Max Rockatansky is the main character from director George Miller's Mad Max film trilogy, appearing in the films Mad Max, The Road Warrior, and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Max is played by Mel Gibson.

Spoiler Warning

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The text below contains spoilers. Readers who have not seen these films are advised that key plot elements, including endings, may be contained in this text.

Mad Max

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In Mad Max, Max Rockatansky is a police officer fighting for peace on the roads of a postapocalyptic Australia. Max is quiet, rarely speaking to any great extent, and never paying much attention to his steadily increasing reputation. Though the best officer on the force, he is secretly afraid that he is becoming like the criminals he pursues.

After a chase that results in the death of an escaped copkiller "the Nightrider", the Nightrider's gang led by "the Toe-Cutter" go after Max for revenge. After the gang succeeds in mortally wounding Max's best friend and fellow officer Jim Goose, by ambushing him then burning him beyond all recognition in his overturned vehicle, they then go after his wife and infant son, killing both of them. Max has a mental breakdown, and goes after the gang for revenge. He steals a Pursuit Special police car to seek them out and destroy them.

Though injured in the process, being shot in the leg and having his arm run over by a motorcycle, he successfully kills many members of the gang systematically, including the Toe-Cutter. In a memorably grim ending, Max cuffs the last henchman, Johnny the Boy, to a wrecked car, sets it up to explode when a sufficient amount of leaking gas hits a lighter, and gives Johnny the option of either sawing through the cuffs, which would take about ten minutes, or sawing through his ankle, which would take about five minutes. He makes it through neither, and dies when the vehicle explodes.

The last scene shows Max driving off into the wasteland with the burning car in the background, leaving his career and life behind him.

Mad Max 2 (aka The Road Warrior)

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After losing his friends and family, Max becomes disillusioned with society. Taking the stolen police interceptor and a dog to live in the un-civilized "wastland" of the Australian outback, while continuing to wear his black leather police uniform, he scavenges for fuel and food, while eluding or defeating any mauraders that come into contact with him. The wasteland is full of people much like him, but most work in packs and gangs, preying on those less fortunate, and few travel alone as he does.

He would eventually encounter an Autogyro Pilot who initially gets the drop on Max, but then is overcome and becomes Max's prisoner. In exchange for his life, he shows Max a small but still functioning oil refinery under siege by the blood-thirsty Lord Humungus and his violent gang of marauders. The marauders want to take it as their own, thus having a base of operations and a seemingly endless supply of fuel, therefore becoming powerful enough to completely control that portion of the wastelands.

Max observes the refinery, and quickly picks up on the fact that the renegade gang of bikers, thugs, ex-cops, and murderers have the upper hand. He watches as two different groups from inside the compound leave, driving in seperate directions, both teams pursued by the gang. Neither team makes it far, and are overcome. Max heads for the closest team, which has had it's vehicles destroyed. He catches on gang member still on the scene, having just raped and killed a woman who initially survived the crash. Max kills him, then discovers that one man from the refinery is still alive.

Max agrees to take the man back to the refinery compound in exchange for gasoline, but the man dies upon arriving at which point Max is dismissed by the community as a "parasite" and "mercenary trash", and even try to steal his car from him. Max observes as the marauders drive to the outskirts of the compound with two of the surviving members from one of the earlier teams strapped to the front of a vehicle. A wild boy who stays inside the compound, called "the Ferrell boy", sneaks outside through a makeshift tunnel, and throws a boomarang at the marauders, one that he has specially crafted, which has bladed sides. It hits the homosexual lover to one of the toughest marauders, Wez, in the head, killing him. Wez becomes infuriated, and wants to take the compound immediately. Lord Humungus chokes him unconscious, and tells him that it is not yet the time.

After an ultimatum is given to them by the Lord Humungus, Max learns that the whole purpose for the earlier excursion by the two teams was to locate a truck powerful enough to transport the tanker of fuel inside the compound. Max offers Pappagallo, the leader of people in the refinery, a truck he saw earlier in exchange for as much gasoline he can carry in his car. Max locates the truck and with the help of the Autogyro Pilot, whom he ran across during his trek up to the truck, delivers it to the compound, becoming a hero to the "the Ferrell boy", whom he has now befriended. Pappagallo offers him a place in their group because he wants him to drive the tanker during their escape attempt, believing that Max is the only one who can do it, and there are now many in the community who are suddenly eager to get the newly heroic savior Max to stay with them. Max declines the offer, perhaps resenting how they treated him earlier and their sudden change of heart towards him, preferring to remain alone, and leaves with his car and fuel.

As he heads back into the wasteland he is attacked by the marauders led by Wez, and crashes. His vehicle, which is booby-trapped, explodes, killing most of those who attacked him, and leading the remaining ones, including Wez, to believe he also was killed. He is rescued by the Autogyro Pilot and brought back to the refinery to be medically tended. With the loss of his vehicle and canine companion, Max decides to drive the truck. The group from the refinery armors the truck and tanker, and sends with it several vehicles to act as blockers for the tanker.

In a spectacular and memorable chase resulting in the death of Pappagallo, Lord Humungus, Wez and many others, the tanker crashes. Max survives the crash only to discover that instead of gasoline pouring from the crashed tanker, there is only sand inside. It is revealed that the remaining members of the refinery community that were not involved in the tanker battle had headed in the opposite direction, taking the gasoline with them inside oil drums hidden in their vehicles. The Autogyro Pilot becomes their leader, and they head to the north.

The fuel supply is safe and the marauders are rendered leaderless and few in number, allowing the refinery community to continue its pilgrimage north to re-establish their society. However Max chooses not to go with them, instead staying behind in the wasteland. The story is narrated by an older man who reveals himself as "the Ferrell boy". The last scene shows Max standing alone on the highway beside the burning tanker truck, as the narrator states while slowly fading off into a whisper "As for the Road Warrior, we never saw him again. He lives now...only in our memories".

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

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After having his vehicle stolen by an airplane pilot, whom is later revealed to be the Autogyro Pilot from years earlier, Max stumbles upon a place called Bartertown, governed by Aunt Entity. He makes a deal with "Auntie" to kill a bodyguard named "Blaster" in exchange for supplies and the return of his vehicle which has been commandeered by Blaster and his counterpart Master. After instigating an argument with Masterblaster (as Blaster and Master are referred to in conjunction), he is pitted in a deathmatch against him in the Thunderdome Arena. Max wins the fight and is about to kill Blaster when he realizes that Blaster is mentally retarded. Max refuses to kill Blaster, and is exiled in the desert for breaking the Thunderdome law of "Two men enter, one man leaves", (as well as his deal with Auntie).

Max is found by a tribe of children who think he's a mythic Boeing 747 pilot and savior named Captain Walker. Max eventually convinces them that he is not Captain Walker and that Captain Walker does not exist, resulting in some of the children leaving to find the place of destiny from their Captain Walker mythology called "Tomorrow-Morrow Land." Max heads out to find the children, and decides to lead them out of the desert aboard a truck on train tracks stolen from barter town, taking Master and a prisoner named Pigkiller with them. After an extended chase with Auntie Entity's crew in pursuit, the children, Master, and Pigkiller escape on a plane. Max is forced to stay behind to distract the group of enemy vehicles and create enough space for the plane to take flight. Auntie; in appreciation of Max's courage and leadership, spares his life and returns with her group to Bartertown, leaving Max behind in the desert.

Max's Age And Timeline Of Events

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In Thunderdome there's a comment in the background regarding Water being the "Official Drink of the 2000 Olympics". This can be taken two ways, either 2000 was the Last Olympics (IE Before the war) or the year IS 2000 and the Olympics is just a sarcastic fantasy for "advertisement purposes".

In the official Movie Magazine for Beyond Thunderdome it's stated that Beyond Thunderdome is set 18 years after Road Warrior (George Miller is quoted as saying Beyond Thunderdome takes place 15 years after Road Warrior). There's also mention in the Beyond Thunderdome script that Bartertown is the first civilization that Max has seen in 20 years which fits with the ’18 year’ comment. Assuming he hasn't been back to civilization since Jessie & Sprog died that would put Mad Max 20 years prior to Beyond Thunderdome, if you don’t count the people he meets hold-up in the refinery in Road Warrior.

All of this adds up to putting Mad Max set in 1980; a year after the movie was actually made, which doesn’t really fit with “a few years from now” statement in the first movie but is forgiveable.

So back to the "Official Drink of the 2000 Olympics" line. Perhaps this is still sarcastically referring to a non-existent Olympic games event a few years prior?? Being that the Olympics take place once every 4 years it could be anywhere between the year 2000 and 2004. All the evidence points to Beyond Thunderdome being set in the year 2000.

Note: The ages of the characters are based on the relative ages of the actors playing them, with the exception of Max/Mel who's stated in official sources as being 20 and Jessie/Joanne. This makes Max 23-years-old in Road Warrior and 40 in Beyond Thunderdome.

1948 - Fifi Macaffee is born.

1944 - Bryson Williams, AKA Crawford Montizano - "the Nightrider", is born.

1950 - The "Gyro Captain" is born.

1963 - Jim Goose is born

1960 - Max Rockatansky born

1960 - Jessie Rockatansky born

1977 - The "Feral Kid" is born

1978 - Max & Jessie's son Sprog is born

1980 - Events of Mad Max occur.

1982 - Events of Mad Max The Road Warrior occur

2000 - Events of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome occurs

Film characters | Fictional police officers | Fictional Australians | Fictional warriors