Last week I played the latest chapter of The Tales of Monkey Island, and if you're as big a fan of the Monkey Island series you found yourself looking at a familiar lipless (and evil) smile. Yup, Murray the Evil Skull had make it back, and he was once again in his usual fine form. Many of us have fond memories of Murray, but if you're anything like me you may be unaware of Murray's origins.

Murray's first appearance came in the brilliant Curse of Monkey Island, way back in 1997. He was a member of the Ghost Pirate LeChuck's crew, but he suffered an unfortunate mishap when Guybrush sank his longboat, separating Murray from his body and possibly all his worldly possessions (he was overhead to say that he could feel a fish nibbling on his skeletal toes. It must have been a starving piranha).



Murray makes an appearance in several other parts of COMI, dangling from a spike in Plunder Island Swamp, being juggled by Slappy Cromwell the actor on Plunder Island (alas, evil Murray, I hardly know ye), scaring Mort the Gravedigger on Blood Island ("I will relocate your keys to your sofa cushion, and you shall never again find socks that match!") and was offered a prize at LeChuck's Carnival of the Damned. I wouldn't take that anchor either. Murray next appears, with regular stationary employment, as a bouncer at Planet Threepwood in Escape From Monkey Island, and after that he wasn't seen again until 2009, a 9 year gap that thankfully has now been remedied. Murray has unfortunately returned to the sea again, but we can only hope that he will return in a later Tales of Monkey Island adventure.

And now, an inspirational quote.

"Evil needs no arms!"

Right on, brother. Right on.