The Band
The Band
Very little is known about the band’s history. When the series began, they were already extremely popular, so the band’s actual rise to fame is never explored. It is never explained how they met, when the band formed, or how many albums they have made.
Nathan Explosion
Nathan Explosion, Born in Florida to Oscar and Rose Explosion, Nathan Explosion is the lead singer and the lyrical visionary of Dethklok. He didn’t learn to speak until he was almost five years old. In high school, the only things he was good at were frog dissection and football, so he eventually dropped out and never earned his diploma.
Due to excessive drinking habits, such as ordering one hundred beers (no more, no less) at a time, Nathan has to undergo repeated liver replacement surgery and has been known to vomit blood when he has not received the proper medical attention. Whenever called upon to speak publicly for more than a few brief sentences, Nathan quickly degenerates into incoherence and becomes frustrated.
He often describes things in terms of whether or not they are "brutal" or "metal", and strangely enough, Nathan shares the same psychological profile as former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. However, Nathan has proven that he isn’t completely devoid of common sense on some occasions. In "Skwisklok", when Toki’s tooth falls out, Nathan explains that it’s because Toki was eating too much candy. In "Bluesklok", Nathan and his bandmates showed exemplary negotiating skills, successfully receiving fame in the genre of Blues music from the devil for only a $5 Hot Topic gift card (reference to Crossroads, a movie that features virtuoso shredder Steve Vai).
Nathan always carries a digital recording device, in which he notes any interesting song material he may run across (usually limited to murder or similar acts of brutality). He has exacting standards, and will delete entire finished Dethklok albums if they do not ultimately meet his approval. He also hates wearing watches, and sometimes will buy large amounts of watches just to destroy them. Nathan has his own brand of barbecue sauce known as "Explosion Sauce", a mustardy North Carolina blend with a hint of cilantro which he is known to drink.
William Murderface
William Murderface plays the bass guitar. He was raised by his grandparents Thunderbolt and Stella Murderface after he lost his mother and father in a grim chainsaw murder/suicide, carried out by his father when William was just an infant. People usually refer to him as just "Murderface" except for his grandparents and people who formally address him. He has a tattoo on his stomach which states "Pobody’s Nerfect" and "This Mess Is A Place."
Murderface has a habit of urinating or referring to urination, and even has a side project band called "Planet Piss". He is usually seen carrying a knife, which he uses to eat, mutilate, destroy, and do other things. He is capable of playing an electric bass guitar with his penis and is famous for playing his solos with it. According to Pickles, he likes to collect "morbid crap" (such as torture devices and Civil War memorabilia). Murderface endorses a brand of doorknobs known as "Murderknobs."
While in high school, Murderface’s principal allowed him to play bass, drink, and smoke dope to earn his high school degree after Murderface threatened to cut his eyes out. He regularly throws tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, which has resulted in several destroyed bass guitars. He owns a custom made dungeon/torture chamber and supposedly spends most of his time there when not with the band. Murderface thinks he is a great speller but demonstrated his lack of skills in his preparation and appearance on "Celebrity Spelling Bee" (for example, by saying "confusion" is spelled "k-u-n fusion"). After a near death experience (while a drunken passenger on the Murdercycle he collided with a lamp post and then tumbled onto the highway and was struck by a passing car), Murderface sought faith in such churches as the Church of Satan and the Church of the Atheists. Eventually he decided that all religions were the same ‘crap’. He is also, somehow, a notary public.
Pickles the Drummer
Pickles the Drummer plays the drums and was raised in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. He is Irish-American. He speaks with a distinct Wisconsin accent and bears a strong hatred for his older brother, Seth, whom his parents Calvert and Molly always brag about despite his being an ex-con and living above his parents’ garage, among other failings. He is the only member of Dethklok whose last name is unknown; in the episode "Skwisklok," it is hinted that he himself doesn’t even know his last name, as he introduces himself as "Pickles the Drummer," although this could simply be a pseudonym.
Pickles has an endorsement deal for nickels with the United States Treasury; his nickels are called "Pickles Nickels."
Pickles joined Dethklok after singing and playing lead guitar in the L.A. rock band Snakes ‘n Barrels. He claims to be immune to the negative effects of drugs because he "grew up smoking government weed every day" due to suffering from "kiddie glaucoma."
Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Skwisgaar Skwigelf is the lead guitarist of the band and also the fastest guitarist alive, as well as the tallest guitarist alive. Despite being the fastest guitarist alive, he can’t read music and blames his "music dyslexia" for this. He plays a white on black Gibson Explorer. Skwisgaar has become such a fast guitarist that it has become physically impossible for him to play slowly anymore. Throughout the show, he is seen practicing constantly; this and his possible ambidexterity can account for some of his talent. He seems to dislike the Danish (Denmark and Sweden have a "rivalry" of sorts, each country making fun of the other) even though he often confuses them with the Dutch. He is also severely allergic to cilantro, which is made apparent when he tastes barbecue sauce with cilantro in it before a show and almost immediately goes into anaphylaxis (specifically, his face and hands swelled dramatically).
Skwisgaar is from Sweden, and he consequently possesses a strong Swedish accent, putting "s"’s at the end of many words he says, and conversely dropping "s"’s from some words that require them, such as "copies" and "Pickles." Skwisgaar was raised by his mother Serveta Skwigelf, Miss Sweden of 1956. Skwisgaar’s frustration at his mother’s sexual promiscuity is expressed through extremely fast guitar fingering and his own personal sexual exploits. Similarly, he appears to be the most sexually active member of the band and often brags about his many conquests to Toki (going so far as to make the claim of having sex with at least 500 women the last time he was in Finland), who seems to resent it. Skwisgaar also seems to hold little importance on the physical appearance of sexual partners, as he has been seen propositioning an elderly grandmother for sex as well as sleeping with a very obese woman.
Skwisgaar has been in a large number of bands prior to joining Dethklok, including Agnostic Priest, Gangagar Eldeleel-Alele, Gognog Mug Alugdug, Fuckface Academy, Sausage Assassin, Financially Raped, and Smugly Dismissed to name a few. Other than that, he claims to have been in "pretty much every band, ever." Skwisgaar also refers to things he hates as dildos. One episode shows his hands being insured for ten billion dollars, one billion for each finger.
Toki Wartooth
Toki Wartooth is the rhythm guitarist and the second fastest guitarist alive, though he too can’t read music. Similarly to Skwisgaar, Toki can physically no longer play the guitar slowly due to the speed at which he is able to play. He plays a white on black Gibson Flying-V guitar. He hails from an abandoned village near Lillehammer, Norway, the product of a seemingly unholy union between Anja and the Reverend Aslaug Wartooth. Both of his parents dress in a very old world style (like the Amish), vaguely recalling the painting American Gothic. During the episode in which Toki’s parents visit, Toki does not move or say anything. Toki does, however, have pictures of them hung in his room. The Council priest mentions seeing "father killing son in the most brutal manner" when told of Toki’s parents.
Toki’s personality tends to be more child-like, innocent, and good-natured than the rest of the band, though he does appear to be chronically depressed. This innocence results in his having naÄ«ve beliefs (such as the idea that adult teeth will grow back because baby teeth do) and occasionally having whimsical fantasies (such as singing a Beatles-esque song under the sea with "underwater friends"), but he manages to fit in with the band regardless. Additionally, Toki is often the subject of cruel jokes and verbal abuse from his bandmates, but does not seem to mind. Toki and Skwisgaar have a somewhat brotherly relationship, with Toki sometimes being intimidated by the exploits of the more experienced Skwisgaar. Like Skwisgaar, he is stereotypically Scandinavian with light hair and eyes and a tendency to slur his words.
Aside from playing guitar, he spends much of his free time building scale models. Toki is the only member to not have been in a band before Dethklok. He has an endorsement deal with "Willard Wonky Candy-Hand Candy"-brand candies, who ship him vast amounts of free candy as part of his payment. Because of this, he develops a very extreme case of diabetes which causes him to slip in and out of comas (at least for the length of the episode). Toki also seems to have an endorsement deal for a "Metal"-brand cereal on the first episode, as there is a cereal box in his shopping cart with his face on it. This is not surprising, given that he is the least "brutal" and most innocent of the members of Dethklok. However, he did ask a priest from the Church of Satan for revenge on Rachael Ray from the Food Network for unspecified reasons, and was passively responsible for the death of the lead singer of the Christian rock band Prayer Bolt. He is also the most physically fit (in "Bluesklok" it is revealed that he is toned and muscular, unlike the rest of Dethklok, who range from skinny [Skwisgaar, Pickles] to overweight [Nathan Explosion, Murderface]) and most secure member of the band. Unlike the rest of Dethklok, Toki tans instead of becoming sunburned.
Toki seems to make statements or be placed in situations with homoerotic subtext through his misunderstanding of English. An example is mistaking the term "blowjob" to mean "nosebleed" and proudly announced "I can gives myself a real cool blowjob!" as well uttering the phrase "I love sausage festival!" during Murderface’s birthday party, although he means a festival of various kinds of meat. Also, in "Murdering Outside the Box" Toki purchases a vibrating strap-on, thinking it was a codpiece.
Dethklok’s Manager
Charles Foster Ofdensen, Dethklok’s manager
Charles Foster Ofdensen is Dethklok’s manager, legal counsel, and CFO (although his name was never stated through the first 19 episodes of the series, it is mentioned on the band’s pain waiver and is confirmed in "The Metalocalypse Has Begun"). He acts as the voice of reason against Dethklok’s constant disregard of law and logic; Nathan Explosion even describes one of his jobs as talking the band out of the terrible ideas they come up with while drunk. The band (or Skwisgaar at least) considers him to be their "butler". Ofdensen’s first appearance was in "Dethwater", where he talks to the band through a video monitor. He acts as manager, lawyer, and advisor to Dethklok, protecting the band against everything from slowing record sales to themselves. In "The Metalocalypse Has Begun", he refers to Toki and Skwisgaar as his "bread and butter," indicating his protection of the band is at least as much for his own sake as theirs. He is one of the few individuals seen to interact with Dethklok for any significant length of time and evade subsequent mutilation or death. He appears to live in Mordhaus with the band, as he is seen wearing a bathrobe while lecturing Toki in the middle of the night with the rest of the band.
Ofdensen reacts with general apathy to the mayhem caused by Dethklok, his only concern seemingly being the legal or financial ramifications of their actions. Similarly, he shows little more than slight annoyance when the band insults him in one way or another. Despite his job description, Ofdensen usually supports Dethklok’s violence when it doesn’t happen in public view, when it solves their problems, or if the band is legally exempt from responsibility (like at their concerts). He has no problems leading two blackmail-threatening Dethklok fans to their deaths in "Mordland", even producing a half-grin while ordering their execution, and later allows the band to blame their rampant embezzlement from their own company on a recently-killed employee. In the episode "Dethklown", he also has Dr. Rockso beaten without any prompting by the band and later threatens him. General Crozier even warns Dr. Rockso that Ofdensen is especially dangerous. In "The Metalocalypse Has Begun", this is seen to be true; he displays exceptional skill in close-quarters combat, single-handedly disarming and almost killing 216′s brother, despite the latter being much more physically imposing and presumably well trained. Ofdensen broke the man’s arm, stabbed him with his own knife while he was still holding it (using the broken arm), and kicked him into freezing waters. Ofdensen only sustained a shallow cut and a couple of hits himself. Ofdensen also set an army of Dethklok’s roadies upon the military forces sent by Crozier.
Ofdensen’s knowledge of the conspiracies surrounding Dethklok is unknown. His office has a safe containing classified information, presumably regarding the band’s activities; however, the contents of the safe are never seen. He also seems to have some sort of grasp of the Tribunal’s activities, both catching Dr. Rockso as a spy and sitting back to "see where he goes" when Rockso returns to General Crozier. He also used high-tech surveillance to monitor the band’s safety during their ill-fated performance of Dethwater in the first season finale, and had an elaborate escape and counterstrike prepared when military forces attacked Dethklok.
