History Characters / MarvelComicsTaskmaster

* ProfessionalKiller: Compared to Deapool, Bullseye, Lady Bullseye, Deathstrike, and even Wolverine he is the most professional assassin.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Downplayed since Tasky is more of a general utility villain for Earths heroes, but for the most part he picks fights with The Avengers or Deadpool. In recent years, however, he's also become a fairly recurring Spider-Man villain, appearing in the Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon, the [=PS4=] Game, and in Nick Spencers run in a recurring capacity.

* ArchEnemy: To Scott Lang. It's not mutual though; Tasky doesn't even consider him a threat.

* KickTheDog: Sometimes, when he's particularly confident in a fight, he'll drop the FriendlyEnemy thing and make comments that twist the knife in, which ''usually'' results in him then getting his ass kicked by the target's HeroicSecondWind.

** His entire relationship with Sandi, a civilian girl he dated briefly who afterward became something of an admin assistant for mercenaries, specifically Deadpool and Agent X. Despite his ''entire'' deal, he was never anything but kind, affectionate, and protective of her, though had trouble controlling his jealousy whenever other men expressed affection towards her, as much as he tried to respect the fact they weren't together anymore.

* BigBad: Most of Scott Lang's sometimes involve him.

* ArchEnemy: To Scott Lang. It's not mutual though; Tasky doesn't even consider him a threat.
* ArgentinaIsNaziLand: In the ''Taskmaster'' mini-series, Taskmaster ends up in a small South American town and is surprised to find the entire village dressed as Hitler (yes, even the women and children). The villagers are apparently waging endless war on each other trying to take over each other’s houses and constantly backstabbing the other villagers who ally with them. Turns out it was caused by a solution created by the same people who made the [[YouClonedHitler hatemonger]] that was dumped into the water supply. The solution was meant to quickly input Nazi beliefs into people to resurrect the Reich, but when it was spilled into the water supply, it ended up making everyone think they were Hitler.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: His ability to mimic the fighting style of anyone he encounters often leads to this, and he's been known to talk down to his opponents about how over matched they are while they fight. It gets him in trouble in ''All-New Wolverine'' while fighting ComicBook/{{X 23}}, as while he can certainly adapt to her ''moves'', he's so busy admonishing her on how hopeless it is for her that he didn't realize that her claws aren't all in the same place as [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Logan's]]...
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He can do this with any physical skill he has seen at least once and is physically capable of duplicating (and some that he shouldn't be). However, what makes this AwesomenessByAnalysis is that [[CutLexLuthorACheck he's founded a thriving business]] ''teaching other supervillains'', something he couldn't do if he didn't gain a deep insight into the skills he picked up. In fact, he's so good at it that governments have been shown to hire him to train law-enforcement to take down supervillains. This power, however, requires the subject to act sanely and in a recognizable pattern. ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} once defeated him by acting at random (eventually tricking Taskmaster into stepping into traffic), and he is powerless against ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s ConfusionFu.

->''"That gig -- the Villain Schools -- I had to get out of it. Think about it. All my clients were guys who needed training. It was always, 'C'mon, Tasky, front me the training. I'll make good after my first job. I'm gonna be huge, man. You just gotta teach me that badass [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher]] move I saw on Entertainment Tonight." And the heroes, swinging in to bust up the free enterprise, I'm engaged in. And every time they do? I gotta find a new abandoned warehouse or a new abandoned drilling platform or, would it had never been so, a new circus to take over. Overhead? You don't know what overhead is until you've seen what a guy gets paid to scoop up elephant %?$#!"''

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He can do this with any physical skill he has seen at least once and is physically capable of duplicating (and some that he shouldn't be). However, what makes this AwesomenessByAnalysis is that [[CutLexLuthorACheck he's founded a thriving business]] ''teaching other supervillains'', (his latest job is training the recruits/draftees of The Initiative and latter Osborn's Camp HAMMER) something he couldn't do if he didn't gain a deep insight into the skills he picked up. In fact, he's so good at it that governments have been shown to hire him to train law-enforcement to take down supervillains. This power, however, requires the subject to act sanely and in a recognizable pattern. ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} once defeated him by acting at random (eventually tricking Taskmaster into stepping into traffic), and he is powerless against ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'s ConfusionFu.

[[folder:A-F]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. Due to being ''so'' unpredictable, Taskmaster can't take him down and always loses to him. At best, he can replicate ''some'' of Wade's eccentric fighting style and at worst, he can't whatsoever.

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!!Taskmaster
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5490708_capt_am_steve_rogers_10_5.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Personally, I think we've done enough of the [[ColdBloodedTorture beating and torture]] and I'm ready to move straight to the [[OffWithHisHead beheading]]."]]

!!! '''Alter Ego:''' Anthony "Tony" Masters
!!! '''Notable Aliases:''' Captain America, Contingency T, Minister of Defense, Laughing Skull
!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Avengers'' #195 (May, 1980)

->''"That gig -- the Villain Schools -- I had to get out of it. Think about it. All my clients were guys who needed training. It was always, 'C'mon, Tasky, front me the training. I'll make good after my first job. I'm gonna be huge, man. You just gotta teach me that badass [[ComicBook/ThePunisher Punisher]] move I saw on Entertainment Tonight." And the heroes, swinging in to bust up the free enterprise, I'm engaged in. And every time they do? I gotta find a new abandoned warehouse or a new abandoned drilling platform or, would it had never been so, a new circus to take over. Overhead? You don't know what overhead is until you've seen what a guy gets paid to scoop up elephant %?$#!"''
-->-- '''Taskmaster'''

Taskmaster (Tony Masters) is a Creator/MarvelComics character. He first appeared in ''"[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]]''" vol. 1 #195 (May, 1980), created by David Michelinie and George Pérez. He serves as a [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor sometimes hero, sometimes villain]] of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse. His trademark is the ability to [[PowerCopying copy the movements, and, therefore, skills of those he watches]], which he calls "photographic reflexes". What's interesting about him as compared to other power mimics is that he doesn't copy the powers of those individuals he sees, only their mundane skills. One example of this is when he's [[ComicBook/TheAvengers working for the 50 State Initiative]] and copies the movement skills of ComicBook/SpiderMan for use in training the Scarlet Spiders.

----
!! Taskmaster has appeared in the following works:

[[AC:Notable Comic Books]]
* ''Taskmaster'' (2002)
* ''Taskmaster v.2'' (2010-2011)
* ''Taskmaster: Unthinkable''
* ''Secret Avengers Vol. 2'' (2013)
* ''Taskmaster'' (2020)

[[AC:Storylines]]
* ''ComicBook/CivilWar''
* ''ComicBook/DarkReign''
* ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}''

[[AC:Live-Action Film]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse [[spoiler:played by Creator/OlgaKurylenko]]
** ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' as [[spoiler:Antonia Dreykov]]

[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', voiced by Creator/SteveBlum
* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes'', voiced by Creator/SteveBlum
* ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'', voiced by Creator/BrianBloom
* ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers'', voiced by Walt Gray

[[AC:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/MarvelRisingUltimateComics'', voiced by Creator/BrianBloom

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'', voiced by Creator/ClancyBrown

Has nothing to do with the British comedy show ''Series/{{Taskmaster}}'', or the similarly-named video game ''VideoGame/TaskMaker''. It also has zero relations to the wrestler ''Wrestling/KevinSullivan'' who uses "Taskmaster" as his wrestling name.

----
!! Taskmaster provides examples of the following tropes:

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool. Due to being ''so'' unpredictable, Taskmaster can't take him down and always loses to him. At best, he can replicate ''some'' of Wade's eccentric fighting style and at worst, he can't whatsoever.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: PlayedWith; he's genuinely superhuman, his powers coming from a SuperSoldier serum, but he's still reasonably within the confines of human ability. The 'ambiguous' part comes more from how he portrays himself, since his status as TheFaceless with an ExpressiveMask sometimes makes it appear that the skull is his ''real face''.
* AmnesiacLover: He's married, but can't even remember it for more than a few minutes after his wife Mercedes tells him. She implies this isn't the first time it's happened.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: As described above, he can copy the skills and movements (but not powers) of anyone he sees. Not only that, but he can use this knowledge to predict what his opponent will do next. Too bad it's useless against people like {{ComicBook/Deadpool}} people who are [[ConfusionFu nuttier than squirrel poo.]] And it doesn't grant him RequiredSecondaryPowers, like trying out a dive while he didn't know how to swim.
** He also spends a huge amount of his down time absorbing knowledge and skills that he ''may'' have a use for at some point. If Taskmaster says he's seen whatever-skill-is-needed-in-the-heat-of-the-moment you ''know'' he's got the situation covered.
-->'''Stewardess:''' We're in trouble! The pilot and co-pilot are both out cold. Do you know how to land a 747?
-->'''Taskmaster:''' I've seen it done.
** Despite the above comments, he has managed to work out some of Deadpool's fighting style to the point where he can copy some of it, and notes some consistency in his ConfusionFu (such as the fact that he apparently always dodges to the left). This proves useful when Deadpool hired him to disguise himself as a second Deadpool to trick the Thunderbolts.
* ArchEnemy: To Scott Lang. It's not mutual though; Tasky doesn't even consider him a threat.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: His ability to mimic the fighting style of anyone he encounters often leads to this, and he's been known to talk down to his opponents about how over matched they are while they fight. It gets him in trouble in ''All-New Wolverine'' while fighting ComicBook/{{X 23}}, as while he can certainly adapt to her ''moves'', he's so busy admonishing her on how hopeless it is for her that he completely forgets (or just plain didn't realize) that her claws aren't all in the same place as [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} Logan's]]...
** It's also possible that due to his amnesia, he may simply have forgotten that she had foot claws or didn't get a chance to study up on her in the first place.
* BadassNormal: One of the most badass normal of the marvel multiverse.
* BigBad: Most of Scott Lang's sometimes involve him.
* BoxedCrook: He works off his time by teaching heroes.
* BrooklynRage: In his first full appearance, states he's from the Bronx.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Taskmaster has on several occasions copied and used explicitly superhuman physical abilities in a pinch (Shi'ar martial arts, which require a lighter, stronger-than-human skeleton and musculature, and bullet-catching, respectively), and has taught himself to move at "twice the speed the human body was designed for" by watching video of various techniques on fast-forward.
** Additionally, he once underwent an experimental process to allow himself to copy actual superpowers via observation, but unfortunately, was interrupted before the process could fully "take".
** That said, he's still otherwise human and such feats take a toll on his body.
* CloakAndDagger: He's worked for just about every secret agency in Marvel that you've ever heard of. And a few you haven't.
* ConsummateProfessional: The mercenary that most fits this trope in the Marvel U, aside from ''maybe'' Shocker (who is a vastly smaller presence than Taskmaster, which is deliberate). Other mercenaries are either too emotional and thus prone to goodness (ComicBook/SilverSable), too bloodthirsty and psychopathic (Bullseye), too mercurial and unpredictable (ComicBook/{{Elektra}}), too prone to turning on employers (ComicBook/{{Sabretooth}}), or too batshit crazy (ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}).
* CripplingOverspecialization[=/=]CursedWithAwesome[=/=]BlessedWithSuck: Taskmaster's ability has been retconned so that he can only remember things related to fighting and survival. He can't remember things that he did last week.
* DeadpanSnarker: Since his debut, But particularly when written by Creator/GailSimone.
* DependingOnTheArtist: Oh God, this guy could be the most triumphant example of this trope, even in the same series his mask looks more like a [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ctmj2UpM2Io/TI7nBGKx5QI/AAAAAAAAEeM/BkiO6BzhH-o/s1600/Taskmaster-1.jpg skull]] [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ctmj2UpM2Io/TI7nMH1kntI/AAAAAAAAEec/bt8921OvqA8/s1600/taskmaster.jpg or]] [[http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/news/the-avengers/taskmaster1.jpg like]] a [[http://iluvpress-start.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/440px-Taskmaster_Head.jpg ghost]]or [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Gd8NBIma-zo/SiMqLU89euI/AAAAAAAAInc/M-uv-voaQT8/s400/Avengers+The+Initiative+24+-+taskmasternewinitiativeleader.jpg something else]]
* DinerBrawl: Ensues at the end of the first issue.
* DittoFighter: He can mimic every move he sees once, but he cannot replicate the strength of the opponent he's copied. So he can mimic Hulk's smash but not the sheer destructive power.
* DownerEnding:
** His miniseries ends with Mercedes successfully getting him to remember her... only for him to sacrifice those memories again to [[HeroicSacrifice save her from the villain of the story.]] The worst part is she implies this isn't even the first time this has happened and that he's remembered and forgotten her ''dozens of times.''
** Avengers Academy also has one. Throughout the fight, he jokes with Finesse, before finally admitting that he might be her father, but honestly doesn't know -- and that soon he won't even remember her, because she's like him in that her fighting style comes from everyone else's; there's nothing that's really unique enough for him to remember her.
* DrillSergeantNasty: Sometimes it usually depends on how incompetent his students are, what he's getting paid for, and how he wants to work them. Averted during his time as drill instructor for Camp Hammond. The first thing he says is "that whole ''Full Metal Jacket'' thing the guy before me did? Not doing it."
* DualWielding: Shows a fondness for doing this with pistols in the Udon mini-series and concurrent issues of ''Deadpool'' and ''Agent X''. Somewhat justified by him copying the moves of most other gunslingers in the Marvel Universe, who are almost always doing this themselves.
* EpicFail:
** '''ANYTIME''' when Taskmaster fights Deadpool, mainly due to the former's [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining inability to fully remember non-survival actions]] and the latter's ConfusionFu.
*** Subverted in Deadpool vs. Punisher #4. By making use of Frank Castle's no-nonsense combat style, Tasky was decisively beating the hell out of Wade before Frank managed to save him, and he even put up a solid fight against both at once.
** During a fight against Slapstick, Slapstick managed to get his hand on Taskmaster's broadsword. As he attempts to swing it at him, Taskmaster attempts to mimic the way Slapstick contorted his body to dodge his earlier attacks. Taskmaster ends up breaking his own spine in the process.
** While fighting the ComicBook/AllNewWolverine, he assumes that she has the same powers as her father. She uses this to her advantage when he makes him block a kick with his hand, only to pop her foot claw out while he's holding her foot.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** In the "ComicBook/DeadpoolKillsTheMarvelUniverse" mini series taking place in an alternate universe, he's disgusted when he sees that Deadpool had killed the ComicBook/PowerPack, who are a team of ''kids''! He even says that Deadpool deserves to die for that.[[note]]Ironically, Deadpool himself usually has a strict intolerance of harming children, but this was a WhatIf story[[/note]]
** He mentions in the Udon Studios ''Taskmaster'' miniseries that he feels sorry for security guards, since they're usually underpaid, and prefers not to kill them if possible.
** His 2020 miniseries has him briefly go on a tangent against having women and loved ones StuffedInTheFridge, and considers this both morally gross but also ''very stupid'', since he's aware he's only really ''alive'' because most heroes are pulling their punches.
* EvilMentor: He's does it for a living, running schools for mercenaries to train them as either {{Elite Mook}}s or full-fledged super-villains, although some of his students (like U.S. Agent and the original Spider-Woman) eventually qualified as heroes. He occasionally turns into a TreacherousAdvisor, especially when working for the Red Skull (in one case sending the worst students to be "sparring partners" for his boss, which was a death sentence) but can be more efficient by-the-book on his own sometimes hiring other super-villains to form formal academies, like the time Anaconda worked for him as a calisthenics instructor.
* TheFaceless: For a long time he never took off his mask on-panel, whether others are around or not. When he is defeated and his mask is stolen in his own miniseries, we see him only in silhouette, and then from behind, before he retrieves his mask and makes sure the ones who took it aren't going to be telling anyone.
** One of the Udon comics actually did show him without the mask on... in a flashback to when he was twelve or so.
** Goes so far that when he's working with ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and wearing a copy of his costume, he can be seen wearing his traditional skull mask underneath his Deadpool mask.
** It was shown once when ComicBook/MoonKnight defeated him and threatened to cut off his face literally but instead decided to just cut his mask off.
** We actually do see his face in ''Comicbook/AllNewWolverine'': After Laura gets the upper hand against him [[SmugSnake while he's mouthing off about her not being able to beat him]], she adds insult to injury by ripping his mask off.
** In the 2010 series, he spends the opening of the first issue out of costume, and his face is fully shown.
** Likewise, the King in Black Thunderbolts tie-in actually shows him without his mask for most of the story. It later turns out he was wearing a latex mask, though, purely because he refuses to bend to Wilson Fisk's orders.
* {{Foil}}: To Deadpool, whenever he shows up. Taskmaster is calm and professional, while Deadpool is unpredictable and crazy.
* FriendlyEnemy: It's been shown that, if you're not his target, he has no qualms being chatty and sharing a laugh, even with heroes he's otherwise often up against. Even when you are his target though, he'll often exchange friendly banter before the fight, especially if it's someone he's fought before and knows somewhat personally.
* HiddenDepths: He was unhappy when he discovered that he would be unable to remember Finesse, who is possibly his daughter (all of her fighting skills are copied like his, so he can't remember her using them as he had hoped, and was very concerned about [[spoiler: Mockingbird]], right up until [[spoiler: she killed him while she was brainwashed. Of course, it turns out he's not actually dead, as Mockingbird deliberately missed his vitals when she shot him]].
** The miniseries which revealed his backstory, and revealed his WildCard status is the result of him being too heroic to fully commit to being a villain, but hates himself too much to be a hero because he feels immense guilt for [[spoiler: leaving his wife when he lost his memory of her]] but doesn't remember what he actually did, and has convinced himself its an unforgivable MoralEventHorizon.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The nature of his powers makes this a legitimate possibility any time he mimics something his body is physically incapable of because of a lack of RequiredSecondaryPowers. In one issue of ''Deadpool'' he ''snapped his own spine'' while mimicking Slapstick's fighting style. Because while he can certainly learn the moves by observing, he ''can't'' mimic Slapstick's CartoonPhysics and RuleOfFunny powers, so RealityEnsues.
** When replicating someone's fighting style, he also replicates their flaws and weaknesses. For instance, he once gave Moon Knight an extensive calling-out over the fact he refuses to dodge punches and prefers to tank hits, since it means when using his moves, Taskmaster can't help but do the same.
* IKnowMortalKombat: He is capable of doing this, as this is his power. Due to "photographic reflexes", he can perfectly emulate any humanly possible physical action he's seen someone else perform, both in person and on video. He once used GunFu on a bunch of guys and claims he learned it from a Creator/JetLi movie marathon he'd watched the previous night. He has even been known to watch kung-fu movies on fast-forward and temporarily use the styles he saw at the same increased speed. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: it also erases an equal portion of memory from his brain to make space for the new technique, i.e., his name or knowing that he has a wife.]] There's also some limitations; if a technique has RequiredSecondaryPowers at ''best'' he won't be able to perform it at all. At worst he may just end up injuring himself while trying it (such as when he tried to mimic Slapstick's ToonPhysics).
* IdentityAmnesia: He's really an ex-SHIELD agent whose only reason for being a bad guy is the feeling of guilt he can't escape of abandoning his wife Mercedes. Even after the rest of his memories are gone, he can't escape it.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: Observation of ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}, the Punisher, Bullseye and others has given him this with a variety of implements ranging from the usual bows and guns to ''lead pencils''.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Implied to be the reason for his carrying one in the Udon mini-series. Outside of UDON books however, he prefers double edge swords. (The preeminent swordsman in the Marvel Universe at the time of his creation was the Black Knight, so Tasky copied his skills.)
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: During the KIA Incident during ''Avengers: The Initiative'', Taskmaster survived the mad clone's initial rampage through the facility, and spent the rest of the event sitting in the basement with Eric O'Grady watching ''Chuck''.
* LamarckWasRight: Finesse of ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'' has his powers and is implied to be his daughter, though he can't remember if it's true.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Justified a little better than most cases in fiction. It is explained in his mini-series that all of his explicit memories, which makes up his past, have been wiped out because of damage to the hippocampus. This leaves only the implicit ones, which contain his skill set, left.
* LogicalWeakness: He is not capable of duplicating a physical feat if the effort to do so requires superhuman power.
* MadeOfIron: Has shrugged off multiple bullet wounds, getting drop-kicked through a wall by an enraged Spider-Man and being run over by speeding cars.
* TheMentor: Due to knowing the movesets of many heroes and villains, he's often hired for teaching others how to fight. For example, Agent X, in the eponymous mini-series, and the Iron Spiders, whom he imprinted with Spider-Man's moveset.
* MoodWhiplash: His miniseries has a severe case. It goes from scenes involving a South American village full of Adolf Hitlers trying to kill each other to Taskmaster's inner monologues reflecting on how horrible life is being unable to have an identity thanks to his memory loss.
* MundaneUtility: He uses his powers to impress women, gamble, cook and perfect his golf swing.
* OddFriendship: In ''Secret Avengers'', him and Mockingbird became quite friendly, and he ended up becoming ''very'' protective of her. [[BreakTheCutie Given what she went through in the story]], his protectiveness is understandable.
* OneSteveLimit: Subverted in that he shares the same first name as Iron Man, but Taskmaster is very rarely addressed as Tony.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: He'll work for goddamn anyone if they pay him enough.
* PetTheDog: He and Constrictor both allowed Initiative washout Butterball to take a picture looking like the kid had beaten them in a fight.
** In ''Secret Empire'', him and Black Ant were friendly to the Champions after taking them prisoner, letting the kids play video games and generally trying to make their imprisonment as cordial as they could, before freeing them when it became clear HYDRA had lost and they wanted to get out of dodge without any grudges against them.
* PhotographicMemory:
** So much so that there's been some debate on whether it makes him super-human, mutant, or just "gifted". Supposedly, learning new moves overwrites other memories. However, while the "Learning moves erases my memories" bit ''sounds'' believable, it's false. The human brain can store a virtually unlimited amount of information. Even Taskmaster's amnesia is portrayed unrealistically. In real life, there is a condition where people lack the ability to form new memories, or at least, long term memories. Because of this ''they have no concept of time''. A man who obtained the amnesia in, say, 1980, ''would always think it's 1980''. Yet, when Taskmaster's amnesia is shown, its effects are nowhere near as extensive as this.
** His wife Mercedes Merced also counts.
* PowersAsPrograms: His brain in the 2010 miniseries was said to be reformed after consuming an attempted recreation of the Super Soldier Serum. Now it acts more like a computer where it will "dump" what it finds is unnecessary and only keep fighting moves as well as some small analyzable cues in movement like a computer whose OS is set to delete anything not related to certain subjects. It's one of the reasons why he fights Finesse in an effort to remember her, though due to her training he's able to tell she has no unique attacks only is replicating others like he does. It's been shown he's to be able to recall some things unrelated with fighting but only with a complex set of mental triggers, and has learnt to fake remembering people to hide this (which is largely why he wears a mask; no one can tell how surprised he is when they approach him).
* PragmaticVillainy: For a while there he was the only Marvel villain who had never been captured because of his willingness to abandon his criminal endeavors whenever things got too hairy. As he said in his first battle with the Avengers, he might actually have been able to beat all of them, but it was too risky to try and there wasn't any profit in it.
* ProfessionalKiller: Compared to Deapool, Bullseye, Lady Bullseye, Deathstrike, and even Wolverine he is the most professional assassin.
* PunchClockVillain: So much that he can even be a PunchClockHero sometimes. In short, Taskmaster seems to go with whichever side will make him the most reliable, most hassle-free money. He's against ever making things [[ItsPersonal personal]] with targets, and ultimately has no real end-goal or evil plan; he just wants to make a living.
* RealityEnsues: Not always enforced, but most of the time if Taskmaster tries to copy the moves of someone whose moves are only possible because of their superpowers, he will at best not do it very effectively, and if he's really unlucky he'll actually hurt himself trying to pull it off - just because you threw a punch the same way the Hulk did does not mean you can punch through a brick wall like he did (or even just ''not'' break your hand).
* RealMenWearPink: Likes the Spice Girls.
* RequiredSecondaryPowers: Noticeably averted when it comes to his photographic reflexes; he can't effectively copy a move or ability that requires superhuman strength, as well as any energy or projectile-based techniques, although it should be stated that he is still much stronger and faster than the average human. His mind is still human despite his photographic memory, so he has a limit to how much he can remember and recall.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Downplayed since Tasky is more of a general utility villain for Earths heroes, but for the most part he picks fights with The Avengers or Deadpool. In recent years, however, he's also become a fairly recurring Spider-Man villain, appearing in the Ultimate Spider-Man Cartoon, the PS4 Game, and in Nick SPencers run in a recurring capacity.
** 2020/2021 saw him be made into a personal enemy for Black Widow, being TheHeavy in [[Film/BlackWidow2021 her movie]], having a personal history with her in ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers'', and having her as the HeroAntagonist in his 2020 miniseries. Beforehand, their only interaction was a brief tenure where they flirted while pretending to be Deadpool and Yelena Belova respectively, and some time as teammates in the ''Secret Avengers''.
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: The drawback to his abilities is that every time he learns a new combat skill, he loses his memory and any non-combat data. This was made up in the latest mini, as he often watches cooking and golf shows to learn those skills, and his first few uses of his abilities is learning to lasso and diving.
* SadistTeacher: Often seems like this to his students.
* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: As an homage to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Muerte Mexican personification of Death]], he wears a skull mask.
* SkullForAHead: As mentioned above, he traditionally wears a mask that resembles a skull.
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: His real name is Tony Masters.
* StrongAsTheyNeedToBe: His prowess and physical ability can fluctuate. Supposedly, his only real power is his photographic reflexes, and outside of that he's just a "peak human" who's greatest asset is his mind and skill. Yet he's pulled off feats that go beyond that, as detailed below, and can be a true superhuman fighter when the need arises.
* StuffedInTheFridge: {{Discussed}}. In the 2020 run, Taskmaster notes how many superheroes seem to be waiting for one dead woman to push them over the edge so he adopts a "No wives, no girlfriends, no mothers" policy. He says targeting loved ones is [[EvenEvilHasStandards "gross"]] and also [[PragmaticVillainy doesn't want a hero to have a grudge against him]] the way Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} has a grudge against Bullseye.
* StupidJetpackHitler: The latest mini-series makes his copying powers out to be the result of taking a formula devised by German scientists towards the end of WWII.
* SuperReflexes: Is capable of perceiving and reacting to the world around him at faster-than-human levels, allowing him to function consciously while using his double speed ability and to perceive bullets in flight and catch them with his hands or otherwise deflect them.
* SuperSpeed: In addition to the aforementioned bullet-catching, he's also been seen shooting multiple arrows near-simultaneously (from a bow, which, being a direct copy of Hawkeye's, requires more arm-strength than the average fit, adult male human possesses to even pull back to its full draw-length even once) and killing half a dozen men standing yards apart from each other with a sword in less than a second. When other characters fight him it can seem like he's everywhere around them all at once.
* SuperStrength: Seems to exhibit a some form of this (despite ostensibly only being "peak human"), being able to generate enough force through a shield throw to temporarily short out ComicBook/IronMan's armour, knock giant characters off their feet despite being a dozen or so times smaller, casually punch a grown man several times his body-length through the air and hold his own against the superhumanly powerful Asgardians.
* TakeThat: Gets into a fight with [[AffirmativeActionLegacy the daughters of]] Tarantula and Batroc the Leaper and, after expressing surprise since he [[MistakenForGay thought they were gay]], declares he hates [[CaptainEthnic ethnic stereotypes]] before shooting them both.
* ThoseTwoGuys: With Black Ant, whenever he's written by Nick Spencer.
* VitriolicBestBuds: He and ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} have this type of "friendship"- perhaps said best by Taskmaster: "The things I do for the friends I can't stand..."
* VocalDissonance: A scary super-merc with a skull mask, who also happens to have a thick [[BrooklynRage Brooklyn accent]]. In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', Creator/SteveBlum's portrayal of him reminds quite a few of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Moe Szyslak]], yet it's entirely accurate for him to sound like that.
* WildCard:
** Taskmaster will work for HYDRA one moment and ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} the next - his only loyalty is to the one paying him.
** Seemed to be changing when [[spoiler:despite M.O.D.O.K.'s expectations, Taskmaster genuinely joined S.H.I.E.L.D.'s side, and seems to have liked Mockingbird.]]

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* AmbiguouslyHuman: While Masters is unambiguously superhuman due to having taken the Super Soldier Serum, his ability to perfectly replicate any move which he was born with opens the possibility that he's a mutant, or if it's just a natural talent of his.

* DualWielding: Shows a fondness for doing this with pistols in the Udon mini-series and concurrent issues of ''Deadpool'' and ''Agent X''.

** Likewise, the King in Black Thunderbolts tie-in actually shows him without his mask for most of the story.

* PunchClockVillain: So much that he can even be a PunchClockHero sometimes. In short, Taskmaster seems to go with whichever side will make him the most reliable, most hassle-free money.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''
* ''VideoGame/MarvelHeroes''

* ''VideoGame/MarvelsAvengers''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}''

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse
** ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''

* TheFaceless: He never takes off his mask on-panel, whether others are around or not. When he is defeated and his mask is stolen in his own miniseries, we see him only in silhouette, and then from behind, before he retrieves his mask and makes sure the ones who took it aren't going to be telling anyone.

* ConsummateProfessional: The mercenary that most fits this trope in the Marvel U. Other mercenaries are either too emotional and thus prone to goodness (ComicBook/SilverSable), too amoral (Bullseye), or too batshit crazy (ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}).

* CursedWithAwesome[=/=]BlessedWithSuck: Taskmaster's ability has been retconned so that he can only remember things related to fighting and survival. He can't remember things that he did last week.

* CloakAndDagger: He's worked for just about every secret agency in Marvel that you've ever heard of. And a few you haven't.

** PowersAsPrograms: A better way to explain his powers is this trope. His brain in the 2010 miniseries was said to be reformed after consuming an attempted recreation of the Super Soldier Serum. Now it acts more like a computer where it will "dump" what it finds is unnecessary and only keep fighting moves as well as some small analyzable cues in movement like a computer whose OS is set to delete anything not related to certain subjects. It's one of the reasons why he fights Finesse in an effort to remember her, though due to her training he's able to tell she has no unique attacks only is replicating others like he does. It's been shown he's to be able to recall some things unrelated with fighting but only with a complex set of mental triggers, and has learnt to fake remembering people to hide this (which is largely why he wears a mask; no one can tell how surprised he is when they approach him).

** The miniseries which revealed his backstory, and revealed his WildCard TrueNeutral status is the result of him being too heroic to fully commit to being a villain, but hates himself too much to be a hero because he feels immense guilt for [[spoiler: leaving his wife when he lost his memory of her]] but doesn't remember what he actually did, and has convinced himself its an unforgivable MoralEventHorizon.

!!! '''First Appearance:''' ''The Avengers'' #195 (May 1980)

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!!Taskmaster-Related Tropes: