Kurloz Makara


 * For the post-scratch version of this character, see The Grand Highblood.

Kurloz Makara is the Prince of Rage and Gamzee's dancestor.

He does not speak as he chewed out his own tongue - he is described by Meenah as having a "stitched up mouth", a literal fact later confirmed through exposition. He seems to gain enjoyment from having mimed conversations with Meulin Leijon, who is deaf and uses sign language. He wears a skeleton costume.

He appears to be some sort of a mime, parallel to Gamzee's clown.

Biography
Upon exiting Terezi's hive as Meenah, a small "scene" (Aranea's Exposition) gives more information about some of the pre-scratch Sgrub players:

"The Prince of Rage actually used to be quite talkative. That is, until he had a nightmare which prompted a bizarre incident, after which he would never speak again. He took a sort of spiritual vow of silence, which I'm sure was probably related to his esoteric faith. Once, well before our session began, Kurloz and Meulin were in a very loving matespritship. It really seemed to everyone they were made for each other. One day, they fell asleep together. Kurloz then had a nightmare so terrifying, he released the most dreadful sound imaginable. It truly echoed the horror of the Vast Honk itself. The noise was so loud and so awful, Meulin went completely deaf, and her hearing never recovered. Kurloz was undoubtedly devastated by what he'd done to her. He was so distraught, he chewed off his tongue and sewed his mouth shut and has never spoken a word since."

Kurloz was also the only eye witness to the event which caused his moirail Mituna to overexert himself and permanently burn out his psychic abilities. According to Aranea, he applied every last bit of energy he had to save his friends from a looming threat. Whether this threat had something to do with Kurloz is unknown.

Kurloz was later seen working with his dancestor, Gamzee Makara, helping him assemble his fake god tier outfit to wear while helping Caliborn in his session. He was also seen following Vriska Serket and her party of trolls on their treasure hunt for Lord English's weakness. He picks up Vriska's discarded overcoat, which resembles English's Cairo Overcoat.

Personality and Traits
Outwardly, he seems harmless enough, usually responding only with a silent smile to most provocations, though he did flip Meenah off when pressed further. Before his vow of silence, he preached about the "messiahs" and the "angels of double death". Apparently he has a habit of referring to other characters by unusual nicknames: Kurloz refers to Gamzee as his "invertibrother", and Meulin as his "kittybitch".

Meenah, Aranea and Cronus have all expressed being unsettled by him, which is not entirely unfounded. Kurloz is much more menacing than first implied. He has no qualms with using his former matesprit Meulin as a puppet with his chucklevoodoos. That shouldn't be surprising however, as he is also aiding his "lord" in slaying all of his heretic "friends". It would seem he now holds allegiance only to Gamzee and Caliborn.

His personality and Gamzee's are reflective of their roles as Prince and Bard; while Gamzee's ultimate motivations and allegiances are unknown, Kurloz's are more clear cut and sinister.

Relationships
Kurloz and Meulin were in a very loving matespritship prior to the events of the game, but have since split. Kurloz is mentioned to have regretted deeply causing her hearing to fail, though she bears no ill will against him for it. As shown from Openbound, not only do they continue to have lively conversations, but according to Aranea, she sometimes expresses support for Kurloz's religion.

Mituna is Kurloz's moirail, but it is unclear which way this goes. On their only on-screen interraction, Mituna is jovial with Kurloz, calling him "buddy" and complimenting his wardrobe.

Kurloz has been shown to have entered a dark alliance with Gamzee. Their interractions reveal little about the relationship between them except that Kurloz appears to serve as Gamzee's dogsbody, (ironic, given his title as a prince and Post-Scratch title as The Grand Highblood) gathering various objects related to Caliborn and pieces of Gamzee's god tier robes. It is also clear that despite being older and probably stronger than his dancestor, Kurloz perceives Gamzee as his superior in at least one regard, and serves him ungrudgingly and without hesitation.

Trivia

 * Meulin was the last person to hear his voice, and it was in the form of a blood curdling scream, which supposedly "echoed the horror of the Vast Honk itself", leaving Meulin completely deaf. She has not been healed after dying, unlike Tavros, but neither have Kurloz and Mituna.
 * The fact that he screamed because of a nightmare is odd in itself. Being a Prospit dreamer, it's possible he screamed because of something he saw in the clouds of Skaia. It could have also been that he had not waken up on Prospit yet, and was being tormented in his sleep, much like John.
 * His and Cronus' titles are a swap of Gamzee's and Eridan's.
 * His appearance resembles costumes worn during the Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) festival in Mexico. This may possibly tie in with his name which sounds somewhat like Carlos, a common Spanish name.
 * While Gamzee types in a darker color than the blood color of his caste, Kurloz's text color is a lighter shade.
 * When talking to Meulin he is shown to have powers of telepathy and mind control. Whether they are an extension on the same chucklevoodoos that Gamzee possesses or a seperate form have yet to be revealed.
 * He and Kankri are the only trolls whose zodiac signs have not been seen somewhere on their outfits although his may be somewhere else besides his chest like on his waist.
 * On the walkaround flash he was introduced in, he was the only character not having a lusus near him. (Excluding Aranea and Meenah of course.)
 * This may tie in to how Gamzee's sea-goat lusus neglected him and was never around.
 * Kurloz was most likely named by Dragoshi. It was originally suggested for Gamzee.
 * A major reference to Tim Burton's film The Nightmare Before Christmas is present in his character, as he preaches about double death (as well as having a skeleton motif) and there was a scene where the antagonist (Oogie Boogie) said that Jack Skellington would be "Double Dead".
 * He seems to be the only character rendered in Openbound style that has a front view, not an angled view.
 * Kurloz's skeleton costume, the dark catacomb-like nature of the place he meets Gamzee in, his hidden dark side, and his mention of miracles may be references to the "Court of Miracles" scene from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
 * He could be seen as representing "speak no evil".