Adorkable: He's missing his front teeth and his eyes are full of blood, but his actions, ditziness, and generally nice personality make him pretty loveable. Aww.◊
A Day in the Limelight: The album "The Fall" was composed and performed pretty much entirely by 2D, and the video for "DoYaThing" focuses on him.
Berserk Button: You really don't want to bring up the Paula incident around him.
Beware the Nice Ones: In the iTunes sessions interview, he went as far as physically attacking Murdoc when the latter pushed his Berserk Button.
Born Lucky / Born Unlucky: Hard to tell which, but the many strange and painful things he's been through - and survived - certainly make it seem that fate's definitely working for him or out to get him.
Brainless Beauty: Invoked, though the "beauty" part may depend on the viewer.
Break the Cutie: While he may not be exactly cute, you do have to admit that the poor guy's been through a lot.
British Accents: He speaks with a very heavy Cockney accent.
Character Tics: Puts his tongue, as well as his fingers, up his nose a lot. He also has a habit of twiddling his fingers when nervous.
Cool Mask: A clown mask, in the videos for Stylo, On Melancholy Hill and Rhinestone Eyes - he mentioned at some point it was to hide his headaches.
Covert Pervert: After Murdoc lent him some movies, 2D commented that they're "A bit random, but very, very watchable." With titles like "Tit's A Wonderful Life" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang", it's pretty obvious what kind of movies those were.
Also, 2-D's various illegitimate children, as referenced in the book and on his computer on the old website.
Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly, he snaps into this mode a few times.
The Ditz: He's a bit brighter by Phase 3, but back in Phase 1 he really was quite harebrained.
Erudite Stoner: Despite spending most of his time high on painkillers and playing The Ditz for years, he still has brief moments of lucidity where he can be surprisingly philosophical, even profound.
Genius Ditz: He can play a lot of instruments, he composed a lot of songs, and he even wrote some of the lyrics, despite his unimpressive mental capacity.
Meaningful Name/Punny Name: "Uh, Murdoc called me 2D because I've got two dents in my head from my ram-raid coma car crash episode in my life, it's not because I'm two-dimensional or anything like that."
His pre-Gorillaz nickname - Stu-Pot. Also, he went into a coma, making him a vegetable Stu.
Monochromatic Eyes: Black, but they sometimes turn white - it's unknown what causes it.
Unfortunate Names: His original surname was "Tusspot", before his father, undoubtedly having endured a hell of a lifetime, had it legally shortened to "Pot" shortly after Stu's birth. Even then, he's still nicknamed "Stu-Pot".
Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 1, with Murdoc and how. In Phase 3, they tend to slide towards type 2, since 2D gathered the courage to insult Murdoc.
Vocal Evolution: His voice has been getting deeper since Demon Days.
A more fitting choice would probably be "immoral, egotistical, hygiene-lacking". Murdoc has provoked both the birth and the demise of the band. While he hasn't been quite right in the head since the band's creation, Phase 3 has only been proving his derangement. In the band, he focuses on playing the bass guitar, but he has also contributed with minor instruments.
Amazing Technicolor Population: He's been turning green more as the Phases go by - this is explained as his tanning turning him green as a side-effect of his deal with the devil.
Bestiality Is Depraved: The music video for DoYaThangimplies this - on the other hand, if an old poster and Murdoc's Satanism is anything to go by, he might just be sacrificing it.
British Accents: He has a Cockney accent, but it also has traces of midlands.
Creepy Child: In the artwork of his preadolescent self, he looks pretty evil.
Deal with the Devil: Murdoc earned the success of Gorillaz for the price of his soul and his middle name, which he legally changed from Alphonse to Faust as a symbol of the contract.
Depraved Bisexual: He'd deny it if asked when sober, but it's pretty obvious.
Dirty Coward: He abandoned Plastic Beach to London after the events of Rhinestone Eyes, covering it up by faking his death.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He did seem worried when he discovered that pirates attacking the real Noodle during On Melancholy Hill, and he hurried to help her straight away.
Even Evil Has Standards: In the interviews, he spoke about "the Boogieman taking the poor manatee", and he was visibly shocked when he was exposed to it in the video.
Reincarnation: If Murdoc is correct, he has lived at least 14 times since the beginning of time. He claims to remember some details of his past lives, such as The Great Fire of London (which he started by flicking a cigarette out a carriage window), Roman times, and being personally acquainted with Isambard Kingdom Brunel (whom he loved, because of his Nice Hat). How or why he keeps being brought back has not been explained yet.
A Japanese girl who arrived in a Fed Ex crate at age eight at Gorillaz' doorstep, not being able to speak a word in English*
Actually, she spoke just one word, and that word was "noodle".
, but playing the guitar like a virtuoso. Before the El Manana incident, she was known for being very energetic and high-spirited, as well as being the smartest and most down-to-earth member of the band most of the time. As of the El Manana video, she supposedly died, then turned up alive sometime after, but was dragged to Hell - she officially came back as of On Melancholy Hill. Sometime after the events of Rhinestone Eyes, she was seen living in 212 Wobble Street, London, with the rest of her bandmates in DoYaThing.
A Day in the Limelight: The video "DARE" features mainly Noodle, with short cameos for each of the members. "El Manana" is focused exclusively on Noodle.
Dark and Troubled Past: Prior to joining Gorillaz, she was part of a Japanese government project which aimed to create 23 kid Super Soldiers, Noodle's specialty being music - thus why she is very talented in playing numerous musical instruments. She was the only one of those children to survive, while the remaining 22 were killed when the project was abandoned. She was rescued thanks to her creator, Mr. Kyuzo, who erased her memory - leaving a trigger phase, "ocean bacon" - and escorted her to safety after reading the Gorillaz ad.
The Heart: After composing Demon Days, everyone showed up in Kong at her mere word. Also, after her supposed death, the whole band split up and went their separate ways. For the third album, Murdoc only managed to get 2D, and even that he did by force.
Like a Badass out of Hell: Phase 3 - she went to Hell in the first place mainly due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time: After the El Manana incident, Noodle supposedly died, but actually survived, and went to Kong Studios to search for her bandmates, and was dragged off to Hell by demons in place of either Murdoc or Russel.
Nice Hat: Has quite a few of them, especially in Phase 2.
Omniglot: As part of her training she was taught to be fluent in every language, although she lost her language skills until she regained her memory between Phases 1 and 2.
You Gotta Have Purple Hair: Though it was black in Phase 1, it faded to purple in Phase 2, then turned rather blue-purple in Phase 3 similar to 2D's hair.
Zettai Ryouiki: Her outfit in Phase 3 - grade A, of the shirt and stockings variety.
Russel Hobbs
Voiced by: Remi Kabaka
You can't go dressin' up as a goddamn Nazi! You cracker-ass...
Russel comes from Brooklyn and is perhaps best known for being possesed by the souls of his dead friends, that he lost in a drive-by shooting. Ever since, he has been the most psychically unbalanced out of the group, what with the demons inside him taking advantage at times. Russel himself is a melancholic, well-spoken person - even if our character quote doesn't quite prove it - who deeply cares for Noodle. He provided drums for "Gorillaz" and "Demon Days", but he was not invited to play on "Plastic Beach" because nobody could find him. Of course, he doesn't have this problem anymore.As of DoYaThing, he is currently living with the rest of the band on 212 Wobble Street, London, where he sleeps on the roof of the apartment.
All Drummers Are Animals: Averted - Russel is one of the more well-spoken members of the group, and often the most reasonable.
Dark and Troubled Past: First demons made him attack his classmates, resulting in an exorcism that left him in a coma for four years. Then he was the lone survivor of a drive-by shooting that killed all his friends.
Demoted to Extra: His activity with the band steadily declines with each phase - and by extension, his popularity with fans.
Determinator: Russell swimming to Plastic Beach on his lonesome in Phase 3.
Gentle Giant: Even more appropriate ever since he grew so big - that he had no problem picking up and throwing a whale - by eating polluted material on his way to Plastic Beach.
The Grim Reaper: Russel was directly involved with this guy - the Grim Reaper has apparently exorcised Del's soul from him.
Heroic BSOD: This happened to him when the Grim Reaper eventually claimed the souls of his dead friends from his body.
Heterosexual Life Partners: Russel and Del, the ghost that was particularly open about haunting him. Russel claimed Del to be his "life-long soul-brother".
Magic Pants: When he grew larger, his clothes did too.
Monochromatic Eyes: They turned permanently white after the spirits of his dead friends took up residence in his head.
Nice Hat: In Phases 1 and 2, Having a nice hat in every image is kind of trademark for Russel.
Noodle Incident: Between the self-titled album and Demon Days, Russell struck out to produce his own album. But the loss of Del, his own mental instability, and various other occult happenings apparently made it go so wrong that he had to take medication for some time afterward.
Only Sane Man: He played this role mostly during Phase 1, though his sanity has been slipping more and more ever since.
Weirdness Magnet: Supernatural entities seem strangely drawn to him.
Cyborg Noodle
No voice actor known.
Beeeeeeep Beep;
Built as a replacement for the supposedly late Noodle, Cyborg is a meticulous replica of her fourteen-year-old self. She has all the musical skills of the original with none of the personality, and is programmed to obey Murdoc's every command. Cyborg is a firearm aficionado and often acts as a bodyguard, but also has to spend most of her time charging.At some point in Phase 3, she was shot in the head off-screen, prior to the Stylo video. She eventually had a meltdown in the same video - recovering in the On Melancholy Hill video - and caused her to go haywire after the Rhinestone Eyes video, supposedly killing Murdoc - who actually faked his death to escape Plastic Beach - which ended up with her being destroyed by the original Noodle.
Battle Butler: She can shoot down demons, planes, ships and cops... and also serves drinks.
Berserker Tears: While shooting down planes and killing everything in her path in Rhinestone Eyes, she sports her usual Slasher Smile... until a closer shot reveals that she's crying, but it's unknown if it's leakage fluid - given she goes insane afterwards - or actual tears.
Dropped A Bridge On Her: Went haywire and was killed by the real Noodle off-camera. Given the amount of foreshadowing spent on her, it can probably be assumed this wasn't her originally intended fate.
Gorillaz guitarist, first appearing in Rise of the Ogre. She was the then-two-month-long girlfriend of Stuart Pot. During their time together, Paula was noted to be a sub-par musician (or at least, not as good as her successor). In a brief interview, she waxes nostalgic on her encounter with Mr. Niccals. One fateful night, Russel caught her with Murdoc inside the third cubicle of the bathroom. For her betrayal, she was promptly kicked out of the group.Clearly bitter and damaged from the ordeal, Paula seemed to be on edge when telling her side of the story, while unapologetic about the affair with the green-skinned satanist, she nevertheless goes on with her life.
Del was a rapper from Brooklyn who befriended band drummer, Russel Hobbs when Russel was transferred to a high school in Brooklyn after being possessed and then exorcised. He and Del became best friends quickly and remained friends even after Del's death. Del, along with all of Russel's new friends were gunned down in a drive by shooting in which Russel was the only survivor. The souls of all of Russel's friends, including Del, all took up residence inside of Russel for many years. Del was finally removed from Russel by the Grim Reaper, who ripped Del out of Russel to take him to the great beyond during the band's hiatus in-between Phases 1 and 2. Russel was affected greatly by this and had a nervous breakdown. Del has not been heard from since.
Debuting in Phase 3, the Boogieman is an ancient force of evil with whom it was implied that Murdoc made his Deal with the Devil. While his first shown victims were merely a cop and a manatee, it is shown in the video for Rhinestone Eyes that he wants to collect Murdoc's soul to complete their bargain.As of the video for DoYaThing, however, it seems that he's given up on that, now living with the band on 212 Wobble Street, London.
Big Bad: Was this for all of Phase 3. In-story, he's implied to be this to the entire world.
Gorillaz guitarist, first appearing in Rise of the Ogre. She was the then-two-month-long girlfriend of Stuart Pot. During their time together, Paula was noted to be a sub-par musician (or at least, not as good as her successor). In a brief interview, she waxes nostalgic on her encounter with Mr. Niccals. One fateful night, Russel caught her with Murdoc inside the third cubicle of the bathroom. For her betrayal, she was promptly kicked out of the group.Clearly bitter and damaged from the ordeal, Paula seemed to be on edge when telling her side of the story, while unapologetic about the affair with the green-skinned satanist, she nevertheless goes on with her life.
