Ulysses Paxton is a fictional character created by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

in his novel ''

The Master Mind of Mars ''The Master Mind of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the sixth of his Barsoom series. Burroughs' working titles for the novel were ''A Weird Adventure on Mars'' and ''Vad Varo of Barsoom''. It was firs ...

''. Within the narrative framework of the novel, Captain Paxton, United States Army Infantry, is a fan of Burroughs'

Barsoom Barsoom is a fictional representation of the planet Mars created by American pulp fiction author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first Barsoom tale was serialized as ''Under the Moons of Mars'' in 1912 and published as a novel as ''A Princess of Mars' ...

series, and after having a shell blow off his legs during trench warfare in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he finds himself drawn across the gulfs of space to Mars (where his body is whole again) like John Carter before him. He sends Burroughs a first person manuscript of his adventures on the dying planet, which Burroughs publishes. On Mars, Paxton is taken in by elderly mad scientist

Ras Thavas Ras Thavas is a fictional character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his 1927 novel ''The Master Mind of Mars''. Within the narrative framework of the story he is an elderly Martian mad scientist of the city-state of Toonol, the "Master Mind" o ...

, the "Master Mind" of the novel's title, who educates him in the ways of Barsoom and bestows on him the Martian name Vad Varo. Ras has perfected techniques of transplanting brains, which he uses to provide rich elderly Martians with youthful new bodies for a profit. Distrustful of his fellow Martians, he trains Paxton as his assistant to perform the same operation on him. But Paxton has fallen in love with Valla Dia, one of Ras' young victims, whose body has been swapped for that of the hag Xaxa, Jeddara (empress) of the city-state of Phundahl. He refuses to operate on Ras until his mentor promises to restore her to her rightful body. A quest for that body ensues, in which Paxton is aided by others of Ras' experimental victims, and in the end (and after meeting fellow Earthman John Carter) he attains the hand of his Valla Dia, who in a happy plot twist turns out to be a princess.

Further appearances

In the following novel, ''

A Fighting Man of Mars ''A Fighting Man of Mars'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the seventh of his Barsoom series. Burroughs began writing it on February 28, 1929, and the finished story was first published in '' The Blue Book Maga ...

'', Paxton relays Tan Hadron of Hastor's adventure to Burroughs on Earth via the Gridley Wave (named after Jason Gridley, a character in Burroughs' Pellucidar series). Paxton is not involved in this story's plot, other than the framing device of transcribing and relaying it. Paxton is also mentioned at the beginning of ''

Synthetic Men of Mars Synthetic things are composed of multiple parts, often with the implication that they are artificial. In particular, 'synthetic' may refer to: Science * Synthetic chemical or compound, produced by the process of chemical synthesis * Synthetic o ...

''. When Dejah Thoris is badly injured in an accident and Ras Thavas, the only surgeon that can possibly help her, has gone missing without a trace, John Carter decides to seek out Paxton instead, hoping that, as Ras Thavas' former student, he can perform the surgery. He is however captured by the Hormads before he has a chance to locate Paxton, and Paxton himself is again not involved in the plot.

References

External links

ERBzine.com Illustrated Bibliography for ''The Master Mind of Mars''

ERBzine.com Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute Site

barsoom.com Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars Site

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Edgar Rice Burroughs Summary Project page for ''The Master Mind of Mars''
Barsoom characters Characters in written science fiction Characters in American novels of the 20th century Literary characters introduced in 1928 Fictional military captains Fictional United States Army personnel Fictional World War I veterans {{Fict-char-stub