Murdoc Niccals
Murdoc Faust Niccals is the fictional bassist for the virtual band Gorillaz. He is voiced by Phil Cornwell and was created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.
In the Gorillaz universe, Murdoc was responsible for most of the conception and formation of the band, and he is angry that 2-D, the fictional vocalist and pianist for the band, is the frontman. Aspects of Murdoc's appearance and personality were based on that of a young Keith Richards. Murdoc's fictional biography is filled with references to Satanism, such as his birthday being on 6/6/66, and indicates that to become a famous musician Murdoc did a deal with the Devil—leading him to change his middle name to Faust—who provided Murdoc with his own bass guitar, El Diablo.
At the Brit Awards 2018, Murdoc was incarcerated. He was not involved in Gorillaz sixth album, The Now Now, and was temporarily replaced by Ace, leader of The Ganggreen Gang from The Powerpuff Girls. From 4 June to 26 October 2018, the band ran a bi-weekly text-adventure ARG called Free Murdoc, in which the player assists Murdoc as he attempts to escape from prison. Murdoc was reunited with the band on 20 September, in time to join them on the final leg of The Now Now Tour. Murdoc is featured in Mission 101, a monthly web-series produced by Gorillaz in late 2018 to promote their limited edition line of G-Shock watches.
