Vic Rattlehead is the mascot of the thrash metal band Megadeth.[1][2][3] Vic is a skeletal figure who embodies the phrase, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." [4] His eyes are covered by a riveted-on visor, his mouth is clamped shut, and his ears are closed with metal caps.[5]
His image appears on several Megadeth album covers. When the band started in 1985, he was on their first four album covers (1985–1990). Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, So Far, So Good... So What!, and Rust in Peace.[6]
Vic did not appear on the front cover of any albums or compilations from 1991 to 2000. However, when Megadeth tried to bring back a more 'classic' vibe to their material, they also brought back their old mascot, and he returned for the 2001 album The World Needs a Hero and the 2004 album The System Has Failed. Since then he has appeared on the band's 2007 studio album United Abominations (albeit in a different form, that is, of a human. He is identified by his visor, metal caps on his ears, and clamps on his mouth.). However, Vic was once again absent from the cover of Endgame, and is instead found in the album's booklet. Vic is also found on the inside cover of Youthanasia and Countdown To Extinction and the 2005 compilation Greatest Hits: Back to the Start. His portrait image can also be found by joining the spine labels of the 8 albums Mustaine re-released in 2004. Vic has recently been mentioned in the band's new video "The Right to Go Insane" and featured on the cover art for the Sudden Death single.[7] On Th1rt3en Vic reappears, and can be seen backward.
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The mythic creation of Vic Rattlehead is addressed in the song "Skull Beneath the Skin" from the Killing is My Business... and Business is Good! album:
Prepare the patients scalp
To peel away
Metal caps his ears
He'll hear not what we say
Solid steel visor
Riveted across his eyes
Iron staples close his jaws
So no one hears his cries
In reality, Dave Mustaine sketched the original drawing of Vic for the cover art, but Combat Records lost the artwork and improvised a completely different result. [1] The original artwork was supposed to be recovered and placed on the re-issue of Killing Is My Business...and Business is Good!; however, this never came to pass. The name of Vic stands for victim and Rattlehead comes from what Mustaine's mother used to say to him when he was headbanging. "Don't do that or you'll rattle something up in there!" This then led to the expression "to rattle one's head" meaning head-bang.
On January[8] 29, 2006, an official contest was announced on DeviantArt to redesign the Megadeth icon.[9][10][11][12] The contest stated:
After two decades of rocking, the heavy metal band Megadeth’s mascot Vic Rattlehead needs a facelift and the band has commissioned DeviantArt to redesign him!! Not only do you get the chance to redesign a mascot whose image has appeared on several Megadeth albums as well as a myriad of band merchandise, you can also win the BIGGEST prizes we've ever offered for a DeviantArt contest!
The prizes were three different ESP electric guitars. The contest ended on February 14, 2006, and was judged by Dave Mustaine with the results posted on DeviantArt on March 15, 2006.[8][13][14][15]
The artists for the various incarnations of Vic include:
The cover art for Megadeth's eleventh album, United Abominations, has revealed a redesigned Vic, using artwork from John Lorenzi one of the DeviantArt contest entries, albeit not a winning entry. Vic now appears as an elderly man rather than a skeletal figure. He is, however, depicted with traits of the Four Horsemen mentioned in the album and shown inside the CD case—he is accompanied by an angel wearing white with blood-stained wings (an allusion to the Pestilence Horseman), has long black hair and a black cloak resembling the black horse of Famine, is wielding various firearms like the sword used by the War Horseman, and has pale, veinous-looking skin like that of Death, and is, of course, shown dealing death on a large scale. A reflection of the classic Vic can also be found on the far-right building on the front cover.[16][17]