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Listen on! This is the truth of it. Fighting leads to killing, and killing gets to warring. And that was damn near the death of us all. Look at us now! Busted up, and everyone talking about hard rain! But we've learned, by the dust of them all! Bartertown learned. Now, when men get to fighting, it happens here! And it finishes here! Two men enter; one man leaves.

– Dr. Dealgood

Dr. Dealgood is the magistrate of Bartertown, responsible for trying disputes and executing the law. He is portrayed by Edwin Hodgeman.

Biography[]

Dr. Dealgood is first seen acting as an auction caller, offering up Max's stolen camels for barter. The good Doctor, clearly educated, has a natural charisma and knack for working a crowd. This is later illustrated when he acts as the ringleader of Thunderdome as he introduces the two combatants — Max Rockatansky and Blaster — working the crowd into a frenzy of blood-lust he exclaims, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls . . . Dyin' time's here." Aside from hosting the craziness of Bartertown and offering the narrative of how the world came to be here, Dr. Dealgood has one of the most famous lines of the entire Mad Max series, "Two men enter; one man leaves."

Dr. Dealgood wears a judge's robe, along with a Freemasonic emblem on a chain. He personifies the new post-apocalyptic concept of law, and his application of that law to Max presents an ironic twist since Max himself once dealt out harsh justice as a law officer. Just before the battle begins Dr. Dealgood explains the "rules" to Max, "Thunderdome's simple. Get to the weapons, use them any way you can. I know you won't break the rules, because there aren't any."

Wheel 001

Bust a deal, spin the wheel

After the battle, after Max refuses to kill Blaster, Max must be judged again for breaking the law. Dr. Dealgood oversees the ritual of spinning the wheel of misfortune, called the "bust a deal wheel," in which Max winds up landing on "Gulag." Max is exiled into the wastelands and this is the last we see of Dr. Dealgood until Max escapes Underworld and causes the destruction of the Methane refinery, in his final scene he is shown still desperately trying to sell Max's stolen camels as the destruction ensues around him, "take now, pay later!" is the last speech he gives in the film.

Some time later, Dr. Dealgood, half of his face now covered in burn scars, makes his way to Gas Town where he hosts a new Thunderdome. This Thunderdome is a fighting arena anyone can enter to win a prize. On one occasion Max enters the competition, winning a Boss 351 Cleveland V8 engine.

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