Created by a flawed alien experiment to better understand human history, Minski's creators were the mysterious race known only to the First Doctor as the seemingly extra-dimensional Masksmasters of the Pageant, who created machines and wore masks to give themselves identities. Intrigued by the relationship between individual psychology and the historical dynamic of Earth, the Masksmasters removed Earth from space-time around the year 1794. They rebuilt it in a pocket universe within a machine that could regulate and control the physical nature of the world (it is crucial to note that the Masksmasters were simply curious about what would happen if history was different and did not seek to cause any actual harm to the human race). Fascinated by the Marquis de Sade's philosophies, which had m