Man in black (Cyber-Hunt)

The "man in black" was a mysterious being with whom the time traveller known thereafter as "Fred", (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt) previously a possible future incarnation of the Doctor, (COMIC: Party Animals) made a deal to save his homeworld.

Nature

He wore a black robe with a pointy collar. He had the power to erase events from people's memories, to freeze time so as to interfere in events without being seen, and to alter the course of history. However, he was wary of being seen to break the "non-interference rules" by Fred. He explained to Fred that he "had a strong sense of self preservation", tending to stay out of any physical fighting as a result; he preferred to subtly alter events or act through pawns instead of entering the fray himself.

Paisley Grange wondered if he was Death, but, when asked, the man in black pretended to have misunderstood the question as asking if he was deaf. Fred's final words to the man in black as they parted aways after their business was concluded were "I don't know how I'll live without your incessant pestering", possibly implying an older association between them. (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt)

History

At some point, the man in black contacted and made a deal with "Fred", promising that he would remove the destruction of his homeworld from history if Fred performed some tasks for him. He directed him to Carson's Planet. (PROSE: Cyber-Hunt)

Behind the scenes

Ambiguity in Cyber-Hunt

There are many contradictory clues as to the man in black's identity. He is first seen depositing the main character on a barren planet with instructions to delay the progress of a species of world-conquering cyber-organisms, mirroring the Time Lord messenger who gave the Fourth Doctor a similiar mission at the start of Genesis of the Daleks, who was also wearing black clothing with a collar. He also speaks about not wanting to personally break the non-interference rules. Alternatively, the man in black's visible familiarity with Fred's prior identity, and Fred's final line about the man in black "always pestering him", may be read as suggesting that he may be a version of the Master — potentially the War King, often described as wearing simple, pitch-black robes.

However, whether the man in black is indeed a Time Lord is made considerably more ambiguous by the fact that Fred tells him "You promised to restore my homeworld", implying they do not share a home planet. When speaking about not wanting to break the non-interference rules, the man in black implies that he merely wishes to avoid an argument with Fred, rather than having any other authorities to answer to on the matter. The man in black also avoids denying Paisley Grange's guess that he is Death. Incarnations of the Doctor also crossed paths with the embodiment of Death on many occasions, most notably in the Virgin New Adventures. Phillpott noted that the man in black could also be interpreted as Nyarlathotep.

In many ways, the man's abilities and role resemble those of a character introduced in the last season of the Audio Visuals who was never fully paid off. In the story Truman's Excellent Adventure, Truman Crouch meets a powerful being named "Todd" who is "something far more interesting" than a Time Lord and who demonstrates control over local reality to the point of freezing time to have a private conversation with Truman and erasing a witness' memory of the event. Todd is concerned with preserving history (seemingly because of his service to a higher power) and says the Doctor has asked for a favour which has not been paid, although the suggestion is that the favour was performed by whatever other being or faction hired Todd as a representative, and not by Todd himself. Todd also greatly respects the intelligence of a cat, evoking the writer's then-recent story The Legacy of Gallifrey.

In Minalopa

The mysterious man in black was meant to reappear in Minalopa, a Cyberon novel which was ultimately unproduced after its prospective author (Callum Phillpott, returning from the Cyber-Hunt) ceased associating with BBV Productions in late 2021. Phillpott's notes on the man in black noted that described him as "probably" a Time Lord. He would have been present on the holiday planet of Minalopolis and witnessed its invasion by Cyberons.

Other information

Callum Phillpott went on to introduce a similar "man in grey" in a 2022 Jenny Everywhere prose story. In his second appearance in the short story Open Sourcing, this was addressed directly in a comedic fourth-wall-breaking fashion: when the Man in Grey takes issue with Doctor Know over his being something of a Doctor Who pastiche, Know blackmails him in turns by telling him that he knows about his resemblance to the "man in black" (although the man in black is never directly identified by this phrase in Open Sourcing). Know notably possesses a polaroid of the "darker Man in Grey" "in a party setting with a balding man in a floral print jacket".