Grandmaster or Grand Master may refer to:
In positions:
In superior skill:
Grand Master (Latin: Magister generalis; German: Hochmeister) is a title of the supreme head of various orders, including chivalric orders such as military orders and dynastic orders of knighthood.
In the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Grand Master is styled "Sovereign", e.g. Sovereign Grand Master, due to its status as an internationally independent sovereign entity.
As most present-day orders are essentially honorary distinctions - as some always were, e.g. the Order of the Golden Fleece - so are its dignities, which may be held by right of birth or another rank. Thus, a sovereign monarch often holds the title of Grand Master of the highest honorary dynastic orders of knighthood, or by custom awards it to a Prince of the royal family, regularly the heir to the throne, who in other orders may hold another high rank/title.
The title also occures in modern civil fraternal orders such as the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and various other fraternities. Additionally, numerous modern self-styled orders attempt to imitate habits of the former bodies.
The Grandmaster (En Dwi Gast) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in The Avengers #69. He is one of the ageless Elders of the Universe and has mastered most civilizations' games of skill and chance.
The Grandmaster first appeared in Avengers #69 (October 1969), and was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema.
Although his exact origin is unknown, he is one of the oldest living beings in the universe, coming from one of the first intelligent races to evolve after the Big Bang. He once possessed the Mind Gem, one of the six Infinity Gems, but he lost it to Thanos. He is a cosmic game player whose preferred game is pitting two opposing teams against each other. He has used the Squadron Sinister, Daredevil, the Defenders, the East and West Coast Avengers, Malibu Comics's Ultraforce, and DC Comics' Justice League of America.
In his first appearance, the Grandmaster played a game against Kang the Conqueror for the power to resurrect Ravonna or destroy Kang's planet, using the Avengers and Squadron Sinister as pawns. However, Kang's efforts failed due to the intervention of the Black Knight meaning that the Avengers did not technically win their fight, causing Kang to sacrifice the power to resurrect Ravonna for the power to kill the Avengers, with this attempt failing again when the Grandmaster's gift literally gave Kang the power to kill only the Avengers rather than the currently-unaffiliated Black Knight. He next used the Defenders as pawns in a game against the Prime Mover.