Wolfgang Müller and Nikolaus Utermöhlen founded Die Tödliche Doris in 1980, presenting the public persona of Doris as a constantly shifting entity that deliberately engaged the contradictions of the human condition. Born out of West Berlin's lively post-punk community in the early '80s – along with Einstürzende Neubauten, Malaria, Sprung Aus Den Wolken and Frieder Butzmann – Die Tödliche Doris ranks amongst the Geniale Dilletanten, which became synonymous with a free-for-all approach to music, film, painting and performance.