The Complexity of Lord Humungus

Lord Humungus Rad-Lands


The best way to make a villain memorable is with a striking appearance. The best way to make aa striking appearance is to obscure someone’s face. This simple choice does two things: it makes the viewer want to know what’s under the mask and causes the viewer recognizes a specific mask as iconic as it’s more memorable than someone’s face. These are just a few of the reasons why Star Wars’ Darth Vader instantly became a culture icon.  Lord Humungus is instantly recognizable as well. Humungus’ hockey mask is iconic in its dull metallic sheen, but noticeably different from Friday 13ths Jason Voorhees.

Humungus’ mask serves a purpose. It is hiding something. Director George Miller went out of his way to get a shot showing Lord Humungus has no ears, his head is sickly (with visible veins on the scalp), and his hair is wispy (outwardly looking like radiation sickness). Notice we first see Humungus’ scars just as he says “We all lost someone we love”. This leads the audience to wonder if the two are connected, if somehow Humungus got his scars while trying to protect someone he cared about and it is because he failed that he became a monster.

Mad Max Humungus Head Exposed

From the standpoint of art direction, the genius of Humungus’ appearance is more than a mask, it’s his clothing and physique. Notably, Humungus wears a thick rubber collar which enhances the size of his neck, giving him a more masculine and intimidating appearance to match is already intense muscle-mass.

Mad Max Humungus Gun

They say you can tell a lot about a person by the contents of their wallet. In Mad Max 2, you can tell a lot about a raider by the contents of his gun case. In a world where everything is decaying, Lord Humungus has a beautiful case for his .44 revolver. The chest contains a few pins of the Australian army, a WWI-era military photograph, many missing bullets, and most interestingly, a Prussian Totenkopf (more on that later). Just by looking at this case we know a lot about Humungus. Primarily, we are led to believe he was once a soldier (which may explain why he has so many ex-policemen in his tribe). In a 1984 interview, George Miller confirmed these suspicions, saying Humungus was written as having been a “military man.”

When Humungus actually uses his revolver, notice he still has several bullets remaining, until the very end of the movie when the rig breaks through his blockade. This seems to reinforce the idea that Humungus is willing to compromise and wishes to avoid violence and pain when possible. It’s a subtle touch, but an important one. Another creator could have given Humungus a side arm with infinite ammo to create drama. George Miller gave Humungus a backstory and character traits told through his personal effects.

Mad Max Lord humungus car


The minions of Lord Humungus are reflections of the man himself. Toadie (the herald) shows Humungus’ dramatic side, building him up as a prophetic figure of the wasteland. Wez (the warrior) represents the insanity of the post-apocalyptic world, where men chase their desires without any forethought to their consequences and devolve into animals.

The relationship between Humungus and Wez is perhaps the most interesting. Wez is his master’s Id, desperate to slaughter in his wanton quest for revenge, but he is physically kept in bondage by Humungus’ chains once he is revealed to be too bloodthirsty.  Wez is Humungus’ last resort, a true dog of war unleashed only for the most desperate situations.

Finally, there is Humungus’ speech style. Whenever Humungus speaks, the audience gets a glimpse at an educated man in great pain. Though his followers are primarily ruthless vultures, Humungus offers Pappagallo a chance to “just walk away”, stating here has been too much violence, too much pain. Whether or not this was a genuine offer or a trap only George Miller knows, but it shows Humungus is cunning, intelligent, and perhaps even merciful.

Lord Humungus Wez

Most interesting about Humungus’ relationship to his soldiers is the use of homoerotic undertones. In one scene, the warlord can be heard calling for “Gayboy Bereserkers” and “Smegma Crazies.” This throwaway line combined with Wez’ relation to the Golden Youth raises questions about the tribe’s role in a post-society world. Certainly, the marauders aren’t exclusively gay as there are multiple females seen in the initial refinery siege and the infamous “tent lovers” scene.

Finally, in Lord Humungus’ gun case we find a Prussian Totenkopf which is combined with another small detail greatly expands the lord’s character. During the night torture scene, Humungus can be heard reciting “Mein Sohn, mein Sohn” and “Mein Vater, Mein Vater”. These are lines from the Prussian philosopher Goethe’s (pronounced Ger-ta) poem “Der Erlkönig”. The poem describes a child who cries to his father that he is being attacked by unseen forces. The father ignores the boy and when he finally looks down, the child is dead.

Perhaps Humungus is using this is a metaphor for the collapse of society. More impressive is Humungus (presumably an Australian soldier) delivering this in the German tongue. From this tiny quote, we know Lord Humungus is tremendously well educated as he is able to recite an 18th century German poem from memory.

The character of Lord Humungus shines through in the visuals and movements. The little details about this antagonist tell the audience everything they need to know about the dogs of war without any exposition. Subtle characterization is best achieved by knowing your characters before putting them in a situation. For over 30 years, George Miller has been a master of this subtle character development starting with The Road Warrior and showing that he still has it with the characters of 2015’s Fury Road.

15 comments on “The Complexity of Lord Humungus

  1. Dave says:

    One nit to pick here: When Humungus takes aim at the engine block of the semi rather than at Max, this is less an example of a desire to avoid bloodshed than it is more evidence of Humungus as a thinking tactician. He’s obviously not averse to killing, as evidenced throughout the movie, but he’s also very intelligent and goal-oriented: his goal is to obtain the fuel. If he shoots Max, there’s no telling what will happen to the truck as a result; most likely it will crash and very possibly burn, leaving Humungus with no prize. But by disabling the truck’s engine, it will more likely come to controlled stop, allowing him to kill Max (or recruit him, or whatever) at his leisure *and* capture the gas.


  2. Steve says:

    Fantastic article, nice analysis of a brilliantly written character, one of my favourites in my favourite-ever movie. Humungus is a many-layered being as you’ve fleshed out well in the article and another aspect to him which has not yet been touched on is the fact that he isn’t actually Australian. The man who played Humungus, Swedish actor Kjell Nilsson, clearly speaks with an accent and this was one of the things which fascinated me about the character when I first saw the movie – I remember thinking to myself as I went ‘inside’ the character: where is that accent from? How did this man become to be stranded in Outback Australia then become the Lord Humungus? The scene of the back of his head pulsating with wisps of Gollum-like hair swaying in the breeze, coupled with his huge physique and Euro-accent really fascinated me. Great article – loved it!!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Gas in a tank only lasts about a month before it decomposes. Sorry to burst your bubble, but, in reality, the entire “Mad Max” movie series was just someone’s bad nightmare. And look at how many people have believed that it could possibly happen. So sad. John V. Karavitis


  4. zed says:

    Where this legend about the Goethe poem comes from ? I think, one day someboday said on a forum than in one german version of the VHS the sound mix was a bit different and we could heard, on this forgottent lost version, this poem. Then this tale was told, and told, and told again on the internet. Now it’s like a truth, articles links sources to themselves ! 😀
    But, who ever took the time to ask to the actor about this ?!
    Sorry to tell you there’s nothing true about that ! There’s no poem told by Humungus !


    • ?? says:

      Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
      Was Erlkönig mir leise verspricht? –
      Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
      In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.

      Not clear in this interview @9:53


      • zed says:

        I interviewed him the same day Karol made this intw, I asked him about this Goethe Poem and Kjell specifically told me that was a load of bullshit.


  5. Panzerfaust says:

    I was 20 years old serving in the US Army when I first saw Mad Max 2 The Road Warrior. This was also the first time I had taken LSD and my friends had to restrain me on either side in the theatre.


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