- "... and the forces of darkness will applaud me as I STRIDE through the gates of hell carrying your head on a pike!"
- ―Murray
Murray is a Demonic Skull that terrorized Guybrush Threepwood who first appeared the Curse of Monkey Island. He was originally part of LeChuck's Army of the Undead, before losing his entire skeletal body, and becoming somewhat independent. Despite his predicament, he always thought of ways to terrorize others, which often ended in personal injury or embarrassment. He described himself as an object of pure evil, and dreamed of spreading chaos throughout the Caribbean. He became one of the more memorable characters of the series, appearing in cameo roles in later installments.
Interaction[]
Murray's skull floating on a plank
He was originally part of a landing party that was going to assault the Governor's fort at the Battle of Plunder Island, before his body was blown to pieces by a cannon manned by Guybrush Threepwood. The rest of Murray's body was lost at sea, except his arm, which had floated by thanks to a floatation device wrapped around it. Murray's skull survived after it landed on a wooden plank, which then drifted towards LeChuck's ship during the battle. This was where Guybrush first encountered Murray. Here Guybrush had the option to talk to him and/or even drop him into the sea.
Murray was somehow able to make his way around the Tri-Island Area, despite not having any possible means of movement. He would first be found on the swamps of Plunder Island after being picked up and placed on a spike by some voodoo kids. He would then be used as a juggling prop in Slappy Cromwell's piratical version of Shakespeare. He also found himself playing a small role in 'Hamlet'. He would then be seen in the Goodsoup Family Crypt on Blood Island, attempting at scaring Guybrush but later scaring Mort in order to let Guybrush out. He didn't stay in Guybrush's inventory long, as he found a way to leave without Guybrush noticing. He finally ended up in the Carnival of the Damned, as a prize in Dinghy Dog's guessing game. He insisted on Guybrush picking him, and he was disappointed that Guybrush chose the anchor, that was more useful. He appears again after the end of the game, threatening to appear again.
In Escape from Monkey Island, Guybrush would later encounter him on Jambalaya Island, where he became a greeter at Planet Threepwood. He reveals that LeChuck managed to free himself from the ice that Guybrush buried him under at the end of the previous game.
Years later during Tales of Monkey Island, Guybrush would find Murray trapped inside a treasure chest deep within the stomach of a giant manatee. He claimed that he and a group of undead marines were terrorizing the Spanish Armada before a tempest washed him overboard prior to being inside a chest, though Guybrush doubted that happened. In order for Guybrush to join the Democratically United Brotherhood of the Manatee Interior and retrieve the missing manatee cochlea for Coronado De Cava, Murray was used to replace the skull of the long deceased Santino so he can vote Guybrush into the Brotherhood and persuade one of the members Moose to do the same.
Murray was able to quickly bond with the Brotherhood, seemingly out of their mutual dislike of Threepwood, to the point of proudly referring to himself as Santino. He initially voted no purely to spite Guybrush and torment him. Before a recount, Guybrush gave Murray a Torture Manual disguised as a New Members Manual and tricked him into thinking that initiation would lead to the former being painfully tortured, thus earning votes from both Murray and Moose.
Once the Brotherhood discovered Guybrush's deception, Murray would cheer them on as they attempted to kill him before he and the Brotherhood were captured and tied up to The Screaming Narwhal by Guybrush's enemy-turned ally Morgan LeFlay. He was later decapitated by Guybrush to intimidate the rest of the Brotherhood into revealing the location of the Tongue of the Manatee. The once again body-less Murray sinks to the bottom of the sea, gloating to himself before winding up inside yet another chest.
Years later, during Guybrush's pursuit of Monkey Island's Secret, Murray wound up inside a crate where he was found by Captain Madison. As thanks for being freed, he was then placed in another crate onboard Lechuck's LeShip to gather intel for Madison and her fellow co-Pirate Leaders, Lila, and Trent. He would be discovered by Guybrush, who at the time was disguised as an undead swabbie to work onboard the ship, which Murray would remain unaware of. Guybrush took Murray and put him through a wringer to make him a "pressed skull" for a voodoo potion set up by LeChuck's crew to travel to Monkey Island and tossed him into the cauldron containing it, only for the first swabbie Gullet to knock over the cauldron and for Murray to spill out of it.
After getting the rest of LeChuck's crew to vote for following the Pirate Leader after discovering they were making their own voodoo potion, Guybrush uses a cannon on the deck to fire Murray to them so their potion would be completed, as they were lacking a pressed skull, and LeChuck's crew could follow their ship to Monkey Island. Upon their arrival, the Pirate Leaders would then place Murray's head on a pike near the Giant Monkey Head on Monkey Island, and after forming an alliance with Guybrush, he would then bonk the skull of Murray along with other skulls to play LeChuck's theme as part of a ritual to reveal the contents of a map to The Secret. After this, the Pirate Leaders double crossed Guybrush and Lila pushed him off the Clifftop. Trent proceeded to also toss Murray down there with him and into a bush, unaware that Murray had the map to The Secret in his jaw, having swiped it from Trent's pockets.
Upon hearing the heavily injured Guybrush lament not having the map, Murray spoke up, allowing Elaine to find him and place him on a nearby stump and to reveal the map. This caused Guybrush to instantly rebound and resume his search for The Secret, taking Murry to be used as the figurehead for the repaired Sea Monkey II for the remainder of Guybrush's quest. During this period, Murray would occasionally have conversations with Guybrush from time to time and at one point told Elaine about what happened to him on Monkey Island as part of her investigation into her husband's antics across the various islands.
Murray's fate afterwards depends on the ending picked and the post credits scene that plays afterwards, either showing him hanging out with Guybrush, Putra, Carla, Locke Smith, and the Scumm Bar Chef on a small boat, or floating and laughing in a pool of lava in the Catacombs while LeChuck and Lila fight over the chest containing The Secret.
Murray's arm[]
Murray's arm was collected by Guybrush Threepwood after being blown to pieces.
Guybrush can show the arm to Murray to annoy him. If Guybrush shows him his arm covered in paste (which is used to solve a puzzle in Mega Monkey mode), Murray will react in disgust and call Guybrush a "sad strange little man" and a "sick freak".
It eventually becomes an exhibit in Planet Threepwood on Jambalaya Island, while Murray sits outside advertising the place. He remained unaware that his arm is within the building.
Trivia[]
- A secret mini game called Murrayball similar to Pong can be unlocked in Escape from Monkey Island.
- Murray was originally going to appear once in the beginning of Curse of Monkey Island, but was given significantly more scenes after playtesters enjoyed his character.
- Murray was set to appear in living form in the cancelled The Curse of Monkey Island film, in which he was to be LeChuck's First Mate.
- In the video game Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2, if you look at the skull in the forensics room Hector says "Murray?", a reference to Murray from Monkey Island series.
- When first talking to Murray, Guybrush can ask "Can I call you Bob?", an apparent reference to the ghost pirate from The Secret of Monkey Island whose skeletal-like head would often fall off his shoulders. It may also be a likely reference to Murray bobbing in the water.
Murray in Hector: Badge of Carnage Ep2
- Murray's skull appears in the teaser trailer of Return to Monkey Island, criticizing Ron Gilbert for having stated that he will never direct a MI game again; before finishing his phrase he is knocked out and falls in the sea of Mêlée_Island.
Gallery[]
