Merasmus

Merasmus the Magician is a Scottish wizard. By his own claim in Unhappy Returns he is six thousand years old. He is the keeper of the Bombinomicon and the Soldier's former roommate.

History
The earliest available records of Merasmus show him to be brewer of potions; an example being his "Wizard's Brew" Hat Tonic as advertised in the August 21, 1861, issue of The Teufort Bystander on display in the Coaltown Museum. He remained in Scotland until relocating to Badlands sometime between the late 1950s and mid-1960s.

In the Bombinomicon comic, when the Demoman was seven years old, he discovered Merasmus' castle in the Highlands while seeking work. Merasmus told the Demoman to sweep the library of his castle, but told him not to look at a certain book. Ultimately, the Demoman lost his left eye to the Bombonomicon, and Merasmus was forced to remove it lest the Bombonomicon would haunt the eye forever. Years later, the magician's tumultuous relationship with the Soldier was revealed, and he summoned MONOCULUS (the haunted eye) for the mercenaries to fight.

During the events of Soldier Needs a Home, Merasmus kicked the Soldier out of his castle for being a nuisance. When he found later that the Soldier trashed his home and evicted him, he took on a ghostly form and decided to attack the Soldier's team.

Later, Merasmus moved in with Tom Jones, who was murdered by Soldier. After calling the police, Miss Pauling tricked Merasmus into checking Tom Jones' pulse, and Merasmus was believed to be responsible for the murder and held for questioning.

Merasmus was later shown to be in prison, now with several tattoos (one of them the Soldier's class emblem) and a slightly different skull hat, where he relayed to the other inmates the tale of Grave Matters.

Trivia

 * Marasmus is a medical condition characterized by emaciation and wasting, generally caused by malnutrition. The name of the disease in turn comes from the Greek word marasmos, meaning "decay".
 * Merasmus has what appears to be a tattoo of Soldier's class emblem on his left bicep as seen in Grave Matters.