Murdoc Niccals

Murdoc Faust Niccals (born Murdoc Alphonce Niccals) is the fictional bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz. He is voiced by Phil Cornwell and was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.

Murdoc Niccals
Murdoc Niccals in 2018
First appearance	1998
Created by	Damon Albarn Jamie Hewlett
Voiced by	Phil Cornwell
In-universe information
Full name	Murdoc Faust Niccals (originally Murdoc Alphonce Niccals)
Gender	Male
Occupation	Bassist Musician
Religion	Satanism[1][2]
Nationality	British
Born	(1966-06-06) 6 June 1966 Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England

In the Gorillaz universe, Murdoc was responsible for most of the conception and formation of the band, and he is angry that 2-D, the fictional vocalist and pianist for the band, is the frontman.[3][4] Aspects of Murdoc's appearance and personality were based on that of a young Keith Richards.[5] Murdoc's fictional biography is filled with references to Satanism, such as his birthday being on 6/6/66, and indicates that to become a famous musician Murdoc did a deal with the Devil—leading him to change his middle name to Faust—who provided Murdoc with his own bass guitar, El Diablo.[6]

At the Brit Awards 2018, Murdoc was incarcerated. He was not involved in Gorillaz sixth album, The Now Now, and was temporarily replaced by Ace, leader of The Gangreen Gang from The Powerpuff Girls.[7] From 4 June to 26 October 2018, the band ran a bi-weekly text-adventure ARG called Free Murdoc, in which the player assists Murdoc as he attempts to escape from prison.[8][9][10][11] Murdoc was reunited with the band on 20 September,[12] in time to join them on the final leg of The Now Now Tour.[13] Murdoc is featured in Mission 101, a monthly web-series produced by Gorillaz in late 2018 to promote their limited edition line of G-Shock watches.[14][15]

References

1. Bananaz. HanWay Films (2008)
2. Charts of Darkness. Dazed Film & TV (2001)
3. Bainbridge, Luke (18 April 2009). "Review of Bananaz, a film about Gorillaz". the Guardian.
4. Phares, Heather (2011). "Artists – Biography – Gorillaz". Allmusic. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
5. http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/g/gorillaz01_7q/
6. Cass Browne & Damon Albarn. Rise of the Ogre (2006). ISBN 1-59448-931-9
7. "We Visited Murdoc in Jail to Learn about the New Gorillaz Album". Noisey. 31 May 2018.
8. Murdoc Niccals [@MurdocGorillaz] (4 June 2018). "SOS, I need your help! PRONTO. So, here's what I need you to do." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
9. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (25 June 2018). "Pick your side. Murdoc fans this way" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
10. "Gorillaz: Murdoc hits back at 2D in exclusive prison interview". NME. 17 July 2018.
11. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (27 October 2018). "WHO WANTS TO TALK TO UNCLE MURDOC, EH? YOU'VE GOT 5 MORE HOURS!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
12. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (20 September 2018). "Murdoc. He's back. In the nick of time" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
13. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (21 September 2018). "Have you got your ticket to the FINAL shows of #TheNowNow Tour? Don't miss your last chance to see Gorillaz live" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (20 September 2018). "G-TIME is NOW! Part 1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
15. Gorillaz [@gorillaz] (25 October 2018). "G-TIME is NOW! Watch episode 2" (Tweet) – via Twitter.