Beavis and Butt-head features a lot of recurring gags and elements. Some of them have been present since the beginning, some have appeared since it's 2011 revival and some only appeared in the earliest episodes.
Running Gags
- Buttknocker: A running gag with Beavis is that he completely abbhors the word "buttknocker". Butt-Head has more than once called Beavis "buttknocker" in order to provoke him, but was viciously assaulted when he took things to far. Beavis also seems to dislike other people getting called "buttknocker" as he scolded Butt-head for calling a musician in a video a "buttknocker".
- Beavis' mother: Beavis' mother is a frequent topic of discussion between the duo and much attention is given to the fact that she is very promiscuous, unlike her son. Beavis himself is quite aware of her situation and states that "She's not a whore, she doesn't charge for it!". She is never visually depicted, though it is implied that she is obese and has a blonde pompadour like her son.
- Misnaming: Another running gag is the fact that other people have a hard time remembering Beavis and Butt-head's names. Examples include "Buffcoat and Beaver", "Penis and Butt-munch" and "Travis and Bob-head". This is because senator Fritz Hollings infamously lambasted the duo and mistakenly called them "Buffcoat and Beaver".
- Beavis' pyromania: In the earliest episodes of the show Beavis and Butt-head had a juvenile fascination with fire and dangerous activities. Beavis showed an intense interest in fire and chanted "Fire, fire, fire!". After a trailer was burned down supposedly due to the show Beavis' pyromaniacal tendencies were censored, though sometimes implied. Sometimes the censorship would be averted by Beavis chanting something similar, such as "Fryer, fryer, fryer!". In the 2011 revival episodes Beavis' pyromania is a lot more clear due to looser censorship.
- Cornholio: A recurring element within the show is Beavis' alternate personality, Cornholio which manifests when he consumes large doses of sugar or caffeine. While acting as Cornholio, Beavis' eyes spring open, he pulls his shirt over his head, poses his arms in a strange position and starts spouting gibberish relating to "Getting TP for my bunghole" in a odd faux spanish accent.
- Beavis' childishness: Another running gag in the series is that Beavis is very child-like in his mindset. In the episode Babysitting, Beavis was shown playing with the children's toys by himself. Beavis himself also mentioned that his mother gets baby toys for free, and that he really enjoys them.
- Butt-head's love life: Butt-head is shown to be more interested in "scoring with chicks" than Beavis is. Despite this, Butt-head generally repulses women and on the rare occasions when a woman is interested in the duo, it is usually Beavis. One exception being Cher. This could be because of Butt-head's crudeness and bluntness.
- Masturbation: Butt-Head teases for jerking-off, although we hear Butt-Head does too--just not as frequently and as easily. Butt-Head is often making jokes about how Beavis wanks--and where: In Anderson's shed, in the bathroom at the school, at Burger-World, at the Maxi-Mart, etc.
- Losing Virginity... and Not: An especially running gag is B&B's attempts to score--to no avail. We either see some women just leading them on or them seeing something like an abortion clinic, a feminist's support group rally and misreading the situation. There are even rare moments where the two are actually about to have sex, but they will inevitably do something to screw it up.
Retired Gags
Some gags have been retired due to controversy, censorship or a simply not being used.
- Air Guitar: In early episodes (and in a few later episodes) Beavis and Butt-Head enjoyed practicing air guitar. This was used the most when there wasn't as much music available. It was also used when the duo was satisfied with something.
- Beavis' pyromania: The earliest episodes of the show depicted Beavis as slightly pyromaniac which caused controversy when the show was blamed for a child burning down his trailer home. After that no references to Beavis obsession with fire were made until the 2011 revival.
- Screaming: In the earliest episodes of the show, when they got excited about something, Beavis and Butt-head stared at each other before shouting something related to what they are excited about. The most prominent examples are "Frog Baseball" and "Dog Baseball".