BalSac The Jaws O' Death

## BälSäc the Jaws o' Death

Balsac the Jaws Of Death (stylized as BälSäc the Jaws o' Death) is the rhythm guitarist/character of GWAR. He is portrayed as an insanely tall, bear-trap faced alien with horse-like bent legs with hooves. In some versions of his costume he's depicted with frizzy black hair, some cases dreadlocks, but in his modern day depiction he has a pony tail. He has big spikey shoulder pads and a black piece of armor covering his torso. The logo on that torso piece has changed numerous times throughout the years. He is currently played by Mike Derks.

## Personality

In contrast with the other members of Gwar, Balsac is portrayed as a soft-spoken sophisticate whose “council is wise”, providing advice whenever it is needed. He's considered the "smart one" of the group. He's not as raucnhy, loud, and explicit compared to the other members. In a flashback scene from *Skulhedface,* while all other Gwar members were stuffing their faces with the crack Sleazy gave them, Balsac was one of the only one's who didn't participate. During that same scene, it's also Balsac who suggests they shouldn't kill Sleazy and trust him due to the "prophecy". In most ways, he's the "dad of the group".

In the *Engormantic Fail* comic book, Balsac has a different potrayal. In the comic he's annoyed with all the other members. He's not calm and respectful like he's usually shown to be. He's shown getting pissed off at them all, and when they don't listen, he drowns his frustation in alcohol. In the comic, he later finds himself "contemplating suicide" due to how severely the others had messed up their mission.

## Who Plays Him?

Balsac was originally played by Steven Douglas, from 1987 to 1988, but left a while after Hell-O!, and was then replaced by Michael Derks, who has stayed in the band since, and is the longest serving member currently (besides Brockie). He’s credited with vocals on numerous songs, production on many, has played guitar for both side projects, has played other instruments in certain songs (Most notably “Don’t Need a Man,” which he produced, while also playing the piano, guitar, sequencing upright bass, the strings, and drums). He’s also credited with co-writing or fully writing a lot of songs. He’s in charge of/involved with numerous other Gwar-related projects. Derks is also the executive chef at the GWARBar in Richmond, Virginia.

## Character Info.

Balsac's information/bio (taken from the *This Toilet Earth* CD booklet)

>    `NAME: BälSäc`
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> `ALIAS: the Jaws o' Death`
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> `INSTRUMENT: Guitar`
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> `AGE: pi X 10 to the millionth power`
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> `DATE OF BIRTH: My Birthday`
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> `HOME PLANET: Ennui`
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> `HEIGHT: 22 1⁄2 hands`
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> `WEIGHT: 12 tons fully dressed; 98lbs in a towel`
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> `EYE COLOR:?`
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> `FAVORITE COLOR: Fusha`
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> `FAVORITE T.V. SHOW: The Preview Guide`
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> `LAST BOOK READ: The TailBook Report`
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> `LAST BOOK WRITTEN: The Kama Sutra ll`
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> `HOBBIES: Contemplating suicide, learning to like myself`
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> `LAST ORIFICE VIOLATED: The car of a GWAR fan`
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>    `FAVORITE CELEBRITY: God`
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> `WHEN I GET MAD I: Contemplate suicide`
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> `DREAM OR GOAL: Learn to like myself`
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> `PHILOSIPHIES: “Every cloud has a silver lining”, “It’s always darkest before the dawn”, “Things are never as bad as they seem”, “If all else fails, contemplate suicide”,`
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> `MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Getting out of bed this morning`
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> `WHAT SHAMES ME: Me`
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> `ON DATES I LIKE TO…: Contemplate suicide`
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> `QUOTE: “I’m so very, very sorry.”`
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## Accent

In contrast to the rest of the band, BalSac speaks with a british accent in most cases. Though, there's many times he doesn't. Listed below are times where he does not speak with a british accent.

* In almost every interview with Balsac, he speaks with Derks normal voice, not an accent.
* The Animated Tales of GWAR (aka the GWAR cartoon).
* In a skit-conversation with Oderous at the end of "Where Is Zog?" off of *Lust In Space*. This is the only song he speaks with no accent.
* In Undead from Antarctica livestreams on the GWAR YouTube channel that were uploaded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Promotional videos for *Scumdogs XX Live* (There's more times where he uses no accent, they will be put when they're remembered/found)

## Miscellaneous

* He appears on more album covers than any other GWAR character
* In some ways he's considered the “mascot” of the band.
* The rarely referenced GWAR hand sign, made by interlocking one’s middle knuckles and sticking out the thumb and pinkie on a designated top hand, is intended to resemble Balsac’s jaws.
* Although he has many lines and vocals on songs, the only song, on an official studio album, that he fully sings lead on is "Mary Anne"
* Derks wrote and produced "Hate Love Songs" off of *Carnival Of Chaos* and was originally meant to sing it, but it was eventually handed over too Beefcake The Mighty (Casey Orr) because Derks felt it fit him better.