The backdrop of the Mad Max series is probably more beautiful than a noxious wasteland has any right to be, but it’s still less interesting than the characters populating it. Even though they don’t tend to speak much, the ensemble driving both the vehicles and the plot of the series is responsible for some of the best worldbuilding in the history of cinema. Let’s honor the maddest of the bunch, shall we?
Nu-Max (Fury Road)
Even though the series’ very title alludes to his supposed madness, the original Max Rockatansky was never really that mad — especially for a guy who witnessed his family getting run over right before the Apocalypse took place. The new Max, the one that we see in Fury Road, however, seems to have finally completed his transformation into someone who deserves that title. Max states in the trailer that has been reduced to his survival instinct, and it shows. Max barely even talks, and is constantly haunted by people he’s supposedly failed, but the people we see haunting him are not his family. Is this guy even the Max from the original films? There’s no way of knowing, and that’s awesome.
The Feral Kid (The Road Warrior)
Though he looks harmless, the Feral Kid is as lethal as a post-apocalyptic reimagining of Kevin McCallister. If nothing else, the kid taught many adults not to knock on Australia’s most famous weapon as he can maim or even kill you with a throw of his boomerang.
The Feral Kid is such an enigma that many fans believed that the Max that we see in Fury Road is actually a grown-up version of this boomerang master. Fun theory, though it’s one that director George Miller immediately shot down.
Toecutter (Mad Max)
The leader of the biking gang in the original Mad Max isn’t even its nastiest member — you don’t see him cutting off one single toe throughout the entire film, but he has one of the most iconic death scenes in the history of cinema. You can assume this guy is going to get what’s coming to him in a horrifying car crash, but you never expect him to look straight into the camera and have his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets for a final shocked look before his demise.
Lord Humungus (The Road Warrior)
Toecutter is imposing because he leads a group of mad men, but Lord Humungus would be imposing on his own — though he too leads an army of even-madder men.
This is a massive jacked-up beast with a flair for the theatrical who can — and will — crush his enemies with ease. He seems to be impervious to cold, or simply does not believe in the effect clothing has against it as he’s never seen wearing more than his muscles and a mask.
Immortan Joe (Fury Road)
George Miller knew he’d found the perfect actor to play a villain in the Mad Max world in Hugh Keays-Byrne, the man who played Toecutter in the original film, so he just brought him back to play a new villain in Fury Road. Immortan Joe is older, but makes great use of his ghostly transparent armor and teeth-filled mask to look as imposing as you can.
His greatest moment is when he tells his people not to get addicted to water, the perfect quote to leave the audience wondering if they’re witnessing a cruel mind at work, or a yet another completely delusional man.
The Bullet Farmer (Fury Road)
This is probably the maddest character of the bunch, an absolute bloodthirsty fool who happily dual wields SMGs into battle even though he’d just sustained an injury that rendered him completely blind. The logic behind his action seems to be that if you have enough bullets, you’re eventually going to end up hitting your target.
He doesn’t, but his attempt makes for a beautifully operatic scene that no one expected to come out of such film.
Aunty Entity (Beyond Thunderdome)
Tina Turner’s character in Beyond Thunderdome is a surprising villain for the post-apocalyptic genre. Instead of having always been evil, or having gone mad with the end of the world like so many in this universe, she’s just the result of corruption. She was a good person not too long before the events of the movie, and built her new civilization out of good will, but ended up becoming a bloodthirsty tyrant like so many others would become in her position.
The War Boys (Fury Road)
I’m not mentioning any specific war boy because I see them as a hivemind, a legion of absolute maniacs who answer only to Immortan Joe. The War Boys quickly became one of the most iconic parts of Fury Road, as they immediately turned simple expressions such as “Mediocre!” and “Witness me!” into instant classics. They’re absolute mad men who strive to spend the entirety of their lives high on adrenaline, chrome spray and even on blood transfusions. They also worship a god who happens to be a huge engine, but of course.
The Crow Fishers (Fury Road)
The Crow Fishers display George Miller’s nearly Souls-y worldbuilding at its best. Though they look a tad scary, they’re not goons put there for a filler action sequence. They completely ignore the main characters because they’re doing their own thing. We don’t learn exactly what it is that they do or why they only show up at night balancing themselves on long stilts, but their tortured existence somehow never feels off in this world.
The Doof Warrior (Fury Road)
The Doof Warrior, also known as Coma-Doof Warrior, is easily the most visually and audibly striking character of Fury Road. The Doof Warrior is a blind and faceless man who owns a huge car that serves only as an amp for him to use his guitar skills to hype up Immortan Joe’s army. We don’t learn anything about him from the movie, but George Miller has since revealed that the mask he wears throughout most of the film is actually the face of his mother. Some things are best left enshrouded in mystery!
