Nux has the Best Heroic Arc in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Witness Me!
Mad Max: Fury Road is my favorite action movie. Other than that, I can’t actually get through any of the classic Mad Max films (I’ve tried), so I have never seen them and therefore have no attachments.
Regardless of how you might feel about the film pulling a bait and switch on Max Rockotansky, to introduce a main character they clearly had no faith in on her own merit in Furiosa (who I like a lot); sidelining the obvious protagonist in a Mad Max film in favor of a high ranking, one-armed, truck driver (driveress?); I would maintain Max actually has a more meaningful heroic journey than Furiosa in Fury Road.
Max’s journey from a lone survivor, haunted by the ghosts of those he has failed to save, to reluctant partner in a fight he didn’t choose for his own survival, to ultimately redeeming himself as a successful protector, and then back to lone survivor again (presumably without the nightmares this time); because the cowboy always walks away into the sunset.
Furiosa is a soldier who, at about the age of 40, betrayed her ruler, making a desperate attempt to smuggle a small group of his slave-women to a potential sanctuary (is it a myth or a memory?), eventually to find herself dethroning the tyrant, and being hailed by the people (as savior or as respected military commander replacement, we do not know).
Her reasoning for this sudden and dangerous move is twofold. First, we know she was kidnapped as a child, and eventually rising in the ranks to rig driver (known in-universe as “Imperator”), she figured now is her best chance of escape. Second, she is looking for redemption. Redemption for what? The movie is wise enough to trust us; it doesn’t need to tell us. We understand what climbing the ladder (breaking glass ceilings?) in this world means, and it can be left to our imagination that she needed to do some gnarly stuff.
Either way, both Max and Furiosa are really cool characters, and action-movie history has benefited greatly from their story.
Further, although it is very accurate to say it is not a Mad Max film, it is likewise inaccurate to say it is a Furiosa film. It is an ensemble film, a team-up. And Furiosa (Charlize Theron) and Max (Tom Hardy) make one of the most compelling action team-ups.
But the heart of the film, plus a great addition to the team-up, and by far the most complete arc in it, belongs to a random foot soldier in the ranks of the indistinguishable, disposable (not CGI this time, folks) cannon fodder, with roughly 35 minutes of screentime. A “half-life” War Boy. Nux’s story is not only surprisingly humanizing but also beautifully heroic, classically redemptive, and emotionally satisfying.
Background and Worldbuilding
Deep in the post-apocalyptic desert, fragments of human settlements cluster in fortresses ruled with an iron fist; trading, vying for scarce resources, surviving. Or not. Desperate bands patrol the sands by the main “roads” to pillage any spoil they can get their hands on. The land is barren and full of toxins. People live in dire desperation. All in all, not a very pleasant environment.
One of these fortresses, named “The Citadel”, is ruled by the authoritarian warlord Immortan Joe. He maintains complete control over the entire water supply, has his sons employ the highest positions (of course), and keeps a harem of slave-wives (his “breeders”) in a vault (!) to bear his children (and, you know, the other stuff).
But he lords not only through brute force, but by cult-worship, indoctrination, and exploitation of devotion. Everybody needs to matter, and Immorten provides (some) people with meaning. Perhaps the only meaning available.
One day (our inciting event), Immorten’s renowned Imperator, Furiosa, goes rogue and smuggles the wives in a massive armored tanker truck, known as the War-Rig, on a routine fuel run to Gas Town.
She diverts the Rig off course, in a desperate attempt to evade the rest of the security forces of the convoy, and the reinforcements soon to be forthcoming from the Citadel to stop her, and reach a haven known as The Green Place, which may or may not be real.
I Am Awaited in Valhalla
Enter Nux. A skinny, pale, diseased War-Boy, hooked up to a human IV (aka Max Rockatansky). Forces in the Citadel are gearing up to pursue Furiosa. It is Nux’s chance to prove himself. He physically fights for his steering wheel, has his Blood-Bag hooked to the front of his hot rod, and joins the entourage.
He is ready and amped to die in service of his Warlord-God. His only hope is in death, as there was never much meaning or glory in life in the wasteland, and he has very little time left to make his mark, as his cancerous tumors (Larry and Barry) are consuming him from the inside.
I Live, I Die, I Live Again
Nux begins Fury Road as one of the hundreds of expendable young men groomed from childhood to serve as kamikaze warriors in the service of the Warlord of The Citadel, Immortan Joe, known as War Boys. They are all fanatic soldiers, true believers, obsessed with dying a glorious death in battle, witnessed in their holy sacrifice, to earn their awaited place in Valhalla, where they are promised eternal life for their service to their divine father figure. For them, death in battle is immortality.
Nux, as we’ve mentioned, is dying of cancer. The only thing he ever dreamed of was proving his worth to Immorten Joe. Now, he finally has his chance (more than likely, his final chance) as he joins the war party in pursuit of Furiosa and the escaped “wives”. He rides out for glory.
“I Was Awaited in Valhalla”: A Man Fails
But Nux fails. Multiple times.
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He tries to kamikaze the rig in the storm by flooding his vehicle with gasoline and lighting a flare, but Max, still chained to the car, stops him, and they crash in the sand.
Max, attached to him with a chain, hauls him to the Rig, which has stopped nearby to release the wives from their chains. Nux helps Max fight off the women and severs the chain for him, believing he is in some kind of partnership now to bring them back to Immortan together:
“Glory be, blood bag, we got her alive.
Look at them! So shiny. So chrome. He’s gonna be so grateful. We could ask for anything.
I wanna drive the War Rig. What are you gonna ask for?”
But Max takes back his jacket from him, punches him in the stomach, leaving him in the sand, and gets in the truck.
Furiosa instructs the women to follow as the vehicle soon stalls, as there is a kill switch, a sequence that shuts off the engine. She makes a deal with Max to take them through a canyon where she has bargained passage. In the meantime, Nux gets up, catches up with the truck before it gains speed, and climbs on board. When Max leaves the cabin to check on the dragging fuel pod, Nux crawls into the cabin and tries to strangle Furiosa, but fails. They decide to throw him out instead of killing him.
But he grabs a scarf off one of the wives, and when he catches up with the war party in pursuit, he presents his “trophy” to Immortan Joe, who brings him aboard his monster truck. He suggests they ride up to the Rig, and he can crawl in through the back compartment again and execute Furiosa. But as he leaps on, his chain gets caught, and he slips. Humiliated before Immorten Joe, who iconically refers to his efforts as “Mediocre!”
Nux has now failed three times to fulfill his destiny. The rejection cracks his spirit and his sense of purpose. In this state of utter disposability, he experiences a spiritual death. Not in heroic flames of glory, but in shame, with a whimper, he sneaks into the back of the truck and curls up under the seat.
Transformation: A New Purpose
One of the wives is sent to the back of the truck as a lookout and discovers him. And what transpires between them is by far the most intimate, gentle, and sincere moment of the film. Nux is treated with compassion, and eventually even affection, for the first time in his life.
What precipitates from that moment is Nux's complete transformation.
Nux lets up being a threat (an unsuccessful one). And something deeply human and vulnerable begins to emerge: a simple, purposeful connection. From that bond, Nux becomes a full participant in the escaping party. A very valuable and capable one. He has completely changed sides. Smoothly and organically, with no drumroll or melodrama.
In any other film, it would not have worked. It’s just too fast. Much like the budding romance. But the urgency and the stakes make it almost believable despite ourselves, and Nicholas Hoult’s impeccable performance delivers that compelling reversal.
Nux’s transformation is obviously (and necessarily) a compressed one. Though one can certainly argue the oversimplification of de-radicalization, the movie avoids painting it too much as a caricature with its tone. Despite the film's flirtation with camp and grotesqueness (very much rooted in the established Mad Max franchise aesthetic), it feels earnest. It feels genuine.
In the most symbolic and understated moment of the film, Max goes on a solo assault, bringing back a weapons cache… and a steering wheel for the truck. He walks past Furiosa and hands it to Nux.
Nux fights ferociously to keep the group alive. He finds new meaning in it. His loyalty is newly forged in the context of an actual relationship (though newly formed, it is forged in extreme circumstances, which lends it some measure of believability). Instead of pursuing glorious death, he is now a protector of life.
“I’m Going to Die Historic!”
But in the end, the only hope that remains is turning back the way they came, to the Citadel, where there is water and, therefore, growing things. They will go back the same way they came, through the canyon, charge the War Rig right through the Pursuit Party, and block the pass behind them. Having drawn Immorten Joe’s forces far into the wasteland, there are no warriors back at the Citadel.
But the War Rig is about to blow, and as the rest of them escape onto Immortan Joe’s confiscated Monster Truck, Nux, in a moment of pure clarity, calm and determination, decides to flip the damaged Rig into the stone archway, collapsing it. Amid the glorious spectacle of engines, ‘splosions, and violence, it is a moment of stillness and meaning. Culminated by the aforementioned steering wheel flying at the camera in slow motion.
Nux’s sacrifice protects the survivors of the team, one of whom we have just learned is pregnant. Nux paradoxically achieves the death he always dreamed of, though not for glory, not to be witnessed in his bravery, but to save the people he cares for. With a quiet and poignant “Witness me.” Now there’s finally something worthy of witnessing. A truly courageous and honorable feat, meant to impress no one. Just an investment in the (subconscious) cycle of protection that society requires to keep functioning. Those who have benefited from the sacrifice may go on to defend others. That is meaning! If anything were to make one worthy of being awaited in Valhalla…
What elevates Nux’s sacrifice most of all is that he chose a different path than the one that was laid before him, one he authentically and seriously believed in to his core. He found something worth living for and was happy to die for it to live on when there was no other choice.
I Was Being Spared for Something Great: Meaning as an Act of Faith
Nux’s choice to die for others is an act of extreme optimism. It has to hinge, not only on Furiosa’s rebellion succeeding; it has to stand on her even surviving her wounds (which, I am not a Medical practitioner, but it seems unlikely); but then, that things actually get better (or maybe, at least, for his girl). Furiosa has no plan, no vision. She may (as we see in the ending) have some (probably deserved) clout with The People, but how will they like it when it comes out that she was going to abandon them?! Who thought the wives were more worthy of saving than them? Will it be a feminist oligarchy now? Or, what, are they going to bring in democracy? Communism? Furiosa can lead soldiers, but can she run a city? Maybe none of it matters. Maybe it is enough to hope blindly, because the alternative isn’t accessible when you have to make a split-second decision.
Unlikeliest of all Creatures
That this message comes from a character who, at first glance, seems little more than a crazed foot soldier makes it all the more compelling. Nux is not a messiah. He is not a leader. He’s a sick child (young adult, whatever). But he is brave. And he signifies an antidote to nihilism, earned by growth and solidified by sacrifice. He was never lost, but he found himself in something so much greater than he could have ever imagined, and he is redefined. And he can go out with a smile. Reborn an instant before death. Now complete. He is now passed into the realm of myth. That is how he will be remembered (if Furiosa is successful)!
Nux’s physical frailty underscores his unlikelihood as a hero, even in the eyes of his cult. He literally goes out to battle attached to a human blood infusion, hanging from the hood of his vehicle. Nobody expects great things from him but himself. And when he finally finds his greater purpose, in an instant, it is for saving the wives he’d initially pursued to recapture for continued slavery and subjugation. When Nux relinquishes his affiliation with the side of Immortan Joe, he is fully on the opposite side. The underdog camp. And that camp, courageously, spectacularly, defies the odds, because they have nothing to lose. But plenty to sacrifice. His legacy was predetermined to be martyrdom, but ended instead with life-affirming protection.
This film features a value system grounded in moral clarity, with no question of what’s right or wrong. A narrative shaped by hope, guided by redemption, and driven by male characters who do the right thing. (Now imagine that in the 2020s!)
