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 killed by him following the Battle of Blythe Road.

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.

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.

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 death, 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.

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.

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 persisted 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.