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| “ | I live, I die, I live again! | „ |
| ~ Nux's catchphrase. |
| “ | Oh, what a day! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!! | „ |
| ~ Nux |
Nux is the tritagonist of the 2015 post-apocalyptic film Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise.
He was portrayed by Nicholas Hoult, who also portrayed the young Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast in the X-Men franchise, Jack in Jack and the Giant Slayer, R.M. Renfield in Renfield, and voiced Jon Arbuckle in The Garfield Movie.
He is a member of the Immortan Joe's settlement known as The Citadel, but later allies himself with Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa.
Backstory[]
Nux was a War Pup that was brought up as a mechanic in The Citadel. Fanatically believing in the cult of the V8 and all things mechanical he desperately wanted to get as close as possible to becoming a machine himself. His religious devotion is represented by engine block scarification on his chest. After coming of age and being lucky enough to live this long he turned into a War Boy and became a driver for Immortan Joe.
Nux - much like the rest of the War Boys - is inherently sick and on the brink of dying because of the environment he's been living in. The first time we see him he's getting a blood transfusion from Max - whom he calls his 'blood bag'. He also uses Max as an adrenaline donor while he's driving. On his neck he's got two deadly tumors that he affectionately calls Larry & Barry. Nux's life is almost over for him but then he sees Furiosas' escape as the perfect opportunity to prove his devotion to Immortan Joe and entering afterlife in Valhalla. He spray paints his mouth with chrome to both show his worship for mechanical things and get high before committing suicide by flooding his vehicle with gasoline and ramming it into Furiosas' War Rig. His plan fails.
Nux's mentality is of a child driven by impulse, desperation and absolute religious devotion.
Mad Max: Fury Road[]
Nux first appears at the brink of death when the word spreads that Furiosa has taken Immortan Joe's wives. He watches the War Boys collect their steering wheels from a shrine, but cannot go himself as he is in need of blood due to inherent sickness. When he catches Slit taking his steering wheel, he begs Slit to take him and Max, who is acting as Nux's "blood bag", with him so Nux can catch Furiosa and be rewarded by Joe, who will supposedly bring him to the gates of Valhalla. Nux straps Max to the hood of his car and eagerly chases Furiosa alongside the others. They attempt to get close to the Rig, but Furiosa shakes most of them off. Nux gets close to the Rig as Max attempts to break free. Furiosa drives toward a huge oncoming sand storm. Nux continues to chase after her, even as they head into treacherous sand tornadoes. A few War Boys get killed in the storm, while Nux and Max are spun out of control, causing them to crash.
Max wakes up and begins fighting Furiosa. Nux wakes up and helps Max. Nux breaks off the chain and Max tries to take the rig for himself. However, it stalls because Furiosa installed a killswitch and only she knows how to keep it going. Max lets her back on the rig but he doesn't want to take the rest of the women. Furiosa insists that they join him, as she is guiding the women to a location from her youth called The Green Place. They ride off while Nux sneaks on board.
Once again, the War Boys try to apprehend Furiosa, this time accompanied by Joe and his army. Nux attempts to help Joe, who sprays chrome paint on Nux's mouth and promises he will "carry Nux to the gates of Valhalla himself" if he succeeds. Almost immediately, Nux loses his gun in front of Joe, who continues driving with disappointment, leaving Nux shamed and distraught.
He lays on the floor, distraught that he has failed Joe yet again and has lost his chance of joining his personal army. Capable, one of Joe's wives, sits and consoles him. He tells her this was his chance to enter the gates of Valhalla as his tumors, "Larry and Barry", or the night fevers he gets will eventually kill him. Nux slips back into the Rig with the promise of helping the women evade Joe. Capable's kindness touched Nux as he had never known any kind of compassion, and so decides to help the Wives complete their escape to a better life.
On their travels, the group comes across the survivors of the Green Place, which is now uninhabitable. The whole group rides back in the direction of the Citadel. Joe sees them riding from his telescope, knowing full-well what their plan is. He gathers his army and gives chase. Max and Furiosa kill some of the War Boys, while Max gets Joe to kill The People Eater by using him as a human shield.
Toast is captured by Joe. Furiosa is impaled and gets weaker as Joe and Rictus gain momentum. Toast distracts Joe long enough to give Furiosa an opportunity to hook Joe's mask onto the wheels of his car. The Rig then heads toward the canyon, with Rictus still trying to kill the group, which forces Nux to remain in the Rig to keep the powerful Rictus from reaching his allies.
Nux says goodbye to Capable, mouthing "Witness me," and she performs the Vulvani gesture of acceptance and respect to the deceased; Nux swerves against the canyon, sacrificing himself to kill Rictus and collapse the overpass to put an end to Joe's army, finally getting the glorious death he wanted, but not for a tyrant's ego, but in a sacrifice to save the lives and futures of the innocent.
Vehicle[]
Nux drives a highly customized 1934 Ford Deuce Coupe. A classic hot rod stripped of all paint with a big block V8 engine that's both super and turbocharged. His vehicle also has basic nitrous oxide installation engaged manually by a crank valve for additional boost in power. The front of the vehicle is equipped with a cross to which an unlucky captive is strapped to provide a steady stream of adrenaline for Nux via IV tubing directly into his veins. The steering wheel is custom and completely removable. In the back there is space for a passenger, in the movie it is occupied by Slit. The vehicle is peculiarly capable of driving in reverse at high speeds and also has a system which allows for flooding it with gasoline to perform a suicide attack. Despite vast modifications, Nux is not particularly attached to his own vehicle. He merely uses it as means of reaching Valhalla by flooding it with gasoline and ramming himself into Furiosas' War Rig.
External Links[]
- Nux on the Mad Max Wiki
- Nux on the Villains Wiki