Character page for the Mad Max continuity that includes Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
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Main Characters
Max
Max Rockatansky
"As the world fell it was hard to know who was more crazy. Me... Or everyone else."
Played by: Tom Hardy (Fury Road), Bren Foster (Mad Max (2015)), Jacob Tomuri (Furiosa)
Dubbed by: Jérémie Covillault (European French)
"How much more can they take from me? They've got my blood. Now it's my car!"
A former Main Force Patrol cop, now a drifter, haunted by the past and pursued by scavengers in the present. Don't think too hard about whether or not he's the same Max once played by Mel Gibson, or how he's seemingly the same age after this long, Word of God is that it doesn't matter.
- AB Negative: Max is an O-negative "universal donor", which saves his life: Immortan Joe and his flunkies keep Max captive to use him as a "blood bag" instead of killing him outright — just as Joe sees the Five Wives as his "breeders". He is thus carried into battle by Nux, who is in need of an extended transfusion. This becomes a Chekhov's Gun when Max has to perform a transfusion for Furiosa.
- Action Dad: While not his biological kids, he does a lot of ass-kicking in the name of protecting the Five Wives, once he comes around to them. He also does plenty of ass-kicking in the tie-in comics and video game, when he brings Glory the Child out of the Sunken City. Exemplified when Rictus tries to physically pull the Wives out of the cabin. Bad move.
- Action Survivor: While not in a mentally sound state he survives being forced into a car crash by the War Boys, being strapped to the hood of a car during a high speed chase while his blood is being drained to sustained Nux, subsequently crashing in the middle of a colossal sandstorm and manages to subdue Furiosa in a fight while being chained to a (briefly) unconscious Nux and while she's being assisted by the other Wives. In the first third of the movie alone.
- Angrish: Spouts some while strapped to Nux's car, the most famous of which is "Confucamus!"
- Awesome Aussie: Though now played by an English guy. His first action sequence has him taking on an innumerable amount of Warboys and almost winning. He's shown consistently kicking all kinds of ass, only suffering any real issues from the surprise attack at the start, taking on Furiosa while chained to Nux, and any time his PTSD kicks in at inopportune moments. His Offscreen Moment of Awesome cements this.
- Badass Driver: His main role through all four films — drive fast, survive.
- Barbarian Longhair: Has shaggy long hair at the start of the movie (until his captors shave it off).
- Berserk Button:
- He's not happy whenever he sees a War Boy driving his car. This especially stands out in contrast with his usual The Stoic behaviour when he suddenly starts screaming "That's mine!"
- After he regains his sense of helping others, don't mess with the Wives in front of him.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Max speaks only when he needs to, letting his actions and combat prowess speak for him.
- Bound and Gagged: Begins Fury Road like this. Although he briefly frees himself and is too occupied trying to escape the War Boys he leaves his gag on.
- Broken Bird: This movie puts more emphasis on just how broken and on the edge of sanity Max is, though he hasn't quite gone completely over the edge.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: In both a
funny and awesome moment, Max's reaction when he arrives back after personally confronting the Bullet Farmer and his goons, armed with only a kukri and a jerry can of gas, covered in blood that isn't his? "Hm." - But Now I Must Go: Once Furiosa has effectively succeeded Immortan Joe, he shares a knowing look with her before disappearing into the cheering crowd.
- Butt-Monkey: He is captured, beaten, tortured, and made a blood bag in the first fifteen minutes. Later, he is converted into a hood ornament and hoisted on the car of another Butt-Monkey Nux with an ugly muzzle strapped to his face. Then he starts to impose himself by surviving an electromagnetic storm, winning a three-way fist fight while still being chained and then freeing himself from his muzzle and taking the wheel.
- The Cameo: Appears in a single scene (where he's played by Tom Hardy's stunt double) in Furiosa watching from a distance as she returns to the Citadel after losing her arm. It's implied he drove her the rest of the way after she passed out.
- Character Development: Max begins the film as a barely civilized, constantly-hallucinating wreck who's only out for himself. As the circumstances of the plot force him and Furiosa's group together, he regains his sense of empathy. By the end of the film, he and Furiosa have come to deeply respect each other.
- Character Tics: Tends to cover his face when hallucinating which winds up inadvertently saving him from a near-headshot at the start of the climax.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- At the start, the Organic Mechanic notes that Max is a universal donor. That's going to become very important later on.
- On a related note, he keeps the IV tubing Nux was using to siphon blood from him (you can see it tied up on his shoulder in the picture).
- His habit of reflexively covering his face with his hand when hallucinating spares him a crossbow bolt in the forehead in the finale.
- Classical Anti-Hero: There's nothing special about Max — his main "superpower" is that he survives.
- Close-Range Combatant: Many of his greater feats in the film, such as subduing Furiosa (while chained to Nux, no less) and taking out Rictus Erectus, the People Eater, and the Bullet Farmer, are all done in close quarters using melee weapons, Improvised Weapon, or just Good Old Fisticuffs.
- Combat Medic: Due to his training as a cop, when Furiosa's lungs are collapsing, Max knows to re-inflate them by piercing her side with a knife. Then he gives her a blood transfusion using the tubing he was hooked up to by the Warboys.
- Combat Pragmatist: As we said above, his main "superpower" is survival. If he's in a fight, he'll use whatever's on hand to win — from knives, to clubs, to guns, skulls, oxygen tanks, car doors, wrenches... But especially fists.
- Cool Car: The Pursuit Special, once again. George Miller likened the Pursuit Special as the Trigger to Max's Roy Rogers. Sadly, it gets destroyed. Again. Twice.
- Dark and Troubled Past: The details are never really explained, but the film's opening establishes that he's seen (and probably participated in) a lot of bad things. The tie-in comics go to more detail about this. Suffice to say, he has plenty of reasons to be troubled.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Heavily favors a black color scheme, but is at worst neutral before shifting into a less ambiguously good character.
- Death Glare: His default expression for the first half of the film, especially when he's stuck in the metal muzzle.
- Defrosting Ice King: A gruff man of few words, who has completely cut himself off from humanity and cares little for Furiosa and the women she's trying to protect. He speaks in grunts, shoots a pregnant woman in the leg and keeps his distance from everyone else. After spending a lot of time with the girls, he rediscovers compassion, changing his initial plan of "escape Joe's men at any cost" to "protect the women at any cost." At the end of the film, Max willingly donates his blood to save Furiosa's life and finally tells her his name.
- Dented Iron: He takes a thorough beating over the course of the film. At one point, he gets his hand pinned to his face by a crossbow bolt. He kills several people before he gets round to removing the bolt.
- Determinator: Max is absolutely relentless. No matter how much trouble he finds himself in, Max will fight like a wild animal to achieve whatever his goal is at the time.
- Empty Shell: When the Organic Mechanic says he's borderline feral, it's hard to disagree. He barely seems to remember his name.
- Establishing Character Moment: His battle with Furiosa. The sheer ferocity and skill he displays wows all present, but Furiosa realizes that she's met a good (if severely shell-shocked) man when he wastes three precious bullets firing into the ground next to her head to force her to submit as opposed to the simple solution of putting a single round into the back of her skull. You can practically see the wheels turning in her head, and she treats him as an equal from that point on.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: He's obviously been alone for a long time and shows several signs of having forgotten how to interact with people normally, from his extreme twitchiness to his habit of talking to himself rather than anyone else. It's also quite prevalent in the very first shot we see of him: as he overlooks the wastes, we see the door to the Interceptor is slightly ajar and there's all sorts of crap spilling out.
- Handicapped Badass: Kicks ass despite his mental illness and dependence on a leg brace.
- Heartbroken Badass: He's haunted by the ghosts of the people he failed to save, most notably a little girl named Glory the Child.
- Hearing Voices: To go with his hallucinations, he often hears the voice of a young pale child talking to him. Sometimes he'll hear the child's voice in place of a real one saying the same thing.
- Heroic BSoD: Max experiences this at the end of his tie-in comic when Glory dies/the end of the videogame where the same thing happens, and he doesn't truly recover from it until halfway or so during Fury Road.
- Human Notepad: The Organic Mechanic applies a large tattoo to his back that lists his medical information along with details such as when he was captured, the fact that they don't know his name and instructions that he's to be kept muzzled at all times. The tattoo can only be read if he's hanging upside-down.
- Hyper-Competent Sidekick: To Furiosa. While she's certainly extremely capable herself, this is still Max we're talking about here. For instance, he's the one coming up with the idea to retake the Citadel, but also kills the Bullet Farmer when he's on the group's trail and takes down the People Eater and destroys the Gas Town War Rig.
- Iconic Outfit: An interesting application of it; he has it in the introduction
, loses it to Nux after he is captured by the War Boys, and reclaims it before the second chase - however, throughout all of this, it's a dusty brown. However, once he stops focusing on his own survival — when he leaves to fight the Bullet Farmer and tells the others to leave without him if he's not back by the time the engines cool off — it is once more◊ the slick (if extremely worn) black seen in previous movies. - Improvised Weapon: When Rictus looks like he might go after Cheedo and Furiosa Max attacks him with a skull. Then he clobbers him with one of his own oxygen tanks.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A very deeply hidden heart of gold. Even when Furiosa convinces him he needs her, he still tries to leave the Wives behind. However, after enough time, his more compassionate past as a dutiful cop shines through.
- Knight in Sour Armor: See also Jerk with a Heart of Gold. He may not always be happy about it, but he will do the right thing and help everyone else above all else.
- Kukris Are Kool: When off to take care of a Blind Bullet Farmer he picks up a Kukri and some explosive materials.
- Legacy Character: Possibly.
Word of God states that he may or may not be the original Max. - Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: His boot gets pulled off while he kicks Slit off of Nux's car. Later, Max steals a boot from Nux as a replacement.
- Man Bites Man: He was literally muzzled while held in the Citadel, presumably to keep him from biting his captors. When his shotgun shells fizzle out, he actually attempts to gnaw Nux's arm off before remembering that he still has his muzzle on.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: His flashbacks to Glory the Child seem like simple traumatised hallucinations, but the one that inspires him to suggest that Furiosa and the Wives take the Citadel contains a split-second precognitive vision of the extremely tenacious Polecat who will later come very close to giving him a fatal headshot during the climax. The fact that the same vision reappears at precisely the right moment to help him survive said headshot (by triggering his instinct to cover his face just as the crossbow gets fired at his head) might suggest there is something supernatural to it. If it is indeed Glory's ghost, then him receiving painful and distracting visions when he flees despite them telling him to "stop running", but helpful ones when he decides to help people, might suggest it is a benevolent ghost trying to guide him to reconnect with his fellow humans.
- Multiple-Choice Past:
- There's a minor Continuity Snarl in relating his backstory (a cop from Just Before the End) to how exactly he's seemingly the same age while Immortan Joe is ancient, or how he has the Pursuit Special in spite of it having been wrecked in The Road Warrior. A weird example would be his actions in the tie-in comic and the game, which seem to relate similar events, such as rescuing a child from an underground hellhole controlled by Buzzards, but differ wildly as to what actually happened. Making things more confusing, the game shows Max's bad leg getting injured as well. The one thing the two of them have is that they're both Prequels. It's not worth the time to puzzle it out though, as Word of God is that it doesn't matter as the story of Max is more of a series of legends riddled with inconsistency.
- This also goes for the Interceptor. Rest easy, gearheads, the thing is fine, but the comic seems to imply the car was stolen from Buzzards.
- There's a minor Continuity Snarl in relating his backstory (a cop from Just Before the End) to how exactly he's seemingly the same age while Immortan Joe is ancient, or how he has the Pursuit Special in spite of it having been wrecked in The Road Warrior. A weird example would be his actions in the tie-in comic and the game, which seem to relate similar events, such as rescuing a child from an underground hellhole controlled by Buzzards, but differ wildly as to what actually happened. Making things more confusing, the game shows Max's bad leg getting injured as well. The one thing the two of them have is that they're both Prequels. It's not worth the time to puzzle it out though, as
- No Name Given: Well, the audience knows his name. Furiosa and the Wives don't since he refuses to tell them, so Furiosa calls him "Fool" and Nux calls him "Bloodbag". "No Name" is even part of the information tattooed on his back as a captive. When Max finally does give Furiosa his name, it's presented as a Friendship Moment between the two.
- No Social Skills: A man of few words who spends just as much time muttering to himself as he does talking to others. When he does speak with others his inflections are often a bit off, as though he's forgotten how to converse normally.
- Not Distracted by the Sexy: A quintet of perfect, gorgeous women in skimpy diaphanous white fabric? Nah. Clean water? Oh, hell yes.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Whatever he does to the Bullet Farmer. We just see him walk off, later there's an explosion in the distance, and he comes back lugging the guy's supplies with blood on his face that isn't his.
- Older Than They Look: According to the forward in the art book, it's been over 40 years since the apocalypse, meaning Max would have to be in his 60s by this point. There's also the fact he seems to be roughly the same age as characters who were explicitly born after the collapse, like Furiosa and Joe's sons. His Cameo appearance in Furiosa doesn't showcase his appearance clearly, but he looks to be about the same as when he shows up in Fury Road 5 years later.
- One-Man Army: Takes on something like twenty War Boys at once and almost escapes. He also gets in a fight with Furiosa and all five of the Wives, while still chained to Nux, shortly after surviving a massive car crash, and wins. He also kills the Bullet Farmer and all his men offscreen, in about 30 seconds, with only a kukri.
- Papa Wolf: Not at first, but Max ends up developing a fierce protective side over the Wives. Rictus learns this the hard way when he's beaten near to death with an oxygen tank.
- Perma-Stubble: At least after the War Boys shave him down.
- Personality Blood Types: Possibly a coincidence, but he does have many of the traits (determination, physical prowess, emotional instability and antisocial tendencies) associated with Type Os in Japanese blood type woo.
- Pinball Protagonist: One of the few complaints is that Furiosa is the real hero of the movie while Max is reduced to the role of sidekick. The complaints overlook the facts that Max is still a prominent figure for most of the movie (as the Audience Surrogate), comes up with half of the ideas and acts that keep the group alive, and undergoes a standard heroic character arc. His perceived lack of focus is also due to the efficiency of the plot: the audience doesn't need to know Max's backstory in great detail to understand his motivations and general badassery, leaving space for events that propel the story. In an example of Tropes Are Not Bad, Max serves as more of a catalyst in the film than a true protagonist.note
- The Quiet One: At one point in the film, he speaks three sentences in a row. It's kind of shocking. In total, he has only 52 lines in the movie, including the Opening Narration.
- Sanity Slippage: Teeters on this, suffering reoccurring nightmares of Glory the Child and frequently muttering to himself.
- Slave Brand: Gains a very large one put on his back after being captured in the opening declaring him property of Immortan Joe and listing his blood type as O-, among other useful information.
- Spanner in the Works: Nux's impulsive decision to strap his feral "blood bag" to the front of his car ends up deciding the course of not only Furiosa's rebellion, but Immortan Joe's entire regime and the War Boy's as a whole.
- Steel Ear Drums: Seemingly. Has a sidearm and a sniper rifle go off right next to his ears. The audio does feature a prominent ringing sound that lasts for several seconds afterwards in both instances, suggesting it does affect him, and he noticeably flinches and shakes his head afterward the second as though it hurts.
- The Stoic: Zigzagged. He's quiet enough to count as this and at times he's a blank slate in terms of emotion, but it gets progressively more downplayed as he learns to interact with other people.
- Supporting Protagonist: Max is simply caught up in Furiosa's rebellion against Immortan Joe and tags along with her (at least at first) simply by not having any other options.
- Team Dad: Takes this place in the group beside Furiosa, coming up with plans and being instrumental in protecting them.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Being with Furiosa and the Wives helps Max re-learn his sense of helping out others.
- Trauma Button: Watching Angharad die brings about visions of Glory the Child who, depending on whether you played the game or read the prequel comics, died in Max's arms after being tortured by Scabrous Scrotus or run down with her mother by some Buzzards. This event marks a major turning point in his Character Development and his relationship with Furiosa and the Wives.
- The Unfettered: Between his traumatic past, years of solitude in the wasteland, and severe mental instability, it is clear at the beginning of the film that his mind is locked firmly on survival mode, and everyone else be damned. His teaming up with Furiosa and the Wives was done out of necessity, since the War Rig had a kill switch installed on it that only Furiosa knew the combination to, and he otherwise would have left her and the Wives in the middle of the desert without a second thought. In addition, he doesn't even glance at The Dag when she spits insults at him in the cab, making it clear their opinion of him matters little if anything. As the movie goes on, however, he begins opening up, and his priorities shift from simply surviving to actually helping and reconnecting with his fellow human beings.
- Walking the Earth: Max has apparently been leading this lifestyle for some time when the film begins before he's captured by War Boys and taken on a very wild ride. Once everything's over and done with, he gets right back to it, only this time with a restored sense of humanity.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Max's accent is all over the place in this movie. It seems like Tom Hardy is attempting an Australian accent but it slips until it becomes unrecognisable.
- What You Are in the Dark: During the movie's latter portion, Max has the complete choice up to him, without it being a last resort or survival necessity. Once they give him a motorcycle, he can either let them go to what is likely a barren wasteland, and they would never hate him for it. Or he could go after them and help them achieve a more hopeful future. He chooses the latter.
- Wild Hair: Starts the movie with this. Then the War Boys cut his hair and shave him.
- Withholding Their Name: Being a paranoid loner of the post-apocalyptic landscape, Max Rockatansky refuses to reveal his name, until after the climax of the film. As such, Furiosa refers to him as "fool".
- Would Hit a Girl: He and Furiosa beat the ever-loving shit out of each other in their first encounter.
- Wouldn't Hurt a Child: During his initial scenes with the Wives, he actively does not threaten or point a gun at Cheedo, even when getting her attention (he just snaps his fingers instead). In the scene with the Rock Riders when Furiosa makes the Wives hide in the bottom of the War Rig, as Cheedo starts to climb down, Max gives her a very incredulous and surprised look, like he's only now realizing just how young she is.
Furiosa
Imperator Furiosa
"We keep moving."
Click here to see her younger self
Appears In: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga | Mad Max: Fury Road
"Out here, everything hurts."
One of Immortan Joe's Imperators, trusted to driving the caravan from the Citadel to its destination. She hides Joe's Wives in her rig so that they can escape to her childhood home, the Green Place.
- Action Girl: Even for this series, where being an Action Girl is practically a requirement to survive, Furiosa manages to outdo them all. She's not only an incredibly good shot and a brutal fighter up close, but she leads a rebellion against Immortan Joe by taking his Wives and running. And in the end, she frees the Citadel from his oppression. This is all while coming close to death several times. Some critics and fans are already touting her as the Ellen Ripley of the current generation.
- Anti-Hero: According to Theron, her rescuing of the Five Wives is partly about freeing them, but it's more about taking them away from Joe to hurt him since he hurt her.
- Arch-Enemy: Dementus, the Wasteland warlord who killed her mother, stole her childhood and sold her to Immortan Joe to be a Sex Slave and killed the man she loved. After she killed him eventually Immortan Joe took his place.
- Artificial Limbs: Her left arm is mechanical, and can be detached and reattached as the situation calls for it. It's shown in Furiosa that she tore it off herself after it was mangled in order to escape Dementus.
- The Atoner: We never learn in Fury Road exactly what she is attempting to redeem herself for, but Furiosa she states that trying to rescue the Wives from Immortan Joe is an attempt at redemption. Furiosa shows that she played a pivotal role in securing Immortan Joe's victory in the 40 Day Wasteland War by denying Dementus the resources of the Bullet Farm (by damaging it too much to use during the war), forewarning Joe about Dementus' opening sneak attack and strategy and ultimately being the one to track down and take down Dementus, thus securing Joe’s regime and all the horrible things that come with it. There is also probably an element of Survivor Guilt involved, as Furiosa was sold to Joe as child to be a Wife, living in his harem with the others, and found a way to escape before she was old enough to receive his attentions, but had to leave them all behind.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: You don't become an Imperator without knowing how to kick epic ass. It's telling that no matter how bizarre her behavior is when commanding the War Rig, her second-in-command takes her orders on faith that she's doing it for the good of Immortan. It isn't until after defeating the Russians and the War Boys are still attacking that he cottons to her betrayal.
- Badass Driver: Of the War Rig.
- Bad Boss: She had a lot of War Boys with her when she decided to go rogue and head to the Green Place. Part of her deal with the Bikers was that she had to show up alone, so she almost certainly drove into Buzzard territory to thin out the convoy's numbers.
- Bald Head of Toughness: Furiosa rocks a shaved head and is a badass of the highest order in a world where being a badass is almost a requirement for survival. She's capable with a sniper, a strong hand-to-hand combatant, and refuses to back down, no matter the cost, of her goal of taking down Immorten Joe. This was apparently invoked by Charlize Theron, who portrays Furiosa, in order to create more contrast between Furiosa and The Wives.
- Bodyguard Betrayal: In the comic backstory, Immortan had her guard his Wives because he didn't trust any of the men to do it. This backfires badly.
- Boyish Short Hair: This was Charlize Theron's own suggestion to set her apart from the Wives which made George Miller make the standard feature of Joe's forces, much to the dismay of the actors and stunt doubles playing War Boys all having to shave their heads, though in the end it worked heavily in the film's favor, making the War Boys in the opening seem like the zombies from World War Z, more akin to a natural force than humans.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Immortan treated her like property. The rest of the Citadel probably had to be cowed into respecting her as she climbed the ranks, and they obviously dislike her. Max is the first guy who showed her proper respect and didn't try to kill her at the first sign of weakness. As a result, he and Furiosa become Bash Brothers.
- In Furiosa it's revealed that Max is not the first, as Praetorian Jack held the position of War Rig driver first and promoted her up to be his successor after the two of them were the sole survivors of an attack on the rig.
- Big Good: Opposite Immortan Joe's Big Bad, with her main objective being the liberation of The Wives.
- Bilingual Bonus: Imperator is Latin for commander, from which English "emperor" comes from. Furiosa means "furious" in Latin, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
- Childhood Friends: With The Valkyrie.
- Childish Bangs: As a child, she has the classic bangs-and-a-bob-cut to emphasize her innocence, and she keeps the bangs even as the rest of her hair grows out. She cuts her hair before escaping Immortan Joe's harem, and her hairstyle from then on lacks bangs regardless of how long the rest of her hair is.
- Cold Sniper: She's noticably more stoic whenever she holds a gun, and a really good shot. She snipes the Bullet Farmer from a mile away in the dark, with a single bullet.
- Crazy-Prepared: She keeps all manner of Hidden Weapons around the War Rig, including a pistol concealed on its exterior and a knife in the gearstick. She also has a startup sequence of switches that, if not entered properly, will disable the War Rig.
- Dark and Troubled Past: As revealed in Furiosa, she was kidnapped from her home as a child by Dementus and his horde, saw her mother tortured to death right in front of her, spent years in a cage as Dementus' pet, was sold to Immortan Joe to be one of his Wives as part of a deal between the Warlords and the only reason she wasn’t raped by him is that she managed to escape the harem before she was old enough to bear children. After years of having to pretend to be a mute boy she finally finds a modicum of happiness with Pretorian Jack, only to have it all violently ripped from her during the 40 Days Wasteland War. There's also the horrible things she very likely had to do to become an Imperator in the 5-year period between the end of the 40 Days War and the events of Fury Road.
- Determinator: No matter what Joe throws her way, Furiosa will not allow herself or the Wives to be taken by him.
- Deuteragonist: She's the character who kick-starts and drives the plot, but Max has the primary point of view and the most screentime.
- Distaff Counterpart: In many ways, she's similar to Papagallo from The Road Warrior. Her goal is to take her people to The Promised Land and makes use of a Big Badass Rig to do so. The difference here is that Furiosa survives her stab wound to the back, the promised land she was looking for was home all along.
- Fake Arm Disarm: In the final chase, Furiosa sacrifices her mechanical arm to kill Immortan Joe after attaching the chain that she tosses into Joe's wheels. As mentioned below, this is also symbolic with Furiosa casting away who she was by Joe's will and becoming something else entirely as a result of her vengeance satisfied and finally being liberated from his reign.
- Family Eye Resemblance: When the Vuvalini (besides Valkyrie) are initially wary that she is who she says she is, one of them notes, "Something in the eyes… perhaps it is Jo Bassa's child."
- Forced to Watch: Happens to her twice during Furiosa, both times at Dementus' hands. The first time is as a child when he holds her eyes open to make her watch her mother's execution. The second happens when she's an adult and Dementus orders her strung up to watch Praetorian Jack being dragged to death and eaten by dogs.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Given the Warboys' generally misogynistic culture, it's safe to assume that Furiosa, a woman, wasn't regarded as particularly valuable when she was young. Despite this, she managed to rise to the rank of Imperator in the Warboys' ranks, working directly for Immortan Joe, so you know she earned it. It's assumed the redemption she seeks is for everything she's done to earn that title.
- Good Is Not Nice: Is determined to free Immortan Joe's "breeder" sex slaves at any cost. She's a steely, ruthless Combat Pragmatist who will gladly send an army's worth of brainwashed mooks to Valhalla to accomplish this.
- Heel–Face Turn: Before the movie began, she was one of Immortan Joe's highest ranked military leaders, before having a change of heart and deciding to free his five Sex Slaves from his oppression.
- Heroic BSoD: After they find the Many Mothers, and she learns that the Green Place has become a barren swamp.
- Hero of Another Story: In Fury Road, she is too much hero for one story. We know the enigmatic Imperator of iron will who leads the prisoner-wives to freedom. The other, untold one is how in the hell a beautiful orphan-child kidnapped from her "family" dodged becoming one of Joe's "breeders", grew to womanhood in the Citadel, rose to the rank of Imperator, earned her own War Rig, and became such a trusted leader that her lieutenant assumes she has a brilliant secret plan and follows her orders without question when she drives off-route. All of this is explained in Furiosa.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The Polecat she stabbed in the shoulder with the gear handle knife later uses the knife to severely wound her in return.
- Hope Bringer: She inspires hope in the jaded Praetorian Jack, to the point he not only agrees to let her escape the Citadel but also decides to defect himself and go with her, so that they can find the Green Place.
- Hot-Blooded: Shown especially when she first fights Max and Nux.
- I Am X, Son of Y: When they find the Vuvalini, Furiosa introduces herself by rattling off her tribal lineage, so they won't shoot her from ambush like they were clearly planning to. Also a case of I Am What I Am, since this is the first time in twenty years that she reconnects with her long lost past.Furiosa: I am one of the Vuvalini! Of the Many Mothers! My Initiate Mother was K.T. Concannon! I am the daughter of Mary Jabassa. My clan was Swaddle Dog!
- Improbable Aiming Skills: She's a crack shot and proves it by landing a precise shot where Max has failed to.
- Invasion of the Baby Snatchers: How Furiosa ended up at the Citadel as a little girl.
- Life-or-Limb Decision: After Dementus mangled Furiosa's arm with his truck, he had her suspended by it so her entire weight was on the ruined limb. Furiosa managed to sever the arm and escape while the gang was distracted executing Jack.
- Mama Bear: God forbid you lay a hand on any of the Wives.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: She was intended to be one of Joe's breeders. She escaped that and clawed her way up the ranks of the Citadel, but being Imperator did not earn her respect from Immortan or his cronies. She was still treated as Joe's property. Guess what Joe, she just took your precious Wives on a joyride into hostile territory.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: An Australian who was born in Australia, grew up surrounded by people speaking with Australian accents, and uses Australian slang but speaks in only an American accent.
- The Not-Love Interest: To Max, with whom she eventually shares a deep — and platonic — camaraderie. Max feels the same, as when she is dying from blood loss he attends to her wounds and willingly donates blood to keep her alive.
- Not So Above It All: Has the same little-to-no regard for the War Boys that Immortan Joe has, particularly even when they protect her War Rig. Particularly in the case of Ace, who is implied to have quickly turned on her because of her own mistreatment.
- Of Corsets Sexy: The 'battle corset' version, though not played much for fanservice; it seems to be more a support for her back than anything else.
- It's actually meant to be a back support of the kind used by many real long haul truckers.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: When she kills Immortan Joe, she says, "Remember me?"
- Properly Paranoid: Furiosa keeps a number of weapons inside and outside the War-Rig in case she's attacked at an inopportune moment. She's also installed a short-circuiter to prevent any carjacking. Each and everyone of her assets are used multiple times throughout her journey.
- Redemption Equals Death: Attempted — after being stabbed in the back, she gives Nux the wheel and makes an apparently suicidal assault on Joe's car. It takes some crude emergency surgery, but she survives.
- She Is the King: Imperator is masculine in Latin, the feminine form is Imperatrix.
- Slave Brand: The only Imperator to have Immortan Joe's sigil on the back of her neck.
- The Smurfette Principle: While not an example for the film as a whole, Furiosa is notably the only woman who is a member of the fighting forces of any of the warlords. The fact that, before her betrayal is revealed, she is one of the highest ranked and most universally respected members of Joe's army (with her underlings never even questioning her bizarre decisions) indicates both her incredible combat prowess and the likely extra awful things she had to do to climb her way to the top of such a misogynistic culture.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: After escaping from Joe's harem, she joined the vehicle garage disguised as a boy. She pretended to be mute during this time so nobody would work out her true gender from her voice.
- Taking You with Me: After the Black Mask stabs her in the side, she realizes she's dying and immediately hands the wheel over to Nux, so she can crawl her way over to Immortan Joe and kill him before she dies.
- Team Mom: She functions as the Wives' protector and caretaker.
- The Unfettered: Furiosa wants to get the Five Wives away from Immortan Joe, and to hell with anyone caught in the crossfire. She leads her loyal Warboys into a Buzzard ambush which wipes them all out, cuts a deal with the Rock Riders she obviously never meant to keep, and only becomes Fire-Forged Friends with Max because he's too tough to get rid of easily and actually has time to win her over.
- The Unreveal: In Fury Road, a lot of things about her past are left completely mysterious. They are finally revealed in Furiosa.
