Beavis and Butt-Head
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"Hey, baby..."
— Butt-Head's unsuccessful pick-up line

"This sucks."
— One of Butt-Head's most common lines

Butt-Head is one of the main protagonists of Beavis and Butt-Head. He is Beavis' best friend and close companion.

He is voiced by series creator Mike Judge.

Appearance

Butt-Head has brown hair, his top gums are often exposed, he speaks nasally with a deep voice and a slight lisp where he is repeatedly punctuating his speech with his trademark laugh (Uh huh, huh huh) and he is one of the skinniest characters in the series along with Beavis. However, while the two are both skinny, Butt-Head looks slightly stockier and more hunchbacked compared to Beavis.

He is usually shown wearing a gray shirt with a yellow AC/DC logo, red shorts, white socks and black shoes. However, he is seen wearing a Metallica shirt in Crisis Line.

Relationship with Beavis

On many occasions, Butt-Head is depicted as being abusive towards Beavis, usually slapping or insulting him. Most of the time, he receives no retaliation with some exceptions (Murder Site, Nose Bleed,Prank Call and some music videos when Beavis kicks him in the testicles). In several episodes, Butt-Head shows no concern for Beavis whether Beavis is being severely beaten (Teen Talk, Tired and Do America), abandoned (Vs. The Vending Machine) or deported to Mexico (Vaya Con Cornholio). The feeling appears to be mutual, as seen in Water Safety when Butt-Head nearly drowns in a pool and Beavis remains indifferent to Butt-Head's near-death experience, and in Choke when Butt-Head chokes on a chicken nugget and Beavis takes his time attempting to help him as if it were nothing serious. Beavis tells the 9-1-1 operator "He's not really my friend". When Butt-Head is in a situation when he may need Beavis' help, Beavis' reluctance to help him may be due to a failure to realize that Butt-Head needs help. In Choke, when Butt-Head tries to demonstrate that he is choking Beavis says "I hate this stupid game", as if Butt-Head were playing a game of charades. When Beavis gets a nosebleed (caused by Butt-Head punching him in the face), Butt-Head "tries" to help him, resulting in Beavis losing a great deal of blood (Nosebleed). In The Final Judgement of Beavis, after Beavis knocks himself out by crashing into a wall of the house (imitating a maneuver by Robocop on television), Butt-Head revives him by dumping a bucket of cold water on him.'

In the episode Take a Bow, Butt-Head injures Beavis' testicles to the point that Beavis needs to be hospitalized. He winds up feeling bad about hurting him, and goes to the hospital chapel to pray that Beavis won't die. When Beavis pulls through, Butt-Head takes him home in a wheelchair and tells Beavis it would have sucked if he died. An angel (who had been watching over Beavis) later tells God that Butt-Head most likely would have died of grief if Beavis were to have died.

The two characters spend most of their time with each other and they share the same occupation where they usually compliment each other when one makes any sort of endeavor, especially if it involves their lifelong goal to 'score with chicks'. It can be inferred that, despite their abusive relationship, the duo are still best friends, considering their shared activities, residency, interests, and simply for their lack of any other friends.

Personality

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Butt-Head rockin' like there is no tomorrow!

Of both title characters, Butt-Head appears to be the leader of the two. He is calmer, older, more laid-back and arguably more intelligent than Beavis, but he is oblivious to subtleties, semi-literate, and still significantly less intelligent than the other characters in the show. He seems to almost never lose his cool no matter how dire situations get, including when not being able to "score" while Beavis gets extremely pissed about it.

He almost always says "uhh" to indicate his low intelligence and lack of understanding, and out of the two, Butt-Head seems to be the lazier of the duo. He even considers himself better than everyone else to the point of being extremely condescending to others, except for Todd whom he and Beavis worship. Regardless, as the 'leader', he is usually 100% confident in everything he says and does – no matter how ridiculous or frivolous it is.

According to Mike Judge, despite getting many other people into trouble, the duo are innocent, as they don't want to cause any serious trouble. He never seems to react to things unless they catch his attention, in which case he describes them as 'cool'. Beavis, on the other hand, always has some kind of reaction, although his actions predictably end with bad results.

There are points on the show where he seems to in no way care about his own personal safety. An example of this would be in "Murder Site", when he ignores Beavis' demands to stop calling him buttknocker and Beavis then tries to kill Butt-Head, but even as he is trying to kill him, Butt-Head continues calling him buttknocker through the assault, even remarking, "That was cool" after Beavis was arrested. Butt-Head likes bands such as AC/DC, Butthole Surfers, Black Sabbath, Guns N' Roses, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, KISS, Pantera, Slayer, Soundgarden, and Megadeth.

Despite his selfish and abrasive nature, Butt-Head shows an extremely rare moment of being genuinely nice to Beavis in Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe. After the two get into an argument and separate, they feel sad for the lack of the other's presence. When the two reunite, Butt-Head changes his goal from "I'm gonna score." to "We're gonna score." - actually showing a flicker of affection toward Beavis' interests.

In the episode Nice Butt-Head, Butt-Head undergoes a complete personality transformation due to the mood-stabilizing medication he's been prescribed by Mrs. Ortiz. Because the pills are grape-flavored, Butt-Head overdoses on them, caring only for the taste of the pills and not the effects. Butt-Head has taken so many pills that he becomes extremely caring, soft-spoken and even takes an interest in learning. This starts to make Beavis uncomfortable, so much so that Beavis attacks Butt-Head and makes the latter vomit out all of the pills he took, reverting Butt-Head to his apathetic, aggressive self.

In the episode Take a Bow, another rare instance of Butt-Head showing compassion is seen. The episode begins with Butt-Head playing a "game" of "take a bow", which consists of Butt-Head constantly hitting Beavis in the testicles, forcing him to bend down and "bow". This leads Beavis into being hospitalized and somehow almost die from it. Butt-Head is left with heavy guilt and prays to God to let Beavis live. Archangel Michael was shown to be responsible for bringing Beavis back to life after this.

Abilities

Just like Beavis, Butt-Head seems to be far more durable than the average teenager. He has survived being brutally beaten many times, being run over by a school bus, contracting numerous deadly diseases, getting crushed by numerous phone booths after getting caught in a tornado and suffering heavy bloodloss. He will often ignore any injuries that he gets.

Butt-Head's Family

In Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, the duo meet two older men who greatly resemble them, in terms of physical appearance and personality traits. It is later revealed that these older men were, indeed, Beavis and Butt-Head's biological fathers. The man who looks like an older overweight version of Butt-Head claimed that he was the only one who "scored." If this were true, this would make Beavis and Butt-Head half-brothers. However, there is a scene later on in the movie where the ATF agents claim that both of the men are genetic matches for fathers, meaning they are in no way related. Butt-Head's father most likely scorned Beavis' father for the fun of it. However, the group part ways before they can make a family connection. Beavis has also claimed that Butt-Head's alcoholic mother is a slut as a response to his own mother's badmouthing. Butt-Head once mentioned his alcoholic mother having a boyfriend. Aside from these mentions, neither Beavis nor Butt-Head's mothers have ever been seen.

Of some relevancy, many of the supposed "facts" he hears that usually get him and Beavis into their excursions are evocative of possibly being told to them by dubious "boyfriends" or "lovers" their mothers likely bring over to their home time to time, or sketchy "friends" of their mothers. Without exact father figures, it's likely he picks up these fibs as well as their behaviors as misguided examples to follow.

Butt-Head has mentioned extended members of his family on a handful of occasions. For example, in the episode Citizen Butt-Head, during the Georgia Satellites music video segment. Butt-Head claims the bands lead singer, Rick Richards, resembles his cousin; Richard Head.

In the episode The Day Butt-Head Went Too Far, Beavis says he stole a framed photograph of Butt-Head from Butt-Head's uncles house.

During the Dinosaur Jr music video for I Don't Think so, Butthead says the trailer in the video looks like his Uncle Mike's place, but that the plastic butterflies are like the ones on his grandma's trailer. Beavis then says that Butthead's grandma is a slut, to which Butthead replies "Uh, yeah. I know."

Background

Criminal Record

During the run of the show Beavis and Butt-Head are known for having committed a large amount of crimes. These include:

  • Trespassing on Federal Property: In "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America", Butt-Head is seen trespassing in the white house before he is apprehended by ATF Agents.
  • Felony Credit Card Fraud: In "True Crime", Butt-Head assists Beavis in withdrawing what looks like thousands of dollars from a stolen Michael Jordan credit card.
  • Trespassing and Vandalism: In "The Trial", Beavis and Butt-Head go to trial for trespassing and vandalism for supposedly throwing eggs at their neighbor Tom Anderson's windows. They are both found guilty and sentenced to 500 hours of community service.

Other Appearances

In the 2022 Disney Film Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers, Butt-Head is seen in a political ad where he's running for California Senator. His campaign slogan is, 'Vote to get tough on bootleg laws' implying he's strongly against bootlegging.

Trivia

  • Butt-Head stands at 5'5".
  • Much like Beavis, Butt-Head's voice changes in the series:
    • His voice gets a bit more nasally and high-pitched in the latter half of the original run. Also, in earlier episodes, he had a tendency to sound like Beavis, particularly when playing air guitar.
    • In the revival, his voice is slightly deeper and he is less prone to raising his voice (as much as he can anyway).
  • In merchandising appearances, Butt-Head's shirt displays the word 'Skull' to avoid licensing issues.
  • Butt-Head is known to fashion his hair with his own snot as if it were hair gel as seen in an extremely rare footage.
  • Butt-Head is not just his real name, but it's his first and last names combined as mentioned in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America!
    • One episode has another person asking Butt-Head his name.
      • He replies that it's "Butt".
      • When the other character asks what his family name is, he replies "Head".
  • In a scene in the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America movie where Beavis eats a peyote cactus, Butt-Head is shown with brown eyes while Beavis is shown with electric blue eyes.
  • Butt-Head is almost never shown smiling even while he is laughing, mainly due to the design of his mouth. However, he was seen smiling and laughing in Nice Butt-Head, although this is the effects of the grape-flavored pills that Mrs. Ortiz gives him.

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