Mason Verger

Mason Verger

Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris’ 1999 novel Hannibal. In the 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series Hannibal, he is portrayed by Gary Oldman. Mason is a wealthy, sadistic pedophile who was horribly disfigured during a therapy session with Dr. Hannibal Lecter.

About Mason Verger in brief

Summary Mason VergerMason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris’ 1999 novel Hannibal, as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series Hannibal. In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Oldman, while in the TV show he is played by Michael Pitt and Joe Anderson. Mason is a wealthy, sadistic pedophile who was horribly disfigured during a therapy session with Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He plans gruesome revenge against Lecter, which sets the novel’s plot in motion. The novel and TV series also portray his dysfunctional relationship with his sister Margot, whom he subjects to years of emotional and sexual abuse. Mason takes pleasure in acts of cruelty and sexual violence, including torturing animals and molesting children. He also enjoys collecting children’s tears with sterile swabs and flavoring his martinis with them. He claims to be a born-again Christian, and operates a Christian camp for underprivileged children—whom he molests.

He is eventually arrested for several counts of child molestation, but thanks to his family’s political connections he is sentenced to community service and court-mandated therapy in lieu of prison time. Mason becomes a recluse, rarely leaving Muskrat Farm, his country estate, due to a combination of his disfigurement, the general frailty of his physical condition and the difficulty in transporting the necessary equipment to keep him comfortable. Mason bribes a Justice Department official to discredit Lecter to discredit him. Seven years after Lecter’s escape in Silence of the Lambs, Mason’s former guard, Barney Matthews, pays a gang of Sardinians to kidnap Lecter and instruct them to lead them to Clarice Starling’s home. When Lecter learns of Mason’s plan to kidnap him, he learns of Clarice’s plot to foil him and leads them to the Italian town of Sardinia, where he plans to kill Lecter in front of a group of women. Mason’s plot is foiled by the Italian police.