Martin Jacques MystĖre was born on June 26, 1942 in New York. He graduated from Harvard University in 1964 with a degree in anthropology. Just a year later, he lost both his parents in a plane crash and resolved to use everything he inherited towards his academic research. He studied cybernetics in America, before moving to Sorbonne, Paris, to pursue a degree in archeology, after the completion of which he attended the Fine Arts Academy in Florence, Italy.

In 1973, he went on his first personal expedition to Mohemjo Daro, India with his personal assistant Sergej Orloff. He spent five years studying yoga and other obscure spiritual disciplines. Upon his return to America, he wrote The Secrets of The Past which remained at the top of the best seller list for more than six months.

He was dubbed 'The Detective of the Impossible' by the popular press due to his habit of taking an interest in cases which most 'respectable' archeologists and scientists simply preferred to ignore. Many rumors circulated concerning his past although these were never verified; among the most famous was the suspicion that he possessed a fifteen thousand year old laser gun of indeterminate origin. In 1979, after having returned from an expedition of unknown nature, Martin MystĖre brought a Neanderthal man, who had somehow managed to survive until the present day, to the United States. After a lengthy and arduous bureaucratic battle, he managed to acquire the custody of this man, whom he named Java. In time, Java became Martin's closest friend and also his assistant.

Martin has an emotionally rewarding relationship with his fiancĖe Diana Lombard, although MystĖre seldom complains about the fact that Diana usually prefers not to join him on his investigations and expeditions.