Gorillaz/Fridge

Fridge Horror

• Gorillaz have a few good examples, like the song "Superfast Jellyfish": it's basically a boastful, upbeat tune about overfishing until there's nothing left alive. Not to mention that in-story the Superfast Jellyfish are portrayed as harmless, sentient critters... that are apparently being frozen, microwaved and Eaten Alive. The video is undiluted Uncanny Valley as well; the jellyfish are the only things in colour, and they flop about like hanging victims without losing the identical dopey smiles, while being eaten by a guy who has a disturbingly similar smile pasted on through the whole thing.
  • Their backstory also has some good Fridge Horror, like 2D's Amusing Injuries. 'Oh, Murdoc just socked 2D in the face.' Typical Slapstick, right? That is until you realize that 2D has none of the typical cartoon Healing Factor and in fact suffers extensive injuries from accidents and the hands of his blatantly abusive band mate.
    • This is taken Up to Eleven and brought out into the open in the Plastic Beach chapter, where 2D's been kidnapped, incarcerated, beaten and drugged by his old 'friend.' The relationship between these characters has grown from Fridge Horror to straight-out Nightmare Fuel; just keep in mind that if Murdoc has no problem doing these things on tape, what do you suppose happens behind closed doors?
    • Murdoc's sentence for running 2D over and putting him in a coma was to look after the poor guy. Rumours fly about what went on that year, and even if that didn't happen, Murdoc cheerfully admits to having beaten up the unconscious 2D for fun. Not to mention nobody objected when the Dysfunction Junction that was Murdoc, 2D, and Russel adopted Noodle, a small non-English-speaking child they found in a box on the doorstep. Evidently Social Services Does Not Exist.
  • It's been stated that Murdoc's distinctive puggish nose is the result of being punched in the face on multiple instances, like a boxer. Granted, most of these were his own fault, so what's the problem? The artwork of Murdoc at 10 portrays him with this appearance, which implies that he'd already been smashed in the face several times by that age. According to the biography, Rise of the Ogre, the total number of outright breaks in his nose is eight; once from a school bully, twice from his brother, and five times from Russel when Murdoc was caught having sex with 2D's girlfriend. Nose breakages, however, are clearly not the only injury he's suffered. He was also disturbingly matter-of-fact about having been molested as a child, and given what we see onscreen there's only about a fifty percent chance he's making it up.