Characters / Gorillaz

The Band

In General

The band as of Phase 6

^{Phase 5 (with Ace)}

^{Phase 4}

^{Phase 3 (with Cyborg Noodle)}

^{Phase 2}

^{Phase 1}

• Ambiguously Human: While they're all supposed to be human, the art makes them look distinctly ape-like, especially in earlier phases. On top of that, 2D, Murdoc and Russel all have mild cases of Body Horror going on that make their appearances even less human.
• Animal Motif: Apes and monkeys. Besides the band's name and their simian-like appearances, monkeys and apes also have a high tendency of appearing in music videos and artwork with them.
• Art Evolution: While their designs have generally stayed recognizable, there have been some dramatic changes through the years - mainly Noodle aging in real time from childhood to adulthood, Murdoc turning green between Phases 1 and 2, and Russel growing to giant size in Phase 3 and shrinking back down for Phase 4.
• Balance Between Good and Evil: Subverted. Machine Bitez #15 has Murdoc reveal that he's always believed that he and his horribly negative behavior exists to create "duality" with his nicer and more positive bandmates. The rest of the group calls him out on how nonsensical this logic is.
• Big, Thin, Short Trio: Quartet, but Russel is big, 2D and Murdoc are thin, and Noodle (in Phases 1 and 2) is short.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: To call them all "eccentric" would be the understatement of the century, but they each have genuine musical talent, to the point where all four have been described as musical geniuses at various points.
• Cult: The story arc of the Cracker Island album has Murdoc start one based on a dream he has, with the others tagging along in the hope it can be used for good. Certainly not one of their brightest plans, that.
• Derailed Train of Thought: They all have the tendency to do this during interviews, which leads to many interesting stories, random non-sequiturs, and commentary on their songs that tends to be less actual commentary and more whatever random topic popped into their head five seconds ago. Sometimes, depending on the mood of whoever is involved (especially if it's Murdoc), the commentary is blatantly untrue.
  Russel: What can I say about ‘Désolé’? They say sorry is the hardest word, but that’s not true… Try saying antidisestablishmentarianism with a mouth full of gluten free cronuts on a speed boat without licking your lips.
• Dysfunction Junction: When the most functional member of the group is an amnesiac Super-Soldier that's nearly half the age of everyone else, you know you've got a problem.
• The Face: 2D and Murdoc handle most of the "in-person" band interviews, with Noodle and Russel only getting involved in such promotional exchanges on very rare occasions. When it comes to music videos, 2D and Noodle tend to be the focus, with Murdoc and Russel mostly staying in the background. Both of these cases are taken to their logical extreme in Plastic Beach, as Murdoc decided that he just needed 2D and Noodle (or at least a clone) for that album.
• Flawless Token: The black Russel and Asian Noodle are both consistently portrayed as being more intelligent and thoughtful than the white 2D and green Murdoc. This trope is pushed even further by Noodle, the sole female in the group, being the most mentally balanced of the four.
• Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Murdoc is the Cynic, Noodle is the Optimist, 2D is the Realist and Russel is the Apathetic.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Noodle is sanguine, Murdoc is choleric, Russel is melancholic and 2D is phlegmatic.
• Multinational Team: Murdoc and 2D are both British, Noodle is Japanese-British, and Russel is American.
• Nice Mean And In Between: Of the three male members, 2D is the Nice, Murdoc is the Mean and Russel is the In-Between.
• Not Allowed to Grow Old: Jamie Hewlett has implied that the band won't age much more past their current designs, since cartoon ageing only goes so far. Tellingly, the three men of the group have not visually aged much compared to Noodle, despite being close to middle-aged in the later phases. 2D and Russel especially are nearly identical from Phase 1 to today, only gaining a few wrinkles on their faces. Murdoc is comparatively more shriveled, but his biggest change in appearance is him turning green rather than any signs of aging.
• Not Allowed to Grow Up: Averted. Noodle has aged in real time, meaning she has grown from a little girl into an adult woman.
• Rag Tag Bunch Of Misfits: A megalomaniac satanist with an extensive criminal record for a bassist, a mentally-damaged pill-popper with (seemingly) no eyeballs for a singer, a (former) Kid Super-Soldier for a guitarist and an obese paranoiac with a history of getting possessed by the spirits of the dead for a drummer. Their temporary collaborators also include a holographic ghost rapper, a cybernetic clone of the aforementioned guitarist and a fairly prominent villain from The Powerpuff Girls.
• Smarter Than You Look: They all tend to play the fool during interviews, particularly Murdoc and 2D, yet their hidden genius shines through in the deep lyrical content and instrumentational prowess of their music. Occasionally, they have a surprisingly profound comment to make in the promotional media as well.
• Smoking Is Cool: Murdoc, Russel and 2D have all been regularly shown smoking cigarettes and cigars since the band's debut. Noodle has also joined the club since becoming an adult, though she's not seen doing it nearly as frequently as the boys are.
• Trash of the Titans: All of them are pretty terrible slobs, as their former base of operations Kong Studios can attest. Even Noodle, the cleanliest of the bunch, has a pretty cluttered and messy room.
• Underestimating Badassery: Having managed to keep him under control for most of Phases 5 and 6, the band agrees to help Murdoc with his spontaneous plan to create a cult with the intention of hijacking it to create a force for good. As Cracker Island shows, it went badly for everyone who wasn't Murdoc... almost.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: It's very rare to see any of them wear the same outfit twice. The later phases see them wear some frankly bizarre costumes that wouldn't be out of place at a Met Gala.
• Virtual Celebrity: Starring in music videos, animated shorts, interviews, their own biography Rise of the Ogre, even through holograms in live performances... lately they've also embraced social media.
• Weirdness Magnet: Possibly the single most powerful force that unites them is their uncanny ability to attract supernatural and generally unfortunate events towards themselves.

2D

2D (Stuart Pot)

2D as of Phase 6

^{Phase 5}

^{Phase 4}

^{Phase 3}

^{Phase 2}

^{Phase 1}

Voiced by: Nelson De Freitas (Phase 1 to Phase 3), Kevin Bishop (Phase 4 onwards) (speaking voices), Damon Albarn (singing voice)

"I never really thought about anything as far as I can remember."

The ambition-lacking, thick-headed but sweet vocalist, who also provides keyboards and minor instruments (like melodica and panpipes) for the band. 2D used to look up to Murdoc and believed he "saved his life", despite the fact that Murdoc ran him over - putting him in a coma and fracturing his eyes - twice, beat him up frequently, stole his girlfriend, sold most of his belongings online and stole several of his internal organs. As of Plastic Beach, however, 2D seems to have recognized that Murdoc abuses him - but seems hopeful that he and Murdoc can still be friends by "DoYaThing". Notable for being the only member to appear on each album (Russel and Noodle were absent during the making of Plastic Beach, Murdoc was incarcerated during The Now Now, and The Fall is essentially his solo album).

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• Addled Addict: Many of the band's greatest hits focus heavily on 2D and his crippling painkiller addiction. It's often implied that he regularly dabbles in other drugs as part of his hard-partying lifestyle. The physical and mental effects of his addictions are quite obvious to see at this point.
• Amusing Injuries: Constantly getting beaten up for laughs, though it becomes less funny when you realize every injury he sustains has lasting effects.
• Anti-Hero: Generally a Classical Anti-Hero, being a cowardly, inept and vice-filled but ultimately kind and well-intentioned person. He becomes a bit more of a severe example during Phase 2, where he takes a noticeable level in jerkass as a result of constant abuse from Murdoc and carries knives around like a lunatic.
• Anti-Love Song: The Now Now, the second album where he is heavily featured, is loaded with these with Murdoc as the apparent muse as a broken "FREE MURDOC" title card can be found in 2D's notebook featuring the production's lyrics.
• Artistic License – Medicine:
  • 2D injured both his eyes in multiple car accidents (all caused by Murdoc). As a result he now has permanent hyphema in both eyes, which basically means that his pupils are full of blood. In a real-life situation, he should have been blind or have badly impaired vision, yet he appears to be able to see just fine.
  • In "Humility", after falling while rollerskating, his eyes go from white to entirely black, after which his vision noticeably suffers. It can be presumed it isn't permanent, but triggered by blunt trauma, especially since Russel has white eyes as well.
  • Also, he talks and sings with no pronunciation problems despite missing his front teeth (which he lost because of Murdoc's abuse).
• Author Avatar: Averted for the most part. 2D is treated as a distinct entity from Damon Albarn as they both sing about very different subject matters. However, 2D and the rest of Gorillaz are occasionally used as mouthpieces for Albarn and Hewlett's real life views about celebrity culture and controversial political leaders.
• Berserk Button: Murdoc bringing up the Paula incident around him during an iTunes interview in Phase 3 causes 2D to lash out and attack him. Of course, Murdoc manages to overpower him fairly easily with chloroform. It's unclear if bringing up Paula around him at all is enough to set him off, or if it was merely the straw that broke the camel's back in the long list of horrible things that Murdoc did to him throughout the Phase.
• Beware the Nice Ones: In the iTunes sessions interview, he went as far as physically attacking Murdoc when the latter pushed his Berserk Button. Murdoc won the fight via chloroform.
• Big Eater: The first thing he does upon entering the abandoned house in the "Saturnz Barz" video is check out the fridge and start eating.
• Black Bead Eyes: There is reason behind this, though. Murdoc drove his car straight into 2D, fracturing his eyeball, turning him into a vegetable. Later, when Murdoc attempted to do donut spins in Nottingham Park, he catapulted 2D out of the window fracturing his other eye, but reviving his mind.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: He and Murdoc are a rare western example, where he is generally the boke.
• 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: One of his defining attributes. There's not much going on inside that pretty face of his.
• Break the Cutie: The poor guy's been through a lot.
• British Teeth: His teeth are godawful, and while he does have countless blunt head trauma to blame for his missing teeth, the ones he has left are in terrible shape.
• Bumbling Sidekick: Murdoc's, though he mostly loses both the "bumbling" and the "sidekick" part by Phase 3.
• Butt-Monkey: Almost always getting abused by Murdoc either physically or verbally and tends to have very bad luck in general.
• Character Development: He goes from an incredibly stupid Wide-Eyed Idealist who was blissfully unaware of the world around him and a bizarre hero complex towards Murdoc in Phase 1, to a more self-aware but still nonetheless idiotic party animal in Phase 2, to the Only Sane Man in Phase 3. By Phase 4, he's mellowed out, and while that seems to have caused him to lose some of the smarts that he gained in Phase 3, he still generally comes off as more confident and at peace with himself than he ever did before.
• 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.
• Classical Anti-Hero: He has a heart of gold and is an overall compassionate guy, but he's also dumb as a stump, which makes him generally either completely ineffectual or an outright danger to those around him in almost all situations. He's also not above doing things like fathering illegitimate children.
• Cool Mask: A clown mask, in the videos for Stylo, On Melancholy Hill and Rhinestone Eyes — he mentioned during an interview that he wore it in an attempt to hide the fact that he was badly hung over.
• Covert Pervert: After Murdoc lent him some movies, 2D commented that they're "A bit random, but very, very watchable." With titles like "Boning John Malkovich", "Tit's A Wonderful Life" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang", it's pretty obvious what kind of movies those were.
  • Also, 2D's various illegitimate children, as referenced in the book and on his computer on the old website.
• Creator Breakdown: In-Universe example, as neither him nor Murdoc were really doing well during the creation of Plastic Beach, with 2-D even having a full on mental breakdown at one point. It's implied that he wasn't doing great during the creation of The Now Now either, with the already melancholy album's ending song "Souk Eye" even ending with 2-D audibly attempting to keep from breaking down in tears.
• Creator Thumbprint: Both of the albums he composed have the heaviest Electronic Music influence after Plastic Beach, but they're a lot more subdued and minimalist than that album.
• Cute, but Cacophonic: 2D is seen as incredibly attractive in-universe, and while his singing voice is amazing, his speaking voice is a high-pitched and shrill cockney screech. Of course, you could argue that it's also part of his charm.
• Darker and Edgier: Phase 2 has him become a knife-flicking jerk with kids all over the world. He's mellowed out by Phase 3.
• Dartboard of Hate: He has one in his new room at the Spirit House. It's a picture of Murdoc.
• A Day in the Limelight: The Fall and The Now Now were composed pretty much entirely by 2D, with The Fall in particular also being performed almost entirely by him. The music video for "Sleeping Powder" also consists of nothing but him dancing around.
• Deadpan Snarker: Surprisingly, he snaps into this mode fairly frequently during interviews. He's really the only member of the band who is capable of keeping up with Murdoc in the quip department.
• The Ditz: He's a bit brighter by Phase 3, but back in Phase 1 he really was quite harebrained.
• Disney Death: Seemingly eaten alive by a whale during the Rhinestone Eyes video. During one of his radio shows, Murdoc nonchalantly declared him dead due to not having seen him since. While "DoYaThing" reveals him to be alive and well, it wasn't until the beginning of Phase 4 where we learn that he really was eaten alive, but managed to avoid being digested due to the whale dying shortly after swallowing him.
• The Dog Bites Back: He tried to do this to Murdoc during Phases 2 and 3, but it didn't take. In Phase 4, his most successful attempts at doing so consist of selling the bassist's geep on the sly without his knowledge and "accidentally" beaning him on the head with a golf ball during the Saturn Barz music video.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: In-universe, at least. He's called "pretty" plenty of times, is occasionally shown wearing nail polish and shirts with low necklines, and the bruises around his eyes can make him appear to be wearing eyeshadow in certain pictures. (Sometimes he actually is wearing eyeshadow.) He apparently looks enough like a woman that he was able to place third in a Wet T-Shirt Contest.
• Dumbass No More: Downplayed. While not exactly Einstein, he seems to have wised up to Murdoc's abuse of him as of Phase 3.
• Eaten Alive: During the (scrapped) Rhinestone Eyes video, he and his entire room were swallowed by the whale Murdoc hired to patrol Plastic Beach. Fortunately, said whale died due to a poor diet not long after, and 2D was able to escape with his life.
• Elmuh Fudd Syndwome: Noticeable with words like "really" and "scary".
• 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.
• Extreme Doormat: Try as he might, 2D just can't seem to get Murdoc to stop walking all over him. He's slowly getting better, though.
• Eye Scream: Doesn't even begin to describe how he got his trademark black eyes...
• Foil: Becomes progressively more of one to Murdoc as time goes on. 2D is stupid, has horrendous luck, no spine, and is a generally nice person while Murdoc is a genius, escapes all punishments with a slap on the wrist, refuses to back down during conflict, and is a despicable human being all around. To further this, 2D comes from a relatively normal family with two loving parents while Murdoc comes from a broken home with an abusive father.
  • Physically he's one to Russel, being a tall, rail-thin white man with black eyes to his short, fat black man with white eyes.
• Force Feeding: Gets force fed an entire fridge full of food courtesy of a ghost in the "Saturnz Barz" video.
• Friend to All Children: The music video for Dirty Harry implies 2D has the instincts, at least. His smiles and demeanor implies that the only reason he's playing at all is to keep the children distracted from their dire situation (stranded in a desert) the only way he knows how; through genre busting music and ethereal vocals. That said, 2D's absentmindedness works against him in actually taking CARE of the children. He dances right past two boys in the middle of a slap fight, ignores blatant bullying and hair pulling, and is totally absent when a boy peaks up a girl's skirt, after stuffing a Dung Beetle's dung ball in his mouth.
• Fun T-Shirt: Has a wardrobe full of them, particularly in Phase 1.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Bizarrely builds some pretty advanced machinery during his many escape attempts from Plastic Beach, such as the Donkatron.
• 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 rather unimpressive mental capacity.
• Giver of Lame Names: While all of the other band members have creative and personalized names for their respective song machine mix tracks, 2D's is simply titled "Song Machine Made By 2D from Gorillaz", suggesting that he didn't quite get what he was meant to do.
• Good Parents: While his parents are suggested to have been idiots of a similar breed to him, they were also very loving and involved in his life, something that none of his bandmates can relate to.
• Hartman Hips: Seems to have been given these in Phase 4, making him a rare male example of this trope. Interviews have revealed that he actually refers to the pants that he wears that accentuate his hips as "mom jeans", furthering this trope.
• Heroic BSoD: Spends all of Phase 3 in the throes of one, to the point where his expression in the videos is pretty much permanently one of complete terror and confusion.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: In one of the most twisted examples in all fiction, with Murdoc. Whether he likes it or not.
• Hi Mum: Says this while introducing himself during an open-ended radio interview.
• Horrible Judge of Character: He worships a man like Murdoc Niccals and was in a long-term relationship with a woman like Paula Cracker.
• Idiot Hero: Oh yes. Expect him to randomly mention how he has chlamydia completely unprompted during interviews. Even after becoming the Only Sane Man in Phase 3, it's still very clear that he's an idiot.
• Idiot Savant: He's very smash, but also a musical genius, having masterminded two of the band's albums, one of which (The Fall) he made entirely by himself.
• Inconsistent Spelling: 2D or 2-D?
• Informed Attractiveness: He's supposedly considered incredibly good looking in-universe to the point of becoming an international sex symbol during Phase 2. Out of universe, while he certainly has his fans, he's generally considered something similar to Ugly Cute at best.
• I Owe You My Life: His loyalty to Murdoc is due to his belief in this, when in reality Murdoc was the one responsible for almost killing him.
• Kick the Dog: Surprisingly, Russell does the kicking in the Humility video by tripping 2D as he happily skates around Venice Beach.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: His defining trait. He's (usually) dumb as rocks, but he is generally a very nice person.
• The Leader: Since Murdoc's arrest, he has stepped up as the main creative force behind the band's music.
• Lean and Mean: Largely subverted. He's thin as a stick, but he's very nice despite the fact. Phase 2 played it more straight when he became a jerk who's always carrying a switchblade who fathered several illegitimate children, but since then all instances of him lashing out at others have been justified as being the result of him being under a great deal of stress.
• Like Brother and Sister: His relationship with Noodle, who describes it as a "zen bond". After her supposed death, he apparently retired from music entirely before getting forced back by Murdoc in Phase 3.
• Locked into Strangeness: 2D's hair is this color because of an accident early on in his life that caused all of his hair to fall out. When it grew out, it was a "deep, azure blue" — though in Phase 1 it was more of a purple color, and Phase 2 it was a rather nice shade of teal. Rise of the Ogre implies that the curtains match the drapes, too:
  Murdoc: [upon hearing of the incident that caused 2D to become blue-haired] Wha— Collars and cuffs?
  2D: [looks down awkwardly, scratching his head]
• Madness Mantra: While playing the pac-man game that Murdoc gave him in PAC-MAN:

  2D: No stressing out no stressing out no stressing out no stressing out no stressing out no stressing out no stressing out no stressing out. No stressing out.
  

• 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." "Two Dents" is also a pun of "Too Dense", which aptly describes 2D's character; he's not exactly the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
  • His pre-Gorillaz nickname — Stu-Pot. Also, he went into a coma, making him a vegetable Stu.
  • In France, his nickname "2 Dents" is meaningful too in that "dents" means "teeth" in French, and he's obviously missing two of his front ones.
• Monochromatic Eyes: Black, but they're sometimes depicted as being white. Whether this is merely a stylistic effect or if his eyes actually change color depending on the circumstances is unknown.
  • The music video for Humility reveals that his eyes actually do change color, swapping from white throughout most of the video before shifting to black after Russell trips him. Whether this is voluntary or dependent on mood is debatable.
• Mr. Fanservice: While his attractiveness depends on your opinion of the art style, he's the designated pretty boy in-universe. Most so in the video for "Humility", where he wears short shorts and the camera pans on his well-defined butt.
• Mr. Vice Guy: He started smoking when he was just a schoolboy, but got into the harder stuff (booze, drugs, sex, etc.) after getting into the music business. Even after cleaning himself up in Phase 4, he has a worrying obsession with Pac-Man that's bad enough to distract him from important recording sessions.
• Named After the Injury: "2-D" is short for "Two Dents", his permanently blackened eyes caused by hyphema from two car accidents.
• Nice Guy: In contrast to Murdoc, 2D is almost always portrayed as being a friendly and considerate guy. Most of the time, anyway, since Phase 2 features him doing such things as fathering mulltiple illegitimate children.
  • The very first image of him released for Phase 4 feature him sporting a sweet coon skin cap.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: During Aries, he takes Murdoc on a pleasant motorcycle ride to cheer him up. Murdoc repays him by backstabbing 2D and injecting him with a truth serum.
• Non-Action Guy: Compared to the rest of the team, 2D is much more likely to curl up into a fetal position when trouble arises. By Phase 3 he's become gutsy enough to attack Murdoc but is immediately overpowered by him in the ensuing fight. His lack of any survival skills bites him in the ass in the backstory of Phase 4, where he was forced to live off of rotten whale meat after becoming shipwrecked due to his inability to fend for himself.
• Noodle Incident: He was living in Beirut before being kidnapped at the beginning of Phase 3. What he was doing there is anyone's guess.
• Noodle People: The most apparent example of this in the cast.
• Older and Wiser: By Phase 3, he became older, wiser and much, much more bitter. Phase 4 has a more traditional example of this. While he's arguably dumber than he was in Phase 3, he's also generally much more calm and confident in himself than he ever was before.
• Older Than They Look: While 2D has gained a few wrinkles over the years, he hardly looks any different in his mid-thirties than he did in his early twenties. If anything, he looks younger. He finally looks closer to his age in more recent artwork, largely due to his shorter haircut.
• Only Sane Man: Went from perhaps the least likely of the group to play this role to the only person around with any common sense. This is saying something, as 2D is far past sane by that point. Driven home by the "DoYaThing" video, where 2D is clearly sick of how broken his life has become.
• Our Zombies Are Different: While he's not really a zombie, 2D — himself a huge fan of classic zombie films like Dawn of the Dead — clearly has a zombie motif going on, what with his seemingly eyeless sockets, getting revived from an inescapable coma, and having brain damage.
• Overly-Long Tongue: While not as extreme as Murdoc's, it is long enough for it to be able to reach into his nose with ease. Although, having no front teeth in the way can be a factor.
• Pinball Protagonist: Despite being the band's poster boy, 2D does almost nothing to advance the plot when compared to the other three, and instead just kind of stands around while stuff happens near him.
• Pretty Boy: Repeatedly described as one, and while this is up to the viewer outside of their universe, it should be noted that his facial structure closely resembles the type used for females by Jamie Hewlett. Hewlett also seems to be drawing 2D with long, feminine eyelashes in Phase 5 artwork as shown here: [1][2][3].
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair generally reaches down to just above his shoulders, though it varies in length depending on his current hairstyle.
• Punny Name: His real name is a play on "stew pot".
• Really Gets Around: If his multiple illegitimate children in Phase 2 are anything to go by.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm Unfazed Everyman to Murdoc's temperamental psychopath.
• Sanity Slippage: Phase 3. It did seem to make him a bit smarter, though.
• Sinister Switchblade: Develops a fondness for switchblades when he becomes a Jerkass during Phase 2, and is frequently shown flicking one in pictures.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The Sensitive Guy to Murdoc's Manly Man.
• Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: To a lesser extent than Murdoc, but he does seem to enjoy his hard-partying lifestyle and has a particular affinity for the "drugs" part. However, the "DoYaThing" video implies that he has grown weary of the decadence that the rockstar life brings, with his discovery of a bowl full of severed human ears in his kitchen on the morning after a huge house party barely phasing him anymore.
• The Stoner: Along with being almost constantly high off of pain killers, a bong is visible in his room in both Kong Studios and Plastic Beach.
• Straight Man: To Murdoc in Phase 3.
• Take My Hand!: Does this for Murdoc at the end of the music video for "The Lost Chord," saving him from sinking with the remnants of Plastic Beach, when everyone else was fully willing to leave him behind. It's notably one of the only instances in the band's canon where 2-D doing something nice for Murdoc hasn't come back to bite him in the ass.
• The Team Normal: Murdoc is an insane criminal mastermind who is quite possibly the Antichrist, Noodle is a genetically engineered Super-Soldier, Russel is possessed by demons on a regular basis and later becomes a giant and 2D is... a slow-witted, extremely unlucky guy.
• Those Two Guys: Quickly became this with Murdoc. While character interactions were tested out between the entire band early on, it became clear that none of them had nearly as good back and forth as them. By Phase 2 it's much more likely to see them together than apart because of this.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Compared to the misadventures experienced by his bandmates, his intermission between Phase 1 and 2 was practically a vacation. And while he did spend months marooned on what he thought was a desert island after the events of Plastic Beach, it turned out he was actually in Guadalupe, New Mexico and was able to enjoy a massive rave when the tourists started coming in before heading back to London with the prize money from placing third in a Wet T-Shirt Contest. Contrast that to Noodle's accidental releasing of a demon into the Japanese criminal underground and how Murdoc and Russel spent much of the interim in captivity.
• Token Good Teammate: Becomes this in Phase 3, though it's not exactly hard to do when your other two bandmates are Murdoc and Cyborg Noodle.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • In Phase 3, after his initial complete mental breakdown, 2D becomes a lot more active, actually attacking Murdoc, hijacking boats and subs and continuously attempting to kill the whale through The Power of Rock.
  • Promotional materials for The Now Now have also suggested that he has stepped up as The Leader of the band in Murdoc's absence and has finally found motivation and drive in the form of attempting to inspire positive societal change across the world. You can see the change in his demeanour in the music videos for "Humility" and "Tranz" where he seems much more cool and collected than when he was under Murdoc's thumb.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In Phase 2, where he fathers several illegitimate children, frequently brandishes switch blades and has overall become much cockier. He even makes a few (terrible) attempts at picking on Murdoc, only to immediately back down and return to worshiping him. He was perpetually agitated during Phase 3, though considering the only character he was shown interacting with was Murdoc, it's hard to tell if he was like that with everyone. In Phase 4 he acquired some self-confidence that borders on arrogance, though for the most part its just posturing.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Murdoc, big time. 2D will gladly give Murdoc anything he needs, be it a home, money or his internal organs because Murdoc "saved his life".
  • Seemingly gone by Phase 3, but revealed to still be there somewhere in "DoYaThing", where 2D lets Murdoc live at his house and still hopes that they can someday be real friends.
  • Phase 4 has it back in full force, as while 2D isn't quite as much of a pushover around Murdoc as he's previously been, he's still more than happy to work as the bassist's personal butler/maid/pet at almost all times.
  • In Phase 5 however, Murdoc is in jail and 2D could not be happier for it. In fact, he is very vocal about not wanting him back on the band reminding supporters of Murdoc every one of the terrible things that he has done to him and the others.
  • In Phase 6 he's become the only member of the band who's still willing to give Murdoc the time of day, and in the season finale for Season One of Song Machine, is also the only one who comes back for Murdoc as Plastic Beach sinks into the depths of the ocean.
• Unfazed Everyman: Part of 2D's humor is that he's a (relatively) normal guy surrounded by insane supernatural phenomena and only reacts to it with mild confusion at least, complete indifference at most.
• 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". ("Tosspot" is an old term for an alcoholic.)
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: A rare platonic example in Phase 3. He spent Phase 1 and 2 constantly pestering Murdoc, who wanted nothing to do with him, but it's the other way around throughout Plastic Beach. It gets flipped around again by Phase 5, where 2D spends most of the album staunchly anti-Murdoc until the last few songs in which he appears to begrudgingly admit that he needs Murdoc in his life, no matter how much pain he puts him through.
• 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. Their relationship seems to have mostly returned to "normal" by Phase 4, though 2D is still much more willing to give as good as he gets when Murdoc puts him down than he was in the past.
• Vocal Dissonance: His tall, lean figure, distant expression, and pitch black eyes match Damon Albarn's voice quite well. His speaking voice, on the other hand, is the most high pitched and hilarious cockney accent you'll ever hear in your life. Removed by Phase 3, where Art Evolution has made his appearance fit his speaking voice quite well. Coincidentally, Phase 3 is the Phase where he's shown singing on screen the least.
• Vocal Evolution: His voice has been getting deeper since Demon Days (Album). This goes for both his singing and his speaking voice
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's deathly terrified of whales. This was used against him by Murdoc in Phase 3, where he hired a gigantic whale known as Massive Dick to patrol Plastic Beach to keep 2D from trying escape. His fear proved to be justified, as Massive ate him during the pirate attack that destroyed Plastic Beach. He may have overcome his fear, as he was forced to live off of Massive's carcass meat for several months when he became stranded on (what he thought was) a deserted island.

Murdoc

Murdoc Niccals

Murdoc as of Phase 6

^{Phase 5}

^{Phase 4}

^{Phase 3}

^{Phase 2}

^{Phase 1}

Voiced by: Phil Cornwell (speaking voice), Damon Albarn ("Saturnz Barz" only) (singing voice)

"Kids, eh? Little treasures. I love them. Couldn't eat a whole one, though."

Murdoc himself states that if you Google his name, the first three words to pop up will be "sexy, edgy, dangerous". ^note They won't be. 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. As of early 2018, he's doing time. In the band, he focuses on playing the bass guitar, but he has also contributed with minor instruments.

---

• Aborted Arc: Anything pertaining to his immortality and his possible status as The Antichrist was quietly dropped between Phases 3 and 4.
• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Is shown rotating his head an entire 360 degrees during a live performance of "Clint Eastwood".
• Abusive Parents: Murdoc's father forced him to participate in embarrassing talent contests for a couple of pounds. Murdoc believes that he would have sold him on Ebay as a baby if the internet existed at the time.
• Affably Evil: While Murdoc is a horrible, horrible person, there's no denying that he's extremely charming.
• The Alcoholic: Was always one, but goes a step beyond in Phase 3, which he begins drunk off his ass and only gets more pissed as it progresses.
• Amazing Technicolor Population: He's been turning green more as the Phases go by — this is explained as his tanning turning him green, possibly as a side-effect of his deal with the devil.
• Ambiguously Human: Murdoc was always vile looking, but he originally has tan skin and was clearly human. By Phase 3 he has bright green skin, pointed ears and generally barely looks human anymore. The reveal that he's possibly The Antichrist might have something to do with it.
• The Antichrist: Phase 3 raises the possibility that he's this. He's extremely excited at the prospect.
• Anti-Hero: Besides being one of the protagonists, he doesn't really give the audience any reasons to root for him, and is generally a horrible person.
• Anti-Role Model: He is an unhygienic satanist and a womanizer who treats people like shit. Hardly someone worth looking up to.
• The Atoner: Has become a very minor example in Phase 4. While he has no regrets about most of the horrible things he's done across his life, he expresses genuine disgust with himself over the way he treated women in the past, and has grown into perhaps the world's most unexpected feminist as a result.
• Attention Whore: Murdoc demands to be in the spotlight and will frequently attack or belittle 2D whenever the latter begins hogging his screen time.
  • Irony: The biggest attention whore of the band is the bassist.
• The Bad Guy Wins: In a roundabout sort of way. Cracker Island has the band being arrested following the evens of Silent Running, meaning the Last Cult will most likely be disbanded. Murdoc, however, manages to evade arrest and successfully resurrects the female leader of the Forever Cult, whom he hooks up with. Ultimately subverted as, according to The Hollywood Ending, Moon Flower shortly crumbled to dust, rendering his escape all for nought. He does keep her ashes in an urn, though.
• Beard of Evil: Downplayed; in Phase 2, Murdoc has faint hints of a mustache and goatee, and he has a bit of noticeable Perma-Stubble during the G-Shock promos.
• Bestiality Is Depraved: The music video for "DoYaThing" implies this — on the other hand, if an old poster and Murdoc's Satanism is anything to go by, he might just be sacrificing the goat.
• Big Bad: While there are a few villains the band have been forced to encounter over the years, Murdoc is always the instigator of the conflict to the point where every problem the band faces can be linked back to him. The revelation that he has apparently been the cause of every major disaster throughout history also means he's one to humanity as a whole.
• Big Brother Mentor: 2D used to view him as one for some reason, which he took advantage of frequently. He was actually something of this to Noodle when she was younger.
• Black Cloak: Took to wearing one of these for the majority of Phase 2, though it is often drawn as purple.
• Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: He forms a rare western one with 2D in which he generally plays the very violent tsukkomi.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Murdoc revels in all manner of abuse, depravity, and outright super-villainy; he considers his brief stint as the Antichrist a great badge of honour. Damon and Jamie have both claimed that he's a villain through and through, and while they may play up his sympathetic traits occasionally, they have no intention of giving him a typical "redemption arc".
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Some interviews, particularly around Phase 4, portray him as an absolute nutjob incapable of holding a normal conversation without convulsing wildly or going on bizarre tangents.
• Creepy Child: In the artwork of his pre-adolescent self, he looks pretty evil. His school bully, Tony Chopper even described him as a "creepy little runt".
• Creator Breakdown: In-Universe example. Both him and 2-D suffer this during the creation of the Plastic Beach album, with 2-D having a full-on mental breakdown and Murdoc undergoing severe Sanity Slippage, with his propensity for consuming larger and larger amounts of alcohol as their situation gets worse and worse certainly not helping matters.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He may come off as a cruel but ultimately harmless thug most of the time, and has gotten knocked unconscious by a single punch from Russel, but do not underestimate Murdoc. When he makes an enemy, he will always get the last laugh. Always. Even if that enemy happens to be the government, the mob, or the entire forces of Hell.
• The Dandy: A strange case, as he's incredibly unhygienic. Despite this, his fashion sense has a distinct effete and flamboyant flair to it, including such things as high heels and capes, and he always carries himself with a swaggering charisma. Paula actually describes him as one when talking about why she decided to cheat on 2D with him.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He had a severely messed up childhood. He was abandoned on his father's doorstep as a baby, forced to participate in talent shows for measly amounts of money to pay for his dad's drinking habit, was beat up by his brother Hannibal and Hannibal's friends, got bullied in school, and was sexually abused by a dinner lady when he was nine.
• Darker and Edgier: Phase 2 sees him go from a Jerkass and petty criminal to an Evil Genius at war with an entire Mexican drug cartel. Phase 3 sees him go beyond even this and become a straight-up super villain and possible harbinger of the apocalypse.
• Dark Is Evil: He generally dresses in dark clothes and he's most definitely evil.
• A Day in the Limelight: Phase 3 is more or less his solo album. As a result, he eclipses the other three in screen time by a sizable margin throughout it.
• 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 that Murdoc isn't exactly picky when it comes to sex.
• Dirty Coward: He abandoned Plastic Beach to London after the events of Rhinestone Eyes, covering it up by faking his death.
• Doorstop Baby: Was abandoned in front of his father's house as an infant.
• Drives Like Crazy: As seen in 19-2000 and Stylo.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: If you're used to his green skin and more 'greasy' depiction in later Phases, it can be weird going back to Phase 1 and remembering what he started out looking like.
• Emerald Power: His skeen started to consistently be depicted as green during Phase 3, the same phase where he's built up to be some kind of immortal AntiChrist-like figure. Even when the later phases step away from this, his green skin is still a good indicator of his fondness for performing occult rituals.
• 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. Generally, no matter what Phase it is, Noodle is the only one who can truly get him to act decently.
• 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.
  • During the "Stylo" video, he tries to keep Cyborg Noodle from shooting the innocent cop who's chasing them for speeding, and for a few seconds seems as dismayed as 2D is when said cop runs off the road and crashes. He also made a hand motion to cop, indicating that he was going to pull over for him had Cyborg Noodle not fired.
  • According to an interview with 2D, he's apparently fond of animals, stating that when he used to force him to dress up as a fox and hunt him around the woods with a crossbow, the only reason for it was that he would never hurt a real fox.
  • He's recently revealed that he's grown ashamed of the way that he has treated women throughout his life and has become a genuine feminist in an attempt to make up for it.
  • Despite being a horrible person who constantly puts his teammates in danger through recklessness and poorly thought ideas, even Murdoc is freaked out by Noodle's Drives Like Crazy antics in the music video for "Valley of the Pagans".
• Evil Genius: While his pig-headed personality and tendency to be drunk during interviews may hide this, Murdoc is without a doubt incredibly smart, building high-tech super soldiers with relative ease and outsmarting police, drug lords, mobs, pirates, demons and much, much more on a regular basis.
• Evil Mentor: 2D was a perfectly nice guy before he met Murdoc, who exposed him to the world of Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll along with many other horrors.
• Faux Affably Evil: He has moments in the iTunes Session where he comes across as charming and insightful. Then his interactions with 2D remind us of how much of a bastard he is.
• Femme Fatalons: Despite being a man, his fingernails are clearly going for this.
• '50s Hair: Sports a slick-looking pompadour in the G-Shock tie-in videos.
• Foil: Becomes progressively more of one to 2D as time goes on. 2D is stupid, has horrendous luck, no spine and is a generally nice person while Murdoc is a genius, escapes all punishments with a slap on the wrist, refuses to back down during conflict, and is a despicable human being all around. To further this, 2D comes from a relatively normal family with two loving parents while Murdoc comes from a broken home with an abusive father.
  • His dealings with the supernatural also contrast Russel's - Murdoc willingly made a Deal with the Devil for fame and fortune, while a personal tragedy resulted in Russel getting unwillingly possessed by the souls of his murdered friends, Del being one of them.
• Freudian Excuse: He blames his father for the way he is. Whether or not this justifies his behavior is up to you.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: The band's fondness of him has gradually cooled over the course of the Phases. He has certainly achieved this status with his other bandmates by Phase 6 (except maybe 2-D), and it absolutely devastates him when they all leave him behind to go have fun together in the "Désolé" music video, to the point of curling up in the fetal position on the couch and breaking down sobbing when he realizes. Considering his frequently terrible behavior, it isn't exactly a surprising outcome that after over 20 years of it the band is rather fed up with him never making much of an effort to change.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Despite having no knowledge of robotics, Murdoc created a physically identical robotic super soldier clone of Noodle with relative ease.
• Genre Savvy: In the "Saturnz Barz" video:
  Russel: We should split up and take a look around.
  Murdoc: Great idea, Russ! Always works out well in horror movies.
• Giftedly Bad: His singing voice was described as sounding like a strangled cow.
• Greaser Delinquents: Murdoc dresses as one during the band’s G-Shock promotion, complete with blue jeans, a black leather jacket, and a pompadour.
• Green and Mean: Sports green skin as of Phase 3 and is... not very pleasant, to say the least.
• Green Is Gross: He's the least hygenic member of a generally unhygenic band and sports bright green skin to indicate just how filthy he is.
• Heel Realization: Phase 6 seems to put him through one, as he is faced with the results of some of his worst actions, and struggles with the band no longer being as under his thumb as before. "The Lost Chord" music video shows him witnessing Plastic Beach's destruction, waking up with the mask of The Boogeyman on his face, seeing the dead Cyborg Noodle (which actually brings him to tears), and being seemingly left behind by the band...only for 2D to come back for him at the last moment.
• Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Murdoc's frequently awful behavior is frequently Played for Laughs more often than not, though some of his more reprehensible actions (like kidnapping 2-D for the Plastic Beach album) do tend to take the "comedic" part out of the equation, and are played for quite a bit of Nightmare Fuel.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: A twisted example with 2D. Over time, he has developed a bizarre co-dependence with the singer, but he remains incredibly abusive towards him nonetheless.
• Hilariously Abusive Childhood: See Abusive Parents.
• Humanoid Abomination: May or may not be one of these, if his stories are true.
• I Am the Band: Has said "It's my band!" repeatedly from the beginning and he means it. By Phase 3, the band essentially is just him.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: If the Commentary Edition of the "Stylo" video is to be believed, Murdoc never took any driving lessons, which explains his Drives Like Crazy tendencies. He claims to have picked up driving from Mario Kart.
• Immune to Drugs: Murdoc has been chugging bottle after bottle of rum since Plastic Beach, and he's still alive.
• It's All About Me: More or less incapable of thinking about anything unrelated to himself. When it comes to Noodle, however...
• Jerkass: In Phase 1. By Phase 2, he's more straight up evil than a jerk. It's a wonder how his bandmates put up with him all the time. By Phase 3, they don't, and he's forced to take more extreme measures to have them keep working with him.
• Jerkass Has a Point: As pointed out in his above mentioned Genre Savvy moment, splitting up in a creepy old house you just wandered into isn’t a very intelligent idea, ahem Russel!
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He alternates between this and Jerk with a Heart of Jerk. The former mainly applies to Noodle, though he's not completely incapable of also acting like one towards his other two bandmates.
• Karma Houdini: He's been arrested a few times, but he's always made it out no worse for wear. Gets taken to extremes in Phase 3, where the forces of Hell finally come after him only for him to escape unscathed.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Between Phases 3 and 4, the authorities finally caught up to him after the destruction of Plastic Beach and he spent time between Phases 3 and 4 in prison before he was released into the care of the bandmates he so terribly neglected and abused. Then, in Phase 4, he was captured by EMI and forced to produce a new album against his will to earn his freedom. He has since lost much of his bite and even his bullying of 2D has been reduced to wry low-key insults. He then spent most of 2018 in jail for something he didn't do.
• Kavorka Man: Whereas 2D is considered attractive in-universe, Murdoc is frequently described as being gross and strange-looking. Despite this, he gets plenty of tail and has a massive female fanbase in real life.
• Kick the Dog: His speciality when it comes to his horrible treatment of 2D. A great example is in the music video for "DoYaThing", where he violently smacks 2D with a shoe for no reason whatsoever, all while 2D was naively reading a comic where Murdoc and he are lovey-dovey friends.
• Kubrick Stare: A specialty of his. If he isn't giving a manic smile, he's giving one of these. Sometimes he does both at once.
• Large Ham: Slips into this mode quite often.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Phase 3's story involves him kidnapping musicians and forcing them to produce an album against their will to earn their freedom. Phase 4's story begins with him being captured by EMI and forced to produce a new album against his will to earn his freedom.
• Lazy Bum: In the "DoYaThing" video, Murdoc is shown using a chairlift to get down the stairs despite having no mobility problems whatsoever.
• The Leader: For better or worse, he's the band's co-founder and most consistent (or at least most vocal) creative force; he also seems to be the most involved with contract negotiation and PR. Downplayed somewhat from Humanz onward, where the other three have settled more confidently into their roles as contributors and he's lost a bit of his teeth, and completely gone during the release of The Now Now, where his arrest ended up pushing 2D into temporarily stepping up as leader.
• Lead Bassist: A Band Frontman since he's the co-founder, as well as a major Attention Whore. His actions also generally tend to drive the plot more than the other three's do.
• Mad Scientist: Without any knowledge of robotics, Murdoc created a cyborg from an actual person's DNA.
• Mr. Fanservice: He tries to be one. Whether his shirtless scenes and bass gyrating are hot or kinda gross is up to the viewer. He appears completely nude in the video for Phase 4's "Saturnz Barz", and it was uncensored until YouTube cracked down and it was blurred. Back in Phase 1, he also stripped off in a proposed video for "5/4", which only reached the animatic stage.
• Nobody Loves the Bassist: In-universe, he's the least popular member of the band due to his grotesque mannerisms and genuinely awful personality.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He's modelled after a young Keith Richards and is often compared to him. Also doubles as a Celebrity Paradox, as Murdoc, who is at least partially a Keith Richards parody, ostensibly inhabits the same universe as the real Keith Richards.
• Noodle People: Not nearly to the same degree as 2D, as he tends to be drawn with more defined muscles and a noticeable beer gut, but he's still very lean.
• Not Allowed to Grow Old: Averted. Despite debuting in his mid-thirties, he has visibly become middle-aged (he is 50 years old by the time phase 4 rolls round), with his skin becoming increasingly more wrinkled and his hair graying as time has gone on. He has also slipped in and out of possessing a beer gut.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The band's surprise trip to Plastic Beach during the music video for "The Lost Chord" absolutely strips Murdoc of all his usual ego and bravado, leaving him alternating between teary-eyed misery and wide-eyed, speechless panic. Out of all the band members, who otherwise react with a mixture of resigned sadness and bitterness, he certainly takes the situation the worst. Considering that Plastic Beach practically acts as a monument to some of Murdoc's worst and most cruel acts both In-Universe and out, this reaction is rather understandable.
• Our Zombies Are Different: He's been described as an immortalist that has been around for so long that his body is now "a rotting carcass of a human being" by Jamie Hewlett.
• Overly-Long Tongue: Claims that Gene Simmons ripped off his tongue.
• The Pigpen: Personal hygiene is... not one of his strong suits. His Winnebago on the inside is a right mess.
• Promiscuity After Rape: He was sexually assaulted as a child, and as an adult, he has had a lot of sexual partners; one of his most consistent traits is that he's a very sexually driven individual.
• Putting on the Reich: Wears an SS uniform in the "Fancy Dress" G-Bite, to Russel's chagrin.
• Putting the Band Back Together: He tried doing this in Phase 3 after the "death" of Noodle in Phase 2. The only band member that he succeeded in getting back to record for the new album was 2D, and even that he only managed to do through force.
• Rape as Backstory: Mentioned in several interviews and Rise of the Ogre, when Murdoc was nine he was assaulted by a dinner lady at his school.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: It comes and goes, but Murdoc is usually drawn with one of his eyes being an evil red.
• 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 hat). How or why he keeps being brought back has not been explained yet and probably never will.
• Really Gets Around: He's had many, many sexual partners. Countless women have gone on record stating that he stole their wallets after sleeping with them.
• Really 700 Years Old: He has apparently existed since the beginning of time.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The hyper-aggressive Red Oni to the passive 2D's Blue Oni.
• Resurrective Immortality: He has apparently been around since the dawn of time, though he has a definite birthdate and we've seen pictures of him as a baby. His body is simply reborn every time he dies in an increasing state of decay.
• Sanity Slippage: Gets more and more corrupt and unstable with each passing Phase. By Phase 3, a game seems to have been made about seeing just how incomprehensible Murdoc can become.
• Sand In My Eyes: Whenever Murdoc gets teary-eyed, he blames his allergies or says that it's "eyeball sweat".
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly man to 2D's sensitive guy, though only in terms of sensitivity and temperament, as he's pretty foppish and effeminate himself.
• Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll: He fits the lifestyle best out of all the Gorillaz, much like his primary real life inspiration.
• Signature Laugh: A throaty guffaw, which can be heard in almost every interview and media appearance. Occasionally, it devolves into random grunts and groans that don't even sound like noises a human can make.
• Significant Anagram: Prior to changing it to Faust as part of his Deal with the Devil, Murdoc's middle name was Alphonse. Murdoc Alphonse Niccals. Word of God states that had Phase 3 not been Cut Short, he would've been confirmed to be the Antichrist: the embodiment of all of mankind's sin destined to bring about the end of the world. The "MAN" referred to in THE BOOK OF MAN that prophecizes the end of all life is him.
• Significant Birth Date: He's a Satanist and possibly The Antichrist, and was born on June 6, 1966.
• Slasher Smile: A master of giving these. When he bares his teeth, it can be very unsettling.
• Smoky Voice: A frequent smoker, Murdoc tends to slip into this during interviews. Tends to overlap with Evil Sounds Raspy, because Murdoc isn't usually on his best behavior during said interviews.
• Smug Snake: While Murdoc genuinely is a talented musician, he'd be nothing if not for the other three's contributions to the band. Despite this, he is insistent that he is the sole creative force behind it.
• Sociopathic Hero: Has very little empathy for others, and is willing to do plenty of horrible things to help himself get ahead in life.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He enforces it to the point where he starts to get violent when 2D starts hogging his screen time.
• Stealing the Credit: Before The Fall, Murdoc made it a habit to try and claim that every album his band made was his sole creative invention; the first was heavily influenced by Russel's (at the time) superior musical expertise, Demon Days (Album) was masterminded by Noodle, and the third owed most of its brilliance to the musicians that Murdoc kidnapped and invited to Plastic Beach.
• Step Up to the Microphone: "White Light" apparently, though it wasn't so much sung as whisper-rapped. He also gets to sing with Damon Albarn's voice in "Saturnz Barz"... while hovering naked in outer space.
• Straw Nihilist: He often espouses very pessimistic views about humanity and our future on this planet, with Plastic Beach being the metaphorical "end of the road" for where we're going as a species, though he mainly uses nihilism as an excuse for his unpleasant and hedonistic behaviour.
• Take My Hand!: 2-D does this for him at the end of the music video for "The Lost Chord," saving him from sinking with the remnants of Plastic Beach. His look of disbelieving joy at the sight is notably one of the only times he's ever genuinely let out a smile that doesn't fall into Slasher Smile or Psychotic Smirk territory, and is absolutely wonderful to see.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: During Phase 1, which may explain his success with the ladies. Phased out over time, to the point where he looks like a gargoyle nowadays.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Russel sincerely hate each other, but both acknowledge the other's skill as a musician.
• Those Two Guys: Quickly became this with 2D due to the immediate chemistry their characters shared. By Phase 2, they were rarely ever seen apart.
• Token Evil Teammate: While his bandmates are all flawed, they're also each fundamentally good people. Murdoc, on the other hand, is rather obviously very evil.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Phase 4. While he's still a generally horrible human being, he seems to have backed down on the genuine super villainy that he pulled off in Phase 3. He's also cleaned up his act around women. In Phase 6, he states on his Twitter account he's "changed," but considering his past actions that can be taken with a grain of salt. If anything, he's settling on being a (slightly less malicious) trouble-making goofball.
• Toxic Friend Influence: Supposedly, 2D was a fairly good kid before meeting him.
• Trrrilling Rrrs: When he's feeling hammy, he's prone to doing this.
• Uncleanliness Is Next to Ungodliness: He has a rather bad sense of personal hygiene, and he's generally a very, very unpleasant person to be around. Oh, and he may also be the Antichrist.
• Ungrateful Bastard: 2D really would've been better off not giving Murdoc a motorcycle ride in Aries.
• Unreliable Narrator: He keeps changing his stance and role in the El Mañana conspiracy, as well as what actually happened to Noodle.
  • After Cracker Island, he takes over the band's social media platforms to frame the rest of the group as not in their right minds, with whatever criminal activity allegedly taking place during or leading up to the events of the music video as All Part of the Show.
• Unrequited Love Switcheroo: A platonic example with 2D in Phase 3. He spends Phases 1 and 2 constantly getting pestered by 2D, and ends up doing the same to him throughout Plastic Beach. It gets flipped around again by Phase 5, where 2D spends most of the album staunchly anti-Murdoc until the last few songs in which he appears to begrudgingly admit that he needs Murdoc in his life, no matter how much pain he puts him through.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Murdoc is a terrible person, but also a very amusing one.
• Villain Protagonist: He was an asshole in Phase 1 but he was at least relatively harmless and showed some level of compassion toward Noodle. By Phase 3 he's lost any remotely positive trait that he previously possessed. Dialed back from Phase 4 onwards where, while still a horrible person, he no longer seems to be getting up to much criminal scheming.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 1 with 2D before Phase 3, where it slid into Type 2. Since then its mostly returned to normal, to how it used to be, if perhaps a bit less one-sided and antagonistic.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: He's seen without a shirt almost as often as he's seen with one.
• When He Smiles: Murdoc's look of absolute joy at the end of the music video for "The Lost Chord" when 2-D comes back for him has to be seen to be believed.
• Younger Than They Look: Murdoc's substance abuse and terrible hygiene make him look significantly older than he is. He looked like he could be in his late forties in Phase 2 when he was still in his thirties.

Noodle

Noodle

Noodle as of Phase 6

^{Phase 5}

^{Phase 4}

^{Phase 3}

^{Phase 2}

^{Phase 1}

Voiced by: Haruka Kuroda (Phase 1 to Phase 4), Haruka Abe (Phase 5 onwards) (speaking voice), Damon Albarn ("Feel Good Inc" only), Rosie Wilson, Miho Hatori (singing voice)

"Every great band is destroyed by their success. Cartoon bands are no exception."

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 ^note Aside from her own name, "noodle"., but playing the guitar like a virtuoso. Before the El Mañana 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 Mañana" 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".

---

• The Ace: Being a genetically-engineered super soldier, she was trained to excel at everything, from music to languages.
• All Asians Know Martial Arts: While stereotypical, her martial arts skill mostly derives from her super-soldier training in her backstory.
• Animal Motif: Begins developing a light cat motif from Humanz onward, with a few of her outfits sporting cat ears and/or tails.
• Art Shift: Briefly takes on the appearance of a Peanuts character in the "PAC-MAN" music video, without any explanation.
• Badass Adorable: When she was a kid/preteen in Phases 1 and 2, she was really cute yet also very athletic, going as far as to kick one of the zombie gorillas in "Clint Eastwood" (which Murdoc was struggling with). She's matured in Phases 3 and 4 but is still has her badass qualities.
• Badass Driver: In Phase 4, she broke into Jaguar Racing's test track, took their Formula E racer for a joyride around the circuit, and beat the lap record.
• Bifauxnen: In Phase 1 and to a much lesser extent Phase 2, her appearance is rather androgynous. Averted from Phase 3 onwards, where she is consistently drawn to be quite obviously female.
• Black Bead Eyes: Only in Phase 1; the few times she widened her eyes showed that she possessed these.
• Break the Cutie: She was incredibly bubbly in Phase 1, and still cheerful in Phase 2. In Phase 3, she's almost never shown being happy since she's busy fighting for her life and had recently come back from the "dead". In Phase 4, with her troubles behind her and returning to a more stable life with her band members, she is shown to be happier.
• Calling Your Attacks: During one of the Gorillaz Bitez shorts, Noodle does a flurry of kicks, punches, and jabs, while shouting them out to intimidate Russel.
• Celibate Hero: During a reddit AMA in 2017 to promote Humanz, Noodle revealed that she isn't currently interested in dating anyone.
• Cheerful Child: In Phase 1, she more or less constantly frolicked around madly without a care in the world.
• Cool Helmet:
  • She nearly always wore her radio helmet in Phase 1, giving her a quirky edge.
  • In Phase 4, the driving helmet she wore when breaking Jaguar Racing's Formula 1 speed record thus becoming their Global Ambassador counted as one as well.
• Cool Mask: In Phase 3, she wore a mask with a cat face and ears. Used to hide her bruised face.
• Cool Shades: By Phase 4, she has started wearing nifty-looking sunglasses.
• Covert Pervert: VERY subtly hinted at in "Humility." Her Hello Kinky shirt features the implied mascot wearing a gimp's hood. Said logo also appeared on a shirt worn by 2D during Phase 1, though, so it may be intended as more of a Mythology Gag than any kind of comment on Noodle's character.
• Cute Bruiser: She was originally trained to be a Super-Soldier and practiced martial arts.
• 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 ad for a guitarist Murdoc placed online.
• A Day in the Limelight: Phase 2 explains her backstory, Demon Days was apparently mostly composed by her, and two videos — "Dare" and "El Mañana" — focus exclusively on her.
• Disney Death: "El Mañana" has her floating island being bombed, but Phase 3 reveals that she survived the attack.
• Doorstop Baby: Prior to Phase 1, her creator, Mr. Kyuzo, mailed her by parcel to Kong Studios to answer an online ad for a guitarist to protect her from being killed by the Japanese government when their Tyke-Bomb project was scrapped.
• Drives Like Crazy: Judging from the music video for "Valley of the Pagans," Noodle seems to have inherited this trait from her bandmates, to the point that her driving actually freaks Murdoc out. The first thing she does when the gang gets launched out of a portal into the world of Los Santos is to crash the car that they're in, and she continually swerves about the road and speeds to the point that they get in (yet another) police chase. One has to wonder if the portal dropping them all just outside of Plastic Beach at the end of it was less random cruelty and more an act of mercy so that they wouldn't all get killed by her.
• Everyone's Baby Sister: She's the youngest and only female member of the band and functions as the shared Morality Pet of the three older male members. When she's put in harm's way, even Murdoc freaks out.
• Expository Hair Style Change: In some Phase 1 images she sported a ridiculous haircut, which emphasized her childishness and the fact that the other three weren't proper guardians. Her trendy bangs in Phase 2 shows her considerably grown maturity into a teenager, and the disappearance of them by Phase 4 when she’s an adult further this.
• Eyes Always Shut: Her eyes were often closed in Phases 1 and 2 — she later averts this, with her eyes constantly shown in Phase 4.
• Eyes Out of Sight: She wore her bangs long in Phase 2, hiding her eyes majority of the time. She did not possess them in Phase 3, instead generally wearing a face-concealing mask. While she occasionally wears them in Phases 4 and 6, they are nowhere near as omnipresent as they were when she was a teen.
• Fanservice Pack: After becoming a adult, artwork starts to play up her sex appeal quite a bit. A sharp contrast to the androgynous kid she started out as.
• Friend to All Living Things: She had a pet dog in Phase 1, her monkey Mike in Phase 2, and now her cat Katsu in Phase 4.
• Funny Foreigner: In Phase 1, Noodle was a walking Asian stereotype mostly used for comic relief. Subsequent phases have steadily downplayed her stereotypical traits (such as her broken English, constantly slit eyes and Funny Bruce Lee Noises) into nonexistence.
• Girlish Pigtails: Wears a pair of very short ones in the "Saturnz Barz" music video, though it's mostly for fashion.
• Gratuitous Japanese: When she was introduced in Phase 1, Noodle spoke exclusively in Japanese, due to her lacking English speaking skills. She later shies away from this trope after becoming fluent in the language in Phase 2, though she still breaks into it if she's frustrated or angry.
• Hartman Hips: Her hips develop considerably by Phase 3.
• The Heart: After composing Demon Days (Album), 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.
  • In a meta sense, Noodle's appearance represents the theme of the Phase and the music.
    • In Phase 1 she's an innocent kid with a backstory out of an anime, in line with the childish comic image of the band.
    • In Phase 2 she's a teenager, much like the music, she's grown up and started taking herself more seriously.
    • In Phase 3 when the music and story are at their darkest, she's thought to be dead for half of the Phase.
    • In Phase 4 she's grown up, and laid back.
• Human Mail: Arrived at Kong Studios pre- Phase 1 in a FedEx crate. In the backstory to Phase 4, she mailed herself the same way back to the band.
• Inexplicably Awesome: In Phase 1, where her backstory was still unknown, she was a complete enigma. Back then, her obscenely prodigious guitar skills and talent for martial arts were simply chalked up to being because she was Noodle.
• Intergenerational Friendship: The bandmate closest to her in age is 2D, who is almost a full decade older than her. Despite this, she's quite close with all three of them.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: As noted in Dark and Troubled Past, she had her memory of being a Tyke-Bomb wiped by Mr. Kyuzo, who created the "ocean bacon" trigger phrase to reactivate her memories before shipping her off to Kong Studios to protect her from the Japanese government. She regains her memories between Phase 1 and 2 after hearing the aforementioned trigger phrase.
• Like Brother and Sister: Noodle once described the three other members as brothers. In particular, her relationship with 2D is closer to one between siblings than the more parentally-oriented relationships she has with Murdoc and Russel, and she's described it as a "special zen bond". After Phase 4, she's constantly looking out for him in case he becomes a victim of one of Murdoc's schemes. She intervenes at the end of "PAC-MAN" by pulling the plug on 2D's game and forcing him to snap back away from embracing an unhealthy form of escapism.
• Meaningful Name: Racial stereotypes aside noodling is a common practice of guitar players during warm ups.
• Messy Hair: Similar to 2D her hair is in a spiky uneven messy style.
• Morality Chain: To Murdoc. During her disappearance in Phase 3, almost every hint of goodness inside of him disappeared.
• Ms. Fanservice: Ever since hitting puberty, she's begun wearing outfits that accentuate her figure. Played up especially in Phase 4, where more and more pictures have emphasized her legs and thighs.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Phase 3, she wound up separated from the group and ended up living with an elderly fisherwoman... and wound up freeing an ancient demon by accident when she thought she had found treasure to repay her. Thankfully, she corrected this mistake.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: From Phase 4 onwards her style often channels that of Björk.
• Noodle People: No pun intended. Not quite to the same degree as 2D as she's developed some curves over time, but she's still twig-thin.
• Not So Above It All: She came off as pretty mature in Phase 2, when she was a teenager. Despite this, her reaction to Murdoc bringing a camera crew into a room during the "MTV Cribs" segment shows her age.
  Noodle: IS MY ROOM! GET OUT, GET OUT! (throws Game Boy at the camera)
• Omniglot: As part of her super-soldier 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.
• One of the Boys: While she's hardly unfeminine, Noodle spends most of her time with her three male bandmates. Though she is generally shown to have the most intellectual and refined interests of the group, she also seems to genuinely enjoy partaking in the same crass hobbies that the three men do.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: She's still known only as Noodle, as far as anyone knows.
• Only Sane Woman: In Phase 2, she was the most sensible out of everyone else. Averted in other phases — she was pretty wacky herself in Phase 1, she's not around enough in Phase 3 to count, and everyone's mostly calmed down in Phase 4.
• Out of Focus: She has much less of a presence in Phase 3 due to spending most of it away from the rest of the band. Despite this, though, it's clear that she was going to play a very important role during the phase's second half... which never got made.
• Perpetual Frowner: On the occasions where her face (or at least her mouth) was shown during Phase 3, she always sported a melancholy frown. Averted in Phase 4, where she frequently gives off the same cheeky grins that she did during the first two Phases.
• Person of Mass Destruction: She was originally created with the intended purpose of being a One Woman Army to be used in military combat. While she's thankfully gone against her design, she still has the potential to become a force of destruction.
• Pink Means Feminine: Noodle starts wearing pink clothing during the Cracker Island era, even going so far as to dye her hair pink as well.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Mainly in Phase 1, when she was only ten years old. In the "Clint Eastwood" video, she knocks out one of the zombie gorillas with one punch, and in the G-Bite "Game of Death," she easily mops the floor with Russel during their mock fight. Even as an adult, she's a good head and shoulders shorter than the others but still the best of the four in a fight by a longshot.
• Plucky Girl: An energetic and occasionally downright wacky girl who has no problem keeping up with her much older male bandmates in Phases 1 and 2. While she mostly averted this in Phase 3, due to being consistently portrayed as somber and mysterious, it's back in full force in Phase 4.
• Scars Are Forever: Received a scar on her right eye after getting hit in the face with debris during the "El Mañana" video. During Phase 3, it was so unsightly that she wore a cat mask almost constantly to conceal it. It's still visible after the unspecified Time Skip by DoYaThing but it has faded significantly and is obscured by her bangs. Defied in Phase 4 since it seems to have faded completely.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: After her maturation in between Phases 1 and 2, she stops wearing the radio helmets and baggy jackets she wore in Phase 1, and starts wearing clothes that are more like what her bandmates wear.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only female in the band. While two other women have temporarily played with the group (one of them being her robotic double), they both did so while Noodle herself was not present.
• Sole Survivor: Of the project instigated by the Japanese government that created 23 child super-soldiers, including her. The only reason she survived at all when the project was abandoned and purged was her creator, Mr. Kyuzo, who wiped all her memories pertaining to her origin and shipped her off to Kong Studios in response to Murdoc's online ad for a guitarist.
• Step Up to the Microphone: She provides lead vocals in DARE, a song she wrote. Downplayed, since she's provided backing vocals on other songs, particularly 5/4 and 19-2000 from the debut Gorillaz album.
• To Hell and Back: 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 Mañana 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.
• Token Good Teammate: The only member of the band who has never done anything morally questionable throughout her life, and more or less the only one who could really be described as a hero.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: While Noodle has developed plenty of traditionally feminine interests as she's grown up, the fact that she was raised by three unruly men can still be seen pretty clearly in her general behavior.
• Trigger Phrase: "Ocean bacon", which brought back her erased memories before Phase 2 started.
• Tyke-Bomb: Was originally created as one by the Japanese government for a military project. Of the 23 kids created for the project, she's the only one still living, and thankfully gone against her design.
• Verbal Tic Name: Her name is derived from the sole English word she knew upon first joining the band. She's since become fluent in several languages, English being one of them, but the name has stuck.
• Vocal Evolution: As she's gotten older, Noodle's voice has gone from high-pitched and childlike to deeper and more cohesive.
• Waif-Fu: Despite her tiny body, she easily curb stomped Russel when she was 10 years old. While the fight in question may or may not have only occurred in a video game, it was still clearly accurate to both of their physical capabilities.
• Women Are Wiser: She is the only female in each situation, and is portrayed as being the most emotionally stable, intelligent and competent member of the band, compared to the ditzy, pill-popping 2D; the satanic, asshole-ish Murdoc; and the bitter, supernaturally disturbed Russel.
• Written-In Absence: Noodle was absent for most of Phase 3, after suffering a Disney Death in the video for El Mañana.
• You Don't Look Like You: Practically unrecognizable in Phase 4 when compared to her Phase 1 self. Justified, in that she's aged from 10 to her mid-20's across that time, so it's expected that she'd look different.

Russel

Russel Hobbs

Russel as of Phase 6

^{Phase 5}

^{Phase 4}

^{Phase 3}

^{Phase 2}

^{Phase 1}

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 possessed 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 (Album)", but he was not invited to play on "Plastic Beach" because nobody could find him. Of course, he didn't have this problem when Phase 3 rolled around.

As of "DoYaThing", he is living with the rest of the band on 212 Wobble Street, London, where he sleeps on the roof of the apartment, though Phase 4 seems to have retconned this and he has shrunken back down due to an incident in North Korea.

---

• All Drummers Are Animals: Inverted — Russel is the drummer... and yet, despite his issues, he's one of the more well-spoken members of the group, and often the most reasonable.
• Anti-Hero: Russel is a goodhearted and caring person, but also a grouchy and highly unstable loner.
• Art Evolution: Went from being almost comically round in Phase 1 to much more realistically-shaped in the later phases.
• The Artifact: Somewhat. Russel's defining gimmick in Phase 1 was his ability to summon Del whenever he was unconscious. As Del was removed from his body during the gap between Phase 1 and 2, Russel has struggled to find another trait that allows him to stand out alongside his bandmates, causing him to fall into the background. This is even lightly acknowledged in-universe, as Russel experienced a near total mental breakdown upon losing Del, stating multiple times that he felt like he had lost a part of himself in the process.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Was a giant for all of Phase 3, but was eventually undone due to North Korea capturing him (mistaking him for Pulgasari), and feeding him nothing but rations of extremely poor quality.
• Bald Mystic: He's totally bald and is a world class drummer with close ties to the supernatural, what with being possessed by the souls of his dead friends. In addition, he's one of the most rational and intelligent members of the band.
• Big Beautiful Man: He was even voted the third sexiest cartoon character of all time by Nerve.com.
• Big Eater: While he claims his weight is the result of a wheat allergy, he puts away ridiculous amounts of fast food constantly.
• Big Brother Instinct: Toward Noodle and to a lesser extent, 2D.
• The Big Guy: The biggest guy out of the group. He's strong, serious and gruff, but also a Gentle Giant underneath it all.
• Brooklyn Rage: He's from Brooklyn and has anger-management problems.
• The Bro Code: Broke Murdoc's nose when he caught him fooling around with 2D's girlfriend, Paula.
  • Something similar occurs after the video for Aries, where an exclusive image shows Russell full-on strangling Murdoc for injecting 2D with a truth serum, with Noodle physically trying to restrain him from beating Murdoc into a green mush.
• Chaste Hero: Details are actually unknown, but he's the only one of the male band members who doesn't openly get around.
• Comedic Underwear Exposure: Splits his pants doing a sumo stomp in the "Game of Death" G-Bite.
• Conspiracy Theorist: Seems to have settled into this characterization in Phase 4. Considering what he's been through, it's not hard to see why.
• Cosmic Plaything: His suffering isn't as blatant as 2D's, but it's there. His friends were gunned down during a drive-by shooting, their souls invaded his body and caused him to lash out in a possessed state which got him kicked out of private school, Murdoc kidnapped him to force him into the band, he was frequently infuriated and injured during the Gorillabitez, the Grim Reaper hunted him down and ripped said souls from his body after the Gorillaz movie imploded, the solo album he tried to produce with Ike Turner mutated into an assemblage so horrific that he buried all the associated materials (and it's implied his increasingly frayed mind might have imagined all that), he spent a lot of Phase 2 as a strung-out shell of his former self obsessed with taxidermy by way of necromancy, when he managed to get his head straight it was just in time to discover that Murdoc had replaced him with a drumming machine, his reckless attempt to swim to Plastic Beach exposed him to oodles of hazardous chemicals which turned him into a giant, he was denied his vengeance upon his arrival there due to a sudden attack by heavily armed pirates, and to top it all off, he spent the time between Phases 3 and 4 as a prisoner of the North Koreans, who had mistaken him for the fictional Pulgasari in spite of the fact that he looked nothing like him. How did he get back to normal size, you might ask? The North Koreans more or less starved him into doing so by accident.
• Demonic Possession: Being possessed by spirits has been an issue for him since his childhood.
• 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: Steadily falls into the background as the story goes on, to the point where he not only doesn't contribute any music to the album during Phase 3 but also doesn't speak a single line of dialogue. He's back in the spotlight somewhat in Phase 4, though his status as The Quiet One still makes him the weakest presence of the band.
• Determinator: Swam to Plastic Beach on his lonesome in Phase 3.
• Genius Bruiser: He's as strong as he looks but is also surprisingly eloquent and well-read. He came from an upper-class family and was set to have a privileged education up until his first possession.
• Gentle Giant: He's big but also quite polite and very caring. Even more appropriate in Phase 3, where 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 the Grim Reaper who 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".
• I Am Big Boned: Insists that his weight is the result of a wheat allergy.
• Informed Flaw: Russell supposedly has anger management issues by his own admission, but we rarely actually see him get angry. Though his status as The Quiet One might be to try to keep that aspect of his personality hidden from public view.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's gruff and dour due to a lifetime of supernatural struggle, but is actually a pretty caring guy, especially towards Noodle.
• Kick the Dog: In the Humility video, Russell intentionally trips up 2D as he is happily skating around Venice Beach. Given 2-D's Monochromatic Eyes switch from the white associated with possession to their usual black after this however, it might have been an impromptu exorcism.
• Lesser Star: While the group are always presented as an ensemble, Russel consistently receives much less focus than the other three. Even back when his possession gimmick was more prevalent he would often spend the majority of the music videos unconscious so that Del could hang around.
• Magic Pants: When he grew larger, his clothes did too.
• Magnetic Medium: Is connected to the supernatural, making him a target for possession amongst other things.
• The Mentally Disturbed: Ever since Phase 2 which saw him permanently lose Del from his subconscious, Russel seems to be on the constant verge of a complete mental breakdown and his behaviour becomes increasingly unpredictable, mostly due to his aforementioned status as a Cosmic Plaything. He can be chill and friendly one moment, then hostile and bitter the next. Finally, Phase 6 shows him as a drooling, catatonic vegetable mindlessly watching TV in a hospital.
• Mighty Glacier: Strong enough to shatter bones with a single punch, but too slow to stand a chance of keeping up with Noodle in a fight.
• Monochromatic Eyes: They turned permanently white after the spirits of his dead friends took up residence in his head.
• 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.
  • His entire plot line during Phase 3 due to it getting Cut Short. We know that he grew giant by eating polluted gunk on his way to Plastic Beach and... nothing else. We don't know why he was going to Plastic Beach, we don't know why he was so pissed off, and we don't know what he did after he finally arrived there. It took until the build-up to Phase 4 to find out what happened to him afterward, and even then everything that happened before it is still a mystery.
• Not So Above It All: While he's normally shown protecting 2D from Murdoc, even he can't resist messing with the singer sometimes. Examples include picking 2D up by the neck and shaking him ("Hey, Our Toys Have Arrived") and tripping him while he's rollerskating (the "Humility" video).
• Only Sane Man: He was the most rational member of the band during Phase 1, though his sanity has been slipping more and more ever since.
• Out of Focus: After losing Del in Phase 2, his screen time takes a major hit. By Phase 3 he's not around for 90% of the plot and does little more than transport Noodle to Plastic Beach. Notably, in Phase 3 lore, after Murdoc got the band back together, he felt 2D^note Unwilling to come back and Noodle^note At that point, DEAD. were important enough that he respectively kidnapped and cloned them, but didn't even bother to try and contact Russel, and instead used a drum machine in his place. This may have had more to do with the fact that the two of them hate each rather than Murdoc not considering Russel to be an important part of the band, though.
• Papa Wolf: Has acted as a protective guardian figure to Noodle ever since she joined the band. One interview in Phase 1 has him displeased at a rumour involving Noodle and a Japanese football player and tells her she's too young to be dating; and in Phase 3 the now-giant Russel looks after her after they reunite and he's concerned for her when a plane nearly attacks them again in the concert footage for "Broken".
• Parental Substitute: Acts the most like a parent to Noodle.
• Perpetual Frowner: In Phase 3, where his expressions ranged from scowling to seething. He's more emotive in other phases, though he's still generally more likely to frown than smile.
• Platonic Life-Partners: He spends most of his screen time with Noodle, and is the closest with her out of all of the band.
• Properly Paranoid: Fears a cyborg uprising. Considering the world he lives in, he's probably right to worry.
• The Quiet One: Generally soft-spoken and gruff, in sharp contrast to Murdoc, 2D and Noodle when she was younger.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Russel is hands down the manliest of the three male members of the group, but he also expresses an interest in dressing like a prima ballerina.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Blue to Del's Red.
• Sanity Slippage: Between Phases 1 and 2 he had all of the spirits living inside of him taken by the Grim Reaper, including his lifelong friend Del. He never managed to fully recover from the loss, and became much quieter and unstable afterward.
• Scary Black Man: Russel is a large, quiet, serious and unsociable black man with the strength to match. He's generally a Gentle Giant despite what first appearances may suggest, though.
• Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: He is the can, and his body housed dozens of spirits before the Grim Reaper took them from him.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: A substantial portion of his outfits consist of tailored suits with matching hats, which stand out when compared to his bandmates' usual attire, which ranges from very casual to downright bizarre.
  "I've got an appreciation for fine clothes."
• Shout-Out: A very British one, in that Russell Hobbs is a brand of kitchen electrical appliances.
• Sleepy Head: It's never commented on, but Russel seems to be able to sleep anywhere. This includes on-stage mid-performance. The first thing he does upon entering the spirit house in the "Saturnz Barz" video is to find the nearest bedroom and take a nap.
• Step Up to the Microphone: He's the voice whispering "Let Me Out" in the titular song.
• The Stoic: He was never the most expressive guy to begin with, but losing Del made him mostly close off his emotions from the rest of the world.
• Stout Strength: He's incredibly strong along with being very fat. The video for "PAC-MAN" shows that he practices boxing in his spare time, suggesting that he's all muscle beneath his blubber.
• Taxidermy Is Creepy: Has a fondness for creating Frankenstein-esque taxidermy crossbreeds, which are about as unsettling as they sound like they are. Even Murdoc is unnerved by them.
• Team Mom: He's the most maternal of the group, though since Noodle is significantly younger than most of them and 2D and Murdoc are, well... 2D and Murdoc, this isn't hard.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Murdoc sincerely hate each other, but both acknowledge the other's skill as a musician and are willing to work together for the sake of producing albums.
• Top-Heavy Guy: In Phase 1, he was drawn with a massive upper body and squat, stumpy legs. The later phases tend to make him more reasonably proportioned, though he's still much wider than the other three.
• Vocal Evolution: From Phase 4 onwards, Russel's voice has become significantly huskier when he talks.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He picks on 2D from time to time, but the two seem to generally get along pretty well, and Russel frequently sticks up for 2D when Murdoc starts bullying him.
• Weirdness Magnet: Supernatural entities seem strangely drawn to him.

Former Bandmembers and Collaborators

Paula Cracker

Paula Cracker

The original 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.

---

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: She describes 2D as "sweet", but instantly fell for Murdoc the moment she saw him.

  Paula: Green skin, yellow teeth, then I thought: oh yeah, he's the one for me.

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: In the one interview with her, she comes off as surprisingly nice and quite bubbly, speaking fondly of 2D and generally seeming fairly well-adjusted. Then she starts talking about how she feels sick in the head and has urges to kill the entire band.
• Cool Shades: The one official piece of artwork that features her shows her wearing a pair of these.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Has pale skin and black hair, along with being rather unsettling.
• Hate Sink: While very little information has been given about her, all of it works to paint her in an unlikable light.
• Jerkass: From what little we know about her, she seems to be an unpleasant person. Considering she cheated on her mentally handicapped boyfriend with the man who made her boyfriend mentally handicapped she falls here.
• Motor Mouth: In her interview for "Rise of the Ogre". Perhaps she's on some sort of medication...
• Mythology Gag: Based on an early scrapped design for the band's guitarist.
• The One That Got Away: It's not entirely clear how 2D actually feels about her, but the subject of how she got kicked out of the band remains a sore spot for him over a decade later.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: We don't actually know how good of a guitarist she is, but Noodle's skills apparently blow hers out of the water.
• The Pete Best: invoked In-Universe, she was the band's first guitarist, but got kicked out before they hit it big.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: 2D's, though she's thankfully stayed away from the group for the time being.
• Sanity Slippage: It's implied that the band taking off after she got kicked out of it did a number on her mental health.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: She was the last of the original four to join the band, but got kicked out after a few weeks when she cheated on 2D.
• Yoko Oh No: She even looks a bit like the real life Yoko.

Del

Del tha' Ghost Rapper

Voiced by: Del tha Funkee Homosapien (rapping voice), Redd Pepper (speaking voice)

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. Russel and Del quickly formed a strong and lasting friendship until one day when Del, along with all of Russel's other new friends, was gunned down in a drive-by shooting of which Russel was the only survivor. The souls of Russel's friends, including Del, all took up residence inside of Russel for many years. Even as a ghost, Del's friendship with Russel continued to stay strong.

Del was finally removed from Russel by the Grim Reaper and taken 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.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: He has blue skin. Less notable than Murdoc since it's presumably a side effect of being a ghost.
• Ambiguous Situation: While the real Del collaborated with Gorillaz for "Captain Chicken", it's unclear if this means the character Del has returned.
• Boisterous Bruiser: One of the first things he does in the "Clint Eastwood" video is break the ground beneath open by stomping onto it. He's also generally very loud and energetic.
• Comical Overreacting: Treats 2D attempting to jump over Russel's gut on a trycycle as a death-defyingly impossible stunt.
• The Dead Can Dance: Along with rapping, he shows off some impressive dance moves whenever he appears in the music videos.
• Did Not Think This Through: During Jump the Gut, he bets big money against Noodle that 2D cannot clear the engorged stomach of a sleeping Russel with his tricycle. While he wins the bet, Russel being awakened by having his torso landed on wakes him up, banishing Del, and causing Noodle to get all the money on the table anyway.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: While his friendship with Russel is said to have remained even after he became a ghost, both of the music videos and the short that he appears in suggest that Del can only move around outside of Russel's body when Russel is unconscious, meaning that they're never actually shown directly interacting with each other on-screen. While it's possible that the two can interact within Russel's mind, there's no evidence of this actually being the case anywhere.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Russel, his "Soul Brotha".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He messes with the rest of the band whenever he's around, but he's shown to deeply care about Russel's well-being.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Russel's. Okay, undead emotional crutch, but as soon as he got taken out of the picture Russel broke down hard.
• Monochromatic Eyes: Like Russel, his eyes are completely white, seemingly as a result of being a ghost.
• Odd Friendship: Suggested to have one with Noodle throughout his appearances. Not entirely surprising, considering both are shown to be close with Russel.
• Our Ghosts Are Different: He looks more like a hologram than a ghost.
• Put on a Bus: Reaped by death between Phases 1 and 2, causing Russel to have a breakdown.
  • The Bus Came Back: Kind of; In Phase 4, the real Del occasionally performed live with Albarn and crew, but Del the character still hasn't appeared since Phase 1.
    • The real Del collaborated with Gorillaz for "Captain Chicken", though it's unclear if this is a return of the character Del or not.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Russel's Blue.
• Sixth Ranger: Collaborated and hung out with the band on occasion when he was still possessing Russel.
• Top-Heavy Guy: He's got a burly torso and comparatively spindly legs.
• Troll: When summoned during the videos, he seems to screw with the rest of the band just for kicks.

Cyborg Noodle

Cyborg Noodle

Voiced by: N/A.

"Beeeeeeep Beep;"

Built by Murdoc as a replacement for the supposedly deceased Noodle, the cyborg is a meticulously life-like replica of the guitarist. She has all the musical skills of the original with none of the personality and is programmed to obey Murdoc's every command. The 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 sustained a bullet wound to her head which eventually caused her to go haywire in the Rhinestone Eyes video. She was thought for a time to have been destroyed by the real Noodle after she arrived on Plastic Beach, but she was later shown to have assisted Murdoc in his escape from the island in Phase 4's The Book of Murdoc. Her current status is unclear; with multiple conflicting stories being given regarding her fate.

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• Ax-Crazy: Just look at her face◊ during the battle in the Rhinestone Eyes music video.
• 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 tears streaming down her cheeks. It's unknown if this was simply leakage from her body, as she apparently went haywire shortly after the events of the video, or if she was genuinely crying.
• BFG: Regularly seen carrying large rifles and shotguns.
• Dead Person Impersonation: Her original purpose, though Noodle was Not Quite Dead — Murdoc didn't know at the time.
• The Dragon: Murdoc's obedient muscle throughout Phase 3.
• Emotionless Girl: Seemingly the only emotions she's capable of showing in any capacity are violent ones.
• Empty Shell: Spends most of her screen time as an emotionless weapon for Murdoc. Her occasional Slasher Smiles and seemingly full on Berserker Tears during the unmade Rhinestone Eyes makes her status as this somewhat debatable, however.
• Eyes Out of Sight: Similarly to the real Noodle, her eyes are generally kept hidden beneath her bangs. The occasions where they become visible tend to coincide with her being particularly creepy.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: The cyborg performs most of the heavy lifting for Murdoc throughout Phase 3, and is totally subservient towards him.
• Literal-Minded: Her (now defunct) profile page on the website showed that she has difficulty interpreting unclear commands, though she can translate "Bad French".
• Medium Blending: Was always rendered in 3D in the music videos, even when the rest of the band was animated in a 2D style.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Her characterization in her Us magazine interview is totally different from how she is otherwise portrayed. Namely, she can speak.
• Robot Girl: A robotic duplicate of Noodle. She's just as cute as the real thing and perhaps even more deadly, but also much more unstable and creepy.
• Robot Me: An identical robot copy of Noodle. Due to Phase 3's story being Cut Short, however, the full extent of her interactions with the real thing are unknown, with the two only appearing in a handful of pictures together across the phase.
• Silent Partner: Possibly — she's only ever spoken in one interview; notable for how her answers speak of how different she is from the real Noodle.
• Slasher Smile: If she isn't being completely emotionless, she's giving an absolutely horrifying murderous smirk.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: Several pictures depict her giving an unsettling wide-eyed stare behind her bangs.
• Uncanny Valley Girl: She looks exactly like the real Noodle, but is a silent killing machine who spends almost all of her screen time leaking excessive amounts of oil from a gunshot wound in her head, being hyper violent and flashing Slasher Smiles, all in all making her come off as infinitely creepier than the person she's modeled after. As if to further emphasize this, she's rendered in 3D even in videos where all of the other characters are 2D animated, making her always seem wrong and out of place.
• Uncertain Doom:
  • Partly because she was largely dropped from the actual stories following Phase 3, Cyborg Noodle's fate has been extremely vague and contradictory. Murdoc originally claimed that she had been destroyed by Noodle at the end of Phase 3, this was debunked in The Book of Murdoc, which showed her driving the sub that he was using to escape from Plastic Beach. A few sporadic (and generally non-canon) mentions diverged even further; in a live interview, 2D claimed that she was living in Lincolnshire and that he's still in contact with her, and during the "Free Murdoc" campaign, Murdoc mentioned unfriending her, tired of receiving yoga pictures from her, while Noodle claimed in a Reddit AMA to be growing a bonsai out of her severed head.
  • The video for "The Lost Chord" ended up forming a microcosm of this: after the band arrives on Plastic Beach over a decade since it was last seen, they encounter a submarine with a seemingly inactive Cyborg Noodle inside it. 2D's singing ends up giving a very brief spark of electricity inside. As the island begins to get torn apart and sinks into the ocean, we're given a shot of her in her submarine sinking into the abyss below, but with a different, eyes-open expression of shock. It's implied that 2D's singing gave her just enough life to see her sink into the dark abyss... but now, her fate remains just as inconclusive.
• Vague Age: It's unclear how old she is intended to appear physically. While most assume that she is based on Noodle's appearance during Phase 2, as that's when Murdoc saw her last, she is shown to be virtually identical to an adult Noodle in the handful of pictures that feature the two of them together.
• The Voiceless: Whether or not she could speak at all sort of flip-flopped throughout her run, but she was at least never shown speaking onscreen.
  • According to Murdoc in the commentary for the "Stylo" music video, getting shot in the head sometime before the video left her much less chatty... but much more violent.

The Boogieman

The Boogieman

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.

According to an interview with Jamie Hewlett, he is actually the fifth horseman of the apocalypse, Flatulence, who "carries an evil stink wherever he goes", and got kicked out of the group "before they made it big". How this ties into the plot at all is unknown.

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.

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• Affably Evil: If he's still evil by the events of "DoYaThing", he is most definitely this, considering he's seen casually reading a newspaper and has a brief and nonchalant exchange with 2D.
• Arc Villain: While the band has had to face off against several villains behind the scenes, the Boogieman was the first antagonist to ever actually be featured in the videos, and he serves as the primary antagonist throughout Phase 3.
• Big Bad: Was this for all of Phase 3.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Nowhere to be seen after Phase 3. "The Lost Chord", released a full ten years later, includes a nod to him, but nothing more.
• Continuity Nod: Murdoc wakes up wearing his mask at the beginning of "The Lost Chord" video.
• Dem Bones: The storyboard for the "Rhinestone Eyes" video reveals that he hides an exposed rib cage underneath his cloak.
• Enemy Mine: Details are vague, but he appears to have been the one responsible for gassing and shipping 2D to Plastic Beach, despite being Murdoc's enemy. Whether this was a part of the deal he made with Murdoc that made them enemies in the first place or not is unclear.
• Evil Versus Evil: Murdoc is far from the most heroic guy, particularly during Phase 3, but the Boogieman, his main opposition throughout it, is a malevolent soul-stealing specter.
• Femme Fatalons: Though he never uses them.
• For the Evulz: Seemingly the only reason that he kidnaps the manatee in the "On Melancholy Hill" video.
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: He's the fifth one, named Flatulance. The other four kicked him out before they got big, so nobody knows that he was one.
• Gag Nose: Has a prominent long, pointy nose.
• Gasshole: Said to spread an evil stink wherever he goes. He's the horseman of flatulence after all.
• Gas Mask, Longcoat: His entire design consists of a gas mask face and a tattered long coat.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: By "DoYaThing", he has seemingly given up whatever grudge he had against Gorillaz and can be seen casually reading a newspaper in the remains of an afterparty at their house, with 2D awkwardly greeting him before moving on.
• Greater-Scope Villain: He's only seen briefly through "Stylo" and then "On Melancholy Hill", but his terrifying presence is definitely felt. He finally takes center stage as the main antagonist in "Rhinestone Eyes".
• The Grim Reaper: Explicitly isn't the Grim Reaper, who has been shown as a separate character at various points, but shares much in common with him (in fact, they were coworkers before the other Horsemen kicked him out of the group). He's a supernatural soul collector that appears in the form of an ominous skeletal figure dressed in black.
• Heel–Face Turn: Well... he's living with the Gorillaz in "DoYaThing" and during his brief exchange with 2D they appear to be on pretty good terms.
• Humanoid Abomination: Has the proportions of a human, but is most definitely not one.
• I Have Many Names: While he's referred to as the Boogieman in almost every instance where he's referenced, Mos Def used the name "Sun Moon Stars" when talking about him in an interview. Though it's very possible that Mos was just high out of his mind when he said it, the name has generally stuck with the character since then. Additionally, he is also known as Flatulence, the rejected Horseman.
• Knight of Cerebus: Played like a legitimate threat in all of his scenes. His status as Flatulence, The Pete Best of the four horsemen, and the fact that he's casually living with the band by "DoYaThing" suggests that this was meant to eventually be subverted before the phase was Cut Short.
• Lean and Mean: He is quite thin, and steals souls for a living.
• Malevolent Masked Men: Wears a mask and is the primary villain of Phase 3.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Seems averse to physical confrontations, if his reactions to getting cornered in the videos are anything to go off of. That said, he's nimble enough to sprint from Murdoc's base on Plastic Beach all the way to a distant pirate ship while getting shot at, so he's not exactly weak.
• Noodle Incident: How or why he's living with the Gorillaz during "DoYaThing" is never explained. Even before that, the exact specifics of the ill-fated deal he and Murdoc made with each other are unclear.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: According to an interview with Jamie Hewlett, "the Boogieman" is simply a nickname; his true name is Flatulence.
• The Pete Best: invoked Described as having been kicked out of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse before they made it big.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His gas mask at least has these, since we've never seen him without it to judge.
• The Runt at the End: Of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. While the other four are shown riding terrifying demon steeds causing chaos in the "Rhinestone Eyes" music video, the Boogieman is trailing behind on a tiny donkey making everything smell bad. He was apparently kicked out of the group "before they got big".
• Sixth Ranger: By "DoYaThing" he's now living with the band.
• The Spook: While interviews with Jamie Hewlett have revealed traces of his background, in the videos themselves he is almost completely inexplicable, simply appearing as a silent, looming specter that is constantly pursuing the band.
• Unfortunate Names: "The Boogieman" is a great deal more intimidating than "Flatulance," isn't it?
• Villain Has a Point: While the Boogieman's clearly a bad guy, he isn't exactly wrong for being upset with Murdoc for not upholding his end of their bargain and giving him his soul. The storyboard for the unfinished "Rhinestone Eyes" music video emphasizes this by giving him a Sympathetic P.O.V. flashback that frames Murdoc as the ominous and untrustworthy stranger that approached the Boogieman with an offer, rather than the other way around.
• The Voiceless: Never utters a word, either on screen or in text, throughout his appearances.
• Weaksauce Weakness: He can be killed by bullets if his reaction to getting shot at is anything to go by.

The Evangelist

The Evangelist

A mysterious character said to be the embodiment of light to the Boogieman's shadow. Who they are and what exactly they do in relation to the Boogieman is unclear.

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• The Cameo: Appears very briefly at the beginning of the second part of the Plastic Beach adventure game disguised as a postman in order to deliver a package containing the key to the lighthouse and recording equipment for Murdoc's radio show. This is notably their only appearance outside of the contest that determined their design.
• Creepy Good: Not exactly the friendliest-looking character, but is the Boogieman's Good Counterpart.
• Cthulhumanoid: Has a relatively humanoid body, but a head that is a fishbowl overflowing with various tentacles.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Has a rather androgynous design, but is referred to with male pronouns by Jamie Hewlett in the one interview where he discusses them.
• Fan Disservice: The one official piece of artwork of them features their exposed briefs. Not something most people would want to look at.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Their right shirt sleeve and pant leg are both noticeably longer than their left.
• Good Counterpart: Their entire character revolves around their status as this to the Boogieman. What exactly this means isn't clear.
• Humanoid Abomination: Has the body of a human burn victim and the head of a fishbowl full of tentacles.
• Informed Ability: Their status as the Boogieman's Good Counterpart and everything that title suggests are only known due to the information given about them during the contest to determine their design. Within the story, all they do is deliver a package.
• Intelligible Unintelligible: Speaks exclusively in gurgling noises, but the player character in the adventure game has no problem understanding them.
• Minor Major Character: Despite being the Boogieman's Good Counterpart, their only contribution to the plot is delivering a package that helps Murdoc organize a radio show.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content: invoked A contest was held where fans could submit their own designs for them, with the winner becoming their official design.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Disguise themselves as a postman during the Plastic Beach adventure game. The disguise is unconvincing, to say the least. As the player character has never seen them before, however, it still works.
• Satellite Character: Essentially all that is known about the character is their status as the Boogieman's Good Counterpart.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: After the considerable build up they received, they never appeared outside of their brief cameo in the Plastic Beach adventure game, leaving whatever their intended role was a mystery.

Ace

Ace

A guest member from the The Powerpuff Girls franchise, Ace filled in for Murdoc as bassist while he was incarcerated for an unknown crime during the release of The Now Now.

For tropes pertaining to him in his original appearance, see his section in the "The Gangreen Gang" folder on The Powerpuff Girls / Main Antagonists.

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• Amazing Technicolor Population: A requirement for qualifying as Murdoc's Suspiciously Similar Substitute.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Left without a word after Murdoc got out of prison, and hasn't been heard from since. According to Murdoc in the commentry track for "Humility" he got a Christmas card from Ace saying he's moved out to the desert and stockpiling food and ammo for the coming of "the endless dark".
• Comic-Book Time: Averted. Like the other band members, he has aged in real time. Since he was 17 in the original PPG series, he is nearly 40 years old here, and has the receding hairline to show for it.
• Cool Car: According to this Noisey article, Ace drives a pale yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale, the same car driven by Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise.
• Cool Shades: Like in The Powerpuff Girls, he always sports a pair.
• Discard and Draw: The band responded to Murdoc's arrest by recruiting Ace to be their interim bassist, who is basically a greaser American version of Murdoc with pointier features.
• Establishing Character Moment: In "Humility", he catches a basketball, stabs it with a knife and lets it fly off. The camera then cuts to the guys who were playing with the basketball, who are not impressed.
• Foil: To Murdoc. Both are green-skinned bassists with criminal backgrounds, but while Murdoc is an egomaniac Control Freak who practically tortures the band with his presence and actions, Ace is relatively low-key and much more of a team player. The fundamental differences between the two are laid out in an interview with 2D:
  2D: He’s cool and really respects me. Like this morning, I said, "Yo yo yo! S’up Ace?" and instead of insulting me or pulling my trousers down, he said, "Please can you get out of my way." You see? Note the "please".
• Gag Nose: His long, pointy nose is one of his features that most distinguishes him from Murdoc.
• Green Is Gross: Like Murdoc, his green skin immediately indicates that he's a grungey punk.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Filled in as the band's bassist while Murdoc lived out a jail sentence.
• Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: His receding hairline is the clearest indicator that he has aged since his time on The Powerpuff Girls (1998).
• Jerkass: Considering the kind of guy he was in his home series... His Establishing Character Moment also suggests this, as he pops the basketball of two guys mid-game seemingly just for kicks. Of course, the face he makes after stabbing the ball makes it seem like he thought they'd think it was cool.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he may be a jerk, he generally seems to treat his bandmates a whole lot better than Murdoc does.
• Mutually Exclusive Party Members: As Murdoc's replacement bassist, the two of them have never played in the band at the same time.
• Older and Wiser: He went from a rowdy and outright villainous delinquent in The Powerpuff Girls to the low-key bassist of a rock band.
• Retired Monster: While "monster" might be a bit harsh, Ace was a petty and cruel criminal who often beat up and bullied his own friends in his youth. As an adult, at least as far as has been shown, he seems to have reined it in enough to become a more stable member of society, and gets along relatively well with his bandmates.
• Shared Universe: Being from the The Powerpuff Girls, he makes Gorillaz this towards said franchise. It goes both ways, as Gorillaz and The Powerpuff Girls have made Shout-Outs to each other as early as Phase 1^note This is likely due to the fact that Jamie Hewlett is friends with the franchise's original creator, Craig McCracken, who would eventually recreate some of the The Now Now's illustrations in the art style of the franchise's 1998 series for The Gorillaz Art Book.; for instance, the back cover of G-Sides features 2D wearing a Mojo Jojo shirt◊, and The Powerpuff Girls Movie features a cameo advertisement for Gorillaz Live in a newspaper◊.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Not only does he have green skin, but his behavior, at least in "Humility", is rather Murdoc-like. Even in-universe he was hired because of this.
• Technicolor Eyes: His eyes are a bloodshot pink, just as they are in his home series.
• The Voiceless: He hasn't uttered a word to the public since joining the band, onscreen or in text. This is because the people behind Gorillaz could only secure the rights to Ace's likeness, but not his voice.

Gorillaz Tribute Band

Gorillaz Tribute Band

You may be surprised by this revelation, but Gorillaz are a virtual band, which makes their capacity to perform on live tours somewhat limited, outside of a few (fairly disastrous) attempts at the MTV EMAs and the Grammys. To facilitate this, the "Gorillaz Tribute Band" ^note really Damon Albarn and his various collaborators, the actual singers behind the band appear onstage to fill in for their animated counterparts.

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• Baritone of Strength: Over the years, Damon Albarn's singing voice has deepened dramatically, which contrasts against the artificially heightened pitch of 2D's vocals.
• Face Framed in Shadow: In some earlier performances, Damon would only appear as a silhouette behind a coloured curtain.
• Hostile Show Takeover: During one performance, some animated vignettes show Murdoc struggling mightily to leave the dressing room, implying that Damon and the others always conveniently appear to sabotage the "real" band's attempts to go on stage.
• Kayfabe: In the early days, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett made more of an effort to maintain the façade that Gorillaz were a real band, so they would conceal themselves or arrange for expensive (and often faulty) holograms of 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel to perform live. After a while, they stopped bothering and Damon just started performing as himself.
• Word Salad Lyrics: The tribute band can never get the lyrics quite right^note Damon usually improvises altered lyrics to prove that he isn't lip-synching, making Gorillaz' esoteric songs even less comprehensible.

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