Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers

Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers (サミュエル＝リデル＝マクレガー＝メイザース), primarily referred to as Mathers (メイザース), is a posthumous character introduced in Shinyaku Toaru Majutsu no Index.

He was a Magician and one of the three founders of the Golden Dawn, and was one of the mentors of Aleister Crowley, whom he personally invited into the cabal. After Aleister sought to destroy all magic, he would become Aleister's enemy and was later struck down by him following the Battle of Blythe Road. Though defeated, Mathers' actions would have a major influence on the events of the Toaru series.

Appearance
In the vision shown to Kamijou Touma based on Aleister Crowley's past, Mathers wore a military uniform with a thick cloak and a worn-out pointed hat. It was described as an extremely colorful outfit that would look more at home on a windup soldier doll.

Personality
Described as a charismatic eccentric, Mathers was devoted to magical research and the pursuit of his goals, never holding down a worldly job. Whilst Westcott advocated traditions and the need to compromise, Mathers expressed a desire to progress even if it meant entering areas considered heretical and taboo at the time. Mathers in particular wanted his name to be the one associated with the products of the Golden Dawn's research and the work kit which they hoped to produce, leaving his mark on history. In order to achieve his desire, he made efforts to overwrite the pieces created by the other members with his own.

Despite speaking of the work kit he desired to make as one which master and apprentice could use equally and aiming to break the master-apprentice learning system, Mathers was an authoritarian who looked down on others from a special position reserved only for himself and made use of his apprentices in order to further his own success.

Mathers also styled himself as a and sought to restore the, to an extent which troubled some of his fellow cabal members.

Mathers was described as speaking with an aloof tone, and with hints of a Scottish accent.

Golden Age
In the latter half of the 19th century, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers founded the Golden Dawn together with William Wynn Westcott and.

With Woodman retiring due to old age, control of the growing cabal was left between Mathers and Westcott. The two had conflicting views on how the cabal and magic should proceed, as the Golden Dawn worked towards the ultimate goal of discovering a unified theory to explain the truths of the world and constructing a magical work kit that brought endless possibilities for magicians. Being of an older age, Westcott advocated tradition and saw a need to compromise, while Mathers wished to see progress, even if it meant going into areas considered taboo and heretical at the time. Mathers in particular wanted his name to be the one associated with the products of the Golden Dawn's research and sought to overwrite the individual pieces the other members had constructed with ones of his own. Eventually, the Golden Dawn eventually came to be divided between them, though neither faction had complete control over the organization as a whole.

Unlike Westcott, who had a job as a coroner with, Mathers never held down a worldly job and was focused on his magical research. He married Mina, a future painter, as part of his efforts to accomplish his goals. He also sought the revival of the House of Stuart.

Mathers eventually scouted Aleister Crowley and brought him into the cabal, intending to use the young man's talents for his own purposes. Westcott was reluctant to have Aleister enter the cabal and others held similar sentiments. Shortly after Aleister entered the cabal, he performed a summoning ceremony in the presence of the two founders, the results of which reinforced their own sentiments.

Downfall
Mathers' downfall began when Aleister learned about the future death of his daughter from Allan Bennett, which would be the result of the 'sparks' from colliding phases. He also learned about how the Golden Dawn's activities contributed to this phenomena and how the founders were aware but continued regardless, believing that Blythe Road's Treasure would protect them from the negative effects. Aleister subsequently decided to destroy the cabal in an attempt to change the fate of his daughter, wielding a curse that would doom its victims to either die or live a life devoid of success.

Aleister launched an attack on Mathers and a magical battle ensued, with both sides being evenly matched. Angered by Aleister's rebellion, Mathers called him a fool for not sticking with him to receive the scraps of his success and argued that Aleister could avoid his daughter's death by simply not having one to begin with. Aleister responded by questioning Mathers' own reasons for marrying Mina and his look enraged Mathers further, leading him to display his authoritarian traits. The battle then ended as Mathers' reinforcements arrived, including Dion Fortune, Paul Foster Case, Arthur Edward Waite and Robert William Felkin. Aleister retreated, but he had achieved his real objective; obtaining a sample of Mathers' blood.

After the battle, Mathers learned that Aleister had occupied 36 Blythe Road, the Golden Dawn's most important ceremonial ground and armory, supposedly on his orders. Contacting Aleister via Automatic Writing, Mathers was informed that Aleister had used his blood to produce a forged document, in order make to the Westcott faction believe that Mathers ordered Aleister to occupy Blythe Road. Not long afterwards, a furious Westcott confronted Mathers at his headquarters, together with magicians from his faction. Mathers claimed that the document was forged and it was solely Aleister's doing, but couldn't say that the document was forged with the same method which Westcott used to forge a letter from Anna Sprengel, as Westcott was in front of his subordinates and wasn't in a position to openly accept it as doing so would compromise his own position.

A war subsequently broke out between the Mathers and Westcott factions of the Golden Dawn. While battles raged in the darkness of London, Aleister Crowley took advantage to attack members of both sides and plant evidence pointing to the other side. As the war escalated, further opportunities arose and eventually an opening emerged for Aleister to take out the founders. Mathers was present when Westcott was attacked and struck down by Aleister using Blythe Road's Treasure, an arrow made of a severed hand bearing Imagine Breaker. Aleister then turned his attention to Mathers and after Mathers argued that he could have remade his daughter as many times as necessary, threw the arrow at him. Mathers managed to repel the arrow, at the cost of his arm and many of his symbolic weapons, and it was destroyed. However in focusing on protecting himself from the arrow, he made the fatal mistake of not paying attention to his real enemy, Aleister, who struck the self-styled highlander down with a claymore manifested through Spiritual Tripping, and with it brought his curse upon him. Mathers managed to set off a few more explosions but ultimately Aleister was the one left standing.

Legacy
Mathers' desire to have his name attached to the products of the Golden Dawn's research and leave his mark on history was snuffed out before it could be achieved. The Golden Dawn splintered and declined, with all attempts to recreate it ultimately failing, never producing the work kit that Mathers desired. A few years after the cabal's collapse, Aleister compiled theories derived from his contact with Aiwass, which were sensational enough to blow away the foundational theories of the Golden Dawn devised by Westcott and the new theories Mathers hoped to create by hijacking them. Though Mathers' name would likely come up if a random magician was asked to name ten famous people, his name was eclipsed by that of Aleister Crowley, who was judged to have produced most of the modern magic which continued to the present day.

Although Mathers didn't leave the mark on history he had intended, he did leave another hidden legacy behind which would greatly influence the course of events in the century afterwards. Prior to his defeat, he summoned the demon Coronzon and gave it a single command; to pretend to have been summoned by Aleister Crowley and then guide him to ruin. Bound to follow the contract even after the death of its summoner, Coronzon appeared to Aleister during his attempt at crossing the abyss in Africa, pretending to have been summoned by him, breaking through his attempts to bind it but ultimately failing to take his body and being driven off. Coronzon subsequently travelled to England and possessed Aleister's second daughter, Lola. Taking the name of the Stuart dynasty Mathers hoped to revive for its alias, Coronzon secretly manipulated events, in order to fulfill its contract and free itself from its ties to Mathers, as the Archbishop of Necessarius.

His remains were supposedly buried in the graveyard of Westminster Abbey.

St. Germain Arc
According to Othinus, if one were to ask a random magician to name ten famous people, Mathers's name would come up alongside Rosenkreuz and St. Germain.

Aleister Crowley Arc
During Kamijou Touma's ascent through the Windowless Building, he was shown a series of visions detailing Aleister Crowley, which showed the role Mathers played during those events. After Touma's battle with Aleister himself, Mathers' summoning of Coronzon was revealed to Aleister as the demon attacked him to complete its contract and sever its ties to Mathers.

Return to England Arc
While Coronzon was temporarily sealed in Academy City, Aleister sought Mathers' remains, said to be buried in the graveyard of Westminster Abbey, in order to utilize his connection to the demon. However when Aleister exhumed the grave, he found that the body inside was not Mathers. Immediately afterwards, he was confronted by Mathers himself, who had apparently somehow survived, together with other members of the Golden Dawn.

Abilities
Mathers was a skilled and powerful Magician as one of the Three Founders of the Golden Dawn, who made use of the style of magic which would come to be known as the Golden-style. His primary weapons were symbolic weapons representing the four elements (including a fire wand, a water cup, a wind dagger and an earth coin) which floated around him and enabled him to control all things on the material level.

He was capable of summoning and binding demons to contracts, having summoned and given it the order to bring Aleister Crowley to ruin, a contract which would persist after his death. He was also capable of using Automatic Writing.

Trivia

 * The real Mathers co-founded the together with  and . Following Woodman's death in 1891, Mathers became leader of the Golden Dawn but was expelled from the order in April 1900, due to dissatisfaction with his leadership and his developing association with Aleister Crowley, whom he promoted against the London officials' decision. A few years later, he founded the successor organization,, which he led until his death in 1918.