Character page for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
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Max Rockatansky
- See here.
Auntie Entity
Played by: Tina Turner
Played by: Perrette Pradier (European French)
A woman who survived the Great War and somehow managed to work her way up to being the leader of Bartertown, one of the last civilized trading hubs left in the ruined new world. She feuds with Master Blaster over control of the settlement, since his technical expertise is all that keeps it running. To this end, she recruits Max to try and defeat Master Blaster.
- Affably Evil: Auntie is the most gentle villain in the series. She even lets Max get off alive when she had him at her mercy in the end.
- Anti-Villain: She's genuinely trying to restore a little civilization, and is forced to be ruthless to maintain order in a Crapsack World.
- Big Bad: Runs Bartertown with an iron fist.
- Chainmail Bikini: Auntie sports a chainmail one-piece along with her '80s Hair, which is a sensible investment for her position.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Sings the opening and ending songs.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She refers to the Collector as family.
- Evil Plan: Auntie Entity seeks to take out Blaster using an outsider who can't be connected to her, removing Master's muscle and putting him back under her control.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: In her own words, before the Great War, she was nobody. The difference was that the Day After, she was still alive. Then Nobody had a chance to become Somebody.
- Graceful Loser: "Well. Ain't we a pair, raggedy man? [laughs as she walks away] Goodbye, soldier."
- I Did What I Had to Do: Everything Aunty Entity does, whether it be slave labor or ordering a manhunt on Max, is done for the sake of preserving her power and authority and the security of her city.
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: Auntie Entity'd better stay out of the sun, and worry about those links locking together over skin or in hair.
- Large Ham: Has a flair for theatrics, especially with the Bread and Circuses that is the Thunderdome. It is Tina Turner after all.
- Make an Example of Them: After killing Blaster, Auntie Entity has Master lowered into a pig stye to show what happens to those who challenge her authority.
- Noble Demon: Unlike the villains from the previous films, she's doing it all for keeping what little order there's left in the world. In the end, she spared Max and left.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Has no interest in the meaningless violence most villains in the previous movies indulge in; her villainous acts comes from her desire to consolidate her power over Bartertown.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Her laws, eg. "Bust a deal, face the wheel."
Fridge Brilliance in that it's easy to remember in a world where most of the population is barely literate. - Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Defied. She can't work this way, because she's what passes for law and order in this world, and ruling by mere force would destroy everything she's fighting for. That's why she needs Max; she has to beat Master and Blaster by the rules.
- The Unfought: She's the only villain in the entire series that actually survives and, in fact, even has Max at her mercy before letting him walk away.
- Wasteland Warlord: As the despotic ruler of Bartertown.
- Worthy Opponent: Sees Max this way. In fact, this is one of the reasons she spares Max.
The Collector
Played by: Frank Thring
Dubbed by: Henry Djanik (European French)
One of Auntie Entity's lieutenants. He oversees trade and job assignments for those entering Bartertown.
- Co-Dragons: With Ironbar. The Collector has more responsibilities and intelligence, but he's also far less skilled of a fighter than Ironbar and plays no role in the climax, while Ironbar helps lead the pursuit of the fugitives.
- Deadpan Snarker: The Collector is overly grim and serious most of the time, but when Max says he has useful skills, the Collector insults Max by quipping that the "brothel's full."
- Death by Adaptation: In the Novelization, The Collector dies when Aunty Entity''s tower falls over on top of him after the methane plant blows up.
- Fat Bastard: He's the plumpest character in the movie, and can be scheming and condescending.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: He wears glasses and is a villain.
- High-Class Glass: The Collector is upper class by wasteland standards and has a crudely rigged moncole.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He ruthlessly enforces Bartertown's rules because it's his job and for the sake of order, not out of any malice.
- Small Role, Big Impact: He's barely seen after the first half of the movie, but the Collector is the one who comes up with the idea to hire Max to fight Master Blaster and brings him to Auntie Entity.
- Villainous BSoD: He's only a Punch-Clock Villain, but the Collector is left sitting on the ground with a morose, defeated expression after Max destroys the methane plant.
Ironbar
Played by: Angry Anderson
Auntie Entity's loyal right-hand man.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the film, for all his brutality, Ironbar is loyal to Aunty Entity and her goals. In the Novelization, he starts scheming to challenge her rule like Master once did and cares more about killing Master for revenge than capturing him to help Aunty rebuild Bartertown.
- The Chew Toy: Ironbar's setbacks become more and more embarrassing as the second half of the film progresses. Get used to that scream. However, he remains one of the rare Chew Toys who continue to be a serious threat during it all.
- Co-Dragons: Along with the Collector for Auntie Entity. He's the 'brawn' part.
- Defiant to the End: He dies after Max crashes right through his vehicle. His last act in life is flipping Max off.
- Flipping the Bird: With his last ounce of strength.
- Iron Butt-Monkey: Appropriately. The guy takes a lickin' and keeps coming back, even Defiant to the End with his Flipping the Bird.
- Made of Iron: Ironbar manages to survive falling off a bridge, an explosion, and a head on collision that completely obliterates his buggynote .
- Meaningful Name: Gets his name because of the iron bar attached to his back, which carries around a creepy doll's head.
- Rasputinian Death: And it's not even clear if he died at all.
- Shoot the Dog: When the plot to use Max to kill Blaster is exposed, Ironbar just kills Blaster on the spot, to Auntie's obvious disapproval.
- Villainous Valour: Especially the scene where he's hanging from a pipe off the side of the speeding train and has to bodily hoist himself over the substructures on the railway bridge.
Dr. Dealgood
Played by: Edwin Hodgeman
The magistrate and master of ceremonies of Bartertown
- Adaptational Villainy: In the book, Dealgood’s crueler moments are emphasized more heavily and most of his comments about order are just for show.
- Continuity Nod: An aged Dr Dealgood reappears in the Fury Road comic book, presiding over the new Thunderdome games held in Gas Town.
- A Lady on Each Arm: Dealgood is always accompanied and assisted by two Lovely Assistants. They seem to be on genuinely close terms and not just professional associates, based on how the three are huddled together, frightened and confused, after the methane plant blows up and the future of Bartertown looks perilous.
- Large-Ham Announcer: Which he puts to great use as part of his job working the crowd.
- Non-Action Guy: Like the Collector, he isnt a fighter, but part of Aunt Entity's administration.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The flamboyant Dr. Dealgood goes silent and grim (as does one of his assistants) after spinning the wheel sentences Max to exile in the desert. Averted in the Novelization, where he grins wickedly and actively helps banish Max.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Dr. Dealgood opposes or hinders Max in multiple ways, but never maliciously or unreasonably. He sells goods that were stolen from Max, but he doesn't know that they're stolen. He hosts the Thunderdome death matches but, despite his enthusiastic gusto, he makes it clear that he only does so to resolve violent conflicts in a way that won't endanger society. He only subjects Max to "the wheel" when he breaks an important law and indirectly threatens the stability of their town.Dr. Dealgood: Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all. Look at us now! Busted up, and everyone talking about hard rain! But we've learned, by the dust of them all... Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here!
Master Blaster
Played by: Angelo Rossitto (Master) & Paul Larsson note and Stephen Hayes note (Blaster)
A tag-team who serves as a counter to Auntie Entity's rulership of Bartertown, Master is a highly intelligent and educated dwarf who takes care of the methane conversion plant that provides the electricity and fuel that the city's machinery runs on. His counterpart, the hulking, ever-helmeted Blaster, carries the diminutive Master on his back and brutally enforces the dwarf's will. Unbeknownst to the rest of Bartertown, Blaster is a sufferer of Down's Syndrome, having massive strength but being intellectually disabled, little better than a small child in a bodybuilder's frame. Outraged by Master Blaster's ability to usurp her authority, Auntie Entity hires Max to kill Blaster.
- Brains and Brawn: Master is the keenly intelligent but physically diminutive one, while Blaster is incredibly strong but very slow-witted.
- Brought Down to Normal: After Blaster is killed, Master quickly finds that his imperious demeanor doesn't work anymore. He tries to refuse to resume production in the methane plant, and Ironbar almost feeds him to the pigs in response.
- Depraved Dwarf: Master's a tyrannical little person. This is later revealed as an act, however, starting the moment Blaster is defeated — the callous bravado was all part of the carefully crafted persona that kept both himself and his friend alive and in relative comfort in a world neither was suited to alone.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Master describes himself as "King Arab". The previous movie stated that World War III started over control of oil resources; likewise Master uses his control of a crucial fuel supply to upset the current order, leading to conflict.
- Dramatic Unmask: When Max knocks off Blaster's helmet in the Thunderdome, it's revealed that Blaster is actually a mentally handicapped Manchild who's harmless when there is no one to give him orders.
- The Dreaded: Blaster is one of the most feared people in Bartertown due to his strength and is the main reason to why Master has leadership and can express arrogance.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: When Max subdues Blaster in Thunderdome, Master runs to the fallen Blaster and frantically explains to Max that he has the mind of a child. When Auntie Entity kills Blaster, Master is devastated.
- Gadgeteer Genius: This appears to be what Master is, in that he engineered and maintains the machinery that powers all of Bartertown... using scavenged parts and scrap metal.
- Handicapped Badass: Blaster is the power behind Master's throne and Master is the reason why Bartertown has electricity and machinery. He is also able to use an embargo against Auntie Entity without immediate punishment.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Max rescues him from Auntie Entity, Master helps them escape in the traincar, and goes with them to the ruins of Sydney, where he presumably helps them build a new society with his knowledge.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Master mocks those ranked above and below him, brazenly flouts Auntie Entity's authority, and rules the undercity with the combination of his own genius and Blaster's iron fist... but when Blaster is defeated he throws himself in front of Max's killing blow, and Blaster's response makes it clear that the two are close as brothers. Master's manipulations served to protect both of them, and his phrasing takes on a different tone when you know that he really was talking slow and using small words so someone far less intelligent could understand: that person being Blaster. He also responds kindly to the children as they make their escape, showing them how to play their beloved artifact on the record player, and risks himself to make sure everyone gets on the plane.
- Madman in the Attic: Blaster is a mobile version. He lives behind an armored mask and never associates with anyone except as Master's transport, and when the mask comes off, it's revealed that he has Down's Syndrome and is incapable of surviving in Bartertown's cutthroat society without the protective Master's supervision.
- Make an Example of Them: After Auntie Entity kills Blaster, she has Master lowered into a pig stye.
- Mental Handicap, Moral Deficiency: Blaster's a towering giant whose Down's Syndrome leaves him open to being manipulated into acting as muscle for Master. In a variation on the trope, Master does seem to genuinely care about Blaster and sees their relationship as a partnership.
- Mister Big: Master, a genius in a small body. Fortunately, he has Blaster to do the musclework.
- One-Man Army: Blaster has a reputation of defeating many opponents with Master bragging that 20 men can enter the dome and Blaster will still walk away. The Collector also says that Blaster can beat most men with his breath.
- Post-Apunkalyptic Armor: At first played straight, but later subverted, as Master changes into a slightly worn but still perfectly intact suit and tie after he is rescued by Max and the children.
- The Smart Guy: Master, a dwarf with an expert level knowledge of mechanics, engineering and electronics.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Master is shortest person in Bartertown, and also the smartest.
- Shoulder Teammate: Master for Blaster.
- Tempting Fate: Master publicly taunts Auntie Entity by asking her, "Who runs Bartertown?" He pays dearly for her humiliation when she seizes control of Bartertown.
- We Used to Be Friends: Master is implied to have been a partner with Auntie in helping get Bartertown up and running, only to be corrupted by power when he realised he had sole control of its energy source. Apart from the pragmatic reasons, Auntie describes him as "family" in explaining why she's unwilling to kill him.
- You No Take Candle: Justified; Master must speak this way around Blaster so he'll understand what's going on.
The Feral Children
A group of children who have been abandoned near an oasis since their plane crashed shortly after/during the Great War. Max is found by them after he is exiled from Bartertown and they take him in, believing him to be their mythical "Captain Walker", who will take them to their paradise of "Tomorrow-Morrow Land".
- Badass Adorable: Anna Goanna, who is young, excitable and quick to get Max to try and find and protect those who left, and to follow him on that quest.
- Born After the End: Many of the kids were born after the plane crash that brought them there at the tail end of the apocalyptic wars. In the Novelization, it is implied that all of them were born after the apocalypse and the original child survivors of the crash, their parents, died while searching the desert for a potential savior.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Both Slake and Savannah are good leaders, with understandable goals and a fair amount of logic that just happen to diverge in their opinions about whether to stay at the Oasis or head for civilization elsewhere once Max tells them that he's not Walker and the real Walker won't be coming back.
- Cargo Cult: The children are the survivors of a plane crash in the midst of the nuclear war. As all the original adults left to find help, and presumably died in the desert, the childrens' memories of the previous society has turned into this, and have built a cult both around civilization, which they call "Tomorrow-Morrow-Land", and the plane's captain, G. L. Walker.
- Creepy Good: Scrooloose, who is silent, oddly painted and the most feral looking of the group but a heroic, and loyal person.
- Defector from Decadence: A retrospective example, as the appearance and behavior of the War Boy cult from the following movie suggests that Scrooloose was an inductee who deserted from them.
- Distant Finale: The children who leave the oasis eventually cross the desert with the help of the pilot Jedediah, and find themselves in the ruins of Sydney, where they establish a new society, not only by themselves, but with other wanderers who find their way back home. The credits list the children as a whole as two separate tribes: "The Ones Who Stayed" and "The Ones Who Left".
- Foreshadowing: One of the background children has no lines and only plays a minor part in the film. He's also pretty clearly one of the War Boys.
- Got Volunteered: Eddie. When Max asks for a tracker among those who stayed who can follow Savannah's group across the desert floor everyone looks at him even as he's looking around curiously ,then seems uncomfortable to realize that he's the one being sent out.
- Hide Your Pregnancy: An In-Universe example. According to the novelization, Cusha, one of the girls who helps Max get back to Bartertown is quite heavily pregnant. She doesn't look it in the film, naturally, but one of the girls tells Max that "she's ready to pop!" to fuel the urgency behind her rescue and her first appearance in the narrative mentions her "eight month pregnancy".
- Kill the Cutie: Little Finn, who is lost to quicksand, is one of the younger, smaller, and more cheerful members of the tribe.
- Meaningful Name: Scrooloose, who lets out the others who wanted to leave after they were briefly being detained, and briefly hijacks a car during the final chase. He's got a screw-loose.
- Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: Scrooloose manages to hijack a car from one of Aunty Entity's guards and drives it the chase, but most of what he does during the chase (which ends with him somehow getting a headpiece from another Mook) is offscreen.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: At least two members of the tribe are only addressed by names which they almost certainly received later in life.
- Mr. Skyfish, who uses a kite to fish for birds.
- Scroolose, whose name indicates his mental issues ("Screw loose"), which isn't something that would have been obvious when he was born.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Slake has done a good job of leading the tribe, considers Max's arguments about why they should stay at the oasis, and allows Savannah to take the lead in a ritual normally reserved for him out of appreciation for how she found Max in the desert.
- Rod And Reel Repurposed: It's implied that Mr. Skyfish uses a bird kite to fish for birds, luring them in to catch.
- Tag Along Kid: Tubba Tintye, who runs after Max, Anna and Eddie when they go looking for Savannah.
- Teen Pregnancy: It's implied that the older children have procreated amongst themselves since they were abandoned. The novelization makes it explicit that they have been doing so, with a pregnant girl named Cusha and one of the smaller children being called out as Cusha's first-born.
- Wacky Wayside Tribe: The original group of survivors were lucky enough to stumble across an isolated oasis where they were not only safe from the ravages of the desert, but also from the emerging savagery of the remnants of humanity. Abandoned without external influence, the children became this.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Gekko is mentioned as having left the oasis with Savannah's group, but is never seen once Max catches up to the group. He dies in a
Deleted Scene.
Jedediah
Played by: Bruce Spence
A sneaky, scheming, dishonest airplane-traveling merchant who works with his young son.
- Ace Pilot: Jedediah is a skilled pilot capable of flying just low enough to knock Max off of his wagon in a sudden pass.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Max starts out hunting Jedediah to retrieve his goods and would be happy to get revenge on him later on, but given how he robs lots of people and didn't get a good look at Max during the robbery, Jedediah may not be aware of this. This is more explicit in the Novelization where, during the Can't Kill You, Still Need You scene, Jedidiah recognizes Max from the Thunderdome but is utterly puzzled about why Max seems so mad at him.
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Everything bad that happens to Max starts because Jedediah and his son stole his vehicle, but Max doesn't kill him when he finally catches up because he needs Jedediah's aircraft to escape.
- Lovable Rogue: Jedediah may be a thief, but he doesn't seem to bear his victim any hostility or ill will and is the second person to join the chant urging Aunty Entity to spare Max after the Thunderdome battle.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's basically the same character as the gyro captain from the second movie, a dishonest but not heartless aircraft operator who uses trickery to rob passing travelers. He's played by the same actor but according to Word of God is not the same person.
Jedediah Jr.
- Played by: Adam Cockburn
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: In the climax, he's quick to prepare for flight, with or without his father, upon seeing the charging Bartertown army.
- Tyke Bomb: He's less than twelve years old, but can fly a plane and is quick to hold several travelers at gunpoint in a stickup.
Blackfinger
- Played by: George Spartels
- Butt-Monkey: Blackfinger gets bossed around by Master Blaster, chased and knocked around when Max rescues Master, and used as a human bridge during the train fight. It's also implied that he'll be given the difficult task of trying to repair the methane plant with Master gone, based on his Flat "What" to Aunty's Rousing Speech.
- Cool Helmet: He wears a studded helmet that fits in with the apocalyptic wasteland trappings.
- Gadgeteer Genius: He's the only one of Auntie Entity's men with significant mechanical skills.
- Punch-Clock Villain: He serves Auntie Entity out of duty rather than malice and never does anything worse than chase Max around.
- The Reliable One: He's implied to be more dutiful and focused than Ironbar and the Collector and is seen thinking about Auntie Entity's rallying speech about rebuilding (it's implied that the burden of this task will fall largely on Blackfinger if Master isn't recaptured) rather than just cheering.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: He's a muscular man who never wears a shirt.
Pig Killer
- Played by: Robert Grubb
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only known by the nickname that his crime bestowed on him.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He killed a pig (whose feces are vital for the methane plant) so that he could feed his kids with the meat, and condemned himself to a short and brutal life of hard labor.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: While Pig Killer isn't a fighter to the same degree as Max, he helps save the day several times. He starts the "Two men enter, one man leaves" chant that keeps Max from being executed for sparing Blaster and revealing that Aunty Entity hired him. He sends Max's monkey into the desert with a bottle of water to keep him from dying of thirst. He also plays such a big role in helping everyone break out of Bartertown that Max asks whether he's the one with the plan about what to do next.
- The Old Convict: He's been working in the methane plant for some time and briefs Max about the place when he first shows up. He hasn't been down there that long, though.Pig Killer: Down here [a life sentence is] two, three years.
- The Pollyanna: He's kind and cheerful most of the time, and doesn't seem fazed about having been sentenced to life at hard labor under conditions that will kill him in a few years.
The Monkey
A small monkey owned by Max.
- Heroic Pet: It repeatedly helps Max, such as by making a Trail of Bread Crumbs and following him into the desert with a water bottle.
- Trail of Bread Crumbs: When Jebediah steals Max's caravan with the monkey inside, the simian tosses out various items to leave a trail for Max to follow.
