Geek Theories: The Metalocalypse Prophecy

So, anyone who knows me knows I have a perhaps unholy love for the animated series Metalocalypse. While the show boasts great humor, awesome music, and top notch animation, it transcends even its already wonderful premise by having Dethklok, a group of bumbling, spoiled celebrities, involved in a huge prophecy which relates to the end of the world. This prophecy, known as the Metalocalypse, has been foreshadowed from the start of the show and is still somewhat vague. The show is littered with a great deal of imagery, however, which gives clues to what it might all mean. Naturally, I have a geek theory about it! I can’t go into all of my points without giving some spoilers for the season 4 finale, so if this offends thine eyes, look no further.

While there are several images shown throughout the series relating to the prophecy, including the Sumerian tablet, the various medallions with a band member and his corresponding instrument, and the band’s likeness carved into a South American mountain, none seemed so strange or unexplained as the planets. Five planets are occasionally seen in image flashes, often corresponding with the medallions of each band member.

So what are these planets? I suspected for a long time but wasn’t sure that they were planets in our own solar system, and, looking closely, they do somewhat resemble the Jovian planets, minus Saturn’s rings.

Perhaps an astrophysicist can tell me I’m wrong here, and I may be, but I think the look is similar enough to warrant discussion. However, what I find more interesting about this is some other connections one can make to Dethklok using the analogy of them as representatives of the worlds. The theory is not quite complete, I will admit, but the show hasn’t given us everything yet. For now, consider these.

In season two, death expert Dr. Ralphus Galkinsmelter tells us, “Toki Wartooth has become a messenger of death. Everything he touches with his love will die.” And indeed, every outside character Toki cares for (except for Dr. Rockso, who likely has a role to play of his own) is befallen by some horrible fate, whether it be the little girl who admired him, his guitar teacher, his estranged father, or his pet cat. Toki is also the youngest and newest member of the band, often denied the respect of the rest of the band and seen as a kid brother. Hence, Toki, I believe, is Pluto, both the god of death and the smallest of the planets, now not considered a planet at all.

Skwisgaar Skwigelf is a man with an insatiable sexual appetite, and very little in terms of standards, as he will sleep with just about any woman who desires him (which is most of them). It has been shown that he has fathered hundreds of illegitimate children, none of whom are legally allowed to acknowledge him due to Charles Offdensen’s superhuman legal prowess. In “Fatherklok,” Skwisgaar eventually realizes it is his destiny to “Give the gifts of life and makes more gods likes what I ams.” Skwisgaar, then, is Jupiter, philanderer extraordinaire, and father of gods and heroes.

Most recently, in “Church of the Black Klok,” Nathan Explosion has been shown to have an affinity for the sea, which is in fact foreshadowed as far back as “Dethwater.” Nathan destroys perfectly fine records (he has done this at least 15 times now) when the unconscious need enters his mind that an album must come from the sea and be recorded underwater. As the head of the Church tells him, Nathan is told to do this by a massive whale, who serves as his spirit guide. Nathan is the band’s creative visionary, and as much of his power comes from the water, Nathan is Neptune, god of the ocean (and horses, while we’re at it; Nathan does love his Thunderhorse).

Unfortunately, because there isn’t enough data on Murderface or Pickles in this regard yet, my theory remains incomplete for now. However, I can posit some guesses. Perhaps it’s the scatological implications that suggest to me Murderface will be associated with Uranus, but looking at the history of said god, he was mad and cruel, and hated by the other gods, just as Murderface is criminally abrasive and generally disliked by his bandmates. As for Pickles and Saturn, that one’s a harder connection to make for me, but I’m sure I’ll come up with it eventually, unless my theory is proven wrong.

So what is the upshot of all this? What do these connections have to do with anything? Well, I’m not saying Dethklok is directly connected to the Greco-Roman gods exactly. Indeed, the prophecy of their coming dates back to at least ancient Sumeria. I believe the planets, and thus the implied gods, represent Jungian archetypes to which the Dethklok members subscribe. Theirs is the power of the gods, and thus the power to save or destroy the world. Once they come to understand this power, they will have the ability to shape the Metalocalypse itself, as Selatcia is attempting to do behind their backs. In a final bit of theorizing, I suspect Selatcia and his agents would have swept in and directly manipulated Dethklok from the start, had it not been for their discovery by one Charles Offdensen.

Obviously, with the final season and a movie on the way, much of the story is yet to be told, and I could well be completely off base, but the evidence seems to point in this direction, and it seems likely enough that Brendon Small put this level of thought and detail into it from the start.