Murdoc

> "*No one's ever beaten me before! Hell, no one's ever survived me before!*"
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> - Murdoc
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**Murdoc**, otherwise known as Dennis, is a renowned and infamous international assassin and mercenary, who is MacGyver's nemesis. Originally known in the intelligence community only as Suspect 218, his CIA file name, his preferred name is revealed by the Phoenix Foundation, when he tries to kill Macgyver and his fellow agents. This event also leads to his capture, imprisonment, escape, re-imprisonment, escape again, re-imprisonment again, escape again and re-imprisonment again. Murdoc subsequently became obsessed with killing MacGyver, the only one of his targets who outsmarted him. After their first encounter and his subsequent escape, Murdoc has frequently gone after Mac, involving him in getting his son Cassian back and has repeatedly enacted schemes and attacks on the Phoenix Foundation, all of which have ultimately failed, though not without great cost to the Foundation.

## Early Life

Not much is known about Murdoc's past due to his penchant for lying. When he was a child he would bring spiders from the backyard to his bedroom and rip their legs off one by one, before squishing them. He also trained and later exploded his pigeons.

Murdoc’s father was abusive, and he later claimed he killed him.

Fresh out of high school, Murdoc wanted nothing more than to join the United States Army. They wouldn't have him, as he spectacularly failed the psych exam, so he took the first flight out of America and joined the first army that would have him. He had a burgeoning interest in shooting people, and his new friends were willing to indulge him. What the U.S. saw as a problem, his new friends saw as a gift. They sent Murdoc to train with Nicholas Helman. After Helman trained him and the country they'd sworn allegiance to ceased to exist, they hired themselves out as mercenaries in various parts of the world. This continued until Helman met a woman, fell in love and decided to quit the business. Murdoc's employers sent him in to kill Helman, which he tried to but missed, killing Helman's wife instead. This resulted in Helman pursuing him up until Helman's apparent death in 2018, at Murdoc's hands.

Much later, Murdoc claimed he met a woman named Nadia while "on a job", whom he spent a few nights with. Later, Nadia told him she was pregnant and she fell in love, while Murdoc found her "less repulsive than most humans". Right after Nadia gave birth to a boy named Cassian, Murdoc took her pillow and smothered her with it, revealing she was "the job". This was later proven to be a lie; Murdoc was in fact married to an equally psychotic assassin named Amber, Cassian's real mother.

## Season 1

Murdoc is introduced as Suspect 218, an international assassin, presumably hired by Nikki Carpenter to kill Angus MacGyver and the rest of MacGyver's team. His identity remained hidden until Murdoc enters MacGyver's home under the persona of a work friend of MacGyver's to wait and kill him, tricking Wilt Bozer into letting him in.

Bozer appears to realize that something isn't right with Murdoc's introduction and contacts MacGyver, who warns him about who Murdoc is. Murdoc then forces Bozer to hang up and keeps him at gunpoint until MacGyver returns, and manages to hide his appearance by using a mask which Bozer made. When Murdoc has the rest of the team held hostage at gunpoint, he contacts MacGyver and insists that he appears, otherwise he will kill the team. After a final showdown with MacGyver, which results in Murdoc losing and being arrested by the Phoenix Foundation, MacGyver tries to convince Murdoc to reveal his true identity, but he sticks to the alias Murdoc, a name which he had grown particularly fond of.

He appears again briefly when Riley Davis and Bozer visit him in prison for information out of him regarding the mole.  Murdoc requests a first edition book of an incredibly rare book, saying he will not give any information until he has this book. Riley and Bozer do acquire the book and Murdoc gives them the little information which he knows.

Later, Murdoc helps MacGyver impersonate him to find a highly sought-after target. Murdoc is reluctant to help at first, but when Matilda Webber searches more into Murdoc, she finds that he has a teenage son. Murdoc sends him presents for his birthday and Christmas, and has used extensive resources to keep his son hidden and safe, including sending his son to an exclusive private school in Switzerland. His son is also unaware of what his father does for a living.

Murdoc enlisted the assassin who posed as Dr Zito to gain entry to the Phoenix in an attempt to enact revenge on MacGyver and his team regarding what had happened between them. At the end of the episode, Murdoc chokes his prison guard and escapes.

## Season 2

Murdoc tases, drugs and kidnaps MacGyver and holds him underground in the sewer system demanding to know where his son is. When Mac refuses, given that Cassian would resent him for the monster he is, Murdoc counters by saying boys need their fathers, like how Mac has been searching for his. Before he has the chance to “get his tools”, MacGyver escapes through the sewers tunnels.

As Phoenix Foundation agents show up, they find a scorched picture of a man named Henry Fletcher, who they assume is his next target. Murdoc calls Samantha Cage on the phone and explains that they both have a lot in common including how they use false names. He later shoots Cage through a sniper rifle, who was protected by a vest. They later find out Fletcher is a fader, an assassin who makes his victims vanish. Murdoc calls the Phoenix Foundation, offering a deal to capture their mutual enemy.

After arresting Fletcher and transporting him, Murdoc fires a rocket launcher at the vehicle. Murdoc rescues Fletcher and exchange he would join his new collective of assassins.

He resurfaces and shot Samantha Cage, leaving her for dead, then went on the loose again.

Henry Fletcher offers to hand Murdoc over to The Phoenix Foundation for $10 million dollars, and they agree. They make the trade in Indianapolis, but Murdoc’s old mentor, Nicholas Helman, resurfaces and wants revenge because Murdoc accidentally killed his wife when she got in the crossfire between them years ago. Mac and Jack try to get Murdoc back to Phoenix but their car gets damaged and they have to stowaway on a nearby train. During the ride, Murdoc talks to MacGyver about his past, mentioning that his father was abusive and that he killed him. Helman then ends up intercepting their journey and they take cover in a nearby warehouse. Murdoc manages to slip away during the encounter. With Helman and Murdoc on the prowl, Jack goes to find Helman, leaving Mac alone. Murdoc and Helman find MacGyver at the same time and Murdoc shoots him in the shoulder to get him out of Helman’s lethal crosshairs. They take Murdoc back into custody and he requests that he sees his son in return for saving MacGyver’s life. They let Cassian visit him and Murdoc tells him to put on his headphones and play music. He then proceeds to kill the guards without Cassian seeing, and breaks out. Murdoc drops by Fletcher’s apartment and kills him as well, before going on the run with his son. Helman also reveals that Murdoc’s real name is Dennis.

## Season 3

Murdoc hides in Jill's car and manipulates MacGyver into calling her while she's driving. Murdoc then kills her and talks with MacGyver.

Murdoc abducts MacGyver’s girlfriend, Nasha, to force Mac to help him rescue his son, Cassian, from a kidnapper. Also, a dangerous assassin from his personal life - his wife, Amber, shows up, giving Mac a glimpse into the villain’s past.

In the episode Murdoc + Helman + Hit, Murdoc hired a hit on himself from his former mentor, Nicholas Helman and trainer as an attempt to not only prove himself the better assassin but also the escape the Phoenix 'Black Site'. When Helman infiltrates the site, he kills all the guards and attacks both Murdoc and Wilt Bozer. Bozer was there because Helman was announced death when Murdoc shot him, yet reappeared and began to kill more people; this lead to Phoenix questioning Murdoc on what Helman would do. Murdoc and Helman engaged in combat and when Murdoc was held at gunpoint until Bozer buttstroke him with a shotgun. Bozer then assumed that Murdoc would kill him but instead he just knocked him out and broke out of prison. Unfortunately, his escape was short lived as he was soon captured and placed in a dual cell with Helman which he found agonizing.

## Season 5

In Diamond + Quake + Carbon + Comms + Tower, TBA

## Personality

The textbook definition of a psychopath, Murdoc is completely devoid of any positive human emotions and feels no sympathy, empathy or compassion for anyone, save his son. He is capable of killing anyone at any time for virtually any reason; he has stated that he has amassed so much money from jobs in the past that he no longer needs any and now takes assassinations simply to avoid being bored. Predictably, he has a dark and distinctly warped sense of humor, finding the most pleasure in inflicting pain, and often acts very immature and childish even if he has guns pointed at him. Though he is supremely self-confident, Murdoc is far from arrogant as he freely acknowledges his own shortcomings and gives credit where credit is due when evaluating the skill levels of his adversaries and rarely underestimates them.

Having been so successful for most of his career, Murdoc is noticeably stymied when he is thwarted for the first time ever by Angus MacGyver due to the agent's unorthodox methods and talent for improvisation. Being a believer in the power of intellect, Murdoc comes to have a warped level of respect for Angus even though he remains implacably determined to kill the young agent, often conversing with him like they are old friends and applauding Angus whenever he is beaten by him. He frequently tries to convince Angus that they are alike due to their smarts and respective father-issues but so far has been unable to convince Angus that killing people is beneficial. His relationship with MacGyver has been compared with that of Batman and The Joker.

Murdoc is quite a vengeful person and takes great offense at being betrayed, as evidenced by his brutal murder of Henry Fletcher after Fletcher turned him over to the Phoenix Foundation for money and his attacks on the Phoenix Foundation over them separating him from his son.

Despite being the perfect definition of a psychopath, Murdoc also does show that he loves his son deeply, going to great lengths to protect him, provide for him, and hide the truth of his double life from him; he does not take well to people who threaten the boy, or do him any harm.

## Skills and Abilities

* **Peak of Human Physical Conditioning**: As the world's top assassin, Murdoc is in top physical condition and possesses great physical strength, endurance, stamina and agility.
* **Genius-Level Intellect**: Contrary to his childish persona, Murdoc is exceptionally intelligent, arguably on par with MacGyver himself. Though he lacks Mac's improvisation skills and understanding of science, technology, engineering and math, Murdoc more than makes up for it with his capacity for concocting elaborate schemes and convoluted plans, talent for manipulation, con-artistry and confidence trickery, setting traps and ambushes and a vast general knowledge of a variety of subjects spanning history, classical studies, literature, music, economics, astronomy, sports, philosophy, psychology, psychiatry, zoology, and international politics.
* **Weapons Expert**: Because of his extensive training by Hellman, Murdoc is a master gunslinger and sharpshooter and can use virtually any kind of firearm proficiently. He is also extremely skilled in using bladed and other hand-held weapons.
* **Master Hand-to-hand combatant**: Due to his extensive training by Hellman, Murdoc is a formidable unarmed hand-to-hand combatant.

## Notes

* His code name, Suspect 218, is a reference to his counterpart's first appearance on *MacGyver (1985)*, in *Partners*.
* Murdoc has a young son, Cassian who attends a private school in Switzerland. His son receives presents from his father every Christmas and birthday. He is also unaware of what his father does for a living. Murdoc wishes to keep it that way.
* It's assumed Matilda Webber knows Murdoc's true identity, as she managed to find his son.
* Murdoc stole the name "Murdoc" from one of his victims.
* His real name has been revealed as Dennis.
* Murdoc has gone by at least 35 different alias that The Phoenix Foundation knows about, including Brian Paiement, a commercial real estate license in L.A. County.
* Murdoc mentioned that he and Nicholas Helman worked for a country until it 'ceased to exist'. He could have been talking about The United Arab Republic, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia*,* or East Germany. However, given his approximate age, he would have been too young, or only served (including training) for a year.
	+ Chechnya is located in Eastern Europe, and virtually independent from Russia from 1996 as Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. However, the country was recognized only by Taliban. After terrorist attacks in 1999, the republic was returned to Russia's control in the Second Chechen War. He could have worked for them for four years, and the timeline with such a war-torn country adds up.
	+ Considering his age, a possible scenario is that he served the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, which was dissolved in 2006.
* In season 2 episode 15, "Murdoc + Handcuffs," the characters are hunted by Nicholas Helman, played by Michael Des Barres, who also happens to have portrayed Murdoc's counterpart in the original series.
* He has appeared in almost every season at least 3 times expect for Season 4 which COVID-19 shut down early which result his next appearance being retooled for Season 5.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Corkscrew
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Murdoc + Handcuffs
3. ↑ Corkscrew
4. ↑ Screwdriver
5. ↑ Hole Puncher
6. ↑ Cigar Cutter
7. ↑ X-Ray + Penny
8. ↑ Mac + Jack
9. ↑ Improvise
10. ↑ Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc
11. ↑ Murdoc + MacGyver + Murdoc