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Skwisgaar
Skwisgaar header
“I’m not a normal humans—I am a God.”
Background information
Full name Skwisgaar Skwigelf
Sex Male
Mortality Confirmed alive
Origin Sweden
Role Lead guitarist of Dethklok
Prophetic hero
Relations Serveta Skwigelf (mother)
Týr (ex-stepfather)
Many illegitimate children
Voiced by Brendon Small
Tommy Morgenstern (German)
Juan Antonio García Sainz de la Maza (Spanish)
Abraham Vega (Latin)

Skwisgaar Skwigelf is the lead guitarist of the fictional death metal band Dethklok, who are the main characters in the animated series Metalocalypse. He is voiced by the show's creator, Brendon Small.

Appearance

Skiwsgaar

Skwisgaar's leisure wear

Said to be "taller than a tree," Skwisgaar is indeed the tallest member of Dethklok, standing slightly above Nathan; incidentally, he is also the most slender member of the band. He possesses stereotypical Swedish features, such as pale skin, blond hair, blue eyes, and the typical elongated Nordic facial structure: a high forehead, long nose and pronounced cheekbones. He has a noticeable pallor with greyness around the eyes. He is also the only member drawn with lips. Skwisgaar has an appearance that is easily slightly effeminate in comparison with that of his bandmates.

Skwisgaar is the only member whose physical appearance has not aged visibly since joining Dethklok. His last name may be some reference to having an elflike appearance, or elf lore, since elves are popularly depicted as beautiful, tall, slender, pale, unaging beings.

Concept

Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha created Skwisgaar as a blond Swede — "a handsome guy who thinks he's the greatest thing in the world, with a little bit of Yngwie Malmsteen in his attitude."[1] He also seems based on Thor Von Clemson - a character played by Brendon Small in his short film "The Thor Von Clemson Advanced Fast-Hand Finger Wizard Master Class".[2]

While some fans believe his appearance is based on that of Alexi Laiho, the lead guitarist and vocalist of death metal band Children of Bodom, it's more likely that his likeness and style are taken from Jari Mäenpää of Ensiferum and Wintersun, or Oscar Dronjak from Hammerfall.

Personality

The attention and respect he receives as the world's fastest guitarist has resulted in a great deal of pride and sense of accomplishment. Skwisgaar's demeanor is somewhat more arrogant and haughty in comparison to his bandmates, though he still enjoys unwinding and partying with them. He is oblivious to his own ignorance and often defends himself in scenarios in which he is blatantly incorrect. Contrary to the confident image he maintains publicly, he is occasionally shown having emotional breakdowns in private, particularly featured in Fatherklok, Bookklok, and Skwisklok, though he hides this from others and masks his vulnerable state when caught crying by Offdensen. As expressed when talking to himself in the mirror, the title of The Fastest Guitarist Alive also comes with tremendous pressure and expectation; Skwisgaar privately fears failure and rejection, also shown during his dream sequence in Dethlessons. His bandmates are apparently not unaware of these insecurities, as they are easily able to intentionally trigger his neurosis in DethlessonsBookklok, and Skwisklok, and repeatedly refer to him as a "basket case."

Although the five men all display a discomfort with closeness, Skwisgaar is particularly aloof and detached, often expressing opinions by speaking for the band as a whole rather than in the first-person. Contrary to this distant demeanor, he is somewhat more pensive and observant than the other members, and is sometimes able to insert insightful observations regarding the emotional gravity of a situation or the deeper meaning of life into a discussion. The only of the five to realize on his own that they are part of a higher power, Skwisgaar repeatedly refers to himself as a god, something that turns out to be more than just a complex. In The Metalocalypse Has Begun, he tells Toki he will see him in Valhalla when they believe they are about to be killed.

Skwisgaar is referred to as a Lothario and is depicted as the most sexually active individual in the band, a source of occasional ridicule from his bandmates, as seen at the breakfast table in Mordland. Despite this, during the filming of his sex scene for the Thunderhorse music video, he is particularly awkward and uncomfortable; he remarks that the voluptuous and healthy-looking model resembles an emaciated Tom Hanks in the film Cast Away. He is indescriminate in his choice of sexual partners and is shown hooking up with a very diverse variety of women including the elderly and obese. He displays criteria for sexual addiction, for instance, in the episode Dethwedding when he admits he would have sex with two girls immediately after insulting them. Despite his frequent sexual conquests, he appears to feel no social connection with anyone outside of Dethklok and their manager. He mourns feeling unloved, used or living alone though he does not believe in marriage or monogamy. In an IGN interview he confesses that he has no individual recollection of any of the women he has slept with aside from those who have attempted to file paternity suits against him, which are null and void as all of his sexual partners are legally required to sign a total liability waiver prior to engaging with him physically. He seems to be aware or self-conscious of the fact he is the most effeminate looking of the band as he is known to mock other men by calling them "ladies" but takes great offense to the accusation himself.

Despite his ego and aloofness, Skwisgaar does have an honorable side to him. This was best shown in "Fatherklock" when he snapped at his step-father Týr and pushed him into a glass coffee table over the fact that Týr wasn't his real father, as well his mother's habit of having with sex with random men. Skwisgaar was later horrified by his own actions and instantly regretted what he did, quickly apologizing to Týr and giving his mother's husband a chance to act as a parental figure. Ironically, Skiwsgaar is the least violent member of the band, alongside Nathan.

Hailing from Sweden, Skwisgaar possesses a heavy Swedish accent. He frequently adds the letter s to the ends of words, and conversely drops the letter from words that require it. He also makes frequent grammatical errors, usually involving noun-verb disagreement. His speech becomes worse when upset or stressed. Skwisgaar's poor pronunciation and general lack of fluency in the English language are a frequent comedic device within the series. Skwisgaar's English is so awkward that those unfamiliar with him are often unable to understand what he is saying at all, though Offdensen and the rest of the band interpret him easily. During the filming of Dethklok's movie Blood Ocean, producers found Skwisgaar incomprehensible and his voice was consequently dubbed out of the film entirely, much to his dismay. A stipulation of the band's contract for the film demanded that anyone who attempted to correct Skwisgaar's speech be fired, leading to the suicide of one of the film's directors.

He also frequently uses the interjection "pfft," on one particular occasion sustaining the sound for five seconds straight at Toki's notion that clowns are metal. He has an even worse grasp of English spelling than pronunciation, once in a Scrabble game simply guessing random combinations of letters, namely "Quhzk", though Toki implicitly states that it is the Norwegian onomatopoeia for a duck's quack. Similar to Pickles's affinity for the word "douchebags," Skwisgaar refers to things he hates as "dildos" often using the word as an adjective.

Skills & Hobbies

He has little skills or hobbies outside of his guitar playing and has the least interests and hobbies of any member of the band. In fact, Pickles once challenged him, "Name something that has nothing to do with guitar! Go, go!" leaving Skwisgaar speechless.

One of the few interests he has displayed is designing custom guitars in his free time and owns a collection of bizarre and exotic guitars, as seen in Skwisklok. These include the Swiss Armytar, the Ant Farmitar, the Gibson Excaliburtar, and a guitar supposedly made of wood from the True Cross. During Dethklok's trip to the Amazon jungle he expresses interest in obtaining materials there for the purpose of this hobby.

Like Toki, Skwisgaar does not have a drivers license.

While not as skilled in technological or computer related things as Toki is, Skwisgaar states that he knows how to use a computer, and learned how to use one online[3].

Music Talents

In contrast to his lack of hobbies, he is debatably the most musically gifted member of the band. Skwisgaar discovered the guitar after first discovering his mother's promiscuity. Horrified, he ran away from the house and discovered a cave where a Gibson Explorer and multiple carcasses were located. As described by Senator Stampingston, "Her neglect helped form the world's fastest guitarist." in the first few seasons, he is seen using the standard ebony black Gibson Explorer. He switches to the Dethklok "Thunderhorse" Explorer/Brendon Small "Thunderhorse" Explorer , which becomes his signature guitar for the rest of the series. He also has been seen using the all-white Dethklok "Snowhorse" Explorer version of the Thunderhorse, a guitar that matches Toki's all white Brendon Small "Snow Falcon" Flying V. However, unlike the other guitars, the instrument has never seen a commercial release outside of the show.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf is Dethklok's renowned lead guitarist. He has been coined "The Fastest Guitarist Alive" as he exhibits a specialty in speed scales. Skwisgaar takes particular pride in his clean speed picking and is highly critical of the guitar playing skills of others. His supposedly "godlike" abilities are apparently the result of years of literally constant practice; an element of humor throughout the series has been his ever-present Gibson Explorer. He is frequently shown practicing the guitar in odd places, such as submerged in water in the hot tub, in an elevator, while asleep, during mass, and during meals both at home and in public. Skwisgaar obsessively practices finger-coordination exercises on a daily basis and in a compulsive manner, which can frequently be heard during Dethklok's conversations. In fact his guitar playing skills are so fast that he had to be heavily handicapped in order to play an acoustic guitar in a slow manner to imitate the blues genre of music.

At one stage prior to Toki's recruitment, Skwisgaar even expressed desire to be the bands only guitarist as he was capable enough to carry the band on his own. As proof of this Skwisgaar was seen able to out duel every guitarist who desired to be Dethklok's second guitarist with the only guitarist even coming remotely close to him being Toki. While Skwisgaar is clearly the better skilled of the two he relies on Toki during songs to amplify his own abilities; Toki is the only one who has ever been able to do so. Despite this, Skwisgaar has a paranoia about Toki's own skills being better than his own and this also leads to some competition and tension between the two both on and off stage.

His hands have apparently become so nimble that he has developed ambidexterity; he is sometimes shown playing left-handed.

Not uncommon for self-taught guitarists, he cannot read musical notation, which he blames on his "music dyslex-kia." Skwisgaar is a strong musical force in Dethklok; in addition to writing songs himself, he is also responsible for the majority of the arrangement of Dethklok's songs; he writes both the guitar lines as well as Murderface's bass lines. Particularly visible in Cleanso, Skwisgaar possess very specific knowledge on music, songwriting and of course guitar; he is utterly clueless about most things outside this realm.

Skwisgaar asserts that he hates playing acoustic guitars, which he and Toki refer to as "Grandpa's guitars." As listed in the Skwisgaar Skwigelf Advanced Fast Hand Finger Wizard Master Class, his Gibson Explorer features EMG 81 and EMG 85 pickups, and his hardware includes Krank Revolution and Krankenstein amplifiers, multiple Krank Krankenstein guitar cabinets, along with Toki, a directly connected Line 6 PODxt effects processor, a Dunlop Crybaby wah-pedal—Dimebag Darrell signature model, a Digitech Whammy Pedal, and some unmentioned MXR pedals.

Swede

Relationships

Nathan Explosion

Skwisgaar and Nathan get along well, and they do most of the arranging of the band's music. They seem to have a fairly symbiotic relationship within the band, and along with Pickles, represent nearly all the creative talent in Dethklok. Even when Nathan and Pickles have a falling out and Dethklok temporarily disbands, Nathan continues to work on music with Skwisgaar. The two seem to get along so well partially due to the fact that Nathan is the member with the most obvious respect and appreciation for Skwisgaar's talent; Nathan understands that Skwisgaar is essential to the band and a necessity to his own music writing. When Skwisgaar considers leaving Dethklok and trying to learn how to live a normal life, Nathan urges him to return and reminds him that he can never be a normal person whether he likes it or not.

Toki Wartooth

Skwisgaar exhibits a co-dependence on bandmate Toki Wartooth. He is often bossy and controlling toward Toki, and frequently disparages Toki's guitar-playing; however, it has been made increasingly apparent throughout the series that this is done to quell his own feelings of insecurity. Though Toki has received guitar lessons from Skwisgaar in the past, they are shown to be ineffective to an intentional extent. The mere idea of Toki improving his guitar abilities is so upsetting to Skwisgaar that he attempts to ban Toki from Dethklok when he discovers him with a guitar teacher, though this also appears to have been partially influenced by jealousy.

Despite his frequent rudeness and sarcasm toward Toki, Skwisgaar seems to have an attachment toward his friend. For example, though he suggests they kill Murderface in the following episode, he frowns immediately at Pickles's suggestion that they kill Toki in Dethkids, saying, "Oh, I... That's maybes a little too hards for mes to handle." Upon joining the tribute band Thunderhorse, Skwisgaar is also quite content leaving the lead guitar parts to Toki and playing rhythm himself. When they believe they are both about to be murdered in The Metalocalypse Has Begun, he tells Toki that they will see each other in the afterlife.

In Some Time Ago... Skwisgaar was shown much more distant from the rest of the band, hiding in the shadows apart from Pickles, Nathan and Murderface, even challenging their demand for a second guitarist. He is then shown much more embracing of the others once Toki joined, though he is mostly seen with Toki above all other bandmembers. It appears despite their issues, ultimately, he is most comfortable around Toki compared to all other members of the band and he tends to act like a big brother to Toki, even if its not intended. Toki joining was the key factor in the change of his approach toward his fellow band members.

It seems that Skwisgaar is dependent on Toki, in a way, to make him the best guitar player because the constant challenge forces him to greater lengths of rock and roll. In Doomstar it is revealed that Skwisgaar was the one who invited Toki into the band after they had a guitar duel, overriding the conditions he himself had set previously about being a one-guitar band.

William Murderface

Skwisgaar writes all of Murderface's basslines and resents his attempts to take credit for them. Skwisgaar has little but contempt for Murderface, often looking down on whatever scheme Murderface (and often Toki) have put together. His contempt for Murderface's bass playing is so severe that he freely admits that he often deletes and "remixes or re-records" Murderface's bass lines on Dethklok's albums. 

In some ways, Skwisgaar and Murderface are the polar opposites of the band; Skwisgaar is arrogant, handsome, and talented, while Murderface is a self-loathing, ugly, and generally inept man. However, Skwisgaar and Murderface can sometimes be seen doing things together, such as watching a snuff film called "Faces of Death" while eating whipped cream and chocolate, which led to them running to Pickles for comfort after having nightmares.

Pickles

Pickles and Skwisgaar arrange the musical aspects of Dethklok's songs together. When shown working on music together they seem to take the recording process more seriously than some of the other bandmembers, being less distracted and more focused on productivity. This is most likely connected to both having previous music industry experience with Skwisgaar being in a number of bands and Pickles being in Snakes N' Barrels.

Skwisgaar, Pickles, and Nathan Explosion are the creative drive behind Dethklok, and are often able to connect on the issue of music. Skwisgaar refers to Pickles as "Pickle" and the two seem to get along well as friends, although Skwisgaar's general arrogance seems to clash with Pickles's more down-to-earth nature. During a trip to Ikea for furniture, Skwisgaar remarks that Pickles cannot appreciate Swedish style.

Family

Skwigelf Family

Skwisgaar does not have much of a family life, as he was neglected by his mother and grew up fatherless.

Fam4

Servetta and Skwisgaar

When his mother visits during Dethfam, he experiences psychosomatic nausea for the duration of her visit. Skwisgaar deeply resents his mother and loathes her for her promiscuity, though he constantly mirrors her behavior. In the interview Family, Skwisgaar responded, "I don't have anything to say about family, so I will be shuttings down now," becoming unresponsive for the remainder of the interview, though he continued to practice guitar.

Though he is initially resistant, in Fatherklok he develops a positive relationship with his stepfather, and treats him with respect like a son would with his biological father. However, he distances himself from his family again when he discovers his mother has not changed her promiscuous behavior.

Skwisgaar's "double"

Skwisgaar became very attached to his body double to the point that he does almost everything with him. When his double got severely burned by a volcanic eruption during the Duncan Hills Coffee concert, Skwisgaar became distraught to the point where he suggested burning themselves so they can keep their doubles. Like the others, Skwisgaar himself didn't know that his double was an agent of the Tribunal sent to infiltrate Dethklok.

Trivia

  • It's possible Skwisgaar was already famous even before he joined Dethklok, being in several bands, having several fans and his guitar skills being recognized in particular. That fame could've been an additional reason he was recruited into Dethklok. Due to this, Skwisgaar is perhaps the most experienced member of Dethklok
  • In Dethcarraldo, his ancient animal form is revealed to be a snow falcon.
    • On close inspection, it is possible to see the primary and secondary remiges on the wings aren't feathers at all, but fingers.
    • He is also depicted as a centaur and a griffin in The Doomstar Requiem.
  • Incidentally, aside from Pickles, who goes by a nickname, Skwisgaar's name is the only to be unrelated to violence, rather, a reference to the appearance popularly associated with elves and a jab at Swedish spelling; the letter k in this instance would not be pronounced phonetically as it is within the series.
  • As shown in Skwisklok, his hands have been appraised by insurance at the value of ten-billion dollars—one billion per finger.
  • Skwisgaar once claimed to have "you-know-whatted" approximately five-hundred women during a single visit to Finland.
  • Skwisgaar is shown to be like a God of fertility, having fathered thousands of children. This is a sharp contrast to Toki Wartooth who is shown as a Angel of Death throughout the series. As such, whereas Toki represents "Death", Skwisgaar represents "birth" or "life".
  • Skwisgaar bears a hatred of the Danish, though he confuses them with the Dutch.
  • Skwisgaar's bedroom is the only room in Mordhaus that is not decorated in a very dark neo-Gothic style; his all-white, sparsely-furnished room reflects the Swedish Modern aesthetic. He enjoys shopping at Ikea.
  • In the episode Skwisklok, he experiences a severe angioedemic allergic reaction to an ingredient in Nathan's barbecue sauce, cilantro.
  • Given the true nature of Dethklok, it is possible that Skwisgaar's guitars are magical or somehow connected to him. Skwisgaar has made repeated references to himself as a god, wizard, or sorcerer. The strange origin of his first guitar is similar to the myth of King Arthur and Excalibur, having been the only one able to remove the fated instrument from its encasing as a young boy, though grown men had failed. During the attack on their home, Skwisgaar bludgeoned several invaders with the instrument, only to note afterward that the neck was still straight. He also occasionally appears to be able to conduct lightning with his guitar, and make his guitar appear in his arms or dematerialize at his will.
  • In The Doomstar Requiem, during the early years of Dethklok, Skwisgaar wore all white. His belt buckle was a white version of Sweden's flag, instead of the grey skull it typically is.
  • Coincidently, Skwisgaar bears a resemblance to the character of the Justice Friends Valhallen, both being associated with Norse gods and rock, or in Skwisgaar's case, death metal.
  • In a Season 1 DVD extra, Skwisgaar can be seen being part of well over 50 takes for a small portion of the Thunderhorse music video, where he has performative sex with his blonde female counterpart.
    • He is visibly not enthused, and even remarks on the woman being too skinny for his own liking, describing her as 'sickly', which lines up with his typical preference for conventionally unattractive (including overweight) women.
  • In another Season 1 DVD extra, Skwisgaar eventually gets a chance to partake in recording a proper master guitar class video. In this video, he teaches fans how to play the guitar chords for the Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle. While helpful, he regularly berates the fans watching the program and even instructs them to "go take a shower".

See also

References

  1. http://emusician.com/interviews/metalocalypse/index3.html
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aco04Rvg0tI YouTube - Brendon Small: The Thor von Clemson Advanced Fast-Hand Finger Wizard Master Class
  3. https://youtu.be/LHKaqlC1i8I
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