Metalocalypse

Left to right: Murderface, Skwisgaar, Nathan, Pickles, Toki.


"We are here to make coffee metal. We will make everything metal. Blacker than the blackest black, times INFINITY."
—Nathan Explosion

Dethklok, Dethklok, Dethklok, Dethklok!

No other band in the world comes close to touching the extraordinary popularity of Dethklok. The band's immense wealth makes them the world's seventh largest economy (right above Belgium), and they command an exceptionally (and often psychotically) loyal fanbase -- but their wealth and fame may only serve as a harbinger of global doom…

An animated series from the mind behind Home Movies, Metalocalypse focuses on the adventures (mundane or otherwise) of the five members of death metal band Dethklok:

  • "Lyrical visionary" Nathan Explosion (yes, "Explosion" is his real last name)
  • The world's two fastest guitarists, Skwisgaar Skwigelf (taller than a tree) and Toki Wartooth (not a bumblebee)
  • Bassist William Murderface (Murderface Murderface)
  • Pickles the drummer (doodily doo, ding dong doodily doodily doo)

Each band member possesses their own naively sociopathic tendencies, and they generally fail at doing anything not related to music, partying, or contract negotiation. Hell, they can't even get grocery shopping right. The five generally leave most of their business and legal affairs in the hands of their manager, Charles Foster Ofdensen.

Once Dethklok gets on stage, they put on a hell of a show -- one which may or may not result in the violent deaths of their fans and other innocent victims, as the group tends to cause death and destruction no matter where they travel. The Tribunal, an Illuminati-esque organization of various world leaders, attempts to curb Dethklok and their widespread influence at every possible step once they learn of the group's connection to prophecies in the Dead Sea Scrolls telling of an event known only as "the Metalocalypse".

The mysterious leader of the Tribunal, Mr. Selatcia, often forces The Tribunal to wait for Dethklok's actions to play out in full, and he appears to have a role in their rise to power and glory. His true motives, as well as his ultimate connection to Dethklok and the Metalocalypse, remain unclear…

The series initially ran fifteen-minute episodes beginning in 2006, but after two half-hour episodes in Season Two, the show switched to a full half-hour format starting with Season Three. The show's fourth (and final) season, which returned to the fifteen-minute format, completed in 2013.


Metalocalypse provides brutal examples of the following f*guitar*ing tropes:
  • A Day in the Limelight: Several - Go Forth and Die (Nathan), Rehabklok (Pickles), Fatherklok (Skwisgaar), Dethdad (Toki), Birthdayface (Murderface), and also the episodes focusing on Doctor Rockso.
  • A Gods Ams I: Skwisgaar, in relations to the vast number of children he's fathered.
    • In Fatherklok, it's implied that Skwisgaar might actually be a demigod himself, his absent and untraceable father being (perhaps) one of the Norse gods.
    • The drum machine from Rehabklok cites this once he realizes he's famous.
  • A Good Name for a Rock Band: So good, they had to spell it 'Dethklok' because there is a Real Life band named 'Death Clock' already!
  • Abusive Parents: All of the band members save for Nathan had abusive relationships with their parents. Nathan is the only one who has a good relationship with his parents (he mentions in Fatherklok that he loves spending time with his dad). The only fault Nathan's parents have is being your stereotypical embarrassing parents.
    • Technically, Murderface had abusive grandparents.
  • Affectionate Parody: Creator Brendon Small is an avowed fan of Death Metal (and metal generally); however, as every true metalhead knows, the genre is ripe with excesses and silliness worth poking some lighthearted fun at.
  • The Alcoholic: Could describe all of Dethklok, but especially Pickles, whose drinking manages to put even the other members of the band to shame. It seems to be a holy calling for him: when his former band reforms without him and headlines an anti-alcohol event, he takes it as a mortal offense.
    • When tabloids speculated that he doesn't get as drunk as he acts, he vows to get even MORE drunk just to show them.
  • All Just a Dream: Nathan in the intro to Go Forth and Die.
  • All Part of the Show: The accidents, destruction and death really happen, and the fans don't care.
  • Ambiguously Brown: Leonard Rockstein/Doctor Rockso
  • Ambiguously Gay: Murderface plays this trope hard, to the point where he flips out if it's even hinted that he is gay, yet his behavior in certain episodes (most notably Dethfashion) suggests that he is.
  • And Zoidberg: It is repeatedly stated that Murderface is the least popular and respected member of the band, to the point where many fans don't even recognize him as an actual band member at all. There are even times where the others turn off Murderface's amp for entire concerts without anyone noticing. Runner up for least popular band member is Toki, who is considered the worst player in the band. This is why Murderface and Toki are frequently hanging out together. On the other hand, when Nathan, Skwisgaar and Pickles try to write songs without them, while they manage to write 47 songs in a short time, they end up dismissing them all as crap.
    • When Murderface discusses a solo television special with Dick Knubbler, Knubbler refers to him as "almost part of Dethklok".
  • Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?

Nathan: "I think I know what you are all trying to say... I, um... I think we have to build a space helicopter."

Skwisgaar: "Dude, where's are we's?! What the (pinch harmonic) we just flies in?! What the hell was wrong with your guitar sounds tonight?"

  • Art Evolution: The quality of the animation gets much more fluid and improved with each season, with much more movement as opposed to standing rigidly in place at all times.
  • Artist Disillusionment: The band hates their fans with a passion. And they hate other people in the industry. And they dislike working on new albums. Ofdensen has to keep forcing them to work so they meet release dates and don't just slack off.
  • Artistic License Astronomy: When Pickles goes on a game show, he is asked which celestial body is no longer considered a planet. To say he guesses wrong in his drunken haze would be an understatement.

Pickles: I'm gonna have to say say the earth. The earth is no longer considered a planet.

  • Ascended Extra: Ofdensen
  • As Longs As It Sounds Foreigns: Toki and Skwisgaar's Norwegian/Swedish.
  • Asshole Victim: Some Dethklok fans tend to be real assholes. An example is when the fans congregate inside a Dethklok-themed coffee shop. Two in particular share stories of how dedicated fans they are. One stole his child's entire college fund to pay for a ticket to see Dethklok perform, while the other tried to poison his little sister by forcing her to drink motor oil "until she got sick". The Revengencers blow up the coffee shop shortly afterwards, killing the former and irreversibly disfiguring/maiming the later.
  • Attack Pattern Alpha: "Put the boots to him, medium style."
  • Back From the Dead: Ofdensen at the end of the season three premiere, Renovationklok.
  • Badass in a Nice Suit: Ofdensen kicks your ass in a business suit and glasses.
  • Badass Native: Nathan, at least in the episode Dethcarraldo.
  • Battle Butler: Ofdensen again. Will kill someone personally if necessary.

Skwisgaar: Ands listens, yous the best butler wes ever had so, we no want yous to quit.
Ofdensen: I'm not a butler. Never mind.

  • Beam Me Up, Scotty: Dethklok is not the sixth/seventh largest economy in the world, just above Belgium. In the first season, "[Dethklok is] now the twelfth largest economy in the world, having just surpassed Belgium", in the third season, "[Dethklok is] now the sixth largest economy in the world".
  • Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Brutally averted in just about every episode.
  • Bedmate Reveal: Played with. In Tributeklok, Nathan lies in an unfamiliar bed, speaking to someone beside him about the band (uses 'we' and 'us'). The shot lingers on Nathan for awhile before abruptly revealing him to be speaking to a room full of naked, passed out supermodels.
  • Beleaguered Assistant: Ofdensen again.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Toki

Murderface: TOKI, I'LL KILL YOU! MOTHERF*guitar riff*ER!
(Murderface comes across Toki stomping the face of an obnoxious concert goer who got on his last nerve, while Nathan and Skwisgaar stand by watching in shock)
Toki: WHATS THE F*guitar riff* DO YOU WANT, MOTHERF*guitar riff*ER?!?!
Murderface: (scared shitless) ...What's up, bro? What's happenin'?

    • In Dethkids, he displays his disdain for being the "kid-friendly" band member by speaking in a raspy voice, covering himself with blood, and setting things on fire.
  • Big Bad: The Masked Metal Assassin. Mr. Selatcia would be this if he wasn't on the band's side.
  • Big Badass Wolf: The yard wolves.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Ofdensen, of all people, shows up at exactly the right time to prevent Dethklok from signing a new contract with a corrupt record executive at the end of Renovationklok.
    • Also Pickles at the end of Rehabklok.
  • Big Guy: Nathan is a SOLID type 3.
  • Big No: The series is peppered with Big No's from Nathan, so much so that it could nearly be considered a catch phrase.

Nick Ibsen: You are all going to be reunited with your families.
(A panel opens up, revealing the families of each of the five band members)
Nathan Explosion: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! You're going to pay for this!
Ibsen: Pay for what? Journalistic integrity?

    • When Nathan tries to record the entirety of Shakespeare's works for books on tape in a single session and a very drunk Pickles tells him he forgot to press 'Record', his Big No turns into a Little No because he's all out of voice.
  • Big "Shut Up!": Murderface utters one during the band's interrogation about his sensitivity to penis-shaped food.
  • Bilingual Bonus: The Jomfru brothers. Jomfru is the word for "virgin" in some Scandinavian languages such as Icelandic and Danish, although it usually refers to female virgins.
    • Ofdensen is Danish for "son of the house" or, literally, "homeboy".
    • In Dethstars, Pickles is wearing a karate headband with his name written on it in katakana.
  • Bill, Bill, Junk, Bill: "Subpoena, subpoena, subpoena, Netflix. Huh, yeah, awesome. Naked lady fan mail - possibly awesome, possibly horrible. Subpoena..."
  • Bishonen: Skwisgaar is the definition of this, being slender, pale, pretty, has long flowing blonde hair, and is an unstoppable sex god. Toki has most of these traits too, though he doesn't seem to exploit it as much as Skwisgaar does.
  • Bloody Hilarious: Most of the concerts feature explicit carnage.
  • Blue Eyes: Toki, Doctor Rockso, and General Crozier's are an icy pale blue, and Skwisgaar's are a darker blue.
  • Break the Badass: Despite their apathy toward all the death and destruction they cause, Dethklok has been shown to be visibly disturbed when they witness gore up close and aren't expecting it. Special mention goes to the scene at the very end of Dethhealth where Nathan and his dentist are on a hunting trip; the dentist blows his head off in a sudden act of suicide. Nathan's expression is priceless.
  • Break the Cutie: Toki in the second season, though its all played for (very dark) laughs.
  • Brick Joke: Too many to count. Basically, any item or element that seems like a silly throw-away gag in the beginning of the episode will reappear, usually to hilariously destructive ends, by the end of the episode.
  • Broke Episode: Without Ofdensen around to protect them, Dethklok find themselves cut off from their income by the record company until they renegotiate their contract in Doublebookedklok.
  • Brown Note: Dethklok's music tends to drive the listeners into a bloodthirsty frenzy.
    • They seem to get even MORE violent whenever Dethklok doesn't release an album over long periods of time.
  • Burger Fool: Dimmu Burger
  • Butt Monkey: Toki and Murderface, mostly, but can and usually does happen to whichever band member that the current episode is focusing on.

Nathan: (addressing the whole band) Do not *guitar riff* this up... Murderface.

  • By the Power of Greyskull: "By The Power Of All That Is Evil, I command you to awaken and MAKE ME A SANDWICH!"
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Inverted in Dethfam; the band members' parents call them out on the way they've been treated throughout the episode:

Stella Murderface: Oh, you gutless pieces of living garbage! You think you know what it's like to be brutal?! Can you imagine cleaning the feculent crud off this moron's diapers every morning?? Well let me tell you billionaire lowlifes something. There's nothing -- NOTHING! -- in this world more brutal and grotesque than raising children!!!

    • Pickles does this to his mother after she expresses disapproval in everything he did for a job.

*Pickles thinks back*
Skwisgaar: You shoulds go tells your mom to go *guitar riff*s herself.
Nathan: You should go tell your mom to go *guitar riff* herself.
Charles: You should go tell your mom to go *guitar riff* herself.
Pickles: Hey mom! GO *GUITAR RIFF* YOURSELF!

  • Came Back Wrong: SEWN! Back together WRONG! Back together. SEWN!
  • Cartwright Curse: Anyone or anything that Toki loves will die before the end of the episode. Fans, music teachers, pets, and even his father after he finally forgave him for a lifetime of abusive parenting. Only Doctor Rockso seems to have avoided this, though Joker Immunity may be preventing his death by Toki friendship.
  • The Cameo: Major players in heavy metal have voiced a variety of minor characters, from Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield of Metallica, to Marty Friedman of Megadeth, to King Diamond of Merciful Fate, to George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, not to mention the actual band members of Dethklok.
    • In a character standpoint, Goat from Megas XLR appeared as the fan that lost an eye in the first episode.
    • For a promo for Brutal Legend, Eddie from that game was seen saving Dethklok from...something. (A "Bouncer"-style enemy as seen in the game.)
    • Mike Patton voiced Rikki Kixx in Snakes n' Barrels II.
    • Season three gets maybe the weirdest cameo ever: Kirk Hammett as Toki's penis.
    • Slash was listed in the credits of a few episodes. However, he doesn't speak much in public, so it would be hard to spot him..
  • Catch Phrase: Everyone gets one.
    • Doctor Rockso: I DO COCAINE!!!
    • Nathan: "Brutal." Also, as of season 4, "That's Do-able!"
    • Murderface: "Piss!" and other variants.
    • Skwisgaar: "Dildos!"
    • Toki: "Wowee!"
    • Pickles: "Douchebags!"
    • Ofdensen: "For the record, I tried."
  • Caught with Your Pants Down: Dethhealth has a variation on this with Murderface. While he is getting the infamous "turn you head and cough" test administered, he imagines that a hot woman, not the doctor, has their hands on his penis. Hilarity Ensues.
  • Celebrity Is Overrated: Lampshaded in Dethdoubles.

Pickles: You know, it would be great to walk down the street and not be bothered for once.
Toki: Walks where?
Pickles: I don't know, walk down the street, you know.
Toki: To where?!
Pickles: I don't know, walk to a store. Walk to a store.
Toki: Then buys it on the internet, have it delivered!
Pickles: I know I can buy it on the internet, but what if I want to walk to the park, you know, and look at swans?
Toki: Well maybe you should have thought about that before you gots famous!
Nathan: Toki's right.

  • Celebrity Power: The overarching theme of Metalocalypse is deconstruction of this trope and how fans who worship celebrities hurt themselves and society.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: The series has, over time, become far more plot-oriented.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Hilariously subverted and then played straight in Dethtroll, with the Dethphones. There tend to be quite a few of these in the series, many of them also acting as Chekhov's Brick JokeBrick Jokes.
  • Chekhov's Skill: Nathan punching Damien in the first few minutes of Renovationklok. He later does it again to stop Damien from attacking the recently-returned Ofdensen.
  • Chekhov's Volcano: The 'dormant' volcano in Dethdoubles.
  • Christmas Episode: Dethmas
    • Christmas Special: In-universe example. During Dethmas, Murderface and Knubbler hold a Christmas special that ended up being funded by the Christian church. Nathan is not pleased.
  • Clark Kent Outfit: Toki
  • Cliff Hanger: The finale of season 2. Mordhaus burns to the ground, and no one knows if Ofdensen is going to make it or not.
  • Continuity Nod: The midget Klokateer who won Murderface's diamond encrusted codpiece is seen a few more times in the background of later episodes - wearing his prized codpiece.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Subverted in Dethsources, where the band hires a second manager because they start to think that Ofdensen is ripping them off financially. Turns out that the newly hired second manager is corrupt and plotting to gain power of attorney over the band so he can steal their fortune for himself. Needless to say, he never gets that far because Ofdensen kills him in a fencing duel.
    • Played straight in Renovationklok. Damien, the son of the executive that gave Dethklok a contract, had been holding a grudge against them, particularly Nathan, for punching him. When he took power from his ailing father, he cut off Dethklok's finances, and then the power to their concert, to force them to sign a new contract that would benefit him more than them. When Ofdensen intervened, Damien tried to attack him, only to get punched by Nathan again.
  • Cosmic Horror: The Tribunal believe Dethklok to be connected to an end-of-the-world prophecy (an "apocalypse of metal"). Dethklok's music itself seems to cause insanity and chaos to ensue; the very process their scientists developed for Dethklok to record music via the medium of water causes entire landscapes to turn to blight.
    • It turns out that Mr. Selatcia is a Cosmic Horror himself.
  • Crapsack World: This appears to be the work of the Tribunal, as most of their efforts are conducive to keeping the world's masses dull and controllable.
    • Dethklok's presence tends to exacerbate this, and their fans probably would not be so dangerous if it weren't for their current malleable state. On more than one occasion, the opposite has been true, however, and the Tribunal's fears regard Dethklok's antics possibly stimulating the masses minds in a positive manner.
      • With the exception of General Crozier (whose primary worry is that Dethklok stirs the world to ridiculous levels of ultraviolence) and Selatcia (who wants Dethklok to cause the Metalocalypse), the Tribunal is primarily worried that because Dethklok does what they want, how they want to do it, regardless of any consequences or obstacles, they will actually improve the life of the common folk by setting an inspirational example. The release of "Blood Ocean" stirred fear of the return of creative control to artists, and Nathan's pursuit of his GED stirred fear that people would realize that the working class is just as smart as the upper class.
    • Nathan's lack of leadership resulted in the entire state of Florida becoming a lawless no-man's land. He introduced a state currency that became immediately worthless due to inflation and nothing to back it up, he chose to NOT warn the citizens of an a hurricane that was going to hit the state (rather, he chose to just name it), and things became so bad that every police officer left. Nathan was still voted as the best governor the state ever had.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Dethklok at varying points in the show, the prime example being the season 2 finale.
  • Cryptic Background Reference: Both the Cold Open and Credits of Renovationklok.
  • Cute and Psycho: Toki, and it gets harder and harder for him to control himself as the season progresses. Only time will tell if hugging it out with Ofdensen helped.
    • Season 4 starts off with Nathan announcing that he's dating one of his fans, an attractive girl who has a complete obsession with him. Not just Nathan, but EVERYONE WHO LOOKS LIKE HIM. They're all Nathan in her eyes, and she's willing to blow herself up with a bomb if it'll mean getting the "perfect explosion" to show her love to him.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: It's just really, really stupid.
  • Dead Baby Comedy: In Dethkomedy, this is taken half literally.

Nathan: Oh hey, body bag!

"Have, uh, fun being fat."

    • "Nice work, guys," is another favorite of his. Which is what makes his angry outburst in Doublebookedklok all the more unsettling when he says it with such bile.
  • Deal with the Devil: Subverted in that the band proves so remarkably adept at contract negotiation, that, instead of trading their souls, they offer a $5 Hot Topic gift card for blues fame and a 7% backend of the Blues Devil's soul. He decides to sleep on it.
  • Death by Looking Up: Always seems to happen to some unlucky person when the freak accidents erupt.
    • A Running Gag, actually. Not only does it keep happening, it keeps happening to the same person, with different clothes and skin tone. At one point it was physically impossible. He got impaled by a blunt picket sign which would have bounced off a normal person.
    • Double subverted in Dethfashion where you think that when a fashion model's blade-adorned armcuff flies off, it will impale the usual victim's face. But then the blade smashes a tank of electric eels, which then fall onto the guy and electrocute him.
  • Deceased Fall Guy Gambit: Dethklok does this after realizing that they've been embezzling from themselves.
  • Defictionalization: Brendon Small has done several live tours as Dethklok, not to mention released The Dethalbum, which has the honor of being the highest-charting Death Metal album in Billboard's history. A followup album, The Dethalbum II, was released in September 2009.
  • Demoted to Extra: Nathan increasingly edges toward this trope in season 3, what with the other band members stealing the spotlight.
    • So has the Tribunal. A few episodes don't even have them show up at all.
  • Department of Redundancy Department: The "Church of Christian Churchology"
  • Diabolus Ex Machina: Toki would have given Doctor Rockso a well-deserved beatdown had Murderface's grandmother not run into a cross, making it crash on them both.
    • Dethklok finally finished their newest album and explicitly produced it in the 100% Piracy-proof water format. On the day that the album was meant to be shipped out, horrible stormy weather all across the globe ended up sinking the entire fleet of cargo ships containing Every. Last. One. Except for the master copy in Mordhaus. Nathan, in a drunken (and whale-influenced) stupor, realizes that the album needs to be destroyed, and takes an axe to it.
  • Disney Acid Sequence: Whenever Toki sings a song.
    • The one in Dethhealth is even MORE of an acid sequence, with everyone singing at some point - Pickles becomes a giant head in the sky with his dreadlocks acting like tentacles as he sings about how he's not actually going to die, Nathan he sings about how his dentist doesn't want to commit "Hamburger Time" (which is quickly subverted right before the Titmouse logo), and Murderface sings happily about how he "jacked off on a doctor's face". Skwisgaar, being the only member of Dethklok who didn't get a major event that episode, joins Murderface, singing "He jacks offs on a doctor's face!" with the same amount of glee.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: This happens to the rap/rock band Get Thee Hence in Dethsiduals for simply being allowed to open for Dethklok in concert. The fans immediately rushed to the stage and killed them all. Even Nathan, who said that he hated Get Thee Hence, was shocked to see this happen.
    • On the other hand, the band members of Get Thee Hence had been nothing but obnoxious assholes up to that point. So although it was disproportionate on the fans' part, since they could not have known, it had shades of Karmic Death from the viewers' point of view.
  • Distaff Counterpart: Ladyklok, one of the various Dethklok tribute bands the guys see in Tributeklok.
  • Doing It for the Art: Skwisgaar willingly jumps out of the Dethklok airship because, while he holds his guitar on the ground, a weird buzzing noise can be heard, and he doesn't want it on the studio recording. When Toki accidentally erases the only copy of Skwisgaar's track, guess what he has to do again...

Skwisgaar: It may be the most dangerous thing I'll ever do in my lifes.
Toki: Then whys you does it?
Skwisgaar: Because, I ams a tones chaser.

Caroline:: Don't forget, keep the fifteenth open so you can deposit your sperm into my vagina with your penis.

  • Dork Age: (In-Universe example) As of season 3, Dethklok seems to have entered theirs, facing more accusations of being sell-outs, losing their edge, etc.
    • Seeing their ad for Pentuplemint Gum, even Nathan is forced to admit that it is absolutely irredeemable as anything but selling out.
  • Dramatic Thunder:

Nathan: Guys. I've been thinking. *Thunder* IT'S TIME I STARTED DATING AGAIN.

Other driver: You hit my car!
Nathan: Hey, I have four mothers telling me how to drive! What's your excuse, asshole?

  • Drowning My Sorrows: Toki, still dealing with his father's death (which the band accidentally caused), is drunk throughout the whole season 2 finale.
    • Pickles, Murderface and Nathan do this in the episode Mordland, the night before Fan Day. Totally justified.

Nathan: *groaning* Why do I drink so much before Fan Day?
Murderface: I believe you drink because it's Fan Day.

    • Although Pickles is widely (rightfully) regarded as the most hard drinking member of the band, Toki seems to have the biggest problems with alcohol. In Dethwedding, Skwisgaar references past experiences where he needed to babysit a sloppy drunk Toki. And during the Pentuplemint Gum party scene in Tributeklok, he's visibly hammered again. Even Skwisgaar notices, though it's never mentioned.
    • This can also apply to Pickles at an early age, who became an alcoholic at age 6 due to mental (and probably physical) abuse from his brother and parents.
  • Drunk Driver: Nathan almost kills Murderface in Religionklok.
    • Skwisgaar and Toki in Dethrace.
  • Dude, She's Like, in a Coma: Nathan dated a famous actress named Rebecca Nightrod, who fell into a coma after falling down several flights of stairs. Nathan stayed with her throughout it all, claiming she was "the perfect girlfriend".
    • She later breaks up with him and gets a new boyfriend while still in a coma.
  • Eats Babies: One of the anti-Dethklok prisoners in Dethecution.
  • Ephebophile: Doctor Rockso, who got busted with a fourteen-year-old girl.
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait: Ofdensen, surprisingly enough. Especially in Papa Wolf mode. Fangirls everywhere let out a collective Squee when he showed up at the end of Renovationllok dressed all in an awesome jacket, no glasses, hair all mussed and out of place....
    • Toki has his fair share of female fans as well, being the most fit member of the band, as well as The Woobie.
  • Evil Laugh: Facebones. In one of the DVD extras, Facebones offers a tour of Mordhaus; when he comes to the secret hallway where the Jomfru brothers were shot, he can't stop laughing...
  • Exactly What It Says on the Tin: In PR Klok, a game show host announces that a man will be killed with money. That's exactly what happens.
  • Executive Meddling: Season 3 was shockingly tame compared to the first season; this was due to the fact that Adult Swim ordered the carnage be toned down, since Superjail (which had a similarly bloody tone) had debuted and they wanted to avoid people comparing it to Metalocalypse as far as ripping off it's tone.
  • Expy: Murderface is essentially a cartoon version of Geezer Butler, and Doctor Rockso is basically David Lee Roth.
  • Eye Scream: Performanceklok has a video of an eye operation going on in the background of the band meeting.
  • The Faceless: The Klokateers. All wear hoods and we never see their faces.
  • Faking the Dead: Ofdensen, for reasons currently unknown.
    • The season 3 finale suggests that he may not have been faking, though nobody knows for sure.
  • Famous Last Words:

Cardinal Ravenwood: The Metalocalypse has begun.

    • If you believe that he actually DID die and came back to life:

Ofdensen: I need you to kill me.

  • Fan Disservice: Anytime Murderface's ass is shown and Toki's hideous internet date, especially since the season 3 DVD set doesn't have the black censorship bars.
  • Fan Nickname: After Charles returns at the end of the third season premiere with his newly acquired hero scar, several fans dubbed this even more badass version of him "Scarles".
    • Murderface's attempt to connect as a father figure to Skwisgaar in Fatherklok has earned this version of him the nickname "Dadderface".
    • Rehabklok, due to about half the episode being sung by or to Pickles, earned the nickname "Pickles: The Musical".
  • Fan Service: Toki poledancing at a strip club for extra cash in Renovationklok.
    • If you like groupie tits, you'll be happy to know that the season 03 DVDs are uncensored. But there are Skwisgaar's preferences to consider. And Toki's date, as stated above.
  • Fiction 500
  • Foreshadowing: In "Dethwater", the 2nd episode of the 1st season, Toki comments that the the recording "picks up the whales saying hello". Fast forward to season 4, where the whales on the recording actually become a plot point!
    • In "Murder Outside The Box", when Agent 216 is first introduced, a tattoo is seen on his left arm. It's the Falconback Project logo.
    • "Mordland" has Ofdensen, while accompanying the Jomfru brothers to the elevator, press both buttons with a certain hand gesture. He does the same in the season 3 finale, which takes him to the imprisoned Edgar Jomfru.
  • Freudian Excuse: The reason Pickles drinks so much is revealed to be because his brother burned down their garage and blamed it on him. His parents believed it.
  • Funny Foreigner: Toki and Skwisgaar are humorously out of touch with...pretty much everything, really.
    • They also ams speakings like this constantslys.
  • Garfunkel: It's a running joke that neither Toki nor Murderface have any real input into the creative process. Their parts are written by Skwisgaar, and usually also performed on the records by Skwisgaar, when they aren't just being mixed to inaudible levels during production.
    • However, in Murderface's absence, the rest of the band is just too upbeat and cheerful to make properly angry-sounding death metal. They need his negativity to fuel the creative process.
    • It's not really explained why Toki is excluded from the creative process. Toki seems to be perfectly able to take over Skwisgaar's lead guitar parts both when Skwisgaar leaves for Sweden and in the Dethklok covers band. It's quite plausible that he's just not the creative sort, or that Skwisgaar's legendary arrogance and Toki's lack of assertiveness combine to kill any idea Toki might have.
  • General Ripper: Crozier was originally a mostly-sane example of this trope, later losing the 'sane' part thanks to Mr. Selatcia.
  • Genius Ditz: Basically the entire group. In the first episode, they couldn't figure out how to make their own food at all. Each character has shown at least one moment of genuine superior intelligence though.

Skwisgaar: "I believe they calls this a food libraries."

    • Satan demands their souls in exchange of blues music mastery. They bargain it down to a five dollar Hot Topic coupon, while demanding a percentage of Satan's soul as part of the bargain. Satan wisely decides to walk away and think it over.
  • Gentle Giant: While not astraight example, Nathan's is more amiable and warm-hearted than his reputation and appearance would have you believe.

"This is MY band. You're MY stupid, dumb, (guitar riff) up, dysfunctional family, alright?!"

  • Gonk: Murderface. One of the five wealthiest men on Earth and no woman will touch him.

"The perfect specimen of devolution: —cro-magnon brow, distended jaw, clammy hands, buckled stomach, back pimplage, hitchhiker thumbs, hammer-assed, fallen arches, chicken-plucked legs, sandpapery, eczema-styled skin, dry, unkempt triangle hair."

    • Also Toki's hideous internet date.
  • Good Angel, Bad Angel: In Dethhealth, Nathan experiences this while visiting his dentist.

Murderface: Gas means your wiener's being played with by a suicidal weirdo! Gas means you're gay!
Pickles: Dude! Who cares if he plays with your dick?? You'll totally be out!

    • In Rehabklok, Pickles is confronted with this after the drum machine kidnaps the rest of the band in order to kill them, locking Pickles in a room with an entire table's worth of alcohol after he had just completed his last rehabilitation step. The devil tells him to get drunk; the angel tells him to save the band. Pickles decides to just do both.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Ofdensen now sports one on the left side of his face.
  • Gorn: Where to begin?
  • Green Eyes: Nathan has striking green eyes, Pickles has darker ones, and Murderface's are yellow-green. Charles' generally fade from a hazel color to a light green.
  • Groupie Brigade: Dethklok is so famous and powerful that they have their own huge army of employees, despite the fact that the training process has at least a 60% mortality rate.
    • Female groupies around the world broke out into open warfare upon learning that Nathan was single.
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: "I assure you all...I am not gay."
  • Heavy Mithril: One of Skwisgaar's side projects is a Harry Potter tribute band called "Ten Points to Gryffindor".
    • The "Thunderhorse" music video.
    • Muderface's NASCAR-type-theatrical-hybrid-event was apparently trying for this effect, with the wizard narrator and the dragon-based decor and medieval-themed racers. Pity that it didn't actually make any sense.
  • Heel Face Turn: Dick Knubbler; the power of Dethklok's metal brings him into their fold in an instant.
    • Later on, John Twinkletits was brought in as an advisory role (with two cybernetic arms to replace the ones ripped off by the yard wolves).
  • Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Each member of the band, albeit in a naive way.
  • He's Back: Doctor Rockso in Snakes & Barrels II and Ofdensen in the season 3 premiere.
  • "Hey You!" Haymaker: Nathan delivers one to Murderface when the band gets into a fight onstage in Performanceklok.
  • High Turnover Rate: The chefs, up to Jean-Pierre. Not because they couldn't handle the job, because they literally get killed doing it. Also, the Klokateer army.
  • Holy Backlight: Ofdensen during his Big Damn Heroes moment at the end of Renovationklok.
    • Also Dory McLean, Rockso's (all grown up) jailbait lover, who shows up at the Zazz Blammymatazz reunion concert at the end of Dethzazz. She got old. And fat.
  • Ho Yay: Apart from random homoerotic naivete and spending time naked in a hot tub together, whenever the band members are seen dating women, at least one of them will look suspiciously like another member of the band. Four of Nathan's dates in Klokblocked look like female versions of the other four bandmates, and one of Toki's dates was nicknamed "Skwisgirl" because of her resemblance to Skwisgaar.
    • Pickles wearing a locket with Charles' picture in it.
      • Ofdensen is quite a bit more defensive of Nathan than he is the other guys. In Fertilityklok, Charles is seen with the rest of Dethklok during the roast. He tolerates, and even cracks a smile at the jabs at the other band members. But when the comic jumps on Nathan by calling him "Tonto", which is not a nickname Nathan is fond of, Charles whispers something to a nearby Klokateer. Within seconds, the comic is dead from a poison dart.
    • Murderface has a very noticeable knee-jerk reaction to anything that could potentially make him look gay. Such as his refusal to eat phallic-shaped food.
      • He is later seen licking a hot dog suggestively, and acts like it's no big deal when he notices the others staring at him.
      • Not to mention in Dethhealth when he ejaculates on his doctor's face and starts hallucinating muscular, near-naked men, while thinking "I'm gay! I'm gay!" afterwards in his paranoia. It is eventually revealed that the doctor, not Murderface, was gay, and jacked him off on purpose.
      • In Fatherklok, he gives Skwisgaar a bath while trying to act like a father figure for him.
      • Then there's the whole "body heat" scene in Doublebookedklok. Doesn't help that A) he suggests it after Pickles complains that huddling together for warmth is gay, and B) He still has his arm around Pickles' chest after Ofdensen comes to rescue them.
      • Toki and Skwisgaar hold hands during their therapy session in Performanceklok.
    • Here's a cheeky blink-and-you'll-miss-it nod to the slash fandom that appears at the end of Fanklok.
  • Hypocritical Humor:

Nathan: (to Murderface) YOU consistently make us look like a bunch of dumb, rich, sheltered assholes! *cue zoom-out to show them being pampered by Klokateers*

    • They get Doctor Rockso to give up cocaine, when they regularly use drugs themselves. Though, at least they know their superhuman limits, and are not obnoxious about it.
    • They are uncomfortable with the concept of death, and demand that it be referred to as "Hamburger Time". This is despite the fact that they are a death metal band.
    • The existence of the Church of Atheists...who are often prone to physical assaults by agnostics.
    • In Rehabklok, the rest of the band criticize Pickles for his heavy drinking...while drinking large amounts of beer themselves.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Nearly all of the episode names include either "Deth" or "Klok". The exceptions being the Snakes and Barrels episodes, Black Fire Upon Us, Go Forth and Die, and The Metalocalypse Has Begun, which is a Title Drop.
    • The second season finale actually has two names, one not following the naming convention (Black Fire Upon Us), and one that does (Dethrelease). The Revengencers also has a second name that followes the Idiosyncratic Episode Naming, Sickklok.
  • If You Die, I Call Your Stuff: When a Klokateer who was a spy for the Tribunal dies and is given a Viking Funeral, Murderface kills the moment with this line:

Murderface: I got his pension! Dibs! Called it.

Skwisgaar: Just let me record it. Each take is worse. He's slowly learning how to un-play the guitar.
Toki: I can hear that, the talk-back mike is on.
Skwisgaar: Pickle, please let me know when the talk-back mike is on so Mr. Sensitives don'ts goes to cry-baby's house for vacation.
Toki: I can stills hear you.
Skwisgaar: So what do you want, a be-able-to-hear-things award?
Toki: Not really. Doesn't sound like a greats award, to be honest.

Charles:Alight moving on your new producer should be here any minute
Pickles:Yeah okay what's his name?
Knubbler:I'm still here in the room!

  • Immune to Drugs: During Pickles' reunion tour with his old band Snakes n' Barrels, a radical new drug is introduced to the band, who then asks Pickles to do the drug with them before their first show. Snakes n' Barrels is completely destroyed by the drug; Pickles remains unharmed, however, since his growing up "smoking government weed every day" made him immune to just about any hard drug in existence and any drug to be invented. The only exception, for the sake of that episode, is the Yopo plant that the Amazonian natives use in Dethcarraldo.
    • In Dethrace, Murderface is nervous about a press release, so Pickles gives him a drug that he himself takes to relax...and gives him the same dose he uses on himself. Murderface spends the rest of the episode completely unaware of where he is and literally incapable of seeing straight.
  • Fiction 500
  • I Need a Freaking Drink:

Nathan: Oh, I hate Finland. I need a hundred beers. Exactly - exactly one hundred.
Pickles: Nice one, what are you trying to do, depress us? Now I need a drink. A different one, not this one. And in a different place.

  • Informed Ability: Murderface is a notary public.
    • Less mundane example: Nathan's description as "lyrical visionary" doesn't hold a lot of water if you look at the lyrics too closely. This could, arguably, also be linked with Toki and Murderface) as their parts are canonically re-recorded by Skwisgaar and their skills are repeatedly stated to be lacking), as well as the entire band, which is unable to tune instruments without breaking them.
      • Although how good Toki and Murderface are varies a lot throughout the series. In a recent episode, they recorded an entire album by themselves.
  • In Medias Res: Aside from Toki confirmed as the Replacement Goldfish, no explanation is given about how these five men came together to form Dethklok, or how they picked up Ofdensen to be their manager.
  • Instrument of Murder: The season 2 finale has Skwisgaar kill invading Revengencers with his guitar. Pickles is shown a couple feet away, choking another Revengencer with a drum stick.
  • Intercontinuity Crossover: Eddie Riggs once worked as their roadie or something like that...
    • Dr. Rockso sings one for his old Lolita girlfriend.
  • It's Popular, Now It Sucks: Parodied in-universe as the focus of Tributeklok.
  • Its Pronounced Tropay: John Twinkletits. It's not pronounced the way it's spelled (Twinkle-tits); the accent is on the "kle" part of his name (Twin-kletits).
  • Jerkass: While most of the band members fulfill this trope (usually unintentionally), Murderface is an unrepentant asshole to everyone he meets.
    • Let's be honest here. Every single member but Toki is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold to various degrees. Especially Murderface, who at one point even all-out apologizes for being a jerk, claiming he just can't resist it, and then proceeds with asking everybody present to just kill themselves so he would not have to be one. Toki, however, is the complete opposite of this trope. He is a nice guy most of the time, but harbours a deeper, darker side.
      • When Dethklok confronts their therapist Dr. Twinkletits, Murderface admits that he prides himself on being a Jerkass but that he is in awe of the doctor's ability to constantly antagonize everyone. He adds that he really respects that personality trait.
    • Seth definitely qualifies. He's a complete dick to EVERYONE.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Seth, in spades.
  • Just a Stupid Accent: Skwisgaar. Toki speaks Norwegian in Dethdad when on the phone with someone from Norway, but Skwisgaar spends most of Fatherklok in Sweden with his mother and stepfather, who speak broken English the entire time.
  • Karma Houdini: Dr. Rockso in Dethmas. He breaks parole, steals Toki's christmas gifts for coke money, ruins Murderface's Christmas special, gets a handjob from Skwisgaar's mom, and escapes a well deserved Pissed!Toki beatdown due to a freak accident.
    • Not to mention Pickles' brother Seth, who makes every other character in this show look like a saint and continuously gets what he wants. Even when they try to shove him right in karma's path, he twists it to his advantage.
    • Every member of the band is a sociopath in some way or another, and they are responsible for countless deaths. They almost never have to deal with long term consequences for their actions.
  • Lampshade Hanging: A pretty good one shows up in PR Klok.

Pickles: We got any songs with "destiny" in the title?
Nathan: Um, no, but I could stick it in. Doesn't matter. No one can understand what I'm saying, anyway.

    • This is a literal Shout-Out to American death metal band Suffocation being charged in England in the early 1990s with their music being obscene and vulgar. The entire case hinged on the fact of whether or not the songs could 'damage' the youth. Their defense attorney's argument is VERBATIM what Nathan regurgitates in the response.
  • Large Ham: Mr. Selatcia gives Dr. Orpheus some competition.
  • Lethal Klutz: Dethklok manage to kill fans at every show, the faulty and badly-conceived products they endorse cause countless deaths, and that's not even getting into the times when either they or their fans have people murdered intentionally.
  • Likes Older Women: Skwisgaar is an extreme example - he prefers "gmilfs".
    • That's in addition to milfs, Soon-To-Be-milfs, and FBLs.
  • Long Title: Dethalbum II contains a song titled "I Tamper With the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin". So long, in fact, that it basically takes up a few lines of text on list of songs; the other songs, however, have titles that are only about two or three words in length.
    • Another example would be the third longest title, "Crush My Battle Opponent's Balls". The length of the title belies the fact that the track is only about a minute long, contains no lyrics, and is almost completely unknown by name to fans because it was released on neither CD and was only seen in a Blipvert on a little TV screen when featured on the show.
    • The second longest title, "My Inner Child Tied and Beaten in My Trunk" from Performanceklok has two less words ( and 5 less syllables) than "I Tamper with the Evidence at the Murder Site of Odin".
  • Mad Artist: Pretty much anyone who shows any form of creativity (including Dethklok themselves), and often applied humorously.
  • Madden Into Misanthropy: Toki
  • Made of Plasticine: Used to comic effect.

Ofdensen: Thats's my bread and butter you're (guitar riff)ing with.

  • Masochist's Meal: In Dethecution, Toki sprays mace on a turkey after the band decides they're not going to eat any more of it. At the end of the episode, Toki and Skwisgaar get hungry and decide to eat the rest of it anyway. It tastes "stingy".
  • Meaningful Name: Charles Foster Ofdensen, Dethklok's manager.
    • His first and middle name come from "Charles Foster Kane" of the movie Citizen Kane. To those who haven't seen the movie, Ofdensen is an entrepreneur whose practices follows much along the line of his namesake.
  • Men Don't Cry: Pickles tells Toki that none of the band will talk about missing Ofdensen because "Admitting sadness...makes you gay."
  • Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: The band is tied to the Metalocalypse, and don't have the slightest idea.
  • Mind Rape: Done to General Crozier by Mr. Selatcia during the season 2 finale.
  • Mister Seahorse: Well, that's how Murderface interpreted his infestation with parasites, anyway.
  • Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Their songs mostly vary from 8-10.
  • Money Fetish: Skwisgaar

Skwisgaar: So f♪~kings expensive that it makes me horny.

  • Monumental Damage: Dethklok fans torch The Louve after Murderface says all 30,000 pieces of art stink.
    • The Sphinx is decapitated during a Detklok concert in Egypt. It's being repaired at the end of the episode, but is crushed when the coffin (inside a coffin inside a coffin) with Toki's dead cat inside falls on it.
  • More Dakka: An absurd scene in Dethcarraldo, in which the Dethcopter fires upon the Amazon rainforest with many gun mounts until all ammo is exhausted. They take a break to reload and continue.
  • Names to Run Away From Really Fast / Name of Cool: Nathan Explosion, Toki Wartooth, Murderface, Ofdensen.
  • Never Say "Die": In-universe example, "Hamburger Time".
  • Never Speak Ill of the Dead: Murderface brings this up in a roundabout way when Twinkletits supposedly falls to his death.

Murderface: Now that he's dead, it's easier to say...emotional things about him.

  • NGO Superpower: Dethklok has the power to enforce the copyrights on their music, engage in horrendous acts of violence without any authorities so much as batting an eye, and possesses a fleet of jumbo-jet sized helicopters not to mention the rockets in the season 2 finale.
    • Doctor Rockso at the end of Snakes n' Barrels II.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Murderface is interested in "morbid crap". The other band members might qualify as well, given their fondness for brutal things.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: In-Universe, the Super Tits Candy Snake Project (which was sadly never completed or fully defined).
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed:
    • Doctor Rockso appears to be partially inspired by David Lee Roth, in terms of his music and outfit. Fittingly, his former band, Zazz Blazzymatazz, appears to be based on Van Halen, complete with matching logo.
    • Nick Ibsen is clearly a parody of Larry King.
    • Toki is apparently based on Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt.
    • Pickles' former band Snakes n' Barrels is based on Guns n' Roses.
    • A number of the band's exploits seem taken from the real world's biggest heavy metal band, Metallica, including going to band therapy and cracking down on MP3s.
    • Murderface is based (quite obviously, if you compare the two) on Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, at least appearance-wise.
    • Nathan himself is visually based on Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher.
      • Who actually voices the Masked Metal Assassin.
    • Skwisgaar is based on Children of Bodom's Alexi Laiho, with a little bit of Yngwie Malmsteen, according to Brendon Small.
    • Pickles is based on Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad.
      • As an added bonus, Gene Hoglan, a fairly long-standing member of Strapping Young Lad, is the real life drummer for Dethklok.
    • The host of Dethklok Minute bears a resemblance to Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray pre-meteor strike, but is possibly based on Ryan Seacrest.
  • No OSHA Compliance: Mordhaus is such a dangerous place to work employees are given a bell to ring when they find a dead body.
    • Nathan also systematically refuses to fix the deadly sewer system because it's more metal this way.
  • No One Could Survive That: Many examples, so let's go with the most notable ones.
    • Jean-Pierre: Got shot out of a helicopter and hacked to pieces like a tomato in a blender by said helicopter's blades. Is still alive, after being sewn back together.
    • Dr. Twinkletits: Fell out of a window many stories up and then attacked by yard wolves. Survived with prosthetic limbs and voice.
    • The Dethklok Minute host: Struck by a meteor. Survived only with disfigurement and still cheerfully hosting Dethklok Minute.
    • Ofdensen: Shot through the chest with an arrow, then savagely beaten by the Metal Masked Assassin, getting his glasses shattered and cut up in the process. Revealed that he faked his death, for reasons currently unknown.
    • Doctor Rockso: Nose fell off after doing a little too much cocaine. Both he and Ofdensen have recovered completely from their Amusing Injuries.
  • Not So Stoic: Ofdensen has never let his calm demeanor slip in front of the band. Then they double book a gig in Syria and Israel in Doublebookedklok. He manages to stay mostly calm, albeit with a very angry tone in his voice and a noticeable eye twitch.
    • This is also how they know they fucked up, too. He never raises his voice, but the change in tone prompts the question "Why are you yelling at us?"
  • Odd Name Out: All of the band members have violent or fantastic names, sometimes in other languages, except the drummer, who is known only as Pickles.
  • Off the Wagon: Doctor Rockso, epically.
  • Oh Crap: "Did you. Book a gig. In Syria. Without telling me. *eyetwitch*"
  • Old Media Are Evil: Dethklok's record label.
  • Old Shame: Pickles used to be the front man for hair metal band Snakes n' Barrels.
  • The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: The Tribunal
  • Only Child Syndrome: Subverted; Pickles is the only band member with a sibling.
  • Only in Florida: Can Nathan be elected Governor when he didn't even run?
  • Only One Name: Pickles, along with the rest of his family
  • Only Sane Man / Only Sane Employee: Ofdensen, in comparison with everyone in the whole Metalocalypse universe.
    • Pickles shows various degrees of being this in the band.
      • From season 2 onwards, however, Pickles has become increasingly neurotic, and Nathan has proven much more reasonable, socially adjusted, and intelligent. Lately, Skwisgaar seems to be sharing this status as well.
  • Opening Shout-Out: Senator Stampingston's descriptions of Dethklok's members in the first episode are taken verbatim from the opening lyrics. He concludes by saying that that's all they know. Of course, this was literally all the viewers knew about them at that point, too.
  • Or So I Heard: Nathan claims this in regards to how he knows so much about previous failed Zazz Blammymatazz reunions.
  • Papa Wolf: Do not mess with Ofdensen's boys.
  • Pass the Popcorn: Nathan and Murderface watching Pickles beat the living crap out of his brother at his own wedding.
    • What about the band watching Twinkletits being eaten by wolves? To top it all off, Nathan was filming it.

Pickles: Gosh, maybe this is weird to say, but...am I the only one who's being made to feel hungry by watching this?
Nathan: Let's eat.

  • Periphery Demographic: In-universe, children everywhere are becoming avid fans of Dethklok's music because of Toki.
  • The Pete Best: Season 3 began with a flashback to when Dethklok signed their first contract. Conspicuously, Toki was not there; he would later end up replacing someone else who's name was confirmed by Brendon Small to be Magnus Hammersmith.
  • Planet Eris: This is the only way to possibly explain why a death metal band is wealthy enough to be considered one of the top 10 world economies, and why they no one seems to be bothered by the sheer number of casualties during Dethklok's concerts, public appearances, etc.
  • Pluralses: Skwisgaar Skwigelf and Toki Wartooth do this alls the times to reminds yous that they're from Europes. Hilariously, one of the only things they don't pluralise is Pickles' name, which is supposed to have an 'S' at the end
  • Portmanteau Couple Name: In-Universe. During the time Nathan dated Rebecca Nightrod, the media referred to them as 'Natebecca' or 'Rebasplosion'.
    • Toki and Murderface's label in Dethsiduals was known as 'Murdertooth Records'.
  • The Power of Rock: Where to start?!
    • The Tribunal's whole problem with Dethklok is that they're apparently going to cause an "apocalypse of metal" (or, more succinctly, a "metalocalypse") with their music.
  • President Evil: Nathan's term as governor of Florida ends with the depopulation of the entire state as the result of his gross disregard for human life. Though to be fair, he eventually tried to resolve things with a song from the band...only for them to summon a hurricane.
    • And he's still regarded as the best governor Florida ever had.
  • Pretty Fly for a White Guy: The members of Get Thee Hence are either Ambiguously Brown or this.
  • Prison Rape: Implied in Dethzazz; Rockso is shown shaking in his sleeping cellmate's arms.
  • Product Placement: Gibson guitars and Krank amplifiers, in addition to the band's in-show endorsement of Duncan Hills Coffee and other fictional products.
    • In a DVD extra showing one of Skwisgaar's guitar tutorials, he takes the first few minutes to fully explain all of his gear (from the guitar to the pedals and everything in between), and names every brand associated with his equipment.
  • Quarter Hour Short: For the first two seasons. Season 3 expanded it to a half hour.
  • Rated "M" for Manly: MA-V, to be exact.
  • Red Shirt: The Klokateers

Facebones: And most important, remember - death is an everyday part of the workplace! If you see a dead body, don't freak out!
Toki: *is taking out the trash and comes across a rotting corpse* Wowee!
Facebones: Just...ring your Deth-bell!
Toki: *rings his Deth-bell*

  • Refuge in Audacity:
    • For one, the Endangered Species Furniture Room.
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor In Sense: Hoo boy. This was evident from the very first episode where they struggled to understand the concept of "grocery shopping", but it really hit the fan in the season 3 premiere, where, without Ofdensen to manage them, they blow all their money on things like a giant Dorito-themed amusement park (not open to the public) and "the Super Tits Candy Snake Project", which was never completed or defined.
    • Renovationklok is just loaded with poor spending decisions. Skwissgar's ruby metronome and champagne humidore, Pickles' endangered species furniture room, scream-activated lighting, the list goes on and on.
  • Rule of Cool: The band make all their decisions based on how "brutal" they perceive a course of action to be. ALL of their decisions. For example, there is an extended scene in which they will fully accept that they have conditions in which their employees are dying and rotting on-site at great numbers as long as the situation is "metal". They even refuse to care about this suffering specifically because doing so is also metal.
    • Not to mention when Skwisgaar played an electric guitar solo while skydiving just to avoid audio feedback in Dethrecord. Twice.
    • Scream-activated lighting
  • Rule of Funny: Dethklok's general level of competency is dependant entirely on what makes for the funniest situation.
  • Running Gag:
    • All of the "Dethklok specialists" brought in each episode to discuss the current issue at hand before the council all have extremely absurd names.
      • Brendon has admitted that, to come up with these names, he literally smashes parts of his body on his keyboard and scripts whatever he can make of it.
    • A two-in-one deal: General Crozier combines every Dr. Rockzo catchphrase and his own "That's all we know" in the episode Dethklown:

Crozier: "His name's doctor Rockzo. He's the rock-and-roll clown. He does cocaine...and I'm afraid that's all we know.

    • See "Death By Looking Up"
  • Scrabble Babble: In Klokblocked.
  • Self-Deprecation: The band, counter to what you may think, is very, very aware of its many flaws. In other words, Dethklok really hates Dethklok.

Nathan: WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIIIGHT!

  • Serious Business: Metal in general, and Dethklok in particular, especially to The Tribunal.
  • Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll: Doctor Rockso, Snakes n' Barrels, and frequently Dethklok.
  • Sexual Karma: Averted. Despite the fact that the members of Dethklok are pretty much sociopaths, they have legions of women who want to sleep with them (well, except for Murderface, that is).
  • Shout-Out: Discussing how their previous chef "blow his brain in" and how it made "a good album cover" is a reference to metal band Mayhem; lead singer Per Yngve Ohlin committed suicide with a shotgun blast to his head, and the band used a photo of his body in situ as the cover for the bootleg album "Dawn of the Black Hearts".
    • Fintroll, the name of the food libraries grocery store, is also the name of a Scandanavian folk metal band, but with one "N" missing from the store title.
      • Humorously, in Dethtroll, they do fight a troll. In Finland. Think about it.
      • "Here comes that guy!" "Quick, the Dethphones! Throw them at that guy!"
      • Espoo, Finland, no less.
    • Nathan calls out "Rotten Body Landslide", "Every Bone Broken" chicken and "Hammer Smashed Face" over the store intercom. All are Cannibal Corpse song titles.
    • Their previous chef's life support system shows a strong resemblance to the cover of Voivod's "Killing Technology" album.
    • In other episodes:
      • One of the Revengencers wears a scrap of a dead man's face as a mask (essentially a Dead Skin Mask, after the Slayer song).
      • Movie mogul Grishnak is named after Count Grishnak, stage name of Burzum's Varg Vikernes.
        • Both names are themselves references to The Lord of the Rings.
        • Speaking of which, "Burzum's" is a family-style restaurant they've been to on at least one occasion.
        • In Dethfam, Murderface goes to buy his grandfather a electric wheelchair at Gorgoroth's Medical Supplies, an obvious shout-out to the Black Metal band of the same name.
      • The driving instructor Mr. Gojira is named after a band of the same name.
      • Fast food restaurant Dimmu Burger is named after band Dimmu Borgir.
      • The cover of one of the band's albums - seen in Dethfashion, and later in Tributeklok - strongly resembles a typical Manowar album cover.
      • In Dethrecord, Murderface sings "Same Old Song And Dance" by Aerosmith.
      • In Birthdayface, Toki says the car has "big fat tires and everything", a lyric from Deep Purple's "Highway Star".
      • In Dethgov, the beginning scene has a man yelling that he is the "lunatic of God's creation". "Lunatic of God's Creation" is a song by Deicide from their self-titled album.
      • Toki's underwater performance in Dethwater is awfully remeniscent of Ringo Starr's "Octopus' Garden".
      • Timmy Razzle from Razzle Sticks in Snakes n' Barrels II is a possible reference to Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley, the drummer of Hanoi Rocks from 1982 until he died in a car crash in 1984.
      • The "Iced Earth Community Skating" rink in Tributeklok.
      • St. Necrophagist's, the hospital in Dethhealth.
      • In Fatherklok, the Swedish bar where Skwisgaar goes with his new stepdad is called Malmsteen's.
      • In Dethhealth, during a Disney Acid Sequence, the anthromorphic cat can be seen doing both the moonwalk and the thriller dance among others, in a possible homage to the recently deceased Michael Jackson.
      • In Cleanso, the machine Doctor Rockso is being tortured with is exactly the same as the one Han Solo was tortured with in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
      • In Rehabklok, the drum machine is an obvious homage to the HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
      • In Dethkids, towards the end of Toki's Disney Acid Sequence, when Pickles is shown amassing a large amount of balloons around himself and the resulting cluster rolling away, some could not help but think of Katamari Damacy.
      • The "Falcon Back" project is a rather obvious reference to metal band Falkenbach.
      • Carpathian Forest High School
      • Carcass Hardware
      • Bed, Bathory and Beyond
      • Chimaira Mart
  • Shower of Angst: Murderface takes one after he accidentally ejaculates on his male doctor during a hernia check in Dethhealth, thinking that it makes him gay. Later, when he finds out the doctor jacked him off on purpose and that he's not gay, he takes a Shower of Relieved Joy.
  • Shown Their Work: The animation of Dethklok's playing is often carefully synced to the music, with the chord positions and fingering of the guitar parts shown in some detail.
    • When Pickles decides to try his hand at being a real-estate agent, a graph is shown depicting his sales throughout various cities in Wisconsin. Tomahawk, Plover, Appleton.. they all exist.
  • Skepticism Failure:

Senator Stampingston: Gentlemen, it's clear that we're in a universally precarious situation. Dethklok has summoned a troll.
General Crozier: That's impossible, there's no such thing as trolls.
Senator Stampingston: Then how do you explain the dead unicorns? *The screen behind him shows butchered unicorns*

  • The Slow Path: Time Travel Face Bags. You can move through time at the speed of regular time with the use of plastic bags.
  • Sound Effect Bleep: Any instance of cursing is covered up with a guitar riff.
    • While DVDs for the first two seasons keep the Sound Effect Bleep on the episodes, they don't show up on the deleted scenes. Season three featured no censorship.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: A rather gentle and understated orchestral piece plays during the season 2 finale while Mr. Seletcia Mind Rapes General Crozier.
  • The Southpaw: Possibly Murderface, in the flashback in Renovationklok, he signs his contract with his left hand. The Pete Best that was there also signs with his left hand.
    • Also, Ofdenson and Melmord both fence left-handed.
  • Space Does Not Work That Way: Nathan suggests they create a space helicopter in Fat Kid at the Detharmonic. They get one.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Is it Selatcia, Selacia, or Salacia?
  • Start of Darkness: Start of Alcoholism, anyway. Rehabklok reveals that Pickles became the drunk he is now as a way to cope with being blamed for the burning down of his family's garage. (Seth did it.)
  • Stepford Smiler: Toki seems to have developed this trait when talking about his father now that he's dead (he mentions that he's come to peace with his father's death while a clip of Toki watching his father drown and freeze to death at the same time under a lake of ice while a horrible Scare Chord plays).
  • The Stoic: Ofdensen, as long as the personal safety of the boys aren't in danger.
    • Or if the boys don't do something really stupid, like double book concerts.
  • Stop Copying Me: Swisgaar and Toki get into this in Dethcarraldo, made funnier by their imperfect English:

Stops copies me!
Stops copies me!

  • Straight Edge: The "SOBERTOWN USA No Drugs Allowed Sober Rock and Roll Show" has shades of this.
    • Straight Edge Evil: Rikki Kixx's entire motivation for promoting the movement is that he no longer able to indulge in alcohol and drugs himself, and if he can't have it, no one should be able to.
  • Straight Man: Ofdensen to Dethklok.
  • Sweet Dreams Fuel: Every song sung by Toki. Complete with sugarcoated acid sequence music videos, frequently involving candy, rainbows, and bunnies.
  • Sword Fight: Two so far: one was a (presumably) staged one for a music video between Skwisgaar and Toki, and the other was a very real fencing match between Ofdensen and Melmord with the position of band manager at stake.
  • Take That: The Dethsiduals episode contains a very obvious Take That against Papa Roach and other Rap Metal Alternative bands.
    • The fashion designer from Dethfashion is a hilarious exaggeration/parody of Karl Lagerfeld, head of Chanel and real-life supervillain.
    • An entire episode is devoted to shitting on Florida's Good Ol' Boy population.
    • Go on, look at Doctor Rockso. Doesn't he look like a thinly-veiled insult at a certain 1980s cartoon series about music and its similar character designs?
  • Talking to Himself: Brendon Small, Tommy Blacha, Mark Hamill, Up to Eleven. Go ahead, check out Wikipedia. See how many characters these people voice, not including background characters. Regular voices are more than double the regular voice actors. The entire band and CFO are voiced by two people.
    • So was the Tribunal, at least for the first season.
  • Take a Third Option : Pickles. "I'm gonna get drunk AND save the band!"
  • Team Dad: Ofdensen, though when he's not around, Nathan is the substitute. Murderface believes himself to be this, even though he is the least qualified.
    • It can be argued that Nathan has been established as the Team Dad since season one (beginning with his interactions with Toki in Skwisklok and Dethclown and confirmed in Fatherklok). Charles, with his nagging and usually clumsy attempts at comfort, is more the Team Mom.
  • Tears of Blood:

Murderface: *looking over his birthday presents* You mean, I get to destroy United States history literally?

    • Nathan in the Detharmonic video, because taxes are just that brutal.
  • That Makes Me Feel Angry: In Dethmas, Toki blows up at the rest of the band, saying he's going to buy them gifts for Secret Santa despite being told it wasn't metal. Nathan's reaction sums it up:

Nathan: I don't believe I've ever been spoken to like that before.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf, taller than a tree,
Toki Wartooth, not a bumblebee,
William Murderface Murderface Murderface,
Pickles the drummer, doodily doo, ding dong doodily doodily doo,
Nathan Explosion

  • Those Two Guys: Toki and Murderface have started being shown hanging out together separately from the rest of the band. This isn't really because they're friends, but mostly just because they're the dumbest members of the band and the others find them less than tolerable.
    • Toki and Skwisgaar can count as this too, despite hating each other they are almost always seen with each other. (Mostly in seasons 1 and 2.)
  • Title Drop: The Metalocalypse Has Begun, itself dropping the series and episode titles, are also Cardinal Ravenwood's final words.
  • Too Dumb to Live: In Dethsources, the band and the intentionally invoked Replacement Scrappy remain in an area of Mordhaus that has been proven to contain a flesh-eating virus.
  • True Companions: Though they'd deny it, Dethklok fits the trope.
    • Pretty much confirmed by Nathan in Fatherklok.
    • In Rehabklok, a line in one song confirms that Pickles considers Dethklok his family, and he worries that they'll replace him while he's in rehab. Which they do. But that turned out to be a bad idea.
  • Turn Your Head and Cough: Murderface became..."stimulated" when he reached this point of a medical exam in Dethhealth.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: None last more than an episode, but there have been Pickles and cinnamon buns, Toki and candy, and Nathan and potato chips. The band has also mentioned popsicles a few times.
  • Tsundere: Murderface, specifically in Performanceklok.
    • Toki can't seem to decide whether he hates Skwisgaar or idolizes him.
  • Under the Sea: Dethwater. Complete with Toki's memorable song "Underwater Friends".
  • The Unfavourite: Pickles, in regard to his family, to the point that it becomes his Berserk Button.
  • Unpleasable Fanbase: (In-Universe example) The little boy calling Dethklok, as the Dethklok tribute band called Thunderhorse, sellouts even after they decided to go back to their roots as a tribute band in Tributeklok.
    • Also a Brick Joke and Hypocritical Humor; that was the same kid from the beginning of the episode who told Dethklok, before being a tribute band, that they were sellouts (the former for doing a health benefit, the latter for doing an ad for European gum).
  • The Un-Reveal: We never did find out who Skwisgaar's father is in Fatherklok (though it's hinted that he is divine).
  • The Unintelligible / Cluster F-Bomb: Pickles' brother Seth.
    • Also, as mentioned above, Nathan. Though his unintelligibility is pretty standard fare for a death metal band.
  • Unusual Euphemism: Dethklok isn't too comfortable when talking about dying "Hamburger Time", despite the fact that they have witnessed and/or caused Over Nine Thousand "Hamburger Time"s. They're just uncomfortable about their "Hamburger Time".
  • Verbal Backspace:

Skwisgaar: Well, there are two things to do in a black out. Get drunk. One thing to do.

  • Vetinari Job Security: In a nutshell, Ofdensen is indispensable.
    • In Dethsiduals, Nathan, Pickles, and Skwisgar kick out Toki and Murderface (who never write music for the band) only to discover that their creative process simply doesn't work without Murderface's constant negativity.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: The whole band, specifically Toki and Skwisgaar. Skwisgaar constantly belittles Toki for his guitar playing, among other things, and on numerous occasions Toki and Skwisgaar openly state they "hate" each other. It really hits home in the season 1 finale when Toki states "I've always hated you, Skwisgaar," and Skwisgaar responds with "I know, Toki. I know,", in an affectionate tone. Their odd relationship often ventures into Ho Yay territory.
  • Vocal Evolution: While everyone's voice slightly changed over the seasons, Toki's is the most extreme, having started out fairly low-pitched, laidback, and with a thicker Norwegian accent. It is now very high-pitched and sometimes manic.
    • The most notable has to be Murderface, as it took several episodes before Tommy Blacha could create an acceptable sound without stuffing his mouth with paper towels.
  • Villainous Harlequin: Doctor Rockso
  • Western Terrorists: Many of Dethklok's fans can be like this.
  • We Wait: Mr. Selatcia tells the Tribunal to do this every time they want to do something to curb Dethklok's growing power. When Cardinal Ravenwood and General Crozier try to assassinate Dethklok, Selatcia kills Ravenwood and eventually brainwashes Crozier for their refusal to follow orders.
  • Wham! Episode: Black Fire Upon Us, Renovationklok, and The Metalocalypse Has Begun, and Doublebookedklok.
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: The Duncan Hills Coffee jingle.
    • "Let the blackness that is the fashion industry take its intended path."
    • The Dethklok Home for Wayward Kitties. "Release...the KITTIES!"
    • Dethwater: Metal...FOR FISH.
    • This is Nathan's reaction to Christmas in Dethmas. He's initially turned off by the idea of Toki wanting to put up a tree, etc., until he takes a moment to really look it over. He sees it as the corpse of a tree, further humiliated and desecrated by being strung up in Mordhaus and decorated. He feels the whole thing is pretty brutal.
    • "Ok, hold on now, so you're telling me that you put these little guys in boiling water and they shriek and they turn red, and they die. ...That is the most metal thing I ever heard in my whole life."
  • What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: Several episodes open with Dethklok making a petty, trivial decision, with ominous music and Hostile Weather happening at the same time. These petty choices usually put the Tribunal on alert and have massive economic and cultural repercussions and set the topic for the episode:
    • *earthquake* Coooommmmmedyyyyyyyy!
  • Where the Hell Is Springfield?: Where is Mordhaus? Early on, it seems like their methods of travel to various countries may hold the answer. And then you see Dethklok travel to Finland and parts of the USA in their bus, and Norway by Dethcopter (twice). The only places that we're sure it isn't are Los Angeles (Snakes n' Barrels II), the Southern US (Bluesklok), Wisconsin (Dethwedding), Florida (Dethgov), South America (Dethcarraldo), Connecticut, Canada, Scandinavia, France, Germany, or Jordan (Dethdad for Canada and Conneticut, Dethdad, Dethtroll, and Fatherklok for Scandinavia, Birthdayface for France and Germany, and Performanceklok for Jordan).
    • Somewhere in Scandinavia until the third season, where it really could be anywhere (and likely does move around regularly).
    • Returning from space at the beginning of "Fanklok".
  • Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Toki has an irrational fear of bicentennial quarters.
  • Worst Aid: When the band catch colds, they try to cure themselves with leeches and bloodletting, in a sauna, with predictable results.
  • Writing Around Trademarks: When the show was first pitched, it was titled Deathclock Metalocalypse, later shortened to Deathclock; when it was discovered that there was already a band with that name in existence, the band became Dethklok and the show's name eventually became Metalocalypse.
  • X Meets Y: Heavy Metal meets This Is Spinal Tap.
  • You Fail Logic Forever: Dethklok finds new and interesting ways to fail it every episode.
  • You Kill It, You Bought It: This is the only way to ever truly take Ofdensen's job away from him. Good luck with that.
  • You No Takes Candles: Skwisgaar and Toki, whose speech routinely involves sounding out words, making up new ones, misinterpretation, and most commonly the addition or subtraction of s's. However, seeing as the last is more a trait of Swedish than of Norwegian accents, it could be inferred that Toki has taken to copying Swisgaar in this aspect, as well. Toki is generally slightly stronger in English, though his naïvete undermines this.
    • Played hilariously in Dethcarraldo when Toki and Skwisgaar have a conversation where the former repeatedly says similar things to the latter, which soon devolves into an episode-spanning argument consisting mostly of repeated synchronous shouting of "Stops copies me!"
  • You Bastard: The band really hates their fans, as noted in the special "Fan Day" song; Nathan regularly ends messages to fans (and others) with "Go die". If they are ever asked to care about their fans (including those who have been killed/mutilated attempting to buy from them), their reactions range from indifference to rage.
    • "Fansong" is 2 minutes and 53 seconds of Dethklok insulting their fans. Nathan calls them "brainless mutants" and "hunched and blinded eunuchs" (among other things), and says that "they're a bunch of banks that [he'd] like to rob".
    • When musing on what their lives would be like if they stopped being famous, the process is referred to as becoming "a regular old jack-off".
    • Subverted slightly with Toki, in that there are times where he'll connect with a fan enthusiastically. However, he generally resumes his hatred for everyone shortly thereafter.

I'm afraid that's all we know, gentlemen.

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