Murdoc has two modes/reactions when it comes to Noodle: Murdad, and Uncle Muds.
No one knows which one is going pop up in any given situation, which makes things extra interesting.
Especially when he and 30 year old Noodle visit the pub and that one creeper starts sniffing around and can’t take a hint.
It will go one of two ways:
Uncle Muds will drawl from his seat with an amused grin “Jus’ walk away, mate,”
Creeper, *scoffing*: Or what? You’ll kick my arse, you old coffin dodger?
Uncle Muds, half drunk *gravelly chuckle*: Nah, mate,“ gestures lazily to Noodle, ”She’ll kick your s***ing arse. An she’ll kick it so hard you’ll be wearin’ your arse**** like a collar. I’ll just do the gentlemanly thing and call you an ambulance when she’s done.“
Noodle, with That Look in her eye*cracks her knuckles like Uncle Muds taught her*
Creeper doesn’t take the hint and puts his hands on Noodle.
Noodle: hands Creeper his arse in a takeaway bag.
Uncle Muds rumbles approvingly "Well done, love!” , ruffles her hair, then buys her another drink.
Or
Murdad *growls threateningly from his chair* :“Back off yew t**t! She’s not interested!”
Noodle tries to calm Murdoc, but Creeper puts his hands on her.
Creeper *grabbing Noodle’s arm*:“ Let’s ditch this old s*d and-!”
Before Noodle can react, Murdad is up and breaking a chair over the Creeper’s head, and is incoherently screaming in a blind rage while beating seven kinds of doo doo out of the guy. No one puts their hands on Noodle without her consent!
Creeper lands a few punches, but he’s not much of a match. Murdoc more than knows how to fight, and has had a lifetime of practice.
Noodle has to wrestle Murdoc off the guy and practically frog march him out of the pub before the authorities show up.
Mom Russel is not pleased when they get home and Angry Drunk Murdad has to explain his black eye and split lip.
I’m working on Murdad and Noodle doodle, but it’s going to take a long minute. My Aunt is in the hospital (nothing serious!), and things are a little fruit-shaped for me at the moment. While you are waiting for my next doodle, please enjoy this Gorillaz headcanon!
Gorillaz Headcanon - Murdoc and his nightmares (it’s a little long)
Murdoc suffers from regular nightmares, which is part of the reason he drinks so much. It’s easier for him to count the nights he doesn’t have a nightmare, or unsettling dream of some kind. He puts it down to the stress of trying to become famous, and of good old-fashioned childhood trauma.
Russel knows something is up a few months after they move into Kong Studios. Murdoc always looks haggard despite sleeping until almost noon every day. And he seem to live in a perpetual state of inebriation, regularly getting blackout drunk.
Murdoc brushes off Russel’s concerned questioning about his sleeping habits, and spouts some bs about all the birds he invites to his ‘Love Shack on wheels’.
Russel rolls his eyes, but drops the subject. He hears him screaming one night while getting himself a midnight snack, and runs out to the Winnebago, thinking the man is being attacked by zombies.
He finds Murdoc hunched at the edge of his bed, soaked in sweat, shaking and dangerously close to tears.
Murdoc is so rattled, he spills his guts to Russel.
Russel sits there, big warm hand on the bassist’s back while Murdoc tells him about the nightmares of his dad and brother beating him, or torturing him, and of demons and devils.
Russel sits with Murdoc, talking with him, doing his best to comfort him. He sits in the cramped space on edge of the bed, his hand on Murdoc’s shoulder until he falls asleep. And the man actually sleeps. No nightmares, no unsettling dreams.
Neither speaks of the event, but when Russel notices Murdoc starting to drink more, he makes a trip out to the Winnie.
When Noodle arrives at Kong, Russel noticed Murdoc seems unsettled by her is but trying not to show it.
Russel becomes more concerned when Murdoc starts drinking heavily, is barely able to function, and seems to be in a permanently foul mood. Russel tries to sit with him to keep the nightmares away, but Murdoc snaps at him and refuses his help.
The only one he doesn’t snarl at is Noodle. He just can’t seem to bring himself to shout at her. Murdoc is annoyed that the little sprog won’t stay out of his Winnie. She just let’s herself in whenever she pleases, sometimes creeping in and curling up with him in the wee hours.
Murdoc just can’t bring himself to kick her out. She kind of weirds him out, but at the same time, she seems familiar to him.
He has a particularly bad week. The nightmares are especially terrifying, filled with swirling shadows and the sound of an infant’s desperate crying. He blames it on the ever-present flocks of crows squabbling over zombie bits in the graveyards.
Murdoc wakes screaming for the second time one night, a baby’s cries echoing in his ears, and a crushing sense of panic and loss pressing down on his throat.
He almost screamed again when a small hand touched his arm. Murdoc managed not to say any swear words, and tried to give Noodle his most disapproving scowl.
The little girl had looked at him with concern, unfazed, and climbed up next to the shaking bassist, seeing the nightmare-shadows in his eyes.
Murdoc had gruffly asked her what she was doing in his Winnebago. Noodle had silently studied him for a moment, then pushed his shoulder and pointed to the bed, saying something in Japanese in the most commanding tone he’d ever heard from a child.
Noodle had repeated the command, and pointed. Murdoc had snarled, annoyed, but Noodle had given him a sharp look that promised all kinds of trouble if compliance was not forthcoming.
Murdoc had raised an eyebrow, grudgingly impressed at the amount of balls this tin lid had, and had laid down. He got comfortable on his belly, figuring Noodle was going to cuddle up. He had grunted in surprise when she had started rythmically patting his back.
Murdoc had started to protest, embarrassed at being treated like a child, by a child, and moved to sit up. He was immediately stopped by something Noodle said in a scolding tone. He grunted in mild surprise and stayed put, not sure how to process what had just happened.
Murdoc had tensed at first, unused to the sensation, but the tension had slowly drained away under the soothing patting. Murdoc was asleep minutes later. The nightmares didn’t come back the rest of the night.
It became a routine for the two, Noodle coming by every few nights to chase the bad dreams away, or for some comfort when she had a nightmare of her own, something upset her, she felt lonely, or when there was a thunderstorm. Murdoc was a little gruff, but he did his best to soothe her.
Murdoc noticed that his nightmares came less frequently with Noodle around, even when she didn’t sneak into the Winnie to pat him to sleep.
Russel noticed the difference, but said nothing, not wanting to embarrass his bandmate. He was glad the man was sleeping better, and drinking less.
Over the years, the nightmares almost stopped completely Murdoc was able to sleep at night for weeks and months at a time.
But even 20 years later, Murdoc would have the occasional nightmare, or just have trouble getting to sleep.
Noodle would usually catch him sitting on the couch or in the studio late at night and shoo him to his bed. She would say that same phrase in Japanese to him, and he would snort, amused, and lay on his belly so she could pat his back.
And of course he would never admit that some nights he couldn’t sleep, not because he had nightmares, but because he had gotten used to being patted to sleep.
(Edited 07.07.2021 because the first version felt too disjointed)
Teenage Noodle, like a lot of teens, went through the whole Boy Band Phase
She tried to keep it on the down low, but of course her patchwork family eventually finds out
Russel didn’t really say much, aside from some gentle teasing.
He would usually start drumming the beat on the table, the dashboard, or whatever hard surface he was close to and just give Noodle a wide, silly grin
Noodle would either, glare or blush, depending on whether they were in public or not.
Russel would often tap out the beat on her bedroom door as he walked by, just to annoy her
2D did his little snuffle laugh and then apologized for laughing
He went and learned the words to her favorite song and then proceeded to sing it to her at random times to embarrass her
Because a good big brother is obligated to annoy his little sister
Noodle hated it. It was so awkward because she loved 2D’s voice, but then again, it was 2D singing her favorite boy band song.
It doesn’t get much more awkward than having your big brother singing “you are my fire”
Murdoc had immediately gone into Uncle Muds mode and alternately lamented about her rubbish taste in music, and making teasing comments and obnoxious Murdoc Noises
He would randomly burst into her room and start singing, then run for his life while dodging flung objects
His favorite thing to do was grab ahold her in public and start singing at the top of his lungs
It usually drew a crowd of people wondering who was doing David Bowie impressions
At home
In the car
In public
Nowhere was safe
Russel, Murdoc and 2D would often join forces to deliver maximum embarrassment
Russel would start drumming on a handy surface
Noodle would freeze, horrified, because she knew what was coming next
2D would hear the drumming and run over and start singing
And then…then Uncle Muds would join in with backup vocals and intentionally exaggerated hip gyrations
Noodle stopped inviting friends over after The Incident
Three of her friends had come over to hang out and listen to the new boy band album (and try to covertly get pictures of 2D).
Noodle realized too late what was happening when 2D used the excuse of bringing snacks up to get into the room while they were listening to the new track
Then everything went to hell
2D started singing along
Like a shark smelling blood in the water, Murdoc heard 2D start singing and came bursting into the room to provide back up vocals
Russel was close behind to add some percussion flourishes
Noodle had desperately wished she could have yeeted herself into another dimension as her friends swooned over 2D
Or at least two of them did. The third was staring raptly at Murdoc because there is always that one friend with daddy issues…
At least Uncle Muds was keeping the pelvic thrusting to a minimum
Noodle sat there, turning seven shades of red until the whole thing was over and she was seeing her friends off
She made noncommittal gestures and vague replies when her friends asked if she thought 2D would sing for them again
Noodle refused to speak to the boys for two whole weeks
Every great dad knows it is their life’s work to annoy their offspring, and Murdad takes his job very seriously. The most annoying things he likes to do include:
Referring to Noodle as various types of pasta
Linguini, ravioli, rotini, penne, rigatoni, farfalle, tortellini, soba, udon, capellini, manicotti, fusilli, ziti, and macaroni are the ones he uses the most
He even has her in his contact list under ‘Ramen’
When he leaves her notes, he always calls her one of the pasta names
Every time he runs into her while he’s out, he always shouts out a random pasta name to get her attention
If they go to an amusement park, mall, shopping center, etc., Noodle makes sure to stay with the group or else Murdad will wander around screaming pasta names at the top of his lungs
He also likes to annoy Noodle by driving like an old lady
He always makes sure to drive perfectly, following the law to the letter,and even drives a few mph under the speed limit
This drives Noodle crazy, and she calls him a Boomer
To which Murdad responds with a laugh I was born in '66. I’m not a Boomer, love, I’m Gen-X
And then he drives 10mph under the speed limit, which, while not illegal, is still annoying, and Noodle is ready to tear her hair out
Murdad also likes to make his Annoying Murdoc Noises at the end of everything Noodle says, as if she just made a dirty joke
It always confuses 2D, leaving him wondering what the punchline was
He also makes weird noises when he answers her phone calls, just to keep her wondering what he’s doing
Noodle stops calling and switches to texting only
Murdad resorts to spelling out his noises as phonetically accurately as possible
Sleeping anywhere but in her own bed is risky business
Murdad is always watching for when Noodle falls asleep on the couch
He then tips the couch, yeeting her onto the floor and running for his life
He WILL flush the toilet while Noodle is showering
Murdad likes to point out that she’ll never find her name on a novelty keychain, or bicycle plate
Asks her “how was school?” Every time she walks into the room
Calls Noodle from another room, and then doesn’t answer her
Walks into Noodle’s room, then leaves without shutting her door behind him
Sits beside Noodle while she plays on her phone and rapidly and repeatedly pokes her in the shoulder
Ok, I just can’t let this go after that Murdad and Baby Noodle drawing I posted.
Here is my headcanon on how Noodle actually is Murdoc’s daughter
(Probably full of plot holes, but oh well…)
Murdoc meets Noodle’s mother in the late 80’s, after escaping home to follow his dreams of becoming a famous musician.
She was an exchange student from Japan, and met the rock-god-to-be at a pub during her graduation party
It was the cliche love at first sight
Insert humorous domestic living montage
Then along comes Noodle
Murdoc panics, afraid he’s going to turn out just like his father. He starts desperately trying to get his career going
He tries his best to be a good dad, and shares his love of music with Noodle. She seemed to like his bass, so he played it for her often
One night, after a year of failures and an increasingly strained relationship, he looks at his one year old daughter, and knows what he has to do
Murdoc decides to make a deal with the devil
But the devil asks for payment for his services. Pure souls are rare, and he wants Noodle’s
Murdoc refuses, and offers his own soul instead. The devil considers the offer. Twisted souls have their own value, and Murdoc’s has been tormented more than most
The devil agrees, but on one condition. If he can’t have Noodle’s soul, he will take all of Murdoc’s memories of Noodle, and her mother.
Murdoc looks down at little Noodle. If this what it will take to make sure she has a chance at a good life, a life he never had, then he will take it
He reasons that his lady will find him and figure out how to do that paternity thing, or whatever it is to get him back. It would totally work! He’d take one look at that beautiful woman, and they’d fall in love. Then BAM! Noodle would have a rich and famous rock star dad and be set for life!
The deal is made, and Murdoc leaves the apartment that night, brand new bass guitar on his back, a burnt hand, and no memory of why he was in a strange bird’s apartment. He must have been really hammered!
Noodle’s mother tried to find Murdoc, but eventually ended up returning to Japan with Noodle
Shady stuff went down, and Noodle was taken from her for some kind of “program”, while she quietly disappeared
Murdoc spent the next few years struggling with a deep sense of anger and loss that he couldn’t explain
He spent most of his days drinking, getting kicked out of pubs, and trying to scrape together a band
He managed to found a band, but it was so mediocre it broke up in 1994
In 1997, Murdoc ran into 2D, and things started looking up. He recruited Russel, and Murdoc almost had his band. All that was missing was someone to play lead guitar
That was when , in 1998, a FedEx box arrived at Kong Studios, and tiny 8 year old jumped out, and absolutely shreds on her Les Paul!
Murdoc can’t stop looking at this little girl who calls herself Noodle and doesn’t speak a lick of english. There is something so familiar about her!
She’s the piece the band was missing, but it feels like it’s more than that
He feels like he knows her. It makes his heart twist with joy and ache with sadness. It makes him want to scoop her up and cry, and it makes him angry that he doesn’t know why
So Murdoc acts gruff and hard, pushing these confusing feelings away until he can admit that the little sprog is growing on him, and he kinda….sees her as a daughter
Noodle loves Disney movies, and forces everyone to watch them with her.
No one knows how it started, but one day, Murdoc started randomly playing Disney songs in the middle of practice as a joke.
It got a few laughs and helped make things a little more fun for Noodle. Sometimes he would do it just to annoy her because that’s what good dads do.
He gained 100 Respect Point from Noodle when he burst into her bedroom and started playing (and singing) his rock version of Mulan’s “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You”
He was pretty smug at first when he saw the way Noodle’s eyes had lit up and how she couldn’t stop saying how cool he was.
He later realized that he’d shot himself in the foot when she asked him to make a rock version of her other favorite Disney songs!
Murdoc really didnt want to, but he would just as soon take a vow of celibacy as make Noodle cry, so he begged convinced Russel and 2D to help him.
Noodle ended up with the only ‘Gorillaz version’ of her favorite Disney songs in the whole world.
Every time a new Disney movie came out, more songs would be added to her collection!
Quick Gorillaz Murdad/Uncle Muds Headcanon: Cheering up Noodle
Murdoc would have definitely loved Labrynth. It had a great story, and one of his favorite musicians! (He would absolutely have been a Bowie fan!)
He got Noodle to watch it with him and she loved it
Later, whenever he noticed Noodle was down in the dumps, Murdad would go to the studio, get his bass, and start singing “Underground”. Noodle would hear him singing and wander in to listen to his David Bowie impression
If that didn’t cheer Noodle up, then Uncle Muds would resort to singing “Magic Dance”. That one always got her to smile.
Even with Noodle grown, Murdad still just has to start playing his bass and singing to get his FedEx Kid out of her funk
Occassionally he has to threaten to sing “Magic Dance” in public to get Noodle to smile
Sometimes she refuses to smile on purpose just so Uncle Muds will sing it
Bonus:
They went to a Halloween party dressed as Jareth and Sarah. Fight me!
Gorillaz Headcanon - Drunk, High, or Sober? Edited 10.02.2021
Whenever the band goes out on tour, to the grocery store, to the bar, or generally out in public, Russel, 2D, and Noodle like to amuse themselves with a game Russel invented called “Drunk or Sober”.
Murdoc doesn’t know about the game because he’s the person the game is about.
The game begins when Murdoc starts, well, being Murdoc. Russel, Noodle, and 2D each sit back and quietly place a bet on whether Murdoc is drunk (or high,) or not. It’s not as easy to guess as it sounds because Murdoc in general acts weird.
Russel invented the game after one of their North American tours. After a successful show in one of the southern States, the band had gone out to a local bar, which was in the obligatory “cowboy/western” theme.
After a few drinks, the band was relaxing and having fun with some fans, watching as a few brave patrons tried their luck with the mechanical bull.
Russel was torn from helping Noodle and 2D tell stories of their adventures to a group of fans by a sudden storm of excited cheering. He looked up and noticed Murdoc was gone.
Noodle muttered an irritated expletive, and Russel, dread settling in the pit of his stomach, followed her line of sight just in time to see Murdoc climb up on the mechanical bull, putting on a cowboy hat someone in the crowd tossed him.
2D cringed in embarrassment as the DJ started blasting “Cotton Eye Joe”. Murdoc had purposefully picked that song because he knew 2D hated it.
Russel panicked as the bull started up, picturing the newspaper headline “Gorillaz Bassist Breaks Neck on Mechanical Bull Ride in Unfortunate Drunken Accident”. He ended up utterly baffled as Murdoc, making his Suggestive Murdoc Noises the entire time, stood up and went full “guy dancing on mechanical bull” (he would later claim that the guy had copied him.)
Russel, 2D, and Noodle alternately watched nervously (waiting for the inevitable calamity to happen), and argued over whether Murdoc was drunk, high, or sober (or relatively sober).
Noodle and 2D argued that no drunk person was that coordinated, while Russel argued that no sober person was stupid enough to try to dance on a moving mechanical bull.
Miraculously, the little show ended with the crowd cheering wildly as Murdoc dismounted, triumphant and unharmed.
He received a free souvenir t-shirt, lifetime free admission and drinks, and several propositions, then spent an hour posing for pictures in his borrowed Stetson.
He would remember nothing the following morning, proving Russel right, and his social media pages would be bombarded by fans tagging him in a certain video that made it on the internet. And of course Drunk, High, or Sober was born.
aggressively documents his child’s every waking moment
has 100’s of photos on his camera roll, and is not shy about showning the entire roll to anyone he meets
will spend hours in the baby stores, looking at the latest, greatest new things
is so on the ball, it’s like a superpower
will change diapers, feed, and do anything the baby needs
Baby hardly ever touches the ground. Daddy’s arms are the best place to be!
has detailed schedules for the day becuse kids need stable routines, right?
will absoutely helicopter parent
will absolutely not let Murdoc babysit
2D - The Slightly Clueless but Eager Dad
wants to play with the baby all the time
will sit impatiently by the crib during nap time and is ready to play the minute the baby wakes up
spends hours in the studio playing and singing baby songs while cuddling his child
leaves dirty diapers laying out because he forgets to throw them away
ties to teach the baby how to crawl by demonstrating proper crawling technique
can’t seem to put the diaper on right, but he tries
asks a million baby realted questions
makes a bigger mess with the toys than the baby does
Noodle - The Natural Mom
just knows exactly what her baby needs. She’s had plenty of experience ‘raising’ three boys
is not 100% toghether, but she gets things done and has fun
is all about Mommy and Baby Time
will absolutely NOT feed her child in a bathroom, so don’t even suggest it, or you will be eating in a hospital bed
is all about cute baby clothes, and the softest baby toys
perfers not to let her baby watch tv. There is just so much to explore in the world, and so much sensory play to experience!
will not let Murdoc babysit unsupervised. It’s not that she doesn’t trust him, it’s just that she remembers the shenanigans he let her get into when she was young
uses the traditional Japanese parenting style, and follows her cultural traditions so her baby will know it’s roots.
makes plans to take her child to vist Japan as soon as it is old enough
Murdoc - Low-Key Terrified Dad
Is terrified of being left alone with the baby
why is it making that noise???? Is it going to stop? Satan make it stop!
eventually calms down, and the baby never touches the ground again
the baby doesn’t even sleep in the crib. No, baby sleeps on daddy
Play Time is until one of them passes out
will, on occasion, change a diaper, but is overly dramatic about it
plays all the classic rock hits on his bass because his kid is going to grow up cultured!
It’s canon that Murdoc was/is into heavy metal (as mentioned in RotO). He’s got that wonderful gravelly/growly voice that, while not a good match for singing in his band, is a perfect voice for singing in a metal band!
When ever Murdoc is feeling particularly frustrated, stressed, or even just bored, he goes off alone to the studio and screams metal versions of his favorite songs!
He’s recorded a few of them, but not for any other reason than Noodle happened to walk in, or she heard him singing and deliberately walked in and begged him for a copy of a cassette and a vynil ( they raised her old school).
Murdoc never pitches the idea to have a metal song on any of their albums, or to have him sing it. The Gorillaz sound and success is just too important for anyone, even him, to be mucking around with! He’s also never even so much as joked about doing a solo album. He needs his family…he needs the band… His band needs him! He can’t leave them!
He also never sings/plays in front of his other bandmates (bad memories from the last time he played heavy metal in front of someone) but because he’s a Good Dad, he does sing his metal version of This is Halloween for Noodle every year at her birthday party.
