Matt Trakker - Spectrum

I love the old 1980s cartoon series MASK (Mobile Armored Strike Kommand). If you never heard of them they are a highly trained international special mission team that wage war against their polar opposites VENOM (the Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem), an international terrorist group dedicated to wealth and power by force. Both teams use illusion as their ultimate weapons in their goals and each team possess ordinary vehicles that can become high tech war machines.

If GI Joe and Transformers had a child, MASK would be it.

Matt Trakker is the leader and co-founder of MASK. The PNA (Peaceful Nations Alliance) contracted Matt Trakker and his younger brother Andy, a teenage prodigy and mechanical genius and older brother Joseph, a career military man. Also assigned to the task force was decorated United States Air Force Major Miles Mayhem. Together the Trakker's and Mayhem developed a special task force that could deploy anywhere in the world and operate covertly among most any civilian locale.

Matt, an independently wealthy billionaire playboy supplied much of the financial backing for the group while Andy designed and developed the MASK vehicles and power helmets. Joseph was to lead the hand picked team of MASK agents while Miles Mayhem acted as a military advisor and tactician.

Being an idealist and optimist Matt often clashed with the rigid and bitter views of Mayhem over tactics and how the team should be run but he developed a grudging respect for Mayhem's vast military knowledge and innovative ideas concerning the development of the weapons.

Unknown to all, Mayhem plotted from the beginning to steal the MASK vehicles and found his own mercenary terrorist team code-named VENOM.

During the last day of desert trials of the completed MASK team and vehicles Miles Mayhem set up an ambush using his VENOM agents who then killed Joseph Trakker and the original MASK team. Matt, who was attached to the team that day as a civilian observer, survived the attack and managed to make a makeshift sail powered vehicle to get back to base.

When Matt arrived he was horrified to find the test facility was on fire and he was only able to rescue a badly injured Andy from the flames. Andy revealed Miles' betrayal of the group and how he stole half of the plans Andy had developed, but he managed to save the other half and give them to Matt before dying in his older brother's arms.

From that day on Matt Trakker vowed to bring Miles Mayhem to justice and dedicated his life to making the MASK team a force for good in the world. Matt hand-picked a new team of trusted friends and experts in various fields to make his new team and develop the vehicles and technology his brother Andy created.

Despite his vow and total dedication to MASK and it's mission, Matt keeps up his public persona of being a wealthy playboy who sky dives for sport and races cars for charity. Matt spends much of his spare time with his adopted son Scott who often accompanies his father on his many trips around the world.

Codenamed Hunter, Matt has proven to be an excellent leader, expert fighter pilot and a brilliant tactician in his own right making him the bane of Miles Mayhem's existence.


Matt Trakker pilots Thunderhawk, a red Chevrolet Camaro G3, which can transform into a gull-winged fighter jet with amazing maneuverability and speed on land and in the air. When piloting Thunderhawk Matt often wears Spectrum mask which is one of the most versatile and powerful masks developed for the team. Spectrum can fire a sonic force wave that can deafen people temporarily, disorient them and can cause them unbearable pain. Spectrum mask can also disrupt radio transmissions on any frequency.

Spectrum can envelope Matt in a glowing low yield anti-gravity field that allows him a limited ability to glide and it can act like a parachute when he's in free fall. The glider function can be employed while Spectrum uses it's sonic based and visual functions though this can drain the mask's energy rapidly and damage it if it's used for too long.

Spectrum also allows Trakker to see in different visual spectrums and can project different spectrums of light which makes it an invaluable tool for tracking enemies, and finding clues on missions.

Forever striving to be ready for whatever the team may encounter Matt wears the most masks of any member of the team many developed for special missions. Matt is also the pilot and/or co-pilot for Rhino, Volcano, Goliath, Hornet, Coast Patrol, Jungle Rescue and Skybolt.

MASK and above characters copyright Hasbro