Little is known about Masque's life, except that he was born with severe facial deformities, which led to him living the life as an outcast. This was furthered when Masque discovered that he was a mutant born with the ability to alter people's faces and bodies, reshaping them to whatever he wants. Masque's own body is immune to his powers. This cruel irony embittered Masque against the world and those whose beauty Masque envied and loathed. At some point, Masque was recruited by fellow mutant Callisto, who was seeking to create a new community for homeless and deformed mutants such as Masque and her allies (Caliban, Sunder, and Plague). Masque's job was to use his powers to make ordinary-looking recruits to the Morlock community look ugly in order to conform to Callisto's notions of the Morlocks being an all-outcast community. The sadistic joy Masque took in using his powers and the fact that he often would turn his victims into outright deformed monsters, created tension between him and Callisto, who would often be forced to make Masque undo his work and restore his victims to normal.