Nux (Mad Max character)

Nux is one of the main characters in Mad Max: Fury Road, portrayed by Nicholas Hoult. He is a member of Immortan Joe's army of War Boys and lives in the settlement known as The Citadel, but later allies himself with Max Rockatansky and Imperator Furiosa after feeling responsible for the death of Angharad, one of Joe's five Wives.

Character overview

Origins

Nux's family is unusual for staying together out of love and refusing to sell one another out for a better life. When his mother dies of illness and his father is sent away to perform dangerous work, Nux is left alone and captured. He becomes a War Pup brought up as a mechanic in The Citadel after being taken in by the War Boys. Fanatically believing in the "Cult of the V8", the surrogate fatherhood of Immortan Joe, and all things mechanical he desperately wants to come as close as possible to being a machine himself. This influences his choice of chrome spray as a drug. His religious devotion is represented by engine block scarification on his chest and his desire to "die historic on the Fury Road", which is the desire of most War Boys due to the fact they have "half lives" (meaning that they die young). He takes on the name "Nux" meaning "a hard nut to crack".

Events of Mad Max: Fury Road

Nux — much like the rest of the War Boys — is inherently sick and on the brink of dying because of the environmental hazards. He has developed two deadly tumors on his neck whom he affectionately calls "Larry & Barry". Nux sees the Furiosas' escape as the perfect opportunity to prove his devotion to Immortan Joe and enter the afterlife in Valhalla.^[1] When the mission to intercept Imperator Furiosa and Joe's wives begins, Nux sees his colleague Slit collect a steering wheel. Nux begs for the chance to accompany Slit with his "blood bag" Max. Nux straps Max to the front of his vehicle and gives chase almost immolating himself until Max stops him.

The following morning when Nux awakes, Max is fighting Furiosa and her fugitives despite still being tethered to Nux. Believing that Max seeks the promised reward, Nux helps him to break free. However, Max drives off with the women leaving Nux to sneak aboard Furiosa's War Rig. When he is discovered, he is berated as "fodder for an old man's war" and thrown off. Upon reuniting with the War Boys, Nux claims that he knows a way onto the War Rig and brandishes a scrap of white cloth from a woman's dress as proof. Joe gives Nux the task of shooting Furiosa in the head, but Nux fumbles the gun almost immediately. A skirmish breaks out leading to the death of Joe's favourite wife Angharad which further compounds Nux's humiliation.

Capable, another of Joe's fleeing Wives, finds Nux lying morosely in the rear turret, insulting himself and bashing his head. As he laments of his fatal tumors and missed opportunities to enter Valhalla, Capable consoles him. She says that if he has already survived death three times he must be destined to do something great. With his presence known only to Capable, Nux reveals himself when the War Rig becomes stuck in the mud. He winches it to a tree, allowing the party to escape and earning their trust. The survivors reach their destination only to learn that it has become uninhabitable. Nux and Capable grow closer as Max formulates a plan to retake the Citadel. Upon hearing the plan, Capable suggests that the people pretend to be Nux's prisoners in order to buy themselves time. Nux replies that this "feels like hope".

Catching onto their plan, Joe sends his crew after the War Rig. After Max and Furiosa kill most of the War Boys, Furiosa kills Joe by hooking his mask onto their wheels. Nux is visibly shaken by this. The rig then heads toward a canyon with Joe's son Rictus still trying to kill the group. Nux plans to distract Rictus and join the wives in Joe's car at the last minute. This becomes impossible however, when Rictus removes the engine. Knowing that there is no escape, Nux says goodbye to Capable and the other wives before whispering "witness me" and sacrificing himself. Having grown from his initial mentality of a child — based on impulse desperation and religious devotion — Nux takes solace in the fact that he is helping people and embraces the dramatic death.

Vehicle

Nux drives a highly customized 1933 Chevrolet 5 Window Coupe with a big block V8 engine. The hot rod stripped of all paint also has a basic nitrous oxide installation engaged manually by a crank valve for a boost in power. The front of the vehicle is equipped with a lancer's perch. The cross is used to hold Max while he is acting as Nux's blood bag. The steering wheel is custom and completely removable. In the back there is space for a passenger, in the movie it is occupied by the character "Slit". Peculiarly, the vehicle is capable of driving in reverse at high speeds. Nux considers the vehicle just as expendable as himself; he does not hesitate to flood the cabin with gasoline to make it into a driving suicide bomb to facilitate the glorious death he desires.

Development

Nux's character was named after the Latin word for "nut". If translated figuratively, it means "a thing of no value".^[2] Nux's make-up consisted of 8 silicone prosthetics followed by airbrushing, clay application and various levels of dirt. This make-up had to be applied 77 times and took 2 hours each time.^[3] Nux's imaginary friends named "Larry & Bary" were originally conceived as glove puppets by Brendan McCarthy. They were reinvented as faces on Nux's tumorous lymph nodes of Hoult's own design.

References