Max Rockatansky

Max Rockatansky
Mel Gibson (left) and Tom Hardy (right) as Max
First appearance	Mad Max (1979)
Created by	George Miller Byron Kennedy
Portrayed by	Mel Gibson (1, 2, 3) Tom Hardy (4)
Voiced by	Bren Foster (video game)
Information
Nickname(s)	Mad Max
Aliases	The Road Warrior The Bronze Him that came salvage Raggedy Man The Man with No Name The First History Man Bloodbag Fool Saint (video game)
Occupation	Police officer Driver Mercenary Scavenger Survivalist
Spouse(s)	Jessie (wife, deceased)
Children	Sprog (son, deceased)
Nationality	Australian

Max Rockatansky is the title character and protagonist of the post-apocalyptic action films from the Mad Max franchise, which spans 1979 to 2015. He appears in the films Mad Max, Mad Max: The Road Warrior, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and Mad Max: Fury Road. Created by director George Miller and producer Byron Kennedy, the character was played by actor Mel Gibson in the first three films, and by Tom Hardy in the fourth.

In Mad Max, Max Rockatansky is a Main Force Patrol officer fighting for peace on the roads of a dystopic Australia. Max is quiet, rarely speaking to any great extent, and never paying much attention to his steadily increasing reputation. He and his wife, Jessie, have an infant son, referred to only as "Sprog" (slang for 'child') in the movie.

Though the best officer on the force, he is secretly afraid that he is becoming as cold and heartless as the criminals he pursues. He reaches a breaking point when a gang of criminally insane bikers known as the Acolytes burn Max's partner Goose alive inside a borrowed ute. The sight of the barely-living Goose's burnt body convinces Max to go on holiday with Jessie and Sprog. This only leads to a chain of events that results in the Acolytes killing Max's wife and child. Overwhelmed with grief and rage, he goes AWOL from the MFP, steals their Pursuit Special, and systematically pursues and kills each gang member responsible. Max is injured in an ambush set for him by the Acolytes' leader Toecutter, where he is shot in the left leg and has his right arm run over at the elbow. Despite his injuries, he manages to fatally shoot gang lieutenant Bubba Zanetti and pursues the Toecutter to his death. After hunting down final gang member Johnny the Boy and leaving him in a death trap, Max drives out into the wasteland, leaving the fading remnants of civilization behind him.