction between these two is completely arbitrary; similarly powerful beings with different roles and titles in the running of a battle. Sometimes these are seen as distinct categories of power.
Due to the nature of our writing the primary example we see of 'Grandmasters' are those who run battles, but there are entities that fit this scale of power and social group that do not run battles for whatever reason. Some that have notable interactions with Grand Battles are listed below.
Canon Grandmasters[]
The Director[]
The Director (created by Cyber95) was the host of The Grand Battle. He appears as a suit occupied by black fog of a shade that contrasts somehow with every other shade of black. Calm and stern, with a self-assuredness indicating little to no worry about threats to his well-being or his power.
The Observer[]
The Observer (created by Cyber95) is eccentric extra-spatial being who started The Grand Battle II in an attempt to outdo The Director. Human in appearance but with a lone, huge eye where his face should be. Later, out of boredom and the insistence of other Grandmasters he started Season 2, in which he hosts The Grand Battle (Season 2). It has been indicated that in his battles he selects his own contestants.
The Composer[]
The Composer (created by Schazer) is responsible for starting The Battle Royale, and after The Eccentric started The Delicious Engagement she decided that it was an affront to the dignity of Grand Battles, and took it upon herself to take over, then renaming it The Battle Royale S2. She is intelligent, and very bored. A control freak, prone to violence she tends to take herself very seriously. She makes allusions to treating her battle like an art piece.
The Organizer[]
The Organizer (created by SleepingOrange) is described as an 'incredibly-plain man in a lilac suit', whose words sound like they've been stuck together without context, The Organizer is the one responsible for starting Pitched Combat. It is unknown whether he selected the contestants himself, or instructed others to do it for him.
The Monitor[]
The Monitor (created by Dragon Fogel) initially began Intense Struggle to relieve the burden of The Organizer's excess of contestant choices. Most often described as a 'shadowy figure' concealed behind screens and monitors, this Grandmaster is actually a sophisticated robot. By the second season he has come to the conclusion that other Grandmasters are too foolhardy with their powerful contestants. He starts Intense Struggle S2 in order to gather further data, when his initial battle is not proceeding as fast as he would like. He is a no-nonsense type of event coordinator, who frequently quotes numbers and statistics from behind an intricate console.
The Executive[]
The Executive (created by Sruixan) is a worried man, not too inclined to act directly on behalf of his affairs. He was a spectator of the other Grand Battles and decided to start The Battle Majestic so he would have an excuse not to keep up with them all. He allows his Gentlemen Sruix and Talis to do most of the actual hands on running of the battle.
The Executrix[]
The Executrix (created by SleepingOrange) is a former 'gentleman' serving The Organizer. First appearing in The Grand Battle II, she is also known as Frances and adapts to a certain extent to fit with whatever world she finds herself in. She takes over The Battle Majestic after The Executive goes missing or something.
The Overseer[]
The Overseer (created by Baphomet), also known as Bryce, is the originator of the Epic Clash. Takes the appearance of a young human man with tousled hair, a red shirt with a white pirate ship, torn jeans, and dirty sneakers. Aviator sunglasses hide black eyes lacking iris or scelera. He speaks in a manner reminiscent of a frat boy. When in the presence of others, he maintains an unnervingly white-toothed smirk described as "increasingly annoying the longer you look at it", but it goes away when no one is looking. It is hinted that he is not as airheaded as he seems. He is always confident, and things happen when he snaps his fingers. Refers to himself as The Overseer around the contestants, but is known as Bryce Photema to everyone else.
The Chronicler[]
The Chronicler (created by MyifanW is the co-host of the Epic Clash. Described as a man with an impish face who was screenprinted in several shades with the panels misaligned. Implied to be a young god. He is very unassertive, clashing with The Overseer's personality, and frequently stutters, pauses, and repeats himself. Like The Overseer, he goes by his title around the contestants, but goes by Miles Fawman elsewhere. He claims to have gotten his title by chronicling the events he sees in a sketchbook.
The Cultivator[]
The Cultivator (created by MalkyTop) is the creator of The Savage Brawl, and solely responsible for selection and gathering of its contestants. Disorganized, spacey, unusually cheerful, and very eccentric, she literally digs through the detritus of other dimensions to find the contestants. Described as a lanky, long-haired woman. Behind her back she is known as The Dabbler because nothing she tries can keep her attention for long. Apparently started preparing for the beginning of Savage Brawl without The Director's foreknowledge, but was reluctantly granted permission when he found out.
The Wordsmith[]
The Wordsmith (created by Draykon) is a Grandmaster who died 7000 years prior to the battle he hosts; The Inexorable Altercation. He tried to achieve immortality through his prophetic writings of the battle. His Gentlemen are a cult of his followers, re-enacting the foretold Battle as per his writings.
The Eccentric[]
The Eccentric (created by Archduke Ferdinand) is an offbeat, off-kilter, barely sane god that takes no human form and freely mingles with its contestants. Unusual phenomena, ranging from the impossible to the ludicrous, happen often in his domain. His battle, The Delicious Engagement, was taken over by The Composer, and renamed The Battle Royale S2.
The Controller[]
The Controller (created by Pinary) is the cruel host of The Gradual Massacre. He is a sadistic Grandmaster who adores inflicting pain and upon his contestants. While his true form is an electrified, energised skeleton of a man, he can possess humans and cloak himself with holograms. He also co-hosts The Fearsome Encounter with his student: The Apprentice.
The Prestidigitator[]
The Prestidigitator (created by Whoosh!) is the host of The Phenomenal Fracas. The Prestidigitator is a faded but showy old god. A master of illusion with a strong sense of tradition and a somehwat Victorian attitude. The latter attributes to his taste in alcohol, furniture and insults to foreigners. When not lurking in the shadows he'll be seen to be wearing a demonic, cracked white mask and clothed in a suit showcasing numerous stars.
The Redeemer[]
The Redeemer (created by Lankie) is the host of The Fatal Conflict. He is a man called Zaire, who defeated Death himself, and stole his title and his dominion over the domains of the afterlife. The Prestidigitator stopped him before he rewrote the rules of death, by convincing him to run his own battle.
The Executor[]
The Executor (created by Aryogaton) is the host of The Great Belligerency. The Executor had had previous experience with Grand Battles, helping The Cultivator set up The Savage Brawl. He isolates himself from others, living alone in the void between universes, maintaining it to make it easier for others to pass through, an action for which he is derided. He sets up The Great Belligerency because he is bored.
The Fool[]
The Fool (created by Dragon Fogel) is the host of the Grand Battle S3G1. The Fool used to be known as Arnold Fogge, a Gentleman of the original Grand Battle. He apparently got bored and made his own blah blah blah blah blah. You know how this goes.
The Counsellor[]
The Counsellor (created by Cyber95) is the host of the Spectacular Exhibition. The Counsellor had been observing the effects that Grand Battles had on the mental health of the contestants and found that in most cases it actually helped them take over problems. She decided to use her Grand Battle to try to help the mentally unstable.
The Tormentor[]
The Tormentor (created by Anomaly) is the host of The Relentless Slaughter (for now). The Tormentor had viewed Grand Battles and decided that they were not horrific enough for his taste. Another Grandmaster, The Extravagant, was starting a delightfully whimsical Grand Battle and he took it upon himself to kill the Extravagant, end this ridiculous battle and start up one that he wanted.
The Charlatan[]
The Charlatan (created by Not The Author) is the host of Petty Squabble. The Charlatan only recently learned of the Grand Battles, and promptly decided to start one for himself. He is dressed in green as a stage magician, with a mask of a wide-toothed grin. Non-canonically he was a participant in The Grand Clusterfuck.
The Hedonist[]
The Hedonist (created by Maxie Satan) is the host of The Glorious Championship. The Hedonist is a Djinni has lived for a very long time and has tired of the pleasures that the world has to offer. In his discovery of Grand Battles he finds something with the potential to excite him once again.
The Spectator[]
The Spectator (created by XX) is the host of The Vivacious Deadlock. The Spectator lives in a tower made of eyes, is very friendly with the Tormentor and refers to her battlers as sacrifices. She has a habit of not staying in the same shape for very long.
The Unborn[]
The host of The Wretched Rite. It is a being that has been created by Grand Battles, though it is not yet complete. The Wtretched Rite is the final step in its creation. Details on it so far are sketchy because it's ultimate form/personality will be determined by how the Rite unfolds.
The Apprentice[]
The Apprentice (created by Pinary) is the cohost of The Fearsome Encounter. He is the protege of The Controller, who he seeks to copy.
Other Grandmasters[]
This section includes Grandmasters that exist within the main canon but do not have their own canonical battles.
The Eclectic[]
The Eclectic (created by Ixcaliber), also known as Eccles, is the host of The Great Fight. This grandmaster and battle is an allusion to a forum adventure that Ixcaliber ran on MSPA Forums where The Eclectic was the protagonist attempting to start a battle of their own, known as The Great Fight. Interacts with canon events only so far as a character from their battle was featured in Battletopia, the Cameo Round from The Savage Brawl.
The Extravagant[]
The Extravagant (created by Anomaly) is the would be host of The Phantasmogorical Scrimmage. He was abruptly killed by The Tormentor. He also made a non-canon appearance in Mini-Grand 5108 where he was the ascended form of movie director Michael Bay.
The Ghost[]
The Ghost (created by Ixcaliber) is a reclusive entity that never directly speaks or shows themselves to anyone. They hold a deep hatred/resentment towards the hosts of Grand Battles and they deliberately obscure as much other information about themselves as possible. Notable indications of their presence include broken mirrors, and written notes left to communicate with others. Their most notable interaction with Grand Battles is in Intense Struggle and The Savage Brawl where they planted contestants and have tried to weaponize them against the hosts of those battles.
The Stranger[]
The Stranger (created by Baphomet) is the host of The Exalted Exchange. He completely covers himself in various items of clothing and comports himself as a meek and eager fanboy of the Director, at least while he is in public. After The Overseer's death/disappearance he is appointed to the representative of Epic Clash for Grand Battle All-Stars.
Other Canonicities[]
As time has past the strict delineation of canonicity between Canon Battles and Season Intermission has become less enforced. While they are not as strictly separate as they used to be information on the Season Intermission Grandmasters is kept separate still.