Rockatanski/Dark One question

[HUMVEE Driver]

OK, guys, I've kind of brought this up before, but I've never had a satisfying answer. On the side of Max's car its written "M.Rockatanski" and directly underneath that "The Dark One". This would lead you to belive that M. Rockatanski's 'code name' is The Dark One. (If it is meant to portray two different people, why would one be a real name and one a code name? And since Max is still a relatively new officer, why would his name be on top?) Then later in the movie, Max tells May to call The Dark One. Then the guy with the black hair shows up to collect the severed hand as 'evidence'. Is he The Dark One? Who is the Dark One? I've always thought The Dark One was Max, since he has kind of a dark personality, and because of the way the names are written on the side of the car. Can someone explain any of this to me?


HUMVEE Driver


I'll see you on the road!

[Foxtrot X-Ray]

Originally, "The Dark One" was supposed to be Max's Partner/Co-Driver.


Due to bugetary reasons this character was cut.


Not all references were removied, making things somewhat confusing.





If it weren't for Max telling May to Call the Dark One, I'd rationalize it as Max's Call Sign being "the Dark One"


I suppose we can assume that his partner was on holiday, laid up or perhaps even killed in action.





I've never seen Max as a "Dark" personality before Jessie & Sprog's deaths.


Seemed a jolly character with a sense of humour and a strong streak of innocence.





IF His call sign was The Dark One, I'd think it was a sort of Ironic Joke.

[HUMVEE Driver]

Thanks for replying, Foxtrot X-Ray. Yeah, Max really wasn't very 'dark' before Jesse and Sprod died, but you could see his 'darkness' sometimes; it would take a pretty unbalanced person to play chicken at 100 mph against an escaped felon with nothing to lose. Also, he doesn't have a partner that rides with him, and Max has to have a reputation of never letting the bad guys get away. Think of it like a switch; when Max sits in that car, a switch takes place and he's no longer the likable young cop, he becomes a machine (or part of a machine) that's all business. So I thought maybe the other officers caught on to this trait and tagged Max "The Dark One" as kind of a half-serious inside joke. Now that I know a little more about this Dark One stuff, I'll have to change some parts of my stories...


HUMVEE Driver


I'll see you on the road!

[M_I_Zombie]

Hope you don't mind me butting in but I beleive the "Dark One" is actually the guy called Ziggy. If you pay close attention to the scene after Jessie's scare at the beach. She is running to the house and Max and May are running towards her. Max says "May! May you call the dark one and tell him to get here as fast as he can!" He, Ziggy seems like the logical one to be the "Dark One' sinc he is the only other Bronze that we see in this short of a span and he is also the one there to check out Cundalini's hand.

[rockatansky4073]

huh, that ZIGGY/DARKONE argument, is as frequent as the ol' GYRO/JEDEDIAH one


funny enough i never had an opinion on this one though.

[Bubbas_seat]

Ziggy is not the "Dark One". the character called the Dark One was edited out of the final movie. Ziggy is Ziggy.

[Bubba Fat]

The Dark One is George Miller himself ...

[Major_Tom]

Ziggy is not the "Dark One". the character called the Dark One was edited out of the final movie. Ziggy is Ziggy.


Well, a somewhat over simplistic view I think. When you have to remove a charcter from a near-completed story (film, theatre, book), you're always left with a void throughout it as, subconsciously, any writer (as in decent, artistic writer), ties in mannerisms and sayings from remaining characters relating to that somebody who no longer exists. The hole must be filled or you are left with glaring continuity errors.


What I mean to say is that yeah, Ziggy is Ziggy by the end of the film - of course he is, but did he start off in George Miller's subconscious as Ziggy, or as Max's mythical partner 'The Dark One'? Or was somebody else the replacement? Or are we all just talking sh*t?


We'll just never know.

[Uncle Entity]

In my mind, Ziggy is Ziggy, The Dark One is May's old husband and former M.F.P Policeman (and we don't see him in the whole movie even) and Max has been re-christened by his fellows as "THE DARK ONE II" since old man Swaisey used to be his mentor. Thunderdome is simple.