Beavis
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| Beavis | |
|---|---|
 Beavis watching TV. |
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| First appearance | Frog Baseball (1992) |
| Last appearance | Jack Ass Live during Steve-O's rap. (2008) |
| Created by | Mike Judge |
| Portrayed by | Mike Judge (voice) |
| Information | |
| Aliases | "Cornholio" |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 15 |
| Occupation | Freshman @ Highland High School, Fry cook at Burger World. |
| Family | N/A |
Beavis (b. October 28, 1979[1] in Highlands, Texas) is a character on the MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head. He was voiced by the show’s creator, Mike Judge.
Beavis has an underbite and a fixated stare on his face which rarely looks straight at the television viewer, but rather to the side. He is usually seen wearing a Metallica t-shirt, though in merchandising appearances, his shirt displays the slogan “Death Rock,” to avoid licensing issues. In the episode “Blood Drive,” he wears a Slayer shirt rather than his normal Metallica one.
He is slightly shorter than Butt-head, although he appears to be the same height when viewed at a distance due to his oversized pompadour-like hairstyle.
Beavis works as a fry cook at Burger World and once defiantly revealed that he’s a fan of Bon Jovi to Butt-head, who can’t stand them. The episode “The Final Judgment Of Beavis” reveals Beavis’ birth date to be October 28, 1979.
Beavis’ name was inspired from an acquaintance of Judge’s during his college days named Bobby Beavis.[2] During the years of the series' run, Beavis's name was mispronounced by adults as, among other things, Beaver, Beatrice, Paul Lenig, Brevis, Joe, Paul and Travis.
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[edit] Personality
Dan Tobin of The Boston Phoenix described Beavis as "the sidekick and follower" who developed into "more of a loose cannon." [3]
Mike Judge once said in an interview that Beavis "is a zero" when it comes to intelligence;[citation needed] indeed, Beavis is often oblivious to the obvious. [2] Generally submissive to Butt-Head and willing to tolerate a large amount of his pal's physical and verbal abuse, Beavis nonetheless has certain limits. For instance, in “Murder Site,” Beavis was driven to attack and nearly kill Butt-Head, who wouldn’t cease calling him “butt-knocker," a term which Beavis inexplicably resents. Beavis also stood up to Butt-Head while they were watching a Rancid video: Butt-Head kept talking about it derisively, prompting Beavis to tell Butt-Head to shut up. When Butt-Head reacted with fury, ordering Beavis never again to tell him to shut up and threatening to kick his ass, Beavis preemptively kicked Butt-Head in the testicles, told him to shut up again, and walked out of the room to get something to eat. In another episode, while the duo were watching a Bon Jovi video, Beavis claimed to like one part of the song that was cool, causing Butthead to slap him. After being struck a few times, Beavis kicked Butt-Head in the groin and proclaimed "Bon Jovi rules!" (This particular segment was featured in the "Prank Call" episode, but only the version shown during the Super Bowl special).
In spite of his overt idiocy, Beavis possesses a number of character strengths. He has a tendency to be inadvertently witty and, when discussing various subjects that neither he nor Butt-Head understands, is more likely to guess the actual mechanisms at work. Also, on the rare occasion that a female exhibits interest in one of the duo, it is usually Beavis (as exemplified in the episodes: “Vidiots,” “Another Friday Night,” “Teen Talk,” ‘Letters to Santa Butt-Head’ in Christmas Special) who gets the attention; this could be because of Beavis’ somewhat childlike temperament, which is less off-putting than Butt-Head’s crasser, more blatantly sexual approaches. For example, when the two encounter members of the opposite sex, Butt-head will typically lead off with a smug opening line such as, “Hey baby,” which invariably flops; Beavis, on the other hand, will usually approach the woman with a less obvious “Hi!” or “Hey, how’s it going?” Easily influenced by Butt-Head, however, Beavis will often imitate his buddy's cruder pickup lines. Beavis has also shown instances of insight on such topics as the true meaning of Christmas, or in his analysis of a video by Korn. However, in both instances Beavis seems to either be in a trance or possessed, and shortly afterwards displays no recollection of what he just said.
[edit] Recklessness
Beavis also has a more volatile, unpredictable nature. His hasty actions, by and large, end in disaster, ranging from getting in trouble with the law, to severely injuring himself (cutting off the tip of his finger in episode: “Woodshop.") In such early episodes as: “Home Improvement,” “Comedians,” and “Stewart's House,” Beavis displayed signs of being a pyromaniac. Though his obsession with fire remained an obvious trait, as the seasons progressed, the emphasis of his fixation becomes less overt, and more of a passing gag.
[edit] Cornholio
When roused or upset (or in an altered state due to ingesting a lot of sugar and/or caffeine), Beavis tends to undergo a radical personality change. He will raise his forearms in a 90-degree angle next to his chest, and then, upon clenching his fists, usually begins to yell or scream erratically, producing a stream of gibberish and strange noises. His eyes grow wide. In some music video segments, it is implied that he has epilepsy, and is prone to seizures. As seen in episodes: “Bad Dog” and “Radio Sweethearts,” Beavis also has a tendency to become quite excitable. These character traits are epitomized in an alter-ego of Beavis’ named ‘Cornholio,’ a normally dormant persona which is awakened when Beavis consumes a sufficiently large quantity of sugar and/or caffeine. While under the influence of or taken over by Cornholio, Beavis pulls his shirt over his head, wanders aimlessly, while reciting “I am the Great Cornholio, I need TP for my bunghole” in an odd, faux-Spanish accent. His two personas at times seem to clash, as Beavis will momentarily talk normally before resuming the persona of Cornholio. Once his Cornholio episode is over, Beavis usually has no memory of what happened. In the guise of Cornholio, Beavis becomes a successful beat poet, and on another occasion, gets deported to Mexico after being picked up at Burger World by an INS agent. The agent who arrests Beavis later brings him down to a station where he and his superiour attempt to make some sense of the gibberish that is Cornholio, even going as far as to look up the definition of bunghole.
NOTE: Though the “Cornholio” character was developed in the episode: “The Great Cornholio,” Beavis first plays the entity as a passing gag in the episode “Generation in Crisis.”
[edit] Relationship with Butt-Head
Though the closest of confidants, as previously stated Beavis’s relationship with Butt-Head is extremely jaded, violent, and at times borders on sadistic. Butt-head often insults, and physically abuses Beavis (usually slapping him.) On occasion, however, Beavis will fight back and/or stand up for himself (as seen in episodes: “Madame Blavatsky,” “They're Coming To Take Me Away, Huh Huh”); his favorite means of exacting physical retribution tends to be kicking Butthead in the "nads". On at least one occasion ("Canoe"), Beavis has even gone so far as to throw the first punch as demonstrated by him first initiating a fight by smashing Butt-Head across the head with a paddle while on a trip with Van Driessen and Stewart (although Butt-Head did goad Beavis into doing it). Butt-Head, for his part, usually knows when Beavis is approaching his breaking point and will back off (as seen when he calls Beavis "buttknocker" or insults Metallica one too many times).
Beavis is usually depicted as being a follower of Butt-Head, willingly following most of his instructions, and cooperating in almost all of his endeavors. This subservience, however, appears to be simply a product of Beavis’ own general witlessness rather than any actual fear of Butt-head’s abuse — as demonstrated in the alternate future of “It’s a Miserable Life,” in which Butt-Head had never been born and Beavis was instead the friend of Stewart Stevenson.
[edit] Eccentricities
While Butt-Head's main interest in life is "chicks", Beavis also likes them, but appears to be more readily bestirred by toilet humour or displays of violence. Beavis has a penchant for making off-beat sound effects to suit the occasion. Whenever he sees something that is arousing, he imitates a spring (“Boi-oi-oi-oi-oiiing!!!”) He sometimes blows a raspberry by puckering his lips. He occasionally does impersonations of, among others, Principal McVicker in “Speech Therapy,” motivational speaker Mr. Manners/Mr. Candy, and Woody Woodpecker in episode “Top O' the Mountain.” During one episode, Beavis conspicuously reveals that he is sometimes prone to getting erections in the company of other men. Their feature film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, exposes Beavis’ fondness for masturbation, particularly in Tom Anderson's camper. A special ability of his is speaking backwards, as seen in the episode "Vidiots" while the duo review a music video; however, he forgets how to do so by the end of the video. Beavis also displays a bizarre predilection for feces and things related to it, and in a high pitched tone will often enthusiastically utter the word, “poop,” or will make the sound effect of "plop" to indicate a bowel movement. He frequently pulls down his pants during some music video reviews. He also took Kaopectate once because it was for diarrhea, and was angry that he didn't get diarrhea, only being soothed by an enormous bowel movement which, Beavis informed a disgusted Butt-Head, he saved in his dresser drawer.
[edit] Beavis’ parents…
| “ | “My mom’s a slut . . meh heh heh. | ” |
As with Butt-Head, during the run of the series Beavis’ family is occasionally referred to but never seen; a prime example of this is his mother. According to some music video segments, however, it is said that she shares Beavis’ peculiar hairstyle, that she is somewhat plus-sized, and (most significantly) is regarded as a slut. While Beavis is conscious of this, it doesn’t seem to bother him much, as he often laughs along in agreement whenever Butt-head brings it up. Butt-head’s mother is also regarded as a tramp (as implied in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America.) Unlike Beavis, however, this point seems to annoy Butt-head, as evidenced in some earlier music video segments.
Along with Butt-Head, Beavis is reunited with his biological father (who seems to exhibit many of Beavis’ eccentricities, most notably the same pyromania obsession; he also shares an overt physical likeness to him) in the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America feature film . Both men are said to be drifters and one-time roadies for rock band Mötley Crüe. However, they all remain oblivious to their father-son relation, and part ways again before they make the connection.
[edit] Spoofs
In the 1996 Paramount comedy, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America,at the beginning during the King Kong/Godzilla-like scene, Beavis is called Beaviszilla, however, when he sees Butt-Head, he calls him by his real name.
[edit] References
- ^ No date of birth has ever been officially mentioned on the show, but in the episode 'The Final Judgement of Beavis', it is implied that Beavis was born on this date.
- ^ a b Mike Judge Interviewed by John Kricfalusi. Wild Cartoon Kingdom (1994).
- ^ "Butting out," The Boston Phoenix
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