Skwisgaar Skwigelf

Skwisgaar Skwigelf
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Background information

I'm not a normal humans. I am a God.

— Skwisgaar Skwigelf (Source)

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 who also writes the music for the show.

Appearance

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, platinum blond hair, light 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." 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".

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.

It was also heavily rumoured, in the series inception, that Skwisgaar was modeled from Danish Power Metal musician Tristan Peterson, of Bane of Winterstorm, making it ironic that Skwisgaar has confused the Danish for the Dutch on at least one occasion. 

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 Dethlessons, Bookklok, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 allowed Toki in the band after they had a guitar duel.

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. 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.

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.

History

Childhood

Skwisgaar sometimes makes allusions to having grown up poor, for example mentioning during an interview Food that he was fed snow for breakfast as a child "when times was tough." He is the illegitimate only child of "Miss Sweden of 1956," Serveta Skwigelf; his father's identity is unknown due to his mother's promiscuity. One day, he came home from school to find his mother having sexual intercourse with two men. Traumatized, he ran away, catching the interest of four wolves, who promptly began chasing him. Shortly after that, he fell into a large hole in the ground and landed in a cave. In said cave was a frozen corpse with a bottle and a sword, and a statue of a Norse god holding a black Gibson Explorer with a white pickguard. Entranced by the guitar, he took it home and played it from that day forward.

Skwisgaar and his first love; his black 6-string

Prior to Dethklok

As told during Snakes 'n' Barrels, Skwisgaar has been in a large number of bands prior to joining Dethklok, including Agnostic Priest, Gangagar, Eldele'el-Alele, Gognog Mug Alugdug, F*ckface Academy, Sausage Assassin, Financially Raped, and Smugly Dismissed, to name a few. He claims to have been in "pretty much every band." In an interview Skwisgaar mentions two side projects, a Harry Potter tribute band called 10 Points to Gryffindor, and a nudist Civil War styled band called Depantsification Proclamation.

Dethklok

Skwisgaar was present at the signing of the contract for Dethklok. After Magnus was kicked out of the band, Skwisgaar seized the opportunity to express desire to be Dethklok's only guitarist. The rest of the band agreed to do so only if they could not find another worthy guitarist. Skwisgaar proved his extraordinary talent to the band by besting over a thousand guitarists attempting to audition for the role. This lead them to proclaim him a Guitar God, however, a homeless teen by the name of Toki arrived late and begged for the opportunity to audition for them. Despite Toki's young age and tattered clothing, Skwisgaar decided to give him a chance on the merit that he "seems so nice."

Skwisgaar expected to defeat Toki easily, but they were all surprised when Toki was able to keep up with Skwisgaar in a call-and-response duel. When Toki finally cracked under the pressure and failed to complete a riff, the other members of Dethkok dismissed Toki, but Skwisgaar halted Toki from departing. Skwisgaar invited Toki into the band as he believed the duel had pushed his own abilities to a new level. Shortly after Toki joined, Dethklok rose to fame.

Skwisgaar appeared to have a less dominant role in the band prior to the expulsion of Magnus and the discovery of Toki. Despite Skwisgaar's superior abilities, Magnus appeared to have more of a lead role and more of a say during his time in the band, with Skwisgaar saying very little. After Magnus was fired, Skwisgaar sat apart from his bandmates during the meeting regarding whether or not to replace the fifth member. He also presented a distinct all-white aesthetic during his early days in Dethklok, but later adopted an outfit that is more in uniform with his bandmates.

Season 1

Skwisgaar attempts to produce a television special, at Toki's suggestion. During production his typically unconcerned and confident demeanor melts away due to stress and pressure. When Offdensen happens upon a tearful meltdown in his dressing room, he insists he was merely doing drugs. The other bandmembers antagonize the situation by gossiping about his emotional state and openly criticizing the production on its lack of 'zazz'. The TV special is ultimately a disaster when Skwisgaar has an allergic reaction and can barely play guitar on the night of the program. However, the oblivious public sees it as a bold new direction in guitar and copies the 'technique'. A news anchor states, "That night, the master of the guitar literally reinvented the instrument."

Season 2

Skwisgaar rejects Toki's request to take more solos, and is dismayed to learn Toki is taking guitar lessons from another tutor, resulting in a falling out between the two. He later apologizes to Toki.

Skwisgaar is arrested after a high-speed car chase. He is ordered to attend driving school along with bandmate Toki, who was firing a pistol from the passenger seat. During class the two are forced to watch a gruesome video containing graphic images of car crash scenes, instilling them with a deep fear of driving, and they subsequently fail their driving tests. Later they participate in a demolition dragrace.

Season 3

Skwisgaar orders a search for his biological father, and is dismayed to learn that although his mother had sex with thousands of men during the time of his conception, none of their DNA matches his. Skwisgaar is unable to dismiss his curiosity about the identity of the father he never had, and returns to his hometown in Sweden to make peace with his childhood and reconcile his relationship with his mother. Though it is difficult for him to adjust to civilian life, he even begins to form a relationship with his mother's new husband and takes a local girl out on a normal date. When Nathan attempts to persuade him to return to Dethklok, he initially chooses to remain in Sweden, despite Nathan's insistence that Skwisgaar was never meant to be a regular person. However, Skwisgaar is soon disappointed when he discovers his mother has been cheating on his step-father with multiple men and has not actually changed her past ways. As he flees his mother's home in Sweden he has the realization that he was immaculately conceived and is not an ordinary man, but in fact, a god. He returns home with Dethklok, and a renewed confidence in his role in the band.

During his soul-searching it is revealed that Skwisgaar was a young boy when he discovered his first guitar after falling into a hidden cave. The guitar was lodged within the frozen statue of a guitar god. Although a warrior's corpse lay nearby, Skwisgaar was able to retreive the guitar easily and immediately began to excel at playing the instrument. It is shown that playing the guitar gave him comfort and happiness during his lonely childhood.

Skwisgaar wearing his Christmas sweater

It is also revealed that despite his disgust with his mother's promiscuity and his own struggle with fatherlessness, Skwisgaar has fathered thousands of illegitimate children around the world which he has never met or even acknowledged, and has no intention to do so.

Season 4

After a series of pranks perpetrated against he and Toki, Skwisgaar seeks revenge upon Murderface by stealing his credit card and framing him as a terrorist. However, Skwisgaar's possession of Murderface's credit card and the fact that they followed him to the airport hoping to witness his takedown resulted in all three of them receiving harsh beatings.

Skwisgaar's friendship with Toki is tested once again when he writes a tell-all book entitled Skwisgaar Is Ams Dick in an appeal for more guitar solos. Much to the amusement of the rest of the band, Skwisgaar has another nervous breakdown. For the first time since Dethklok's rise to fame he experiences a lack of popularity, and he warns the rhythm guitarist, "Be carefuls what you wish fors... The audience ams a fickles mistress, Toki." As usual, Toki cracks under the pressure and cannot even plug in his guitar. Skwisgaar's prediction comes true and the audience begins to heckle. Skwisgaar mistakenly attempts to rescue Toki from his panic attack using a defibrillator, while their bandmates stand by and mock the situation.

The Doomstar Requiem

In the past Skwisgaar is presented wearing all white, with a Swedish flag belt buckle. He also wields a white Explorer. He is shown sitting off to the side apart from his American bandmates. His physical appearance is identical to his present day age, unlike the other band members who have aged noticeably since.

During a band meeting shortly after Magnus is fired, Skwisgaar states his desire to remain the sole guitarist in Dethklok, rather than hiring a replacement for the fifth band member. He is able to prove his superior abilities to his bandmates by swiftly defeating over a thousand hopeful auditioners. However, one last auditioner arrives late and introduces himself as Toki, a teenage boy from Norway. He begs for a chance to play with Skwisgaar and a lengthy guitar battle ensues. Though Toki is inevitably bested by Skwisgaar and dismissed by the band, Skwisgaar meets Toki outside and explains that nobody else has ever made him play so well. He invites Toki to join the band, and Dethklok rises to fame and fortune shortly afterward. As Toki grows up and settles into his role in the band Skwisgaar agrees, "Everything am better now dat he ams in de band dis times."

After Toki is kidnapped, Dethklok's search leads them to a bar called the Depths of Humanity, where Toki played his first gig with the band. Skwisgaar notices an audition flier on the wall and remembers the warehouse where he and Toki had their first guitar battle. He realizes this must be the place Magnus has imprisoned Toki, which leads to his rescue.

Trivia

• 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 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.

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