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Nathan
Nathan header
“You took my brother from me!” —MMA
“But we’d rather burn in Hell than let you take ours!” —Nathan
Background information
Full name Nathan Explosion
Sex Male
Mortality Confirmed alive
Origin Florida
Role Frontman of Dethklok
Prophetic hero
Relations Charles F. Offdensen (guardian)
Voiced by Brendon Small
Jan-David Rönfeldt (German)
Pedro Tena (Spanish)
Dan Osorio (Latin)

Nathan Explosion is a fictional member and the lead vocalist of the virtual metal band Dethklok who are the lead characters in the animated series Metalocalypse. He is voiced by the show's creator, Brendon Small, who also writes the music for the show. He serves as the main protagonist of the show.

Appearance[]

He is a tall, imposing figure (only Skwisgaar is taller) with long jet black hair, black fingernails, pale skin and green eyes. He has a very broad chest and shoulders and stands with a slightly hunched-forward posture. When performing on stage, he sometimes wears black and white corpse paint along with his bandmates. Throughout the series, Nathan's appearances changes:

  • In Dethgov, in the childhood flashback, a very young version of Nathan has his hair cut to jaw-length and his clothes are the same as his adult version in the show.
  • In Renovationklok, at the time the newly formed Dethklok had signed with Crystal Mountain Records, Nathan's hair was almost symmetrical, save for a stray hair strand, and he wore a sleeveless black shirt, black jeans and boots. This was when Nathan was in his prime, as he had a muscular build from playing football in his high school days. This young version of Nathan appeared again in a flashback in episode Dethcamp.
  • By the time of Metalocalypse, Nathan's hair was parted back on his left ear and he wore a grayish black T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black boots. Physically, he has very broad shoulders, a wide chest, and prominent high cheekbones and a square jaw. He had also become visibly older, having developing wrinkles on his face, losing his muscle definition, and growing a noticeable beer gut from not working out as often. He briefly regained his muscles as a result of working out due to boredom in Going Downklok, though quickly lost them after the episode.
  • During episodes Girlfriendklok and Performanceklok, Nathan wears a light purple polo shirt with pink horizonal stripes just below the chest, light blue jeans, light gray shoes, and has his hair cut so that part of the hair mainly draped over the shoulder is longer than the one in back, and the stray hair strand is gone.
  • In Dethwedding, Nathan is seen wearing a black tuxedo along with the rest of the band during Pickles's older brother Seth's wedding reception.
  • In the music video "Thunderhorse", Nathan is wearing barbarian garb inspired by ancient Norse Vikings and Conan the Barbarian, and he wields a double-sided axe.
Nathe

Nathan's leisure wear

Concept[]

Cannibal Corpse lead singer George Fisher has said in interviews that Nathan is based on him. Brendon Small has confirmed in an interview to have based Nathan on Fisher. It was speculated by fans that he was also based on Peter Steele from Type O Negative, though this has since been disproven by Brendon.[1]

Personality[]

Nathan Explosion is the leader, frontman, lead vocalist and "lyrical visionary" of Dethklok. He always speaks in a very deep, grave voice, known as a death growl, even when not singing in public. As the band's leader he is responsible for making the final decision on most issues the band faces, a source of much of his character development throughout the series. As the physically strongest of the band he has also taken on a more protective role over time, guarding the band in times of danger and leading the charge against The Revegencers in Doomstar.

Compared to the rest of Dethklok, Nathan is quite the stoic individual, even in the most dire of situations. While this is mostly for keeping up appearances, as showing emotions is regarded as not "brutal" or "metal", Nathan has been that way since he was a child for reasons unknown. This makes him appear emotionally stunted in that regard; combined with his large and powerful build, Nathan is seen by the masses as a brutal and intimidating figure. Nathan is also more sensible than his bandmates (besides Pickles, who has more or less expertise in that respect, but this is questionable due to his drinking habits). According to an expert procured by the Tribunal, Nathan's psychological profile is similar to that of former Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin, in his ability to "galvanize the proletariat". Nathan, appropriately, would be ecstatic about being compared to Stalin. Despite his position as lead songwriter for the band and his multilingual abilities, he has a simple way of talking, often describing things and assessing their value in terms of how "brutal" or "metal" they are. This is a result of a simple way of thinking because of his limited education: he is often is straight to the point on a topic and does not use many complex words. In addition, if asked to elaborate on a subject, he would spend a significant amount of time trying to figure things out. He is also a very poor public speaker and has a hard time forming even a complete sentence, which often leads to him giving up. He is fully aware of his own flaws in addition and considers himself "stupid".

However, either despite or because of his more simplistic thinking, He has often resulted to simple solutions to problems or seen things the others missed. In Performanceklok, he was able to draw the conclusion that Dr. Twinkletits was using the banana stickers as a form of psychological validation and the band found a way to stop it. In Doublebookedklok, Nathan deduced that Offdensen was beginning to hate the band in light of unwittingly booking two concerts at the same time in two countries in conflict, potentially starting WWIII. When Toki and Murderface were not happy with their standing within the band, the pair were fired.

Despite his apparent seriousness, Nathan occasionally smiles in some episodes, such as Dethkomedy, especially over something he really likes. He is shown to have a dark sense of humor, making many jokes at Murderface's expense. The things he likes are, ironically, pretty normal, such as going to Disneyland and eating chips. He even has a childlike approach to these things at times. He likes to drink booze, though he doesn't regard it as real "food". While he can drink gallons of it, he gets as drunk as Pickles after drinking tequila and tends to create havoc in a drunken stupor as shown in a flashback in Prankklok. However, there are situations that would likely elicit an emotional response; for example, dealing with things he doesn't like will bring out anger and/or annoyance, while having someone close to him or himself be negatively affected in some way will have him retaliate.

He seems to be the only band member to desire a monogamous relationship (with the possible exception of Toki), despite the band's fame and fanbase resulting in a large number of "sluts" the band can pick up willingly. He is not above having one-nightstands with his willing and enthusiastic fans, but as seen in Girlfriendklok, Fanklok and Doomstar Requiem he is looking for a long-term relationship.

Despite the unofficial "no caring for each other" rule, Nathan does, indeed, care more for his bandmates than he'd like to admit, since he doesn't hesitate to support them in times of need. He especially feels this way towards Toki, who is regarded as the "little brother" of Dethklok. While Nathan pokes fun at him at times, he often goes out of his way to protect Toki.

He is impulsive and violent towards things he dislikes. For example, he once purchased several designer watches with the sole intent of smashing them. He had a habit of flipping tables when upset, though this stopped when it was discovered that Offdensen bolted the tables to the ground to prevent this; this upset Nathan, whom snapped at Offdensen and told him "you DO NOT get to take throwing tantrums away from me." Suggesting Nathan needs to do so to let out his anger. Nathan also strongly dislikes anything that are associated with Dethklok's fans or "regular jackoffs".

Due to personal experience and the amount of authority he and Pickles exhibit within Dethklok, the pair has been described by Offdensen as the most responsible. Despite protests, Nathan can be seen on occasion looking after the band with their interests in mind, such as understanding and respecting Skwisgaar's issues with his absentee father in Fatherklok and trying to dissuade Toki from eating too much candy in Skwisklok (though Toki didn't listen and ended up with diabetes in later seasons). He also took Murderface into consideration in Birthdayface by buying him a custom-made limousine made from some of history's most brutal moments on his birthday, causing Murderface to cry tears of blood. Despite Nathan's feelings towards his bandmates, he feels obligated to look after them because, without him, everything would fall apart. He even kept the remainder of Dethklok together in their early days, after expelling Magnus Hammersmith from the band until they found Toki as their new rhythm guitarist.

He also has displayed a sense of respect for personal space and privacy of others, including himself. For example, he warned the band against interfering with each other's personal lives when Toki was constantly drunk towards the end of Season 2 and did not like it when his bandmates interfered with his dating attempts in Fertilityklok. When needing to discuss things professionally with Abigail Remeltindtdrinc shortly after she was hired; he tried (but failed) to have a private discussion without the band about her telling the band what to do.

Nathan isnt above appreciating others, nor giving them compliments. Liking Dick Knubbler as their producer, telling Jean-Pierre that he likes the coffee, and even finding the vague metal qualities of a Christmas tree Toki put up (though he did have it altered to be more brutal).

Skills & Hobbies[]

Nathan appears to be cross-dominant, as an example of being a lefthanded shooter, but a righthanded writer. But this is reversed when it comes to holding the microphone or using melee weapons, such as the sword in the music video for "Black Fire Upon Us", so Nathan is also considered ambidextrous.

He has also been hinted to have a level of multilingual capabilities, speaking fluent French in episodes Mordland (complimenting Dethklok's chef about a drink) and Dethsiduals (to apologize to a winery owner about Toki Wartooth and William Murderface's unruly behavior). Nathan is capable of reading Norwegian in Dethdad when he correctly reads that the "first black metal records shop that started it all" Toki introduces the band to is a smoked fish shop. However, no other instances of reading Norwegian has been shown, so it must be a crude understanding.

Nathan is capable of driving a motorcycle, as seen in the opening introduction of every Metalocalypse episode and briefly in Religionklok.

As mentioned before, Nathan is the only Dethklok member shown to be proficient in firearms as he is able to use rifles and bazookas in episodes Dethdad and Doublebookedklok. In both cases, he has a very good grasp with all shooting weapons and an exceptional aim.

Although his body is currently out of shape, Nathan was quite strong even in his prime and has even been seen weight-lifting. As of now, he is likely the physically strongest of the group as he can still deliver devastating punches to people he doesn't like and lift things several times heavier than his own body weight.

Despite his initial reluctance to do so, Nathan is actually skilled at cunnilingus; having gone down on Abigail so well, that she moaned loud enough to echo through the ship.

Music Talents[]

He has extraordinary talent in music and is Dethklok's main songwriter. His often violent lyrics are able to move large audiences into mass hysteria. Leadership of the band is split between Pickles and Nathan.

Nathan is apparently a lead songwriting force in Dethklok (despite Murderface's claims otherwise) and demonstrates specific knowledge of music and songwriting, particularly observable in Cleanso when he mentions "Crosby, Stills and Nash" among other famous names. During Dethklok's travels, Nathan comes up with violent ideas for song material, which he records on a portable digital recording device. He has exacting standards and appears to have the final word in the music Dethklok produces; he will erase entire finished Dethklok albums if they do not ultimately meet his approval.

However, this perfectionist behavior is pointed out by Pickles to be counterproductive, since delaying an album has devastating consequences. Although the singer and frontman of the band, Nathan has displayed little other music talent outside of his vocal contributions. However, he is the only band member who actually "knows" what the sound of Dethklok is, whereas the other band members don't mind if a song is on the album which is not the "Dethklok sound". If introduced to any sound other than what fits Dethklok, Nathan will completely object to the idea.

Education/Training[]

Nathan has a notable lack of education. He dropped out of high school and, thus, never finishing his education, Nathan's knowledge is fairly limited in a lot of areas. Due to the fact he didn't speak until 5 years old, Nathan likely suffered from issues with an undiagnosed Global Developmental Delay (GDD) based Language disorder, possibly one such as Dyslexia. This is also notable considering his simple way of thinking and talking, as well as even his stoic personality even as a child, are traits that individuals with a form of learning difficulty can suffer from despite them otherwise appearing "normal". Moments of this include "Dethkids" where Nathan is shown having trouble reading Shakespeare, and "Dethgov" where he struggles to give the written speeches that Offdensen gave for his elections.

It is also notable that it is not uncommon for children with learning issues to drop out of school, as Nathan did, failing to complete their education due to the educational systems failing to ether acknowledge they have an underlining problem or cater for an individuals needs. However, it is not unheard of for individuals to excel despite their limitations due to excelled talents as is the case of Nathan and his songwriting. He is the only band member with an apparent learning disorder.

It is also possible that Nathan is autistic, as he shows signs of being on the autism spectrum - including literal thinking, an obsessive focus on specific topics of interest (which in Nathan's case is metal music), speech difficulties, and a lack of social awareness.

Relationships[]

Skwisgaar Skwigelf[]

Nathan knew Skwisgaar from the early days of Dethklok and got along with the tall Swede well enough to keep him around as the band's lead guitarist. They have a fairly symbiotic relationship and often collaborate on production of their songs; Nathan is responsible for writing the lyrics down, while Skwisgaar takes care of all the guitar and bass arrangements. They often casually converse with each other with no problem, and while the reason why is unknown, they presumably have a respect towards each other's talent and brutality. When Skwisgaar was going through family issues in Fatherklok, Nathan chose to respect his boundaries and warns Murderface not to play on his depression.

Toki Wartooth[]

Alongside Pickles, Nathan often acts like a big brother/father figure towards Toki, but sometimes he makes fun of him and excludes from band activities, albeit at a lesser extent as opposed with Murderface. Because Toki is the youngest of the band, Nathan tries to protect him from anything that could potentially put him in danger. He once tried to lecture him about the dangers of eating too much sweets and drinking too much alcohol. In Dethcamp, he started fearing for Toki's life when he learns they left him alone with Magnus Hammersmith, Dethklok's original rhythm guitarist, at the Rock-a-Rooni Fantasy camp. In the same episode, he relentlessly chased down a Dutch bully for tormenting Toki and smashing a snowglobe Nathan gave him before he went to camp. Pickles once referred to Nathan's caring for the young Norwegian as "overparenting" him, but so far no one has objected to it.

William Murderface[]

Nathan generally finds Murderface an unpleasant person to be around most of the time, and often makes him the brunt of his jokes and criticism at the bassist's expense. He also focuses more of his blame on Murderface whenever he and Toki get themselves in trouble, most likely because he knows that Murderface strung him along in the first place. While not particularly close, Nathan considers him an important contributor to Dethklok's image and a full-fledged member of the band. This is partly why Murderface has been around for so long. In Dethdoubles, Nathan has been seen comforting Murderface after his double leaves. In the Doomstar Requiem, it has been shown that Nathan is also willing to protect even Murderface whenever possible.

Pickles[]

Nathan and Pickles are the most grounded of the band in terms of personality, and are both described by manager Offdensen as the most "responsible" (though they beg to differ). While they often get up to their usual shenanigans and fool around, Nathan and Pickles work hard to keep Dethklok up and running, managing musical production and ensuring their bandmates' safety. They are close friends since the formation of Dethklok and serve as foils for each other; Pickles often tries to counter Nathan's perfectionism by pointing out that constantly re-recording songs just because they weren't "good" enough is damaging financially and socially, as it causes mass suicides if an album is delayed. Their friendship is showcased in Prankklok, in which they plan a "friender-bender" just for the two of them to drink alcohol and pal around. But at the end of the episode, Nathan destroys the master record because he heard voices telling him to do so (the voices might be whales or another sea leviathan) and this causes a rift in his friendship with Pickles. In the subsequent episodes, Pickles is angry at Nathan for destroying their hard work for no apparent reason and Nathan refuses to apologize, driving them further apart. Things only become worse in Going Downklok, when both of them are sexually frustrated and compete to win the attention of Abigail. After Nathan hooks up with Abigail by pure luck, Pickles' frustration reaches its peak and he angrily announces he will quit the band when Nathan declares that he and Abigail are a couple. Nathan and Pickles spend the majority of their time in Breakup Klok apart from each other, trying to build a future outside of Dethklok with little success. Nathan finally apologizes to Pickles during the funeral of Roy Cornickelson even though it causes him to throw up blood. As of Doomstar Requiem, their friendship seems to be repaired, though Pickles may still harbor some jealousy towards Nathan and Abigail's possible relationship (it could also be said that Pickles simply does not want to think about sad things like his two friends being kidnapped).

Magnus Hammersmith[]

Though Magnus was once a member of Dethklok, it was clear that they didn't like each other very much. During a band disagreement, Magnus tried to murder Nathan in a fit of rage, forcing the singer to kick him out permanently. Despite this, Magnus' presence continued to haunt the other band members until his recent emergence as a counselor at the Rock-a-Rooni Fantasy Camp. Nathan suspects his motive for befriending Toki was to kill him out of spite for the band "replacing" him as Dethklok's rhythm guitarist; his suspicions were eventually proven when Magnus betrayed Toki and stabbed him in the back while the Revengencers attacked in Church of the Black Klok, cementing Dethklok's as well as Nathan's hatred for Magnus.

Love[]

While Nathan has professed his passion for all things brutal and dark, his ability to maintain romantic relationships with women also suggests his desire to love and be loved in all of its form and splendor. However, his romantic pursuits have been unsuccessful so far, with his girlfriends either turning out to be too controlling like Rebecca Nightrod, or ending up "stolen" by his bandmates. In Fanklok, Nathan started dating Trindle, a Dethklok fan, only to break it off when he sees first hand that she has a deranged obsession for anyone resembling him. Initially he shows no interest in the new music producer Abigail Remeltindrinc, but during the Going Downklok both experience a sexual frustration that leads to them hooking up.

Afterward, Nathan assumes they are in a relationship but Abigail denies this and insists their encounter was a one-time thing. The two of them don't speak again because Abigail is kidnapped during the season finale. The two share a kiss at the conclusion of Doomstar Requiem, possibly indicating that they have started a relationship.

In Army of the Doomstar, Abigail shows up to the funeral to find Nathan in a distressed state. He proposes marriage to her and Abigail shuts him down, stating that she only wanted to say goodbye for her own closure. Nathan later accepts this and moves on, stating that he is in a relationship with music.

Family[]

Explosion Family

Nathan's mother is overbearing and his father is rather stern but loving. In the episode Dethfam, Nathan's mother rambles at him incessantly, much to his annoyance. Nathan is known to make hateful comments regarding his family, particularly his father. In the short interview Family, he expresses an irritation at his resemblance to his mother and says the mere fact that he has a family makes him "very angry inside." Later, he states that the fact that his parents had sex to create him makes him want to be buried alive. On the other hand, his parents have expressed resentment to him after he questioned their knowledge on brutal. His mother declares he ruined her vagina while Nathan's father declares that he was happy until Nathan was born and resents having had to spend his "beer money" on children's clothing. These declarations caused him to see they really knew the meaning of struggle.

Fam3

Rose, Nathan and Oscar

Ironically, Nathan is the only one of the band whose parents aren't abusive or neglective; it may seem that he is simply embarrassed that he is the only death metal musician who is loved by his family, which in his eyes isn't brutal at all.

In later seasons however, starting in Dethdad, Nathan admits that he has a good relationship with his father, mentioning they drink and hunt together and even admitting that he would be upset if his father died. When the band is later seen recollecting their trouble paternal pasts in Fatherklok, Nathan corrects Offdensen when the latter claims they're all fatherless, openly declaring he does in fact love his father, whom he considers "awesome."

Nathan's "double"[]

Though Nathan didn't like the idea of having a double pose for him at first, he quickly grew attached to his own double by doing fun activities together in the form of "palling around". He described the relationship both as having a best friend who's willing to listen, and watching a child grow up with pride. He even admits that having either one of them die will make him upset. Like the rest of the band's doubles, Nathan's double did not return the affection, as they were Tribunal agents sent to infiltrate Dethklok. Despite this, Nathan stayed close and got emotional when he was told to say goodbye, due to his double earning severe burns from a volcanic eruption during a concert and couldn't stay around anymore.

Dr. Rockzo[]

Nathan initially hated Dr. Rockzo so much that even a letter written for therapy couldn't describe his hatred, and immensely disliked his mere presence. This is because of his general hatred for clowns, and even forbade Toki from seeing him based on this, and partly out of parental instincts. However, he changed his opinion when he witnessed Rockzo perform live at a renunion with his old band Zazz Blammymatazz and now thinks he is "fucking amazing!".


Trivia[]

  • In Dethcarraldo, Nathan's ancient animal form is revealed to be a Crocodilia, most likely an alligator. The initial concept for his spirit animal was going to be a gigantic starfish with megalodon-like teeth (as seen in the gallery below).
  • Nathan always speaks in the same low gutteral growl he uses to sing. It is implied in Dethkomedy that this is not his natural voice, as he spoke in a higher-pitched voice without a growl during his Body Bag act. He's also aware that people often have trouble understanding what he's saying, claiming that the lyrics in Dethklok's songs don't matter as "Nobody can f*cking understand what I'm saying anyway."
  • Nathan is an open alcoholic, at times shown to even take pride in it. Compared to Pickles, also a severe alcoholic, Nathan is generally shown to have a better grasp of keeping his alcoholism under control, though he is also revealed to have undergone a number of liver transplants as his excessive drinking constantly renders them nonfunctional. The one drink that seems to drive Nathan entirely out of control is Tequilla, which even Pickles does his best to ensure Nathan does not consume, as the latter had previously been shown to have gone on a destructive alcoholic rage after consuming it.
  • Nathan is frequently shown to struggle with his managing his bodily weight. Though athletic and physically fit in his youth, by the time Dethklok is world famous he has developed a noticeable gut, and is frequently provoked by the media with accusations of his weight gain being out of control. This is not helped by his excessive drinking, terrible eating habits and lazyness, though he refuses to acknowledge these poor habits. Nathan's weight has shown to swing both lighter and heavier over the course of the series, having grown heavier during depressions and briefly thin again during Going Downklok after focusing on exercise again.
  • Despite his apparant learning disabilities and low intellegence, Nathan is shown to be at the very least functionally billingual, as he demonstrated the ability to speak fluent French on more than one occasion.
  • His act in Dethkomedy features the antagonist, Quarto from the Total Recall movie.
    Totalrecallklok

    Nathan's opening comedic act, featuring Quarto.

  • In Dethgov, Nathan is made Governor of Florida, his home state after the public execution of Governor Kip Slaughter by rabid Dethklok fans. This alarms The Tribunal, causing them to go Purple Alert. Ironically, Nathan did not even want to be Florida's Governer, as he hated his home state with a burning passion, and seems ultimately unconcerned when his competent administration leads to the state being entirely unprepared to deal with a brutal storm.
  • Nathan is the only Dethklok member to be shown wearing glasses besides Offdensen and Murderface, though they are only for reading.
  • Nathan's role as the main songwriter for Dethklok echoes Brendon Small's role in writing music for Metalocalypse.
  • In the episode Dethcarraldo, Nathan is revealed to be 1/4 Yaneemango, an indigenous tribe from South America.
    Fitzklok

    Channelling Fitzgerald from Fitzcarraldo.

  • Nathan's pose in Dethcarraldo directly mirrors the one made by Fitzgerald in the 1982 Werner Herzog classic Fitzcarraldo.
  • His name is a rather obvious pun on the term "Napalm Explosion".
  • Nathan Explosion made a quick cameo appearance in the BATUPDATE video "WHERE IS BATMETAL?!", which is on the Russian animation studio Red MEDUSA's YouTube channel ArhyBES.

See also[]

References[]

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