Boogieman

The Boogieman (also known as Sun Moon Stars and Flatulence) is an antagonist of Gorillaz from Phase Three. Murdoc mentioned in a live chat with fans that the Boogieman was the essence of all the evil in the world embodied in one single entity.

Background

The Boogieman is a rejected "5th Horseman" of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and his real name is Flatulence because of the foul smell he always brings with him.

Phase 3: 2009–2012

Boogieman made his appearance in Phase 3. His first appearance is in 2-D's Plastic Beach Ident where he is seen gassing 2-D. He is first fully seen during music video for Stylo, in which he engulfed a highway patrol officer in a black smog before vanishing. In the music video for On Melancholy Hill, he kidnapped a crying manatee atop Melancholy Hill for no explained purpose. Cyborg Noodle fired two solid slugs at the Boogieman, which resulted in him pulling the manatee down with him off of the hill into the sea. He is next seen in the storyboard film for Rhinestone Eyes, where he appears to Murdoc and Cyborg Noodle (after she tries to shoot him down again) on Plastic Beach, displays a memory of Murdoc and his agreement, and attacks Plastic Beach, summoning several planes from The Black Clouds, an underground network group of mercenary pirates which Murdoc had also angered in the past, similar to those that had attacked Noodle in the On Melancholy Hill video. The storyboard film also shows flashbacks of the Boogieman's backstory, with him

Murdoc has stated in a blog on the Gorillaz website that he had made some deals with the Boogieman (which, Murdoc said, was actually a demon) to ensure a career at the top of the music charts and to get rid of some unwanted people. In turn, Murdoc would give access to "various souls of innocent kids and stuff". Murdoc, however, made sure he was not around when the Boogieman, sent over by Beelzebub, Satan himself, would come by to collect his payment, and now he had returned to take revenge on Murdoc (it is possible that gassing 2-D to take him to Plastic Beach was his last job for Murdoc). Murdoc also stated that he was shocked to see him in the footage for Stylo, as he had not noticed him there before.

Back when Murdoc first arrived at Plastic Beach, the first thing he found washed up in the shore of the island was a dirty manual with a stone-carved cover, titled 'The Book Of M.A.N.'. One of the chapters detailed an ancient oceanic creature known as the Evangelist, the embodiment of everything great in life and counterpart to the Boogieman. Eventually, Jamie Hewlett was able to track down the Evangelist thanks to drawings sent over by fans, and Murdoc was finally able to make a deal with them to take down the Boogieman.

He returned to Plastic Beach a second time in April 2011 during Murdoc's transmission of the fifth episode of his Pirate Radio series, after the Black Clouds were intentionally alerted by the transmittion, commanding a second attack on the island but this time in a much larger scale. Murdoc, however, had hired a double known as the Imposter Murdoc take his place so the wrong soul would be collected, settling the debt between the two. As the Boogieman was making his ritual to leave the shambling island, however, he was met by the Evangelist, awaiting him, who "started kicking the living shit out of him" before taking with them The Book Of M.A.N. and leaving the island as well.

In the music video for DoYaThing, he appears in the living room of the band's apartment at 212 Wobble Street while reading a newspaper of completely normal form before glaring at 2-D. A reason as to why he was staying there or why did he not attack any of the band members was never given, with Murdoc simply stating "what happens at Wobble Street, stays at Wobble Street".

Phase 4: 2015–2017

While the Boogieman was not seen during Phase Four, Murdoc did state during a Q&A session on the subreddit r/Music that both he and the Evangelist were in Shepton Mallet, without further elaboration.

Phase 5: 2018–2019

In the FreeMurdoc campaign, Murdoc said that he had no idea what was going with the Boogieman as he unfriended him after he kept sending yoga pics. 

During The Now Now's Q&A session on 29 June 2018, two different answers were given when was asked what happened to the Boogieman. One was that he became a star in the Boogie Nights^W musical and the other was that he was now working as personal chef for the Gorillaz, as of Murdoc's arrest.

Trivia

• The Boogieman is the first Gorillaz antagonist to ever appear in the band's music videos.
• The fact that the Boogieman is actually a demon explains how he could disappear with the Police Officer in the Stylo music video.
• His name "Sun Moon Stars" is referenced in the song Sweepstakes.
• Boogieman's appearance could be a reference to Dream, a character from Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, in his helmed costume appearance.

Gallery

The full image gallery for Boogieman may be viewed at Boogieman/Gallery.