Magnus Hammersmith

Magnus Hammersmith (presumably died on October 27, 2013) was the original rhythm guitarist of the fictional death metal band Dethklok and also served as one of the band's greatest enemies. In The Prophecy, he is known as The Man Who Stands Behind Shadows and is one of the two villains mentioned by it, the other being "The Man With the Silver Face".

His speaking voice is provided by Marc Maron, while his singing voice in The Doomstar Reqiuem is provided by the show's creator Brendon Small.

Appearance
Magnus is a tall, middle-aged man with long, wavy brown hair darker than that of William Murderface and Toki Wartooth. He has a rather bony face, brown eyes, and a goatee.

His outfit consists of a black, long-sleeved, button-up shirt with small shirt pockets on both sides. He also wears dark grey jeans with a black belt with a skull and wings buckle and black shoes.

Magnus retains the same style over the years, in "Dethcamp" one can see both his current appearance in comparison to his younger self for the first time, and there are several factors that imply he has aged significantly. His hair is shown to be longer, both his hair and his goatee are now streaked with white and his face is more wrinkled. Nathan's punches appear to have permanently damaged his left eye, though it is unknown whether he has partial vision or has completely lost function of that eye.

While it's clear that Skwisgaar is the tallest member of Dethklok, during the flashback sequence and at the end of Dethcamp when Magnus and Pickles exchange greetings, Magnus is shown to tower over Toki, Pickles, and Murderface. He is also shown to be similar in height to Nathan and Skwisgaar in a photograph seen in "The Doomstar Requiem." This indicates him as one of the tallest characters in the series overall.

Concept
Magnus resembles Slayer vocalist/bassist Tom Araya or System of a Down's frontman, Serj Tankian, or Steve Vai.

Magnus' look & name may also be based on Hammerfall bassist Magnus Rosen who in addition to having the same first name the character also has similar hair color & style.

Conceptually he is like a dark Dave Mustaine, as he was a founding member of Metallica, writing an early version of Four Horsemen called "The Mechanix" and was kicked out well before their fame and the release of Kill 'Em All, with the vast majority of people seeing Four Horseman as a superior track. Though he would go on to form Megadeth which is seen as being a much more technically intricate guitar band vs the more simplistic Metallica. He was bitter, angry, and resentful towards them for almost two decades, holding a grudge after being ditched on tour and having to take a bus halfway back across the US.

Personality
Magnus was kicked out of Dethklok due to his arrogant, controlling nature and erratic violent behavior. When Nathan called Magnus out for "acting crazy," the guitarist responded by attacking the much larger man with a hunting knife, stabbing him in the shoulder while his back was turned. Nathan responds by beating Magnus unconscious, permanently damaging his left eye. That same night, Magnus tore apart the living quarters of Dethklok and wrote threatening messages on the walls with blood or red paint, promising to take revenge on Dethklok. This outburst was apparently so infamous that even Dr. Rockzo was aware of it. Magnus is implied to have an ego, as he claims the band would "suck" without him. Despite not being as fast or as technical as Toki or Skwisgaar, he feels superior to the other band members.

Years later, Magnus assumed a calmer outward demeanor, however, it was revealed that he was hiding his true intentions. He still harbored resentment towards Dethklok, and his grudge had become more pronounced as the band became hyper-famous.

Magnus developed a fixation on his replacement, Toki Wartooth, a naïve young man whose personality contrasts his own in many ways. Magnus went out of his way to befriend Toki and gain his trust, however, he secretly resented and envied Toki's role in Dethklok. Though the rest of Dethklok and Rockzo were suspicious of his intentions, Magnus appealed to Toki's accepting nature. While he continued to hang out with Toki, Magnus developed a plan to kidnap him.

Even then, despite wanting revenge, he kept a photo of the band including himself before he was kicked out. His anger seemed to stem from being doomed to obscurity while Dethklok became famous in his absence, desiring for the other members to feel his pain of being left behind. He believed the world would also be better off without them; unaware of the consequences of his actions. Upon his death, it was revealed he had thought of himself as a hero, but finally understood he was the villain.

Most bizarre of any of his actions, he seemed to have been originally happy about being in the band. He also showed a sense of sentimentality towards their group, leaving no explanation as to why he went as far as he did in the first place. Most notable, despite his behaviour, the other band members have been known to act at times no different to how he had acted on that night (they have been known to injure, act crazy, or plot against each other, including his replacement Toki). If not for him challenging the other members of the band in the first place (Pickles and Nathan), he may have stayed in the group. Though Nathan's words indicated that his initial act of "craziness" was odd even for Magnus.

Abilities
Although most of Magnus' past remains largely unclear, in his appearances on the show, he has displayed several unique talents and abilities that easily earns him a spot as one of Dethklok's greatest adversaries.

Musical Talents
Magnus initially was Dethklok's rhythm guitarist. However, it is unknown overall how skilled he was. Though there are a few "clues" to Magnus's level of guitar skills.
 * The only known Dethklok song that Magnus is credited to is "The Hammer," which is not one of the band's faster songs.  This would imply that Magnus may have been a slower and likely less technical guitarist than Toki and Skwisgaar.
 * Despite this, he believed he was necessary to the band due to being a founding member, likely because he's blinded by his own ego.
 * He is credited in "The Hammer" as having been partly involved with the songs' writing process. By creating an issue out of Pickles "making the drum solo his own," Magnus displayed a very high desire for creative input in the process.
 * The songs' existence notes that Magnus was still able to adhere to the "Dethklok sound", as Nathan refuses to allow songs to be released that do not follow this formula.
 * Magnus' stated that without him "you guys suck," indicating that in Magnus' own views, Dethklok was better off with him than without. The band itself did not desire to have a solo guitarist until Skwisgaar challenged this at Magnus' replacement auditions.
 * Based also on the auditions (and assuming he was the senior member over Magnus), Skwisgaar himself would not be content with the band hiring just any guitarist, as he himself holds a high standard towards guitar playing. This means that Magnus was at least at a decent enough level to compete with Skwisgaar, otherwise, Skwisgaar would not have tolerated Magnus' style. This is important, as he seems to hold the final word concerning Dethklok's guitar section, judging by the way he countered the other bandmembers when they dismissed Toki's initial audition.
 * During the auditions, Skwisgaar noted that Toki was the first guitarist to ever bring out a level of music abilities he never experienced before. This indicates that there was some sort of creative gap between Skwisgaar and Magnus' guitar playing ability; this is backed up by the band's rise to fame after Toki was hired, indicating that Magnus lacked something that Toki possessed. It also indicates that due to Magnus having creative control during the band's early years, Skwisgaar wasn't allowed to didn't play off with him as he would later do with Toki later on.

Magnus' choice of Guitar was also seen to be the Gibson Les Paul, which is considered a more "vintage" electric guitar compared to Swisgaar's more "Futuristic" Explorer guitar preference.

Renovationklok
Magnus is seen with the band at the moment that Dethklok was signed with Crystal Mountain Records. He does not say anything and his character is not named, but this is the first indication that the band has a more varied history than previously known.

Dethcamp
Dethcamp shows a flashback to the early days of Dethklok that reveals a lot about Magnus' personality and why he's no longer in the band. During practice, he screamed at Pickles for "making the drum pattern his own." Shortly afterward Magnus was involved in an altercation with Nathan Explosion where he, after being told that the band wasn't just his and that he was "acting crazy", proceeded to stab Nathan, who retaliated by punching him in the face and possibly blinding Magnus in one eye. Later the same night Nathan was woken up by Pickles saying, "You better come and check this out," who reveals that the band room and instruments had been destroyed along with "Revenge is Coming" scrawled on the walls.

During the episode, in an ironic twist (or perhaps in an act of measured kindness), he ends up helping Toki at Rock-a-Rooni Fantasy Camp where he is being bullied by Ludwig, one of the campers. After Toki passes out due to Ludwig forcefully shoving cake into his mouth (Toki is revealed to be diabetic in the episode Skwisklok), Magnus injects Toki with a shot of insulin to revive him. After this, Toki has a newfound respect for him and expresses interest in being his friend. Magnus does not talk to any of the other members of the band except for Pickles, whom he greets politely but coldly.

Breakup Klok
This episode reveals that he was fooling Toki and he is actually working with The Revengencers and the Metal Masked Assassin plotting revenge (whether or not he joined willingly is unknown given the mind control tactics Revengencers is infamous for).

Church of The Black Klok
In season 4 finale, Dr. Rockzo tries to warn Toki about Magnus' true nature, but Toki disregards him and attends the funeral of Roy Cornickelson with his new "friend". Magnus bids his time during the funeral until the Revengencers attack and during the panic and confusion he makes his move: he literally stabs Toki in the back in full view of the rest of the band while screaming "Revenge has come!" so they would know his intentions were malicious from the beginning. He then escapes with the Revengencers, aiding them in the kidnapping injured Toki and Abigail (though when the episode was aired, it was not clear whether they were alive).

Doomstar Requiem
"Doomstar Requiem" reveals that both Toki and Abigail Remeltindrinc are alive and being held prisoner by The Revengencers. Magnus seems to take particular delight in torturing and tormenting Toki, causing him to suffer greatly, though he also has an interest in keeping him alive as bait and is seen crudely stitching his wounds. When Ofdensen does not send Dethklok themselves to rescue Toki and Abigail, Magnus threatens to kill them, though this may have been a bluff to lure Dethklok into his trap. When he is alone, Magnus is shown to miss the companionship of Dethklok and he pulls out an old photo of the band in which they all look happy, revealing that there was a point in time when he was welcomed as a brother. He appears to resent Toki usurping this position. The gruesome death of Ishnifus Meaddle triggers some sort of remorse in Magnus, who begins to doubt his partner the Metal Masked Assassin even though he himself had no problem hurting people before. The Assassin does not take kindly to these protests and since he sees Magnus as having outlived his usefulness, he impales the former Dethklok member on his spear. Though his injury is almost certainly fatal, Magnus lives long enough to witness Dethklok harness the power of the Blazing Star to kill the Assassin, which leaves him awe. After seeing this, Magnus concludes that Dethklok "has the power of gods" and that he was wrong to try to stop them, at which point he commits suicide, fulfilling his role in The Prophecy.

Quotes

 * "I'm Crazy? YOU don't even KNOW WHAT CRAZY EVEN LOOKS LIKE!"
 * "Without me, you guys suck!"
 * "You're okay." (Magnus to Toki after saving his life)
 * "Hello Pickles....." (Magnus to Pickles in Dethcamp)
 * "REVENGE HAS COME!"

Trivia

 * His role as The Man who Stands Behinds Shadows is a nod to his eventual obscurity when he was kicked out of the band. To "stand in the shadow of someone else" means that while you are associated with them, people rarely acknowledge you or your talents. However, Magnus' title means he is even more obscure as he is not just standing in their shadows, he is standing behind the shadow itself.
 * On Dethalbum III, Magnus is given writing credits for the song The Hammer. This may imply that despite his fallout with the others, they still respected him enough to give him credit for the song.
 * Despite his violence and hatred toward Dethklok and his own plans to kidnap and torture them, Magnus responds with anger and horror when The Man With the Silver Face actually murders the elderly priest Ishnifus Meaddle, leading to some fan debate over his moral contradictions. For example, he also once saved Toki from a group of bullies, only to cause him serious harm later on. If his lyrics are to be believed, Magnus also does not appear to wish to kill the members of Dethklok, stating he wished them to "live in obscurity."
 * In creating an issue out of Pickles "making the drum solo his own," Magnus displayed a strong desire for creative control. This is a stark contrast to his replacement, Toki Wartooth, who states he wants no creative input whatsoever.
 * Currently, it is apparent that Magnus has died in the series. However, due to the cliffhanger ending at the end of The Doomstar Requiem, as well as minor characters making cameo appearances at certain points in the show, it is unknown if Magnus has truly died from his suicide attempt and if he will ever return to the series. This is subject to a lot of fan speculation.
 * The suicide of Magnus seems to be a literary nod to the ancient Japanese ritual of seppuku, done to restore honor and to atone for one's errors.
 * As of The Doomstar Requiem, Magnus is the second former member of Dethklok to have died, with the first being X2P1158 in Rehabklok. He is also the first former member of Dethklok, with the second being X2P-1158.
 * Magnus is believed to be much older than the rest of the band members, he was most likely in his mid-thirties while the rest of the band was in their early twenties and Toki was around his mid-teens. This is evidence by being the only one to have grey hair, as well as his preference for older more vintage models of electric guitars.
 * "Hammersmith" was the name of a Canadian rock band
 * The word "Magnus" means "great" while a "smith" is a craftsman who works with metals. A Smiths title usually refers to what they make or work with such as a Tinsmith (one who works with the metal Tin) or Blades smith (someone who makes bladed tools or weapons such as knives, swords or daggers). So Magnus' own name reads as implied "Great Smith of Hammers".
 * In terms of music, given his role of being a guitarist, it may refer to the Hammer-on technique of playing, this technique can be heard in The Hammer when a series of quick notes are playing that go down in excession causing a "hammer" effect heard in the song.
 * Brendon Small had offered a more in-depth explanation for Magnus Hammersmith's character, stating, "Magnus is written to be a selfish narcissist living in the past. He learns too late that he had the power to change himself and chooses to end instead. DK chooses to change & risk all for a friend- let them be your guides- not Magnus."