| “ | Murdoc: MacGyver, do you know why your dad left? Angus MacGyver: I used to think I did. I told him I blamed him for my mom's death right before he left. But, you know what? I was a kid, I was hurting. He had grown so distant after she'd passed, I guess I just wanted to see if I could get a reaction out of him. Murdoc: You ever consider murdering him? I don't want to get all Freudian on you, but there is absolutely nothing as cathartic as killing your own father. Trust me. |
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| ~ Murdoc speaking to MacGyver about their absent fathers. |
Murdoc, also known by his real name Dennis, is the main antagonist of the 2016 television series MacGyver, adapted from the original McGyver series. He's a hitman hired to kill McGyver, but after his first failure, he'll try anything to harm his enemy.
He was portrayed by David Dastmalchian, who also played Dwight Pollard from Gotham, Thomas Schiff in The Dark Knight, Abra Kadabra in The Flash, Polka Dot Man in The Suicide Squad and Piter de Vries in Dune.
Appearance[]
Murdoc is 6'0 with black hair and brown eyes. He has a slight five o'clock shadow above his lips and he can often be seen smirking. Murdoc is typically shown wearing all black clothing, consisting of a black leather jacket over a black turtleneck and black slacks. He often wears black leather gloves.
In his first appearance, Murdoc has short spiky black hair tinged with brown at the tips.
History[]
Nothing is known about Murdoc's childhood, but he later states that, when he was a child, he tore the legs off spiders and crushed them for fun. He also claims that his father was violent and that he killed him.
When Murdoc was in his early twenties, he failed psychiatric tests by trying to enlist in the army and began working in foreign military forces to realize his desire to shoot and kill people.
Finally, he was framed by an assassin named Nicolas Helman, whom Murdoc tells MacGyver and Jack Dalton he considers a worse opponent and a more lethal individual than him. They end their partnership and later Murdoc accidentally kills Helman's wife in a shooting between them.
After becoming an assassin, but more than a decade before his first encounter with MacGyver, Murdoc meets a woman named Nadia who becomes pregnant with his child and falls in love with him when he feels only "less repugnant than most humans." Shortly after giving birth to their child, Murdoc smothers her to death using a pillow, revealing that she was his target from the beginning.
MacGyver's first known encounter with Murdoc is when Murdoc is hired to assassinate MacGyver by an initially unknown individual. Murdoc was then known as International Murder Suspect 218 until he was formally introduced in his meeting of MacGyver's roommate Wilt Bozer and later to Macgyver himself.
Murdoc is able to fool Bozer long enough to enter MacGyver's house pretending to be a "friend of work" to see him. During a phone call, MacGyver warns Bozer about Murdoc and his real intentions to kill him until Murdoc forces Bozer to end the call. Murdoc then incapacitates Bozer and uses one of Bozer's film masks to hide his appearance when MacGyver returns. Murdoc is able to take the rest of MacGyver's Phoenix team hostage and demands that MacGyver surrender to him or he'll kill the team. After a final confrontation between the two, Murdoc loses and is arrested by the Phoenix Foundation. At this moment, he refuses to reveal another identity, and declares that he is Murdoc; it is, in fact, the name of a previous victim, but the only name he will give them.
Murdoc's next appearance is later that same year; Riley Davis and Bozer visit him in prison to determine the mole's identity within the Phoenix Foundation. Murdoc says he won't give them any information until they get him a rare first edition book. They do and Murdoc helps them by giving them all the information he has.
Murdoc later helps MacGyver usurp his identity in order to find a targeted individual and the person requesting the assassination. During this event, Phoenix leader Matilda Webber discovers Murdoc's now teenage son, Cassian, who attends an exclusive private school in Switzerland. MacGyver is relieved that Murdoc takes care of Cassian, sending him gifts and keeping him safe. Cassian ignores his father's career as an assassin.
At the end of the first season, Murdoc secretly hires an assassin to enter the headquarters of the Phoenix Foundation in disguise in order to take revenge on MacGyver and his team. While the entire team survives the hired assassin, Murdoc is able to kill his prison guard and escape prison.
During their next encounter, Murdoc drugs and kidnaps MacGyver, holding him in an abandoned warehouse basement and demanding to know Cassian's location. While MacGyver argues that Cassian would not like him for what he does, Murdoc responds by saying "boys need their fathers" and uses MaGyver's recent research as evidence of his father. However, MacGyver refuses to disclose his location and, finally, Murdoc leaves the room, giving MacGyver the opportunity to escape through the sewer tunnels. When Phoenix Foundation agents arrive, they find a picture of a man named Henry Fletcher and assume he's a new target. While the team is at the warehouse, Murdoc calls Samantha Cage on the phone and, after a brief conversation about their similarities, including the use of false names (something his team seems to ignore), he shoots Cage with a sniper rifle. It was soon discovered that Cage was wearing a bulletproof vest and survived.
The team determines that the supposed next target, Fletcher, is a teacher who is secretly employed as an assassin who makes his victims disappear. After arresting Fletcher, Murdoc releases Fletcher from a transport vehicle using a rocket launcher and leaves MacGyver trapped in the wreck. After Murdoc saves Fletcher, he asks that he be his first recruit in his "collective" of assassins.
After discovering that Cage survived his previous attempt to kill her, Murdoc makes a second attempt. This time, he shoots her at close range and leaves her to die alone. However, she is able to call MacGyver, who takes her to the hospital where she recovers.
Later, Henry Fletcher requests and obtains $10 million to entrust Murdoc to the Phoenix Foundation. After trading, Helman tries to get even with Murdoc for killing his wife and realizes that Murdoc's real name is Dennis. Murdoc is able to escape while they hide. When MacGyver is left alone by Dalton, Murdoc and Helman reappear and Murdoc shoots MacGyver in the shoulder to get him out of the way (which ends up saving him) before killing Helman. Murdoc then surrenders and asks to see Cassian again, in exchange for saving MacGyver's life ("There is something I would like to exchange for my bravery and heroism"). When he sees Cassian, Murdoc asks him to put on his headphones and play his favorite song as loud as he wants. While his son is distracted, he kills the guards with a pencil sharpener and runs away with him. Murdoc then drives to Fletcher's apartment and kills him, suggesting that Murdoc's plan is to kill all the members of his collective who betrayed him.
Quotes[]
| “ | Jack Dalton: Hey, what's so funny? What are you laughing at? Huh? This was all part of your plan, wasn't it, crime genius? Huh? Dangling yourself out there as bait to get us all blown up. Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Murdoc: Come on, Jackie boy, you know me better than that. If I was behind this, you'd both be chained to that helicopter as it burned in midair, right? I don't know. Face-to-face, screaming in absolute terror as you plummet to a beautiful, fiery death. Jack Dalton: What is the matter with you? Murdoc: I'm just spitballing here, but you get the point. |
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| ~ Murdoc antagonizing Dalton in Murdoc + Handcuffs. |
| “ | Murdoc: Do you ever consider... you know, switching sides, playing for the fun team? Angus MacGyver: Joining up with the man who murdered my friend and kidnapped my girlfriend? Hard pass. Murdoc: Well, consider it an open invitation. You ever change your mind, just- Angus MacGyver: Let me guess, speak your name three times in a bathroom mirror, and you appear? Murdoc: Or text. Either works. |
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| ~ Murdoc and MacGyver in Murdoc + Macgyver + Murdoc. |
Trivia[]
- Murdoc references Harry Potter in Murdoc + Handcuffs, when he jokingly responds to MacGyver with "10 points for Gryffindor!"