Noodle (character)


Noodle is a fictional Japanese British musician, singer, and member of the British virtual band Gorillaz. She provides the lead guitar, as well as some occasional lead and backing vocals for the band. Like all other band members of Gorillaz, she was created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Noodle has been voiced by Japanese actress Haruka Kuroda, singer-songwriter Miho Hatori of trip-hop group Cibo Matto, and Japanese English actress Haruka Abe.

Characterization

When first conceptualising the depiction of a guitarist for Gorillaz, Hewlett was initially considering depicting her as a 17-year-old adolescent girl carrying guitars, but Albarn noted that the idea was too similar to what Hewlett usually draws and suggested that Hewlett should create "something different". Taking Albarn's advice, Hewlett came up with the first official Noodle, a 10-year-old Japanese girl. Later, Hewlett drew her as 13 years old, and since then, he said she has aged further.

Fictional history

Noodle first came to the Gorillaz when they were a trio after their original guitarist and 2-D's girlfriend Paula Cracker was caught having sex with Murdoc in the toilets of Kong Studios, which resulted in her being fired from the band. As a result, the band was left needing a guitarist, so they ran an ad looking for one. Later the same day, a FedEx crate arrived at Kong Studios, and a little Asian girl popped out and started playing on her guitar, as 2-D later described it, "The riff to end all riffs". After shredding on her guitar, she spoke a single word to the trio, and it became her nickname: "Noodle".
In 2003 Noodle visited Japan in an attempt to discover her past after being haunted by disturbing nightmares while on tour. While in a restaurant, she regained her lost memory after hearing the words 'ocean bacon'. She coincidentally met with her mentor, Mr. Kyuzo, who was working as the head chef in the restaurant. Kyuzo helped her make sense of her lost memories: Noodle is, in fact, part of a secret government super soldier project, trained specially as a musician. As a result, she is a master of many weapons, languages, and musical instruments, with a specialty in the guitar, both as a musical instrument, and a weapon. Out of the 23 children created for the project, Noodle was the only one to survive; the others were all destroyed by the government when the project was scrapped.

Other appearances

In October 2016, she became the global ambassador for Jaguar Racing.