In another time, when the world was powered by the black fuel and the desert sprouted
great cities of pipe and steel, two mighty tribes went to war and touched off a blaze
which engulfed them all.
Only those mobile enough to scavenge or brutal enough to pillage would survive.
In this maelstrom of decay, ordinary men were battered and smashed, but among the truly
ruthless, a few saw a vision of a new world rising from the ashes of the old.
One such man gathered to his cause a group of bandits, fanatics, the insane, and led
them on a ride of carnage across the wastes.
It is said that the greatest of all those who drive the Fury Road are awaited in Valhalla,
shiny and chrome.
If this is so, then a special place in that holy pantheon is reserved for Lord Humungus
and his marauders.
Like all the great road warrior tribes of the Wasteland, The Humungus ruled through
a powerful cult of personality.
His marauders were a loose confederacy of smaller gangs; skinheads, mohawkers, berserkers
all united into a larger warband known as the Dogs of War.
Otherwise unruly and disorganized, the group was kept in line through intimidation and
violence.
His cruel nature and advanced understanding of war, tactics and strategy helped to elevate
Lord Humongous above the other petty tyrants of the wasteland.
While his campaigns always ended in ferocious violence, he could be an eloquent speaker
and diplomat.
His arrival was heralded by the gang’s crier, who espoused the Humongous' many titles and
deeds.
Such observances were meant to lend to the group some degree of legitimacy, but attempts
to compromise or find some peaceful resolution were only ruses, intended to sow discord and
uncertainty amongst his enemies.
While a formidable warrior in his own right, command in battle often fell to the Humungus’
chief lieutenant, a psychotic killer known as Wex.
He lacked the higher strategic thinking of Lord Humungus, and was typically kept in check
until the time was right to strike.
His simplistic approach to warfare was offset by his almost superhuman resilience to pain.
Through a combination of psychological warfare and brutal cunning, Lord Humungus was able
to assemble a large host of road warriors, leading them on an unending campaign to secure
enough gasoline to keep moving.
The discovery of an intact oil refinery had the potential to turn the Marauders into a
true empire across the wastes, and Lord Humungus laid siege to the compound and its few defenders.
He employed the usual threats, brutality and appeals to reason, and would have likely broken
the resolve of the compound’s tribe if not for the intervention of a lone road warrior.
A driver of remarkable skill, this wanderer took the Oil Refinery’s cause as his own,
and led the defenders in a mass exodus from the compound.
In the chase that followed, Lord Humungus’ Marauders were deceived, and shattered themselves
upon a tanker filled with nothing but sand.
The Wanderer would kill both Lord Humungus and Wex, breaking the resolve of the few warriors
to survive the destruction of the refinery.
The remnants of that band of warriors were quickly swallowed by the wasteland, drowned
beneath the searing sands.
Such is the fate of all would-be conquers of the wastes, for only death can rule in
the new world.
As for the wanderer… the Road Warrior... he vanished back into the Wasteland from whence
he had come and all that remains of him now, are memories.