MM2 Gangs (Theories)

[Bad cop]

One of the things I love about Mad Max 2 is of course the gangs. Everytime I look at pictures or watch the film, I wonder who they were before or if they had encountered Max before.

GAYBOY BESERKERS: My favorite of all the gangs because to me they: dress the best, have the coolest of the vehicles, and they fasinate me the most. We all know that they are former MFP cops who gave up and formed their own gang, but many questions surface: Did they know Max? Did they recognize Max or the Interceptor? What happened to Roop and Charlie? If Roop and Charlie were Bad cops I could see Charlie being the odd man out, so I picture him as the one way in the background with the beat-up black Holden. Roop being who he his (especially in the opening chase in Mad Max) I can picture him as the Bad Cop with the Force 10 Charger. Also how many other gang members were there before they attacked the compound? Were there more scattered about who would soon regroup with Lord Humungas?

SMEGMA CRAZIES: Nothing is really known about the Smegma Crazies other than how they got their name. It's obvious they are most scavengerish of the gangs for their Dune Buggies are packed with supplies and they wear animal skins/furs. Again, who were they? I had read somewhere they they are former soldiers, but a lot doesn't add up to that theory. Were they former survivalists gone crazy who emerged with the sole thought of self preservation after the fall of society? Or are they just plain and simple crazies who just made up the look of what the gang is.

SKINHEADS: The bikers we know are crazy because they want to be, and because they are rebels. What about the Skinheads? Are they simple crazies like the Bikers or are they something else. I came up with a little theory when writing this is that they could be former grease monkeys which would explain the tow-trucks. Were they actual skinheads before the collapse of society? If they are skinheads is it possible they pose conflicts within the Dogs of War regarding the heretige of other gang members? This links with the other nazi related symbols within the gang with Lord Humungas, and the Smegma Crazies (Red Cross Buggie). Because of panic and chaos during the fall, did society revert back to that of racism?

LONE WOLF/PINKO: I have no theories other than that they were crazies that chose to form smaller gangs to their personal liking rather than conforming to the bigger gangs.

What happened after the tanker chase? Since their leader Lord Humungas died in the crash, did all the other gangs split and go their seprate ways or did they trudge on together?

[Taipan]

I think Berserkers are just as you say they are. MFP gone bad. They ride the fastest cars, beat up cars that remind of MFP. Helments, outfits, everything 'fits'. These guys turned bad for sure.

Smegmas are a transitional stage into what we'd seen in MMBT. Driving desert junkmobiles, but not quite. They've not gone so far as Lone Wolf types.

Skinheads, just a bunch of freaks filled with ideology lead by Humungus. He's been the military guy, plenty of evidence of that. Still, people who are living in the past with their ideas about society. They're idiots basically.

Lone Wolf types took it up a notch from Smegmas. They build their own cars from scratch, unlike Smegmas who'd drive anything that resembles dune buggies. Those guys are a clear connection to what we've seen in MMBT. Even the car is there (Lone Wolf I mean). They'd evolve and make crazy inventions such as cars driven by Bartertown guards. Pro survivalists is all I can say.

PS. About the aftermath of tanker chase. I'd take it into perspective. Those who survived got their skills and most likely ended up leading in other places like Bartertown. Some might have wandered into the wasteland. Who knows. My bet is: they assimilated into places like Bartertown, being guards and 'original' vermin that still remained, but was dying off.

[Bad cop]

PS. About the aftermath of tanker chase. I'd take it into perspective. Those who survived got their skills and most likely ended up leading in other places like Bartertown. Some might have wandered into the wasteland. Who knows. My bet is: they assimilated into places like Bartertown, being guards and 'original' vermin that still remained, but was dying off.

Your probably right, but it's kind of sad to think the Dogs Of War (being the badasses they are) became Aunty's guards, and that they would strip apart perfectly fine vehicles and turn them into thunderdome vehicles. I had always been under the impression that the MMBTD vehicles were just put together with whatever was around.

[MWFV8]

I think you have to cast the night wider in terms of geography, personally I don't feel Mad Max all happened within a small area with the same characters appearing and reappearing. Therefore I very much doubt the Gayboy Berserkers would have known max or the gangs would have all gone to Barter Town.

Regarding the Gayboy Berserkers do we know they were certainly ex MFP or could they just be wearing their uniforms and driving their cars as tropheys?

The Smega Crazies military backstory does have some parallels with real life. In America hot rodding, the Hells Angles, The Outlaws and the use of the Iron Cross symbol were all born out of ex soldiers who returned from wars disgruntled with their own country. I feel it is probable that during a global war divisions of the military could give up turn on the society they are protecting.

I like the way the gangs disband at the end of RoadWarrior, I feel this is realistic. While the gangs call themselves crazy I don't believe anyone is really crazy except Wez. To me they are just desperate and look towards leadership and command from Humongous and Wez. Take that away and you've just got a bunch of scavengers with no clear direction. The next in-line for command I guess would be The Toadie but we see he has little respect from the gangs in earlier scenes. My view is they would have regrouped and tried to survive, perhaps raiding what they could find in the destroyed compound, perhaps setting off after where they think the convoy was heading, maybe splitting up into the smaller gangs and going their own ways. Probably eventually fighting over what little resources they could share between them and eventually dieing off slowly.

In Beyond The Thunderdome it does make reasonable sense to me that the cars are more personalised, the key difference between Road Warrior and Thunderdome is the movement back from pure suvivalism back to society. With society comes culture and the desire for people to individualise themselves.

[mahenoguy]

Cool Thead
Anyway in my opinion the " Gayboy berserkers " were surely ex-MFP with their uniforms being too..... well Uniform to have been scavenged off Dead MFP as trophies . This was probably just an economy measure during filming with the same guy playing all of them but i would assume Miller / Kennedy wanted to portray them as all looking the same as it would have been too easy to change ( Or individualise ) the costume for each scene . I would have to agree with MWFV8 in I think the 3 films are set over a wide area and it was unlikely they new Max or the Interceptor ( Although the interceptor is such an exceptional car they would know it by Reputation , As the Compound Mechanic Did )
I've always seen the Compound as a kind of Trading Post that was Under Siege ( A prelude to Bartertown ) . My Theory is that Humungus's gang had arrived fairly recently ( Gyro Captain tells Max he saw them arrive ) which suggests they were a gang before the siege .I think The Compound must have been a kind of Post-Apocalypse fuel station ( Why else would they be refining when they already had enough fuel to make it to the queensland coast , and few vehicles of their own ) . they would become more militant as things got more desperate until they had to close their gates completely , then came the sentries of flame throwers and giant cross-bows , then Came Humungus & co .
I recon the The skin wearing buggy guys had come from the fringes of the desert who had survived due to isolation , The Bikers survived due to Safety in Numbers and the Ex-MfP made it as they were the quickest on the road . I think they would have been based in the ruined suburbs only pushing westward as pickings got thin .

[HUMVEE Driver]

I think you guys have it right about all the gangs coming together under Humungus. Also, I agree with MWFV8: "While the gangs call themselves crazy I don't believe anyone is really crazy except Wez. To me they are just desperate and look towards leadership and command from Humongous and Wez. Take that away and you've just got a bunch of scavengers with no clear direction." That sums them up pretty well.

I'm not sure about the Gayboy Berserkers; if they are former MFP or not. I does make sense that former cops would keep their protective uniforms and use the more powerful cars that they capture. But the opposite is true; bad guys would use MFP leathers that they took from defeated officers. Also, not all of the Gayboy Berserkers' vehicles are civilian cars. Some are police cars. So who knows.

HUMVEE Driver

[MWFV8]

Cool Thead
Anyway in my opinion the " Gayboy berserkers " were surely ex-MFP with their uniforms being too..... well Uniform to have been scavenged off Dead MFP as trophies . This was probably just an economy measure during filming with the same guy playing all of them but i would assume Miller / Kennedy wanted to portray them as all looking the same as it would have been too easy to change ( Or individualise ) the costume for each scene .

Yes plus also most of the gang members have costumes that hide their faces which may have been an artistic statement.

I've always seen the Compound as a kind of Trading Post that was Under Siege ( A prelude to Bartertown ) . My Theory is that Humungus's gang had arrived fairly recently ( Gyro Captain tells Max he saw them arrive ) which suggests they were a gang before the siege .I think The Compound must have been a kind of Post-Apocalypse fuel station ( Why else would they be refining when they already had enough fuel to make it to the queensland coast , and few vehicles of their own ) .

This is a very interesting point. We have to ask ourselves why were the marauders, Max, The Gyro Captain and others all in this small area in the middle of nowhere? Had news of a fuel/trade station at the Mundi Mundi Lookout spread? How had the compound dwellers obtained animals, a school bus and medical supplies?

[MWFV8]

I'm not sure about the Gayboy Berserkers; if they are former MFP or not. I does make sense that former cops would keep their protective uniforms and use the more powerful cars that they capture. But the opposite is true; bad guys would use MFP leathers that they took from defeated officers. Also, not all of the Gayboy Berserkers' vehicles are civilian cars. Some are police cars. So who knows.
HUMVEE Driver

My view is they are supposed to be MFP, although it doesn't appear to be confirmed anywhere it seems to me the production team were making a very bold statement. Things are so bad that even the good guys are now bad guys.

[Player of Games]

The Smegma Crazies could have emerged from a community whose members tried to "go back to nature" when the chaos had just begun. Later they slaughtered their animals and hid their faces because they realized that their hippie-mentality just didn`t work in the wasteland.
Maybe the school bus, the animals etc. were some kind of payment people had to make when they wanted shelter in the compound.

[frank]

With all the masked men in MM2 there's one thing I'm confused about.

Which one is the Stig?