Toki Wartooth

Toki Wartooth is a major character in Metalocalypse.

Character Biography

Toki was born and raised in an abandoned village near Lillehammer, Norway, the only child of Aslaug and Anja Wartooth. Toki's father is a Reverend in a mysterious and seemingly cult-like religion which apparently involves taking a vow of silence or similar disciplinary concepts. Toki's parents do not speak, and Toki becomes catatonic and unresponsive as a result of their visit in Dethfam; he does not speak a single word for the duration of the episode. In the episode Dethkids as well as the short interview Family allusions are made to Toki having been beaten by his parents as a child. In Dethdad, when Toki finds out that his father is dying of cancer, he and the rest of the band travel to Norway, and Toki faces his traumatic past. Several flashbacks are shown including Toki carrying a huge box of fish up a hill, walking in on his parents having sex, sitting with no shirt with bloody gashes all over his back and upper arms, and hanging with his arms in shackles on a wall. After running away briefly, Nathan, Pickles, Skwisgaar, and Murderface search for him. He finally faces his fears and reconciles with his dying father whose last request is to see the house he was born in, which is at the top of a large steep hill. Toki carries his father up to the steps of the house, but slips on the ice-covered stairs and drops him down the hill. Aslaug slides down the hill and breaks through the ice covering a lake at the bottom. Toki rushes to save him, but it is too late, and he is forced to watch through the ice as his father drowns and sinks to the bottom of the lake.

Character Appearance

Toki sports a distinct whisker-like style of moustache known as the Fu Manchu, and has long brown hair and the very pale blue eyes often found in those of Nordic descent, though he lacks the sensitive skin usually found with this trait; he develops a sun tan during the episode Bluesklok whereas the other four band members become horribly sunburned. Toki is one of the shorter members of Dethklok, standing just above Pickles, and is the only member of the band depicted as being physically fit. Hailing from Norway, Toki tends to slur his words and has inconsistencies with the letter s similar to Skwisgaar's, though Toki's English is generally better. Toki sometimes speaks in a mewling and child-like voice, and uses profanity less frequently than his band mates, though he is not unknown to. He frequently exclaims "Wow-Wee!" when surprised.

Character Personality

Toki has a personality that is more naïve, innocent, and good-natured than the rest of the band, though he shares their love of metal and brutality. He has an active imagination and occasionally experiences whimsical, colorful flights of fantasy as seen in Dethwater and Dethkids. He is less perverse than the rest of the band members when referring to sexuality, and is known to express his great enjoyment of hugging and kissing. Rather than practice guitar, Toki spends much of his time building scale models. He is sometimes shown playing an arrow-stomping game in the manner of Dance Dance Revolution. His bedroom has a distinctly boyish look to it, featuring model aircraft, action figures, and posters of sharks, boats, and planets; he is also the only member of Dethklok who sleeps in a single-occupant bed. He is sometimes shown holding or associated with the image of a teddy bear with a devilish tail, and is a popular icon to children, though he occasionally laments being seen as the "cutesy guy" in the band. Toki often displays childlike reasoning and childish beliefs. A prime example of this is shown in Skwisklok, as he is unaware of the ill effects of consuming too much sugar and believes that "teeths grow back" because his baby teeth did, mentioning his belief in a tooth fairy equivalent, the Ancient Norse God Orthar the Tooth Collector. As seen in Birthdayface and Dethlessons, he gives crudely-constructed gifts made from household items, a behavior typically seen in young children. Although, in spite of his childlike ways, Toki occasionally expresses a dark side, including sadism (exemplified best in "Dethgov" where he sports an erection after humiliating an assistant), arson (burning Mordhaus with a flamethrower in "Dethkids"), lawlessness ( firing a gun at police in "Dethrace"), and even murderous rage (when he stomps a fan to death in "Snakes and Barrels II").

Toki manages to fit in well with the rest of the band, though they do tend to treat him like a younger brother. The other four members sometimes monitor, scold and instruct Toki in a parental manner, such as chastising him for running near the hot tub and eating too much candy, asking him to clear the dinner table, or dismissing him to go to bed. In the episode Dethclown, Toki stays out late joyriding in Murderface's car with the nefarious Dr. Rockzo; incidentally, it is mentioned in Cleanzo that Toki does not have a driving license. The other four members are shown having fallen asleep waiting up for him as if he has a curfew, and upon his return they lecture him at length regarding safety, responsibility, and their immediate disapproval of his new friend. A testament to his more accepting and caring nature, Toki is the only person who does not react to Dr. Rockzo with utter disgust, and later motivates him to overcome his drug addiction. Toki also finds the clown's simple and repetitive jokes vastly amusing while the rest of Dethklok sneers at them. While Toki is shown drunk less often than his band mates, in the episode Dethwedding it was implied that he requires supervision when drinking in public, as Skwisgaar complains, "Toki, remember, takes it easy; last time I was in charge of yous all night, and yous was a sloppies mess!" He is later shown embarrassingly drunk at the wedding reception, and confesses interest in releasing a solo album entitled Toki... is the King! before vomiting on himself and passing out. Toki may indeed be the youngest member of Dethklok; in conjunction with his personality and role in the band, he is the only member who has no prior band experience.

Toki has a particular friendship with fellow Scandinavian guitarist Skwisgaar Skwigelf. Like Skwisgaar, Toki is a nihilist; however, they both seem to share an interest or moderate belief in Norse mythology. Episodes recurrently feature a scene in which Toki and Skwisgaar discuss the plot's philosophical elements, such as the male sex drive in Girlfriendklok, the pros and cons of fatherhood in Fatklok, marriage and family in Dethwedding, and the circle of life in Performanceklok. Due to their similar Scandinavian roots, another recurring scene involves one of the two correcting or informing the other on an aspect of the English language or American culture, though they are often both incorrect. In contrast to these interactions and their frequently being shown together, the two characters consistently bicker with each other throughout the series. These arguments are usually sparked by belittling comments from Skwisgaar, often related to Toki's inferior guitar skills. Toki does not participate in the songwriting process, saying, "Honestly, I don't wants no creative voice; it's cool," and does not practice guitar, even after seeking guitar lessons. A frequent recurring joke involves Skwisgaar admonishing Toki's playing or suggesting that Toki's guitar be turned down or rerecorded, preferably by himself. Demonstrating effective rhythm guitar styling, Toki's guitar line provides supporting chords and flourish to strengthen Skwisgaar's lead guitar line, and sometimes follows behind guitar solos in a call-and-response manner. He initially suggests to Skwisgaar to host a guitar demonstration in Skwisklok and takes particular interest in the event, criticizing the wardrobe selection and telling Nathan, "I just want this to be great! Maybe you don't, but I do!"

A recurring joke in the series has been for Toki to make statements that unknowingly place him in scenarios with homosexual subtext through his naïveté and misunderstanding of English. For example, during Birthdayface when Skwisgaar comments that Murderface's party is a sausage festival, Toki interprets the term literally and proclaims, "I loves sausage festival! Like in Vienna!" failing to catch on to the sexual nature of the innuendo even after it has been explained to him. Another instance can be seen in Fatklok, as he mistakes the term "blowjob" to mean "nosebleed" and announces proudly, "I can force all the bloods to my face and gives myself a real cool blowjob!" In Murdering Outside the Box, Toki purchases a vibrating strap-on dildo which he believes to be a codpiece even after Murderface informs him, "Uh, that's a dildo. That's a strap-on dildo."

A testament to his more trusting nature, in the episode Cleanzo Toki is shown as a child in a photograph with John Wayne Gacy, the infamous serial killer clown.

Origins

Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth claims he was e-mailed from the creators that told him that Toki is based off of him.